Intentional Times of Teaching Our Kids - Part 1

Posted by Randy | Labels: , , , , , , | Posted On Monday, May 24, 2010 at 5:24 PM

This past Sunday I shared the importance I see in the Bible for the church and the family to intentionally partner to reach this generation of children and students, as well as generations to come. Much of this thought is based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
"'Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.'"
Moses is speaking to the nation of Israel, the people of God. As he prepares them to enter the Promised Land, he reminds them of how important it is to not only keep God's reality and presence in front of everyone, but to constantly teach this to the children. This is the only way these truths will live. If one generation stops passing on what they've seen God do and what they've heard about from earlier times, the children won't know about God.

In working on this message for Sunday, I used a book by Reggie Joiner entitled Think Orange. There's a good reason for this title, but it take more time to explain it than I want to devote to it now. Maybe another time. For now, I want to quote four passages from this book about the four times listed in Deuteronomy. I've listed them below in a chart I shared with our church on Sunday. They sum up ideas about how we might teach our children through the plan from this passage in Deuteronomy. I'm going to share one passage a day this week (for a total of five days) so be sure to check back each day.

Times
Communication
Role
Goal
Meal Time
Formal Discussion
Teacher
Establish Values
Drive Time
Informal Dialogue
Friend
Interpret Life
Bed Time
Intimate Conversation
Counselor
Build Intimacy
Morning Time
Encouraging Words
Coach
Instill Purpose
Eating meals together is an optimal time to have a focused discussion. It gives parents a specific time to assume the role of a facilitator or teacher to target a specific truth in an interactive and relational context. Mealtime can be effective as an environment to systematically establish core principles. (I could list a lot of overused stats here, like the ones that claim the more meals families eat together, the better chance their children have of never taking drugs or going to prison. But I won't do that.)