Kerby Anderson

George Barna has written a book to help parents discipline their children into spiritual champions. Raising children is a privilege, but also a daunting assignment. Parents have a God-given responsibility to guide their children, but it is often difficult to understand how to do that effectively and biblically.

One significant problem is the stark reality that so many Christian parents do not have a biblical worldview, as determined by the decades of surveys conducted by George Barna. As he reminded us on the radio program, it is difficult to pass on what you don’t have. The obvious first step is for parents to make sure they have a biblical worldview.

His first few chapters describe the importance of children and the need for parents to disciple them. His second section details what it takes to make a disciple, and lays out four practices that characterize genuine disciples of Jesus. The final section is a warning about how media and church-based ministries are affecting our children.

We cannot delegate disciple-making to the church for two reasons. First, it is the parent’s responsibility to disciple a child. Second, pastors may not be equipped to teach a biblical worldview. We talked about Barna's latest research showing how many pastors (and especially youth pastors) do not have a biblical worldview.

It appears that most of what our children will be as adults is essentially determined by age 13. Their core beliefs, morals, values, and desires have become established by that time, though we can always have an influence on our children.

His book is a reminder that we need to be intentional in the teaching and modeling that parents and grandparents provide. We need to be “Raising Spiritual Champions,” and we need to begin today.