“Unless our highest aim is the salvation of our children, we train them in vain”
<Originally published: June, 1995>
In 1967, a young Billy Graham shared a moving account of a businessman who fell on his knees at his workplace and accepted the Lord as his Savior. In his classic sermon, “The Home,” Graham pointed out that what had reached that man’s heart was the sight of his tiny son following him outside their home that morning, attempting to place his small boots in his father’s snowy footprints. “I’m walking in daddy’s steps!” he exclaimed. Daddy made certain that from that day forward, his steps led his son in paths of righteousness.
Parents must consider Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The Age of Parenting
The text says, “Train up a child….” Here is the idea: Within certain boundaries it is possible to determine at will the direction of a river, a tree, or a man, but you must touch them when they are tiny and tender. I have a tree in my backyard which started to grow at the base of my fenced-in yard. I should have had it removed at once. Today, because of its relationship to the fence, it is going to be a costly procedure. According to Solomon, a wise man, we note these two points.
Childhood is the Age of Greatest Impression
Ecclesiastes 12:1 says: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, ‘I have no pleasure in them…’” Earliest impressions remain with us the longest.
I have seen many come to the faith through the ministry of Songtime and my weekend travels, but the greatest response, with lasting results, takes me back to Youthtime in Boston. We started this at Park Street Church in 1958. Those Saturday night rallies continued every other week and had to be moved to Tremont Temple in order to accommodate the crowds. This Saturday night effort continued strong until the late 1970’s when the Boston Traffic Dept. would no longer allow the delegation of buses to park on Tremont Street during the rallies. Today I continually meet people reached during those unusual times of youth evangelism. Jack Wyrtzen recently sent me a letter that certainly amplifies this. In his note, Jack provided this quote from a young man who is now one of this nation’s governors:
“When I was just a young boy, our family was going through some difficult times and this lady befriended my mother. She also put me and some other boys in her car and took us to Boston to a youth meeting at John DeBrine’s church. Jack Wyrtzen was the speaker that night and I went forward and accepted Christ as my Savior. I shall always be grateful to this lady.”
Childhood is the Age of Greatest Innocence
Consider the phrase, “Remember now thy Creator...while the evil days come not..” (Ecclesiastes 12:1a). Childhood is the period of comparative innocence. It stands to reason that the childhood is the age in which to reach the mind before it is poisoned with human viewpoint and philosophy.
The Art and Aim of Parenting
This takes us to the details of parenting. Note that the word in Ecclesiastes is “train” and not “teach” because training involves example, education, and discipline. Consider Proverbs 4:11: “I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in the right paths.”
Mike is going on 13--which is unusual for a large German Shepherd. When Mike was six months old it was concluded that his trainer had abused him. No other dog in the litter has his discriminatory attitude. Even at 13 (91 years old in our terms), after much love, education, and example, Mike still has the tendency to be discriminatory. If that can happen in the canine world, think of the implications in the human world.
Parenting takes time and an awesome responsibility. God help you if you ignore this. “Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Unless our highest aim is the salvation of our children, we train them in vain, if at all. How vital it is to recognize that we can never lift our children higher than we are ourselves. If we do not know the experience of God’s salvation then we cannot lead our children into it.
Attention Parents!
Do the following when parenting:
- Make sure of your own Christian experiences--that you have “saving faith.” Children aren’t going to respond to religion when the issue is “relationship with God.”
- Don’t be defeated. If you have young people not interested in God or even hostile toward Christianity, pray until God intervenes and don’t doubt the power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-15).
Bio: Dr. John DeBrine is the Founder and President Emeritus of Songtime. After serving for 50 years as the President, John has retired and is doing well. He is still mentoring young men and witnessing to the various people who come to help him in his home.
This article is abridged and was originally published in the Songtime Newsletter in June, 1995 in honor of Father’s Day.