December 19, 2007
Column #1,373
(first of a two-part series)
"Revolutionary Parenting" - Part I
By Mike McManus
Every Christmas I suggest a gift that can draw others closer to Jesus,
whose birthday is being celebrated. This is my most important
suggestion ever for parents or grandparents. Buy the book
"Revolutionary Parenting" by George Barna, a Christian pollster and
author of 38 books, known best for "The Frog in the Kettle."
Barna initially doubted the need for the book. Ten new parenting books
have been published daily for 21 years - 75,000 of them. Why is another
needed?
First, parents must learn how to help their children become "spiritual
champions," who are "irrepressible followers of Jesus Christ, who accept
the Bible as truth, and seek ways to impact the world and continually
deepen his or her relationship with God."
Spiritual champions are also unusually generous with time and money in
support of spiritually driven causes, screen the media they ingest and
"strive to change the world in small but life-impacting ways" such as
feeding the hungry, counseling the bereaved, encouraging the confused,
or protecting the environment.
Second, Barna's book is based on a thousand interviews with people in
their twenties who ARE leading transformed lives - and with hundreds of
their parents, to learn how they created spiritual champions. In this
research with two generations - the change agent and the changed agent -
of the parenting process, Barna found tremendous consistency between
what the parents say they did and what their spiritually transformed
children remember experiencing.
Compare that research with what is in most parenting books - hunches,
personal experience or unproven theories.
The need for creating spiritual champions can be gleaned from a cursory
look at the American culture where four-fifths profess to be Christians
and 40 percent attend services in any week.
Our nominal Christian culture has produced students who score well below
a many nations in reading, math and science. Nearly half are sexually
active in high school, 13 million kids live in poverty and 12 million
are overweight. Why? One answer is that 18 million children are being
reared by single parents.
(Virtually all spiritually transformed young adults were raised by
married couples.)
Most children are biblically illiterate. Only a third think the Bible is
accurate. More than half (56 percent) believe Jesus sinned and only a
third ardently contend that He returned to physical life after his
crucifixion. And average 13-year-olds think they "already know
everything of significance in the Bible," Barna writes. "Hence, they are
no longer open to learning or actively studying the Scriptures."
This is powerful evidence that both parents and churches have failed to
transmit the faith. The biggest blame, however, has to be leveled at
Christian parents themselves.
Did we not pay attention to the clear command of God?
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your strength. These commandments that I give to you today are
to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them
when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down
and when you get up" (Deut. 6:5-7).
Most parents have not done that. We handed our kids to "experts" at the
church to teach the spiritual stuff.
However, even parents who have fallen short can become what Barna calls
"Revolutionary Parents." He and his wife radically changed what they
are doing with their three daughters, aged 16, 13 and 12. "I am an
author, a speaker and a researcher, but I am a parent first and
foremost. While my books may have helped some churches change, my
greatest opportunity for fostering change is with our own children," he
says.
The Barna family now gathers regularly to study the Bible and discuss
it. He regularly goes through the girls IPods to listen to their music,
so he can talk specifically about whether what they are listening to "is
something you should put into your head." If it is unbiblical, he
explains what makes it unbiblical to his daughters.
He urges parents to view their children as their legacy. "There is no
more important thing we will ever produce than who our children become.
The church's responsibility is not to raise children, but to support
parents in raising children.
"If we want to see a strong America, we have to ensure that our children
grow up into responsible adults who have appropriate values, morals and
faith."
Next week's column will give more detail on how to be Revolutionary
Parents.
Meanwhile, order the book from Amazon.com for only $12.23. Make a New
Year's Resolution to love your children in this deeper way. There's no
better Christmas gift.
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