“Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” – Ephesians 6:4
Throughout the history of Christianity, the majority of those who become Christians will be children of parents who are believers. It should be no surprise that as God gives children to Christian parents, and as Christian parents continually expose their children to the gospel, God, in His mercy, grants them repentance and faith unto life. God hears the persevering prayers of parents as they labor to wash their children with the Word and He loves to grant them their prayers. What I want to do in these couple minutes is to plea with parents to wash their children with the gospel and in prayer with an aim to see them come to faith in Christ as their own personal Lord and Savior.
“Why should I evangelize my children?”
Do you feel inadequate to evangelize your children? Do you not know the answers to the questions they ask? Would you rather get the church pastor, or a ministry leader involved? These may all be true for you, even to a degree, but in His infinite wisdom God gave your children to YOU. God gave your children to you, He calls you to evangelize your children, and He empowers you to raise them in the faith.
“Can children even come to faith?”
Some Christian parents think the best route to take is to encourage their children to wait until adulthood before urging them to become Christian. At best, this thought comes from a desire to ensure the child understands their commitment and is sincere. At worst this comes from a place of apathy regarding parental responsibility. Both scenarios need to be corrected by scripture. Scripture makes no distinction between the spiritual condition of children from adults. In their natural state, both children and adults have sinful hearts and therefore need the gospel. As a Christian parent, God has strategically placed your children with you so that you can be the carrier of the gospel to them from their youngest of days.
“How should I evangelize my children?”
Sadly, I think one of the main reasons parents fail in the area of evangelizing their children is because they don’t know how to. I have seen numerous horrible ways to evangelize children, and I am sure you have seen some ways as well. But I’d like to help give you a strategy for evangelizing your children that is both biblical and prudent.
- Expose them to the Word of God often, daily if possible.
Whether you use a catechism or a family devotional book or just read a chapter or two of the bible every day as a family, be constantly exposing your children to the Word of God. And as you constantly expose your child to the bible, frequently emphasize the gospel. Find links from whatever you’re reading and studying to the gospel message of Christ crucified, buried, raised, and reigning. In doing this you will both evangelize your unconverted children and disciple your converted children.
“… from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” – 2 Tim. 3:15
- Keep them involved and engaged in what’s happening during church.
Kids frequently struggle with boredom at church on Sunday because they don’t know what’s happening and why it’s happening. Take time to explain what’s happening and why it’s important. Explain why gathering together is important, why singing scriptural songs is good, why preaching is healthy, etc. This may require you to study for yourself why the Lord’s Day gathering is important, but this will be helpful to both you and your children. And explain the Lord’s Day gathering in the context of the gospel.
“If an unbeliever or outsider enters [the Church gathering]… the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.” 1 Cor. 14:24-25
- Have pointed conversations with your child about the gospel.
There is nothing wrong (actually, there is a lot right!) with having a direct conversation with your child about the gospel. It may be useful to have a good gospel tract and use it as a conversation guide. Begin with the goodness and holiness of God, explain sin and use the ten commandments to help the child see his/her own personal sins, and then direct them to Christ crucified, buried, raised, and reigning. After explaining the gospel, explain them what repentance and faith is. As you present the gospel to your child, watch how they respond to it. Do you seem convicted of sin? Do they see their need of Christ? Obviously, a child is going to display these qualities a bit different than an adult, so it would be wrong to expect them to express conviction or understanding with the same depth as an adult, but if God is working in their heart there will be some form of conviction and understanding of sin, righteousness, and judgment. Remember, conversion is the work of the Holy Spirit not merely human persuasion. Your role in this as the parent is to present the gospel to your child with prayer and persistence, and let God do the work of converting the heart. And God works through the gospel as you present it! This becomes easier as children become older children, but do not be afraid to do this with even younger children.
“Everyone [regardless of age!] who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard?” – Romans 10:13-14
- Pray for God to save your child.
Salvation is the work of God. You cannot save your child. Like you, your child was born with a heart of stone and in a state of sin (Ez. 36:26 & Psalm 51:5) and needs to be born again by the Spirit. This reality urges you to rely on the presentation of the gospel since that’s God’s chosen way of saving souls, but it also urges you to persist in prayer for your child as you rely on God to work in his or her heart. So, pray asking God to convert your child. Ask Him to save him or her. And then believe that God is working through you as you are presenting the gospel to your child. Also pray that your child does get saved from a young age, the youngest of age. You ought to pray that your child gets saved from a young age in the hope that they will avoid the hard consequences of adolescence and young adulthood marked by grievous sins. Seek to give your child the blessing of never knowing a lifestyle of sin and rebellion.
“First of all, then, I urge that prayers, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people… this is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” – 1 Timothy 2:1-4
What about the rebellious child?
Sadly, there are children who rebel against the faith of their parents. Sometimes this is evident from adolescence, other times it manifests when the child reaches adulthood. Some of the godliness of people I know have adult children who are far from Christ, and this breaks their heart. What should you do when your child is rebellious? Remember that prayer and the gospel work. Not only do they “work” but, just like with everyone else, the gospel is their only hope. So, keep praying for your child and keep presenting them with the gospel. I have seen many people come to faith after decades, sometimes a whole lifetime, of rebellion. So, keep praying for that child and trust that God is working.
What about baptism?
It is common that children will ask their parents about baptism. Especially after they witness someone else be baptized. This is a prime opportunity to discuss the gospel with them, so use it as a launch pad to share the gospel with your child! And as you share the gospel with them and explain the “what” and “why” of baptism, watch your child to see if they understand it. If your child wants to be baptized because it’s the fun thing to do, it would be best to delay baptism. But if your child’s understanding of the gospel is adequate and if his or her profession of faith seems sincere, what good reason would there be to delay baptism? I can’t think of one.
So, parents, it is not an accident that you are the parent of your children. God placed them with you. The first part of bringing your children up in the “discipline and instruction of the Lord” is to evangelize them. God calls you to evangelize your children. So, give them the Word of God, take them to church, pray for them, and use every opportunity you can to explain the gospel to your child.
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