Strong Dads - Should I Drag My Kids To Church? Episode 119

We are not the first generation of parents to have rebellious kids.  The mere fact that our kids are human means that they have a nature of rebellion.  Rebellion of the greatest kind, rebellion against God.  We all have a nature of rebellion against God.  We want things our way.  We want what we want.  Some of us have recognized it and work to tame it and allow God's will to be done in our lives.  

So what do we do whey our kids begin to rebel against the idea of going to church?  As parents we often get nervous when our kids begin to rebel. Should we be more stern and give no alternatives to church? Or, are we doing something wrong by even expecting our kids to go to church?  Maybe we just need to back off?  

During this show, Hutch and Kyle discuss the importance of helping our kids develop more than a habit of going to church. Habits can be good and going to church is one that has benefits.  But if it is just a habit without meaning it is not unusual for it to get tested.  Eventually, people want to know why they are doing something. It is not good enough to say, "because I said so."  That might get you a few years, but it will run its course.  

There are some things that are relatively easy to address and can help alleviate the rebellion.  First, we can assess their church experience.  Church should not have the sole intention of being entertaining, but with all of the resources we have today to grab people's attention, there is little reason to not make church interesting to our kids.  The competition for their attention is great.  If we don't realize that our kids minds and souls are being leveraged against entertainment, sports, video games, phones, and a list that goes on and on. If churches believe kids should just show up because they say so, it will soon be a dying church.  

Strong Dads can help their kid's church experience by modeling the importance of church in their own lives.  They should work to see value in church for themselves, and then show their kids how church has value in their lives as well.  Believing in God is one thing.  Valuing God is a completely different.  

There is no one perfect answer to get our kids attracted to church.  But sitting back and allowing our kids to determine on their own whether they should attend church or not could be seen as negligence on the parent.  Parents would not assume they can let their kids sit home from school until they feel like they want to read or learn math.  No, parents have an expectation that their kids need to attend school even when they don't want to.  

The same holds true for what we make our kids eat at dinner and what clothes they will wear.  Parents must be parents and lead their children well.  They must understand that often the kids are not going to like what they are being asked to do, but as a parent, you know it is good for them.  

Here is the key, your kids will go to church without rebellion when they see how much you value church and how well you teach them the value of church.  Take the time and remove the pressure of church and replace it with the value of church.

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