CHRISTIANITY UNDER SIEGE

Genesis 18: 19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

I remembered in my growing age how I helped my parents carried Bible to church, we had so much respect for that Book that we carried it with so much reverence. It must not be rough handled and must not fall down. If by chance it fell, the sin of negligence was confessed over and over again. Running around during church services was strictly prohibited and attending children Sunday school was a must. That was what it was then and as we grew into adolescent, there were acceptable norms expected of church children we just grew up into.

There were no much preaching from parents but somehow we knew we were church people, that we are Christians, that there are standards we have to live by, as young children. There were hairdo that were considered weird, there were mode of dressings we cannot even try simply because we are Christian family, Christianity was not as popular as it is now but it was thriving. Our parents passed the batton of faith to us as much as they could.

However, the case is different today, instead of Bible, children have games, instead of that holy fear and quiet attitude during church services, children run around during services, rarely love to stay in children Sunday school classes, that sacred feeling of being in church that lead to serenity is fast eroding, the new generation has no desire for worship, Bible is like any other book, they write, draw on it, play with it, tear the pages for use when they need papers and there are no alternative in sight, your dressings and hairdo no longer define who you are and that godly fear of being watched by a God you can’t see has been watered down.

Many children from so called Christian homes, especially teenagers don’t even know and cannot tell the story of Jesus Birth, Christmas is just another holiday, the days of children memory verses are gone. Chatting and texting in the middle of Sunday services are now common place. The Christian faith is loosing it’s essence, Christianity is disappearing, our children are loosing touch with personal faith. Simply put, Christianity is under siege. It is the mind of God that we raise goodly and godly children who in turn will raise children that know the God their fathers serve so that the Gospel will not fade out and become extinct or become a thing of contempt as we see in I Samuel 2 : 17, that was why God boasted about Abraham in Genesis 18: 19. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

But in our time and era Christianity is being threatened because many parents have failed in the responsibility of passing the baton of their faith to the coming generation, many assume their children will just love or know God on their own, while others leave that responsibility to the school teachers, church staff, and child minders (no one can cater for your children like you). Our generation is too busy and are so encumbered with cares, the desire for personal riches, fame, success etc is taking over everything and less time and attention are made for the children.

Basic Christian training from parents to children are no longer fashionable, Bible story times are no longer common in homes. Some parents through their attitude have made the children believe the Gospel is outdated and not meant for their own generation, so the children abhor or avoid it like plague. Some parents in their bid to care for the family; looking for what to eat, what to wear and increase their social status have entangled themselves in many social vices and have lost the Christian virtues they once had and thereby becoming a bad example to their children.

Many christian parents no longer read the Bible, they rarely pray, they are just too busy to create time for personal study and prayers. And godly lives examples are no longer common for children to see – you can’t give what you don’t have. The children from such homes end up being spiritually malnourished or completely starved because there weren’t virtues to emulate from parents. The modern parents forgot that every other thing can wait but our children cannot wait for us to fulfill our career dreams, accumulate all the wealth or become famous before we start attending to them.

These young hearts are like uncultivated lands if we don’t cultivate and plant the rightful crops, weeds will spring up and occupy the empty space because in life there is no vacuum. And it is an unfortunate thing that if we fail as parents to do our part other elements around will take advantage of our irresponsibility and plant something undesirable there and the resultant effect is too calamitous to imagine: untrained children becoming parents and the cycle keeps repeating itself because they themselves were never trained and before you know it there will be a dearth of the gospel.

I pray that will not happen in our own time and watch. Failure of Eli the priest to raise up godly children caused him the priesthood, his life was not spared, the nation of Israel was defeated, the glory departed and the Ark of God was captured. We have more to lose as individuals and as families, and as a Nation plague with young adults who get bored with the Bible and prayers. A generation with no personal faith is a calamity waiting to happen. If we don’t want this to happen in our own time then we need to wake up to our responsibility as parents and guards to our children and wards by ensuring the following:

1.Return back, confess (if you have derailed). Start reading the Bible, pray and live godly life. Let the journey to true and personal faith start with you.

2. Start teaching (talking to) them as early as possible, expecting mothers should start right from conception, speak life, grace, favor and the love of God to your children, including the one in the womb they can hear and have understanding. Never say they are too young. If you don’t fill them with Word and the Life of God someone else will fill them with thrash from the enemy. Matthew 13: 25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.

3. Make it a duty to have family devotional time every day irrespective of your schedule (even when you are out of town thank God for technology, you can pray with them on the phone), allow them to participate and give them memory verses to commit to their memory (thy word have I hidden in my heart that I may not sin against thee. Psalm 119 : 11), instead of them memorizing secular music that have no benefit to them.

4. Show them good examples by your lifestyle. Tell them your personal testimonies and experience with the Lord, so they can know that the Gospel is not outdated, that it is still attractive and can fit in to their current life situations.

5. Make your children your friend and tell them they can find a friend in Jesus, so that when they are facing difficulties or challenges they can freely open up to you and can tell their friend in Jesus. That means you need to be available and ready to listen to them at all times.

6. Teach them to pray and study the word of God on their own. Make them know the power in the Name of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus and the Word of God. So that when you are not physically with them they know Jesus will never leave them alone and He is a present HELP in times of trouble.

7. Have a personal determination to keep the faith of Jesus Christ in your family and bloodline and prayerfully do all you can to encourage your children to follow in the path of Life in Jesus Christ. If we don’t want the Christian faith to end with us, we must put grace mechanism in place for parents to children faith transfer.

I pray God will be able to say of you what he said of Abraham “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD…. Gen. 18:19. That the Lord may bring upon us, that which He has spoken for good concerning us and our children. God is counting on you.

Further Reading: I SAMUEL 2 : 2 – 17 , 27 – 36; 4 : 12 – 21.

Written by : Comfort O. Olumofin
First published in 2018 FGGC KAZAURE 93 set 25th anniversary Magazine (93 Candies)