Expecting Less from Faith

"I'm so proud of you!"  I said to my 8 year old daughter.  She had just completed reading the Gospel of John in 21 days.  Her AWANA teacher had challenged her class to read a chapter a day for 21 days to receive the little jewel in her crown.

Little did I know that this small exercise was about to revolutionize my world.

You see, at the time, I had been a pastor over youth for 7 years.  I had a Youth Ministry degree.  I was considered by society and the faith community an expert in my field.  Families and youth came to me for answers to their problems concerning faith in Christ.  Parents entrusted me with their youth to teach them on a week-to-week basis in areas of apologetics & Bible study.  

However, I stood dumbfounded as I thought of the implications of what my daughter had just done.  I had never even considered what my daughter was capable of doing.

My wife and I were just like most other Christian parents who wanted their children raised in the Lord.  My 8 year old was the oldest of three.  We read Bible stories to her.  We prayed with her.  I even had the privilege of baptizing her.  We read some of the Bible with her during her mandatory reading time in the public school, as a witness to her teacher.  We served as a family at our church and in the outreaches they participated in.

But never in a million years did I think that she was ready to read the Bible on her own.  As a matter of fact, I had no idea what she was capable of spiritually.  I had been waiting for the day that she would enter the youth group and I would challenge her to begin to read the Bible then.

It looks like my timetable was about 3 years too late.

My daughter was ready for the challenge then...at 3rd grade.  Had that AWANA teacher not given her the assignment, I would have never known what she could actually do.  They don't teach you those things in Bible College.  They don't teach you those things at church...at least, none of the churches I have been.  

My eyes were opened to the sad truth that I had expected too little from my children in the area of faith.  

Unfortunately, unknowingly, this same problem exists in most Christian households.  Most Christian parents, like myself, want our children to grow up to be strong believers in Christ.  Therefore, we bring them to church and involve them in every program we can think of so that they will have some idea of what it means to be a Christian.  We might even read them Bible stories or talk about their teaching time with them as we drive home from church.  

The reality is that most of us are not challenging our children at a level that they are capable of learning.  Like myself, most of us have no idea what that level is or when it is time to step things up to the next level regarding their faith.  And if we were to ask our leaders in the church, they wouldn't know either.

Without even knowing it, we have been expecting less from our children in the area of faith than they are capable of.  

If we are to stem the tide of unbelief that is invading our culture through our former youth and young adults, we are going to need to start building faith in our children at an earlier age...and it needs to start now at home.