Children, Sin and Salvation

This morning our church hosted a childhood conversion seminar.  Even though Eric got in late last night, he got up with me and we went to the seminar with the boys.  The premise of it was evangelizing to our children.  We know through Scripture that man is born into sin.  It can be hard to look at our little babies and realize that they were born into iniquity (Psalm 51:5).  We also know through Scripture that the Holy Spirit is the one that changes our hearts and allows us to see Christ as more desirable and beautiful than our sin (2 Thess. 2:13).  The gospel cannot transform without a clear presentation however and that is where the duty of the parent comes in to teach their children.  The primary point was that the first way we teach our children the gospel is through example in our own lives.  I felt really convicted when the speaker asked if we thought we were the godliest people in our children's lives.  I cannot confidently say that I am.  I can think of lots of great examples that our children have but it made me more determined to be the person that I want my children to become.  A lot of techniques were discussed such as bible reading, memorization, catechizing, media resources. etc.  The seminar touched on what genuine conversion was and that if our children make a profession at an early age to foster and encourage that.  The litmus test so to speak with conversion is that time alone will show if that child has the genuine fruits of repentance.  We cannot encourage our children in easy believism--that a prayer recited will save them without the genuine heart change behind it.  It was all good stuff that I had thought about before but becomes a lot more real when I ponder needing to teach the gospel to my own children.

When Eric and I were still expecting our twin boys, we were given the book Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp.  We really enjoyed the book and it was a great conversation tool when it came to discussing parenting approaches.  The book emphasizes that the last thing we want to impress upon our children is moralism.  It can be so easy in trying to teach and train good behavior in our children to fail to address the heart issues behind them.  This then teaches children to simply conform on the outside while their heart remains dark.  We do not need little Pharisees that love rules and know how to stick to them yet have hearts like white washed tombs.  It's our sacred duty as parents to teach our children that their sin is bad because it grieves their Heavenly Father and not only because their bad behavior will get them punished by mom and dad.

We pray for our children daily.  We know that we can provide Abraham and Winston every comfort on this earth but that if we fail to teach them their need for a Savior that we will have failed  miserably.  We will not only have failed our children but sinned against them and our God.  Ultimately we need lots and lots of grace.  We need grace to live lives that exemplify Christ and demonstrate His love.  We need grace to show our children that we need repentance just as much as they do and follow through on that by asking their forgiveness when we sin against them.  We need grace to follow through on spiritual disciplines such as Scripture reading and prayer that will help teach our children about God's love.  We need grace to implement discipline techniques that are effective but don't embitter our children (Col. 3:21).  We need grace to have the words to say when questions are asked and doubts are shared.  Ultimately we cannot transfer our faith to our children but we can be faithful in evangelizing to them.