2008: A Year for Family Worship

Returning to our editor's theme for the start of this year, I would make another suggestion for "the most important issue facing the church in 2008?"  Having already suggested a renewed passion for world missions and the support of the growing church in the developing world, I would also like to consider the situation here at home.  I believe that one of the most pressing needs is for evangelical Christians to respond to our staggering failure to lead our children into a saving discipleship with Jesus Christ.  Both statistics and experience reveal that an appallingly low number of "Christian" youth are transitioning into adulthood with a living faith.  I would suggest that the main causes of this are 1) the way so many Christians live compartmentalized lives, with Christian discipleship relegated to Sunday mornings only, so that their children are turned off by the obvious lack of authenticity in their parents' faith; 2) the superficial approach to everything, but especially youth ministry, in evangelical churches today; 3) parents' failure to personally disciple their children in the faith.  Given this dire situation and its alarming sources, I suggest that a need of vital urgency among Christians is for believing parents to recommit to a hands-on approach to the Christian nurture of their children.  The most significant way to address this is by a renewed commitment to family worship in the home.

A couple of weeks ago, I addressed this in my pastor's letter to my congregation.  Perhaps our readers might benefit from it as well: