795 WEEKS AND COUNTING (Down): LEVERAGING YOUR INFLUENCE AS A PARENT
Do you have kids? Are they as crazy as mine is? My three year old little boy is….well…ALL BOY! If it’s sports equipment or if can he manipulate it into a makeshift gun or rocket launcher he’s all about it. Just the other day we had to take him to the doctor to get his eyebrow glued back together after splitting it open at school—he was running after a basketball and tripped over a giant rocking chair/glider.
I have just 795 weeks until he graduates from high school. That’s it. 795.
How many weeks until your kid graduates from high school?
Time is our most valuable resource. We are constantly giving it away, without the option of getting more back in return. It is the definition of a non-renewable resource. As each Sunday rolls around I lose another week. 795…794…793…792, never to get them back again. Maybe this seems too nebulous.
Here are some alternative angles:
- Each year as a parent—if you work full time, get eight hours of sleep per night, and do not homeschool your kids—you get 3000 hours per year with your child. At best the church gets about 40 hours per year with your child.
- Or, using the same math, parents get over 57 hours per week with their child, compared to the church’s 1 hour per week.
I wasn’t a math major…not even close. In fact, I hate math with a holy passion. Which I find ironic and humorous considering I wanted to go into financial planning. I didn’t and you’re welcome. And yes, I was that kid, you know the one who slept through high school geometry every single day. Even though math never suited me, I can do this math: 3000>40 and 57>1.
This tells me that I have the greatest influence on the faith development of my child. Period. This also tells me, that I must learn to leverage my influence for the thing that matters most.
Not far from the place where God will let Moses see the Promised Land, from atop Mount Nebo, and near the end of his life, Moses does something that sends waves throughout history. He casts a vision for the nation of Israel—for the People of God. In Deuteronomy 6.4-9 Moses begins by speaking to the hearts of the Israelites. He warns them that what he is about to say will be huge…history changing, life altering, eternity impacting. Moses also leaves no room for loopholes: Hear O Israel…not listen up moms and dads. He addresses the whole nation of Israel. If Moses made this speech today, I believe he would begin saying: Listen up church, this is going to be huge!
His next statement is revolutionary given the spiritual climate of the region. He tells them that their God is true, strong, and one. The Canaanites, the people who occupy the Promised Land, worship several wicked gods. Least of which is Molech, whose altar was a furnace with the torso and outstretched arms of a man and the head of a bull. Drums and flutes would play to drown out the screams of the child sacrifices made to Molech. Canaanites had a god for amost everything. Moses says: Our God is one. Our God is true. Our God is strong. Our God is the Creator, not created.
The next statement Moses made would become one of the most recognized phrases in the entire bible: Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Jesus would echo this phrase in the gospels. Here, Moses makes a movement from the inside out with his instructions to love God with our total self. Moses also knew, as we should recognize today that this is a big deal. If we don’t love God with all our heart, soul, and strength, then we leave room for mixing in false gods into our worship of the true God.
Moses continues to address the church in general, and parents in particular, telling us the things he has said must to be woven into the tapestry of our lives. The point he is making is that we should leave a lasting mark of our faith on our kids. But here’s the kicker: what you learn in your own time with God, repeat that again and again and again to your kids.
Moses not only tells us what, but he tells us how, too. He urges us to find the rhythm of our family, of our day. Then to use that rhythm to strategically leverage our influence as parents as we weave faith into our every day lives. Reggie Joiner and the guys at the Think Orange Group suggest the following rhythm:
The rhythm for my family will look different than the rhythm for your family and your rhythm will change as your kids get older. What is the rhythm for your family?
Talk with your kids about who God is, what He does, and the difference He makes in your everyday lives as you…
- Drive to practice
- Watch TV
- Do chores and yard-work
- Eat at the table
- Pick up your kids after school
Moses knew that for faith to be vibrant and life giving it has to infiltrate every part of our daily lives.
As a parent you have the greatest influence over the faith development of your child. Period. Now, we must learn to leverage that influence for the thing that matters most.
Check out these resources for faith conversations and passing down your faith to your kids:
If parents would actually apply that chart (and even if that did a pretty bad job of it) it would transform our culture.
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