God’s Heart for Family Discipleship
The Christian home is a godly indoctrination camp!
God has ordained the home to be the primary worldview shaper of the next-generation. Stated another way, it has always been the intention of God that a father and mother would purposefully disciple the kids within their four walls to know who God is and know the Truth found in His Word.
This high call upon parents is continually emphasized in the Scriptures. Timothy Paul Jones summarizes Scriptures emphasis well,
“As I examine Scripture, I find woven throughout its pages an expectation that neither the temple nor the synagogue nor ministers in the church bore the sole responsibility for training children to be followers of God. The home was divinely formed as a context for discipleship, and parents were expected to serve as disciple-makers in their children’s lives.”[1]
Let’s take some time to look at Scripture ourselves. How about we begin with some key Old Testament passages.
OT Emphasis on Family Discipleship
From the Old Testament's early pages, we see an emphasis upon parents imparting biblical truth to the next generation.
After the worldwide flood, which, by God's grace Noah and his family were the only ones to survive, the first act they participated in once they left the ark was family worship to God (Gen. 8:15-22).
Once the world was repopulated, God chose to move His salvation plan forward through Abraham (Gen. 3:15; 12). God gave Abraham what I would call the first explicit directive for family discipleship. We read in Genesis 18:19, “For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” Through the intentional passing on of truth by Abraham, the next generation would know what it looks like to follow God.
As the Old Testament storyline progresses forward, God provides more clarity and direction to the Israelites about Family Discipleship. As Moses gave instructions for the yearly observance of Passover (Exodus 12:26-27) and the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Exodus 13). The reasonable expectation was that curious children would ask what it was they were witnessing. For example, in the case with the Passover, Moses writes,
24 And you shall observe this event as an ordinance for you and your children forever. 25 When you enter the land which the Lord will give you, as He has promised, you shall observe this rite. 26 And when your children say to you, ‘What does this rite mean to you?’ 27 You shall say, ‘It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the houses of the sons of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, but spared our homes.’” (Exodus 12:24-27).
As God’s miraculous work in the past was repetitiously remembered, the parents of the next generation were to use this as an opportunity to teach about God.
As you come to the book of Deuteronomy. The last book of the Pentateuch (i.e., the first five books of the Bible). God’s emphasis on Family Discipleship crystallizes even more. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, we read what is probably the most quoted passage regarding Family Discipleship.
This passage is known as the “Shema.” This is because “Shema” is the Hebrew translation of the imperative verb “Hear” at the beginning of verse 4. The verb carries the force of a command. Thus, in this text, Israel is being called to hear and follow the truth that they are about to be made aware of.[2] And what is it that they are made aware of? Well, part of what they were made aware of was their responsibility to pass on the faith through their personal and vibrant devotion to God (Deut. 6:7).
Deuteronomy shows us that Family Discipleship, is much more than teaching our kids facts about God. Family Discipleship is undergirded by parents having a genuine relationship with God. As parents genuinely love God (v.4-5) and His Word (v.6), their love is to overflow to their children through the daily rhythms of life (v.7-9).
When Moses dies, he passes the baton of leadership in Israel to Joshua. Joshua, like Moses, instructs the people of God to memorialize the miraculous work of God. This time through an altar of 12 stones. As children would see the twelve stones, this memorial was to serve as a reminder of “God’s miraculous work in stopping up the Jordan River for the nation of Israel to cross. Once again, we see that parents were to point their children to God’s works for the purpose of putting before them the greatness of God.
The book of Proverbs serves as a great example of obedience to the emphasis upon Family Discipleship in the Scriptures like Deuteronomy 6:4-9 referenced above. Repeatedly, Solomon addressed his son (e.g., Proverbs 1:8, 10, 15; 2:1; 3:1; 5:1; 6:1: 7:1) to instruct him so that he and others might learn to fear the LORD (Proverbs 1:7; 9:10). The book of Proverbs, in many ways, illustrates a father in the OT taking the commandment of Deuteronomy 6:4-9 seriously. Speaking of Solomon’s obedience to Deuteronomy 6, Jim Hamilton’s words are extremely helpful, “He obeyed the words of God; he reformulated the teaching of these words in new and memorable ways; he advocated the joys and blessings of obedience; and, he illustrated the anguish that inevitably results from disobedience.”[3]
This brief survey of the Old Testament teaching on Family Discipleship is enough to showcase God’s heart for Family Discipleship. While it is true that these instructions were for Old Testament Israel. It is equally true that Family Discipleship remains pertinent for New Testament Christians today as well. Let’s now look at the New Testament’s teaching about Family Discipleship.
NT Emphasis on Family Discipleship
When we come to the New Testament portion of our Bible’s, we learn that the goal of every faithful Christians is to be a disciple-maker (Matthew 28:16-20). Whether you’re a parent or not, Jesus job description for you as a Christian is simple, make disciples!
Now, to be a disciple-maker, it is necessary that we have disciples. People with whom we can say like Paul, “Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Finding someone to disciple can happen in many ways. For example, you could lead someone to Christ and then very naturally become their main Christian influence in life. You could prayerfully select someone younger in the faith to spend intentional time with. Finding and identifying someone to disciple is the first step to discipling.
As a Christian parent, God has already placed your disciples within your four walls (i.e., your children!)
Paul knew this to be true, which is why he provides clarity regarding the Christian parent’s responsibility to disciple their child(ren). We read in what is often referred to as the Household Codes the instructions for parents to disciple their children (Eph. 6:4; Col. 3:21).[4] For example, Paul writes to the church at Ephesus, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). Notice the emphasis that Paul places upon the fathers! This is the reason why a primary qualification for men as elders and deacons is that they manage their own household well (1 Tim. 3:4-5; Titus 1:6). This qualification for men in church leadership is necessary so that church leaders can model what God desires every father to be doing.
Now, does this mean that mom has no role to play? Absolutely not. Moms are critical as well! Paul indicates that Timothy’s grandmother and mother played a critical role in his discipleship (2 Timothy 1:5; 3:14-15). What this means is that while fathers are primarily responsible, both parents are to be actively and intentionally engaged in bringing their children up in the discipline and the instruction of the Lord.
Conclusion
Whether it is Old Testament Israel or New Testament Christians (Deut. 6:4; Eph. 6:4). The Bible presents an overwhelming case that parents are called to be the most active, intentional, and influential teachers of biblical truth in their children’s lives.
Fulfilling and being faithful to this calling as a parent has always been important. But if there is ever a time for us to double down in our calling it is now. With the societal push to standardize godless ideologies, it is imperative that we indoctrinate our children with the truth of God’s Word
God has ordained that your home be a godly indoctrination camp of biblical truth for the next-generation. May we as parents take seriously this call and strive by the grace of God to launch young men and women into the world who stand for truth and live for the Glory of God!
[1]Paul Renfro, Brandon Shields, Jay Strother, and Kevin Jones, Perspectives on Family Ministry: 3 Views, 2nd Edition. Timothy Jones (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2019), 18.
[2] James Hamilton, “That the Coming Generation might Praise the Lord,” in Trained in the Fear of God: Family Ministry in Theological, Historical, and Practical Perspective, ed. Randy Stinson and Timothy Paul Jones (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011), 36.
[3] Hamilton, Trained in the Fear of God, 41.
[4] Andreas J. Kostenberger, God, Marrieag, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation 2nd ed. (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2010), 104-05.