Don’t send your kids to church, take them! I was walking through an airport tonight on the long trek from the E concourse to the C concourse – you know the drill. While trodding toward the gate, I overheard the conversation of a older man walking toward concourse C. I became so intrigued with his conversation (yes, I know that’s ease dropping, but we were walking side by side J), that I slowed my gait to match his so I could hear the rest of the conversation. I have no idea who was on the other end of the phone, but the one sided conversation went something like this:
“I so enjoyed my trip to Pittsburg, but what intrigued me the most was visiting the church my parents took me to as a boy. I am sixty years old and it has been 45 years since I was in church. But when I went in, something happened, all of the seeds of the gospel inside of me reconnected and I recommitted my life to Christ. It was like magic inside of me. All of the seeds inside my soul began to sprout wings. That’s why it’s important to take your kids to church when they are young.” …end of conversation!
He’s right! It is very important that during the impressionable years of a child’s life that the seeds of the gospel gets inside of them. There are too many empty back seats in the cars of church goers, while the kids in their family and neighborhoods sleep in and fill their heads with Sunday morning video games and cartoons. 72% of all people coming to Christ today are under the age of 18. 77% are under the age of 21. Yet, most churches still invest the majority of their budget making the 30-80 year old group happy. We need to put more of our church budgets into children’s ministry and another big chunk into student ministry. Our sons and daughters are the ONLY future we have.
Many parents who were raised in church are not taking their kids to church. It reminds me of the story of Lot in the Bible. Because of his uncle Abraham, he knew the way out of Sodom and Gomorrah, but his children didn’t believe. Just because you know about Jesus, is not guarantee that the seed of faith and the gospel is planted in your children.
Your empty back seat may be your most fruitful field of evangelism.
