1 Timothy 4:12b – Set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
THEME OF THE DAY: MORE CAUGHT THAN TAUGHT. Before we move into the theme of the day, I want to qualify something. This will not be something that gets us off the hook when it comes to verbally teaching the truth of God, proclaiming the Gospel of the Lord Jesus, or other verbal expressions of God’s Word. There are to be no “silent service” Christians in the Lord’s army. We are each responsible to proclaim His Word with our tongues AND affirm His Word with our lives. So, as we digest this nugget – “More caught than taught”, this does not allow us to shun our responsibility and privilege to be vocal about our faith. Okay . . . here we go . . .
Friends, when it comes to passing down the faith in our homes, churches, communities, and nation to the next generation, it will be accomplished more by what is observed in us than what is heard from us. And I want to tie this to our families. There is a growing alarm among reputable church leaders about the mass exodus of youth from our churches and the faith. The cry is going forth from many about the young people who have left the church, even rejected the faith, as soon as they reach adulthood, spread their wings of independence, and leave the boundaries of our homes. Actually, young people at this age who choose to walk away from church and the faith have long ago checked out spiritually. We probably lost them in middle school and certainly in high school. And it wasn’t the fault of an ineffective youth group or inactive Sunday School program. As much as it is difficult to swallow, if our children don’t embrace the faith on their own, we must assume some personal responsibility by the examples we may have given them. Perhaps we didn’t represent our Lord as He is. Remember, Jesus is attractive and magnetic. He draws people through His people modeling Him. Now, I am not saying parents are totally responsible for the spiritual outcome of our children. Not at all. My theology and conviction of God’s sovereign grace and personal responsibility will not place sole blame on parents who failed to consistently model Christ-centered living in their families. However, some blame does lie with us, if we did fail in this area. Please don’t despair and feel like a total failure as a parent. God is merciful and will forgive our failed parenting and still pursue our unsaved or prodigal children, but here is the lesson of today and it goes beyond parenting . . .
Husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, the Christianity our spouses and children observe in and from us will be the Christianity they either embrace or reject. More will be caught in our homes about the Lord and His truth by what is observed than what is heard. And the two most important things we do for our families is represent the Lord Jesus in our conduct, attitudes, and speech, and model sacrificial and faithful commitment to what is dearest to the heart of the Lord – His church. We should not be surprised if our family members reject Biblical Christianity, see no need, importance, or relevance of the local church, and find no irresistible attraction to the Lord Jesus if day-in-day-out, week-in-week-out, month-in-month out, and year-in-year-out they observed our lack of diligence in living out Biblical Christianity, our lack of modeling the indispensable place the church plays in spiritual growth, and our lack of living in awe, love, and wonder over the marvelous Person of our Lord Jesus. They simply followed the models observed.
As a pastor and still parenting adult children (no one ever gets relieved of parent privileges and duties no matter the age of our children), I am burdened and greatly concerned when I see a lack of faithful attendance of young people to the advertised services and opportunities to be in the Word with God’s people. And I am even more concerned when I see very little participation in the prayer ministries of the church by young people, but my burden and concern shifts to the models before them. Beloved, our children, our young people, will not be excited about attending times for the Word or discover the joy of praying with other believers if they don’t see it in us, the generations ahead of them. Again, they will only catch and get excited about what they observe is exciting to us. Hopefully, they are observing the things of the Lord are exciting us more than the things of the world. And if that isn’t the case, we must do two things; ask ourselves, “Why not?” and then, starting today, be more aggressive to model Biblical Christianity with joy and consistency. Remember, more will be caught by observation than taught by proclamation.
PRAYER: “Father, help me to ensure my life lived for You matches my profession of faith in You.”
QUOTE: “Do not underestimate the power of a life changed by Jesus Christ and observed by those watching it