Notes from “Transforming Children Into Spiritual Champions” by George Barna
I just finished “Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions” by George Barna, who is one of the top researchers of the attitudes and behaviors of Christians in the U.S. I highly recommend this book to parents, and especially to those that are responsible for the ministry to children. It talks about what the churches and parents in this country are doing (or not doing) in order to raise children to be true spiritual champions. Here is the stuff that I highlighted or underlined, lots of great nuggets and thought processes:
If your life is to be lived for a grand purpose — namely, to love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul, and to love others as you love yourself — then you must evaluate each choice you make in light of its consistency with that purpose (see Luke 10:27)
most churches are interested in acquiring a turnkey curriculum — resources that require minimal administration by the church, minimal preparation time by the teacher, minimal prior knowledge by the students and the provision of all the ideas, materials, and directions needed to fill the entire class time.
they are not able to demand the depth of commitment that children and their parents need to make in order to see significant life change occur. Without that mantle of authority, many of these volunteers lament that they feel as if they are engaging in church-sanctioned babysitting rather than spiritual transformation
if we could see the world through God’s eyes, we would quickly recognize that the only return on investment that truly matters is lives transformed to love God more deeply and to obey Him more perfectly.
Their moral, physical, emotional, and intellectual perspectives and behaviors intersect with those that honor God only when such choices appear to be to their immediate and personal advantage. Unfortunately, even most individuals who think of themselves as Christian do not truly operate on the basis of God’s principles and expectations, except when it is convenient or inescapable. Again, our national research suggests that shockingly few Christian adults make their moral, physical, emotional, and intellectual choices on the basis of sound reasoning from Scripture. The results is that they miss God’s richest blessings and begin to question why God doesn’t love them and doesn’t take better care of them, and they even question if He is real. Is that how you want your children to grow up — being in tune with God only when it seems to serve their best interests and losing out on the great life He has in mind for them if they would only pay attention and get with the program?
When we watch a movie, we tend to think of it as either being satisfying or unsatisfying entertainment. However, a movie is much more than that. It is a weapon in the eternal conflict to either strength or weaken our worldview and our capacity to represent our side int he eternal war.
In fact, one of the greatest victories won (so far) by God’s enemy has been the ability to convince most people - even most Christians - that there is no war being waged, so we might as well relax, feel good, and enjoy life.
Meaning and purpose are not all about occupational choices, educational degrees, marital status, financial security, personal achievement or leisure and recreational pursuits. It is about knowing God so intimately that you can discern His calling upon your life.
when you consistently live for God, His desires eventually become indistinguishable from your desires.
God calls each of us to commit to that vision -our calling - and prepares us for success in its pursuit by giving us the special combination of talents, skills, education, experiences, relationships and spiritual gifts required to bring that vision to reality.
A mark of God’s purpose for our lives is that there is little chance of accomplishing that purpose based solely on our human capabilities.
If we had a life purpose that we could accomplish without divine intervention and empowerment, then who would need God
What can you do to help the youngsters with whom you have contact discover God’s purpose for their lives? As you explore their personally, spiritual gifts, passion, intellectual capacity, physical abilities, character traits, and resonance with particular biblical characters and stories, funnel that knowledge toward guiding them to a clear idea of the role that has been reserved for them in God’s army. Encourage them to feel neither arrogant nor disappointed by that role. No calling is better than any other, and if it is God’s calling for them, then it is perfect for them. Keep in mind that discerning the calling takes time, effort, and sometimes a period of struggle or suffering. In other words, this is a process, not just a morning-long project. Be prepared to work alongside a child for a prolonged period of time as God unfolds the insights and experiences that will crystallize the calling in a way that generates ownership by the called individual.
Unfortunately, most Americans develop their worldview by default. In other words, it is essentially learn through the sources of influence identified earlier. The alternative to worldview-by-default is for you, as a parent or spiritual leader, to intentionally and strategically lead a young person through a process designed to help the youth arrive at a worldview that is consistent with God’s truths, principles, and desires for His creation. Once the worldview of children has been shaped and embraced, they unconsciously strive to make choices that are consistent with their perspective. To do otherwise raises internal dissonance, which brings discomfort and a sense of being lost. Many of the battles that we fight in our culture today — battles related to personal values, public policies and laws, individual behavior and religious beliefs and practices - are predictable and inevitable given the worldviews that people possess. If we want to transform our society so that it honors God, we must address the worldview that most young people embrace. They are prone to behavior that is consistent with their beliefs, and their beliefs are the result of their worldview. The notion of help other develop a biblical worldview seems daunting to many parents and spiritual leaders. It need not be, through. We start with an understanding of what resources are required to facilitate such an outcome.
As a coach in this worldview process, your challenge is to raise the young person’s acceptance of and reliance upon Scripture as a trustworthy source of direction and wisdom.
