When Going to Church Isn’t Enough

When Going to Church Isn’t Enough

Mar 01, 2016 10:59 am | Mike Glenn

When I was growing up, devotion to Christ was measured by one standard—attendance. Going to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and of course, any revival services and mission conferences were the absolute proof of one’s love for Christ. For us, it was simple. If you loved Jesus, you went to church and you went to church a lot. If you didn’t love Jesus very much, you didn’t go to church very often.
I’m being a little factitious, but not much. Now, here’s why church attendance was important. When I was growing up, almost all of our religious instruction was done at church. You learned about Jesus, the Bible, the church, salvation, ethics, theology, and the practical implications of discipleship during all of those hours you were in church.
One of the reasons we were able to live like that was how strongly the community supported our Christian faith. My teachers were all friends of my parents. (Sometimes, that didn’t work out too well for me.) My coaches all went to our church. Everyone I knew—everyone who impacted my life—was a Christian.
Obviously, that’s changed. Not only have our communities changed, there’s no guarantee the individuals impacting your children will be Christ followers. The cultural ocean (social media, trends, music, movies, etc.) in which our children must swim is decidedly NOT Christian. This is the reality. It’s not cause for us to panic; we’ve been in these situations before. It is a time when we need to be serious and intentional about the discipleship of our children.
And the first disciplers of any child are the parents, and parents need to take this calling seriously. For one thing, parents are far more influential in their children’s lives than commonly assumed. Secondly, knowing HOW to live faithfully is far more important than knowing HOW to make a living.
Now, by all means, take your children to church. Worship with them, sing with them, but also read the Bible with them, pray with them, and tell them your own faith story. Going to church is great, but in our culture right now, it’s no longer enough.
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