Faith Talk Help!
"It's 10:00. Do you know where your children are?"
Each night at 10:00 pm, WREG news channel 3 Memphis, beings their broadcast with the simple, but thought provoking statement, "It's 10:00. Do you know where your children are?" WREG began this tradition forty years ago in an effort to help parents understand the reality of juvenile crime in Memphis. The station devoted themselves to reminding parents of the importance of knowing where their children where physically located, in order to keep them off the streets and out of harm's way. The safety of others is important, but the safety and future of the children was the primary goal of the phrase. The news station knew the parents were the first line of defense. A 2016 article about the phrase can be found here.
As spiritual parents and mentors within the faith community, we have a responsibility before God to know where are children are spiritually. Deuteronomy 6:4–9 states,
"4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Spiritual, social, mental, and physical development begins within the family unit (cf. Luke 2:52), and is supported and aided by the local church. I challenge you today to consider if you know where your children are with these ten things. If you do not, open the door of conversation with them to discover where your children are, and reach out for help if needed. The church is here to be a resource and a partner as we discover where our students are at, and take them where they need to be in and with the Lord.
1. Where are your children with the existence of God?
2. Where are your children with their relationship with the Lord?
3. Where are your children with basic Bible knowledge?
4. Where are your children with doctrine?
5. Where are your children with the Bible and current topics such as homosexuality, abortion, etc.?
6. Where are your children on social media? What are they searching for? What accounts do they have? What is their online activity?
7. Where are your children with purity (sexual and non-sexual)
8. Where are your children socially at school and peer-to-peer interactions?
9. Where are your children with the church and its importance?
10. Where are your children with regard to salvation?
These questions can be uncomfortable to talk about sometimes, but always remember Deuteronomy 6:5, the conversation begins with your faith, and my faith, and then moves to the children. Share in the discussion, and simply evaluate where your children are at in order that with the Lord we might guide them to where they need to be. It's 10. Do you know where your children are?
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