Grandparents
Day is coming. What better way to mark the day than to begin preparing your
grandkids for a life of faith?
A
colleague of mine—let’s just call her Gail—was delighted when her son announced
that he and his wife were expecting their first baby. Gail immediately headed
for the mall and bought a boatload of baby clothes and toys. When their
grandson reached toddlerhood, Gail and her husband frequently took him to
parks, or out for ice cream.
And now,
as her grandson grows older and starts wading out into the culture, Gail wants
to be a positive spiritual influence on him as well. But how?
Think
about the drastic cultural and moral changes that have occurred just in the
past 10 years—never mind the changes in the 50 years since today’s grandparents
were growing up.
America’s
30 million grandparents could never have imagined the ubiquitous presence of
screens, smart phones, social media, nor the redefinition of marriage and what
it means to be a man or a woman, nor the utter coarseness of popular
entertainment. But this is the only world our nation’s grandkids have ever
known.
That’s one
reason I recommend for you grandparents my colleague John Stonestreet’s
book “A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next
Generation Navigate Today’s World.” It will help you better
understand the social pressures and trends your grandkids deal with every day.
And it will help you help them as well.
And here’s
another thing. Our culture wants us to believe that our elders belong in the
retirement home or on the golf course. Don’t buy it! In fact, Chuck Colson
dismissed the idea that Christians could ever retire. Sure, it might be time to
walk away from the 9-5 job and start collecting a pension. But we can never
retire from Kingdom work—And certainly teaching our “children and our
children’s children” to love and fear the Lord as we are commanded in
Deuteronomy is vital Kindgom work. It’s why the Apostle Paul praised Lois,
Timothy’s grandmother, who nurtured one of Paul’s most able helpers in his
Christian faith (2 Tim 1:5).
And it’s
why Chuck himself took a great interest in the spiritual lives of his own
grandchildren, praying for them daily, and spending one-on-one time with them.
And yet,
when was the last time you heard a sermon on the spiritual role of
grandparents? And while many churches provide classes on Christian
childrearing, very few teach grandparents how to contribute to the discipling
of their grandchildren.
That’s one
reason one of John Stonestreet’s friends, Larry Fowler, founded the Legacy
Coalition, a ministry that encourages intentional Christian grandparenting.
Several
years ago, Larry said, God began to impress on him and his wife how important
it was for them to become involved in the lives of their own grandchildren as
additional spiritual influences—even though it meant moving halfway across the
country to be near them. As he puts it, “Behind parents, grandparents are the
most influential people in the lives of children and youth. We want to help
leverage that for the kingdom.”
The Legacy
Coalition provides resources and training for grandparents and
church leaders who want to come alongside the grandparents in their
congregations. It also offers ideas for long-distance grandparenting.
This
Sunday is Grandparents Day. If you have grandkids, I urge you to reflect on the
enormous treasure that God has given you in your grandchildren—and on how God
would use you to build them up in the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.
Eric
Metaxas is the host of the “Eric Metaxas Show,” a co-host of “BreakPoint” radio
and a New York Times #1 best-selling author. His most recent book is "Martin Luther: The Man Who Rediscovered God and
Changed the World."
Editor's
Note: This piece was originally published by BreakPoint.