Grace Notes // When We Were Kings Part 2
Week 12 // Invest in What Matters
Written by Keli Miller
“Train a child up in the way they should go and when they are old, they will not part from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
We’ve been studying the books of Kings for nearly 10 months now. We’ve seen the Israelites struggle to hold to God’s instruction. We’ve read how king after king has followed in their father’s footsteps. “...Like his father he did not remove the high places” is a sentence that has begun almost every king’s journey. And now as we near the end of 2 Kings, we see Assyria siege Samaria - leading to Israel’s exile. We’ll learn later on in scripture that this took place as a direct result of their disobedience to God. They failed to disciple and remind one another of God’s covenant and allowed themselves and their children to be led astray.
Our decisions have descendents, not just metaphorical outcomes but literal descendents.
Think back to your own faith journey. What voices and relationships stick out to you? I’d be willing to bet money that it involved at least one person from outside your nuclear family. For me it was many people. There was Daniel, my first youth pastor. JB and Carla, my camp directors. Denise, my mentor throughout high school. Lara, Julia, Serenity, Mercy, Ilona, Michael and many more camp staff that gave their time not only each summer but throughout the years, building relationships with me and teaching me about Jesus.
There is not a 12 step program for discipleship. Look at the Bible, look at how Jesus modeled discipleship. He gathered his 12 and they traveled as a group. It was through breaking bread, and being a part of the every day life of Jesus that they were discipled.
Hear me on this, the nuclear family is important. It is through the institution of family that we have a beautiful example of God’s heart and the design of His Church. The Church is the family of God. Family doesn’t just show up for each other once a week. Family is deeply relational and supportive.
Making disciples is not a passive process that happens casually. It is an active, intentional choice.
Each Sunday, we gather our Kids downstairs in the basement. We sing songs, play games, study the Bible and have thoughtful conversation. In 10 years from now it is unlikely that kids will remember the exact lessons and stories that we taught them. But what they will take with them are the memories of how they felt and the relationships they built during this time.
In a 2013 research study done by Barna, it was shown that those with a close intergenerational relationship were twice as more likely to stay in the church as opposed to those without. Now, you look around GCC and think “Uh Keli, we are a single generation church…” And to that I would say, you’re wrong and you’re missing the point. We are heavily millennial and Gen Z, yes. But within that we have many different seasons of life. We have marrieds, singles, young professionals, college students, the occasional high school students, and an Elementary and a Preschool class that are both flourishing.
The responsibility to train up our youth is a corporate one as well as an individual one. It is a biblical mandate to go and make disciples, one that none of us are excluded from. Your leadership is needed by the family of God, we are one body working together to further God’s kingdom. Are you pulling your weight? Better yet, are you pulling someone else’s?
Reflection
Look at your time and how you spend it. Are you intentionally giving any time to discipling the next generation?
Throughout the New Testament we see Jesus pursue and call his disciples. Intentionally ask God to highlight who is in your reach and who to pursue.