What does Family Discipleship Look Like?

My good friend of mine and fellow student pastor Ryan Marcum (www.ryanmarcum.com) and I have been discussing creating a Family Discipleship Plan. He has some great ideas when it comes to how is family discipleship built. I was reading his blog this morning on Family Discipleship Action Steps - It is a great read that you can check out here. http://ryanmarcum.com/family-discipleship-action-steps/. We talked about one other step that I believe is important. I decided to write it up myself so the following is my addition to the action steps for a family discipleship plan. Let me know what you think. Comment below any other additions or subtractions that you feel are necessary.

Another important step in family dicipleship is to:

Seize God Sightings and Make Time for Spiritual Conversations – One thing that is important in family discipleship is to (1) ask for, (2) look for, and (3) seize “God sightings.”  I can’t think of a better way to discuss spiritual matters with your children than by sharing things of God that you see together. Let’s take a look at the three ways to do this:

1. “Ask for” – We must be in a state of constant prayer. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 when Paul says, “never stop praying” (NLT) he is not giving us a rule to live by but reminding the church of Thesselonica that we as believers should always be in communication with God. I think as parents we must always ask God to show us ways we can share His love with our children.
2. “Look for” – As parents, we must seek the guide and counsel of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 16:6, Paul changed his plans and looked for what God wanted him to do as he traveled to Macedonia. In the same way, as we walk throughout our day with our children, we must constantly be in tune with the Spirit to show us these “God Sightings.
3. “Seize them” – Once we have asked for and looked for “God Sightings” we must take advantage of them. So many times we feel as parent’s maybe the time is not right, or we don’t know how to talk to our children about these moments. Allow the Spirit to guide your conversation and open up a spiritual dialogue between you and your child. Spiritual conversations can be awkward and uncomfortable at first, but as you and your child get used to talking about things that are of God, they will look forward to asking questions and hearing your views on spiritual matters. Remember it is okay to tell your child you do not know an answer that they ask. But make a commitment that you will seek an answer together as a family. In the end there may not be an answer to what they want to know. Explain to them that is okay. I have always said, “I don’t want to serve a God that I can explain 100%.” That makes Him too humanly. I enjoy the fact that there is some mystery to God that I will not know this side of heaven (and won’t care about once I am in heaven.)