ARE YOU DISCIPLING YOUR OWN KIDS?

The answer is yes. Discipling our children is not optional. If you have kids (or grandkids) you are discipling them. You might be discipling them for good or bad, but you are discipling them one way or another. There are at least four ways parents disciple their kids:

1. Accidental Discipleship.

Discipling is not always purposeful. Sometimes we disciple our children without them or us knowing it. For instance I remember as a little boy hanging around my dad during a work day at camp. On a coffee break a knot of guys told an off-color joke. I noticed that my father didn't join the guffaws. I watched him gently shift the conversation to a higher level. He was discipling me... accidentally. You and I have all kinds of opportunities like this to disciple our kids accidentally. More is caught than taught.

2. Discipleship Moments.

Have you had those moments when your child is especially open to you? You know, those half-minute windows when they are approachable? These are Discipleship moments and kids are open for influence... even if only for a moment. I remember discovering an item in my mother's grocery sack for which a clerk had forgotten to charge my mother. She said we could keep this and they would never know, but that would be wrong. She sent me back with the exact change. My mother was discipling me in integrity with that short sentence. With my own kids we did a lot of discipleship while we watched television. When we see something that is contrary to Christian values... we often make a momentary comment or corrective. Just for the moment. This is discipleship too.

3. Discipleship events.

Great celebration events have a major impact on kids. Consider the feasts and holy days of Old Testament times. These were perhaps the primary means of discipling Jewish children. Children love bi