How Effective Are We at Reaching our Children?
George Barna is a Christian pollster. He spends zillions of hours polling every conceivable issue that helps us understand Christians and the Christian world. Every year he releases his results of the 10 or so issues and findings of the previous year. Here is one that will cause your eyebrows to raise:
"Seven out of ten parents claim they are effective at developing the spiritual maturity of their children, but the Barna survey among 8-to-12-year-olds discovered that only one-third of them say a church has made “a positive difference” in their life; one-third contend that prayer is very important in their life; most of them would rather be popular than to do what is morally right. In fact, “tweeners” (those ages 8 to 12) deem their family to be vitally important in their life, but just 57% said they look forward to spending time with their family and only one out of every three say it is easy for them to talk to their parents about things that matter to them."
Remember, he is not polling unbelievers and non-church-goers. This is a poll targeting Christians. How can we better impact our children? What advice would you give to a brand new parent starting out today?
"Seven out of ten parents claim they are effective at developing the spiritual maturity of their children, but the Barna survey among 8-to-12-year-olds discovered that only one-third of them say a church has made “a positive difference” in their life; one-third contend that prayer is very important in their life; most of them would rather be popular than to do what is morally right. In fact, “tweeners” (those ages 8 to 12) deem their family to be vitally important in their life, but just 57% said they look forward to spending time with their family and only one out of every three say it is easy for them to talk to their parents about things that matter to them."
Remember, he is not polling unbelievers and non-church-goers. This is a poll targeting Christians. How can we better impact our children? What advice would you give to a brand new parent starting out today?
posted by jawbone at
1:51 PM
2 Comments:
I think the number one piece of advice I would give new parents is to be intentional in their parenting. I would love to see parents who take the time to think through what they want their children to be like as they grow up. If you want your child to grow up serving the Lord then church and servanthood needs to be emphasized when they are young. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 gives parents instruction on how to bring up their children. Lessons are taught in the context of life with parents always modeling Christ before their children.
By
Anonymous, at 2:56 PM
I am encourage by the numbers of my friends who are now saying, "It just isn't Christmas unless I have gone to church and spent time recognizing why we celebrate this day," instead of the usual, "It just isn't Christmas if we don't get a Christmas tree, presents, etc..."
Natalie
By
Anonymous, at 10:39 AM
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