This week at our church, Stuart Briscoe made this comment to a group of pastors (as close as I can recall the wording): "The amount of unmobilized resources in our pews is the biggest scandal in the church." Week after week, people are "fed" in churches - but very little of tangible change in the world comes of it. (Briscoe also said - and I've got this one down exactly, "When all is said and done, more is usually said than done.")
There are many reasons why Christians are held back from living out the gospel in a way that impacts the kingdom of God. Churches themselves sometimes get in the way. But I think much of the reason is something I alluded to last week: many adult Christians are hindered by priorities, habits, and liabilities that keep them in bondage. These are holes we've dug for ourselves, and we're so preoccupied by the tyranny of the urgent we cannot extricate ourselves and live from a place where we can be all God wants - and needs - us to be.
It isn't that we don't care or can't see the problems in the world. It's that we feel already overburdened with our own lives. Or, we may be giving in to the belief that the world's problems are so big, why even try? These forces of apathy and powerlessness derive from what the Apostle John calls "the world", making for an odd paradox: the very world we're trying to impact and redeem is itself full of an inertia that makes such change unlikely.
What's needed is a new dose of youthful optimism. You and I had it before it was eclipsed by "the world". But your kids are full of that optimism now. How much of that optimism, the wholehearted belief that in God "all things are possible", carries into adulthood depends a lot on how rich we make them as kids.
Did I say rich? Well, yes, I did. Because Jesus used the same term. In scolding a young man who wanted to make a power play against his own brother to get inheritance money, Jesus warned that "a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." He told him this parable:
A man had a good crop and saw an opportunity to get rich. He made plans: he'd build bigger storehouses, cash in, and live an easy life. But God delivers a whopper: "This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?" And Jesus concludes: "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."
Being "rich toward God" is the game-changer! It's why the kingdom of God is an upside-down kingdom. It's why many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. It's why those who are humble will be exalted, yet those who are exalted will be made low. "Rich toward God" is a concept that stands in opposition to much of what the world values for us - and for our kids.
We're visiting the concept of "rich toward God" right now with our 4th-6th graders. It's clear that it is the antidote to the type of living Jesus warns against: in other words, there were things the man in the parable should have set his sights on, places his thoughts should have defaulted to, that would have revealed a right heart. What were they, and how do we get them? That's something we want kids to wrestle with. They will make up their own minds whether being "rich toward God" is a worthy goal. We can only lead them there; we can't choose it for them. It's their life.
But, your preteen kid isn't fully autonomous yet either. Parents still exercise a vast amount of control over kids' environments and activities. So I want to suggest four aspects of this "being rich" that we might strive for in the lives of your kids. Or perhaps I should say, "being R.I.C.H.", because I've distilled the four into a nifty little acronym:
R stands for Relationships. I want your kid to be rich in relationships: same-age, family, and with older supportive adults.
I stands for Identity. I want kids to know who they are. Part of this includes acknowledging and accepting who they aren't, as well as the fact that God does everything on purpose. Who they are is a purposeful design; how they live ought to be filled with purpose-filled intent.
C stands for Christ. I want them to know, acknowledge, believe, understand, get, embody (etc.) who Christ is. The Christian faith is not Jesus-optional! Something about his life, death, and work on our behalf absolutely matters. Without it, we are absolutely adrift. How many of our kids get that?
Finally, H stands for Heart and Hands experiences. We learn best by doing. Life changes life. Words might change life a little. Beliefs alter life more. Those beliefs are shaped by life. So if kids can see (that is, experience) redemption and transformation in action, they are more likely to adopt life patterns that continue to have transformative effect on the people around them. (Or, to put it more simply, people who are in the habit of serving others, serve others. Pick your favorite.)
I believe R.I.C.H. kids are the kind of kids who grow into adults who change the world. They are the type I wrote about last week: God-centered, Spirit-filled, truth-founded, mission-minded, others-focused, and purpose-driven. In the coming weeks, I'll detail why I think making your kid R.I.C.H. in each of these four areas is essential.
But one more thing: one of the ways people become rich - at anything - is by investing. Investing is always an act of faith. Not a blind gamble, but far from an airtight guarantee. There's always a cost, and sometimes we get the return we want, but sometimes not. Kids' spiritual training is also an investment. It's why we must absolutely measure progress over the long term. It's also why we must be faithful: nothing ventured, nothing gained. Let me suggest that any investment in making your kid R.I.C.H. - in relationships, identity, Christ, or heart & hands experiences - is worthwhile.
Info, articles, and thoughts for parents of kids at North Coast Calvary Chapel.
