Proverbs 22:6: “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.”
How we love to see Joseph and Mary in pint-size! At Christmas, some longingly look back to the days when our Sunday schools were full and teacher volunteers were plentiful. Back then I had the privilege of working on design teams for church school curricula to be used by a variety of denominations. I worked alongside Dr. Sara P. Little, Dr. Roger Nishioka, Dr. Maria Harris and Dr. Walter Brueggemann as we strategized how we might structure study materials so that they would reflect what people needed to learn from the cradle to the grave.
Yet, in spite of the finest scholars involved and the best pedagogy going, our churches are not filled with students who came through the system. You may have had a bursting church school back in the ‘60s, but the great majority of these now grown up participants no longer go to church.
We can blame secularization, sports and frayed family schedules. All these dynamics would be true, but even more we have now learned that the critical place for learning is not the limited time we have on a Sunday morning but rather in the concentrated times we demonstrate a sincere love to children, youth and their parents.
The Fuller Institute has discerned that sound faith development happens in the context of abiding and caring relationships. We should do our best to encourage a faith that “sticks” by being fully involved in the lives of our children, youth and adults, helping them understand and experience how Christ is active in their lives. It can happen in home instruction, youth groups, retreats, camps and even on Sunday mornings.
Our goal is to encourage a faith that is both internalized and externalized; a faith that goes soul deep and is expressed in choices and actions and a faith that is both personal and communal, where personal spiritual growth and care for the larger community and world is demonstrated. As we encourage faith in others we seek and demonstrate maturity and a willingness to keep growing.
Rhyming off the books of the Bible does not mean faith has been integrated. A pin that reflects your perfect attendance at Sunday school is no measure of your quality of faith. Ultimately, faith has stuck when you have integrated it into every breathing moment, every choice and action. Faith has stuck when one is seeking to honour Jesus Christ.
Exciting experiments are being carried out in our own denomination to achieve depth of faith. More and more midweek opportunities are drawing families and their children to grow spiritually. Churches are providing ways families can encourage faith development in their homes on a daily basis. Some churches are investing in young people with plenty of one-on-one time rather than broad programs.
It’s time to reinvent ourselves instead of longing for a past model that no longer works—and perhaps never did. It’s time to share our own faith so they can see our deep devotion and love of Christ in what we say and do. It’s time to listen to younger families regarding their spiritual and practical needs and be there for them rather than expecting them to fit into our structures and models. Build it and they will not come. Truly care, listen and modify yourselves to minister to their needs and you will find faith blossoming and becoming a lifelong reality. Through open, agenda-free relationships, faith can stick into eternity.
Be sure to read Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in your Kids by Kara E. Powell and Dr. Chap Clark.
