I read a story by a man named Larry Fowler where he talks about a mission trip that he went on to Kazakhstan. During his first worship service in Kazakhstan, he had an eye-opening experience. He remembers that the assembly lasted for three hours and included three full-length sermons. When he looked up into the balcony of the church building, he saw all of the children. When he saw the children, he immediately started to wonder why there wasn’t any Sunday School. Why aren’t there any Bible classes for all of these children? Later on that day, after the service was over, he asked his hosts, “Don’t you have Sunday School for the children?” At first, their response was a blank stare. They didn’t even know what “Sunday School” was. After he explained Sunday school to them, their response was very simple and concise: “We don’t need Sunday school for the children at our church; their parents teach them.”
How do our children come to know about God? How do our children learn about Jesus and what He did for us? How do our children learn about the Bible and what it teaches? There is no doubt that our congregation has a number of good programs for our youth. We have two youth deacons and a youth minister who not only have a love for our kids but also a passion for helping them to understand Scripture better. We have Bible classes for all ages on both Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. We have a program called “KidSing” on Sunday evenings before worship that is specifically designed for our RISE group to sing songs and answer Bible questions. We just had Vacation Bible School last week. Our RISE group is very active. Our youth group has several events every month. They go to major events throughout the year, like Summer Youth Series, Challenge Youth Conference, church camp, and Horizons. I am thankful for that, aren’t you? I am thankful to be a part of a congregation that cares about and does so much for the next generation. Within our congregation, we have a lot of different resources that help our young people learn about the Bible.
However, when we look at passages of Scripture like Psalm 78:1-6, we find that all of those resources are only helps. How do our children come to know about God, His Son, and His Word? The testimony of Scripture is that parents have the responsibility to teach their children about the Bible. Parents and grandparents are not to hide the teaching about God that has been passed down to them from their children. Parents have the responsibility and privilege of telling the next generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, His might, and the wonders that He has done. This is not a suggestion from God. This is not optional. This has been commanded by God. What we do within our collective church family for our youth serves only as a supplement to what should already be taking place at home. If our children are going to grow up to know the Bible and follow what it teaches, families must study the Bible together. While there is a lot to be said about the parents’ example and how impactful that is on their children, there is nothing that can replace teaching from the Scriptures. It has to happen. Every Christian family needs to spend time studying the Bible together.
In Judges 2:10, the Bible says, “And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had done for Israel.” Do you know why that happened? Parents did not teach their children. Families did not study together or have spiritual conversations with one another. In that, we see the need for family Bible study. Let’s not allow this to happen within our homes or our church family. Let’s be dedicated to studying, growing, maturing, and learning together!
-Tyler Alverson
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