Belong, Believe, Become

Author - Arlie Francis

I just returned from Maui. Disciple Daily's Fellowship Team of five young men and women is still on the island, led by Keith Myer, for a few more days. This trip has not been a vacation. But that does not mean we have not had fun. We've had what I like to call "serious fun."

We visited Hawaii to serve disaster victims and remind ourselves of what is at stake worldwide. Hunger and homelessness. Despair, disease, destruction, and death. It's easy to look away from what has happened on Maui in the 21st century. Distraction and misdirection are Satan's most effective strategies. The 24/7/365 media machine is his tool.

Institutional Christendom is failing in discipleship not because there isn't enough money or a lack of facilities and programs. The problem isn't the lack of pastors and church staff. Little or large, what does God value most? Is bigger better?

All you have to do is look at Genesis 3 and 4 to see what has happened. Satan is attacking the family through his direct assault on the sacred union of one man and one woman. His offer? "You determine your destiny. You can be like God." Adam and Eve left their Creator to pursue what each of them wanted. Adam and Eve's once perfect union with each other was destroyed. They died spiritually as their relationship with God was broken. Exiled from the Garden, the first couples' sin infected their children. My family, your family, all families are now broken.

Nothing has changed since the Garden of Eden. The evidence is everywhere. Demonic distractions discourage biblical discipleship. Christendom has lost sight of the most effectively transformative force God created—the family. Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) was an American evangelical theologian, philosopher, and pastor. He co-founded the L'Abri community in Switzerland with his wife, Edith. Schaeffer's question, "How Should We Then Live?" is just as relevant today as it was when originally posed in 1976.

Get a picture of your entire family before reading any more of this blog. Look at the faces of your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren if you have them. Now, look at yourself. It's time to get granular with the issue before us: discipleship. Do not trust someone else with the responsibility God entrusted to you!

Your first step in discipling your children is equipping yourself as His disciple. By God's design, your family belongs to you, so you will impart biblical belief to them and become the Church where they live, work, and play for the rest of their lives. God does a lot with a little. Jesus said, "Let the children alone, do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

God's plan for extending His rule throughout His Creation begins with you! Your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren are entrusted to your training of them as disciples of Jesus. Regardless of how good your church is, taking your family to church is not the answer to the problems facing your family, neighborhood, city, or nation. Your commitment to discipleship is the answer.

Praise the Lord if your church equips you to biblically disciple your children. Use what they are giving you! But if it is not, download the new Disciple Daily app today. We have free tools available to you for accomplishing your God-given responsibility:

• Belong to a disciple-making community.
• Believe what the Bible teaches about how we are to live.
• Become a discipler of your family and the families around you.

Let us know how we can help.