If we profess to be followers of Jesus Christ, then our worldview should demonstrate a commitment to His principles and standards as manifested in our daily choices and actions. Your challenge is to motivate young people to have a thirst for the righteousness of God; that is, to always do what is right in God’s eyes because they want nothing more than to honor and please Him.
shared experiences are among the most successful teaching episodes. Teenagers and adolescents, who tend to move about with their relational tribe of 4 to 12 individuals, often rely on experiences to provide their defining moments.
As people seeking to introduce righteousness and holiness into a fallen world and within a culture that revels in darkness, being different will brings its share of challenges. In a world that treasures position, possessions, and pleasure, the notion of sacrificing personal rewards and opportunities for the benefit of the spiritual growth of children is frowned upon.
Initially, adults have the opportunity to provide moral and spiritual lessons simply because they are adults. After a short while, though, children are able to assess the spiritual integrity of the adults in their lives. From that point forward, the adult must earn the right to flex that authority.
in order to rise above the noise of the culture and become spiritual champions. The content of their needs relates to developing a biblical worldview, knowing themselves and God well enough to discern their mission and vision, achieving genuine security in their relationship with God (both eternal and present-day security), attaining a sense of empowerment to carry out His will regardless of the consequences, developing the supportive relationships that produce both encouragement and accountability and being competent in living out the six pillars of a truly spiritual life (worship, evangelism, discipleship, stewardship, service, and spiritual community). Spiritual development is not so much about what your children know but who they are. Helping them to become people of godly character starts with you; it is not the job of a church to produce such people.
but the activities implemented tend to be ritualistic and of questionable quality; and the outcomes usually are not measured, tracked, or interpreted. It also seemed as if a church starts its ministry full of high hopes and energy, committed to high-impact ministry; but as it develops its own persona and ministry niche within the community, the ministry to children generally takes a backseat to the more visible and adult-oriented efforts of the church.
One of the typical building blocks is a clear conceptual foundation - a philosophy that permeates every department, program, and policy. Not surprisingly, this was true of the best children’s ministries, too.
Ultimately, the determinant of effectiveness is whether the person’s life has been significantly changed as a result of the spiritual growth that has occurred. These churches often make a critical distinction, though, between change and transformation. Change is a shift that may or may not last, tends to happen at a discrete and identifiable moment in time and is often incremental in nature — almost imperceptible in many cases. Transformation, however, is an enduring process in which the person is radically reformed and does not revert to his or her previous condition. This distinction is monumental, because transformation is Spirit driven while change is program driven. Transformation is facilitated but unpredictable, and change is caused and inevitable under the right conditions and stimuli. The most effective churches recognize that the goal is to facilitate transformation,yet they understand that they cannot engineer it no matter how sincere, professional, comprehensive, and biblical their approach may be. Only God brings about lasting transformation in a person’s life. A ministry may have the privilege of enabling such new life to emerge, but it can neither take credit for it nor describe the step-by-step approach that makes it happen. Consequently, the philosophy of children’s ministry in these churches tends to express their awe at the miracle of transformation, which is the Church’s hope but God’s domain.
The church must know what parents are seeking to accomplish in the lives of their kids as well as some of the struggles that are encountering in their efforts.
Consequently, the resources used by the church in its ministry to young people are designed to prepare parents for greater effectiveness, to advance existing efforts by the parents, to serve as a catalyst for new developmental ventures attempted by the family and to enhance the quality of the approaches and exercised used to mature children’s faith.
One of the simplest but most profound strategies to foster this integration is for the entire congregation to focus upon the same biblical principle during a particular week. Whether you attend a worship service, youth-group meeting, small-group meeting, prayer service, men’s breakfast or elders meeting, the same principle is focused upon during that week. The value of this consistency of focus is that it ensures that everyone in the church is moving in the same direction spiritually, that parents have acquired some core level of knowledge and insight related to the principle (and thus have the ability to converse with and challenge their children on the subject matter during the week) and that a refined body of spiritual wisdom is delivered to congregants within a compact period of time (We found that these churches rotate the spiritual principles they cover on anywhere from one-year to a five-year cycle. The duration of the cycle depends upon the instructional strategy utilized by the church.
4 out of every 5 churched 13-year-olds do now know what worship is, and a substantial majority of them admit that they do not feel they have ever experienced God’s presence.
Every weekend I get parent after parent chasing me down to ask about their kids. But what they want to know is whether or not their child showed up to class, whether their child had his or her Bible and whether their child was well behaved during the class. Nobody seems to care very much about how the child is doing spiritually, as if merely showing up two or three times a month precludes having to even ask the question.
if children are gleaning anything at all from their church experience, they will return to their home and watch to see if the principles and beliefs taught to them are consistent with and reinforce by the behavior of their primary spiritual nurturers — their parents. Sadly, even when useful information and ideas learned from church experiences are grasped by these children, they are lost or negated in the spiritual confusion that reigns within the typical churched household.
That common refusal to substitute good intentions for good outcomes distinguishes those ministries that facilitate spiritual growth from those who only talk about it.
