Let me share with you a very common and appropriate strategy for life. You see, I can’t do it all. It’s impossible. I pay someone to do my taxes. I found a CPA and I trust the responsibility of my taxes to them. If my kids ever come to me and want to play violin, the last thing I would do would be pick up the violin, teach myself, and then seek to pass it on to them. I would, however, find an accomplished violinist who would seek to pass that skill on to my child. And I am certainly willing to pay for that resource. This is outsourcing.
Outsourcing Bible Training
Following this line of reasoning, someone might conclude that a winning strategy to raise your child spiritually would be to find a dynamic church with a dynamic children’s ministry and make sure they are present at church as much as possible. Check the box. This would just be another way to be a resourceful manager of all of your responsibilities. I mean, if it works for my taxes and for my kids violin lessons, I could certainly apply this same principle to spiritually imparting truth to my kids. Right? This is outsourcing, too.
The Bible's Plan
The Bible actually has no room or category for a person to outsource the spiritual instruction of their own children to someone else. The Bible is very clear that passing on of the faith lands squarely as the primary responsibility of the parents. Think about it like this, your children will be in Sunday school about 40-50 hours a year. That’s in comparison to about 2000-3000 hours that they will be with you in your family.
Parent's are the Answer
You may not feel like the best equipped to raise your children spiritually. I get it. You are still, however, in the best position to influence them the most for the Kingdom of God. Can you read? Then you can lead. Grab a quality Children’s Bible and just start. We are parents. This is our role. We are called to be the primary Spiritual Nurturing Agent in our children’s lives. It’s us. There is no Plan B.
