申命記4:9 「但你要謹慎，殷勤保守你的心靈，免得忘記你親眼所看見的事，又免得在你一生的年日這些事離開你的心，總要把它們傳給你的子子孫孫。
Deuteronomy 4:9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.
在以色列人進入應許之地之前，摩西命令他們不要忘記他們在曠野的經歷，並且非常重要地指示他們“讓你的孩子和你的孩子知道神”。由於基督教家庭的屬靈狀況的軟弱，基督教在美國（以及整個西方）迅速衰落。教會需要重新思考和改變將信仰傳遞給下一代的方法。長期以來，教會一直像“大政府”一樣運作——有良好的意圖，但用其他成人或年輕人代替父母作為孩子的主要老師。我們可以看到，整體結果並不如預期。有沒有更好的方法用上帝的方式訓練我們的孩子，而不是單依靠兒童崇拜、主日學、VBS、青年團契等？
Mike Dowgiewicz 在“恢復早期教會Restoring the Early Church”中說：
“猶太教在每一代人的迫害中倖存下來，因為宗教生活的真正結構和功能是以家庭為中心的。儘管幾個世紀以來有如此多的猶太教堂被摧毀，但猶太教得以倖存下來，因為每個猶太人都被期望了解他祖先的信仰。因此，猶太教總是可以在家中生存。 ” [強調補充]
讓我們回到上帝的話語中，承擔上帝為我們作為父母所計劃的角色。祂將使我們成為可能！通過祂的話語和祂的工作將世代聯繫起來是神的心意。讓我們以家庭為中心，使我們的孩子認識上帝並愛祂。
Before the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Moses commanded them to not forget their experience in the wilderness and very importantly instructed them to “Make them known to your children and your children’s children.” Christianity is rapidly declining in America (and in the West overall) as a result of the weak spiritual state of Christian families. Churches also need to rethink and revise their methods of passing on the faith to the next generation. For too long churches have worked like ‘big government” – having good intentions, but replacing parents with other adults or youths as the main teachers of their children. We can see that the overall result is not as it should be. Is there a better way to train our children in God’s ways than relying on Children’s Worship, Sunday School, VBS, youth group, etc.?
Mike Dowgiewicz in “Restoring the Early Church” says:
“Judaism survived persecution in every generation because the real structure and function of religious life was home centered. Although so many synagogues were destroyed over the course of centuries, Judaism survived because every Jew was expected to be knowledgeable about the faith of his ancestors. Therefore Judaism could always survive in the home. ” [emphasis added]
Let us return to the Word of God and take on the role God planned for us as parents to have. He will enable us! It is God’s heart to connect the generations through His Word and His work. Let us make the family the center of how our children learn about God and come to love Him.
