With the huge surge in discussion about youth ministry, especially in reference to Divided the Movie, and A Weed in the Church by Scott Brown, one must ask the question: Why would anyone argue so vehemently for programmatic youth ministry? Voddie Baucham weighs in with some excellent insights. Watch the video below.

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You might be surprised at just how lost I’ve been when first presented with the idea of family worship. I could preach in front of a thousand people, set up a men’s fellowship breakfast, or minister to the homeless. But when faced with a few little eyes staring at me in my living room, who knew the real me, and not just the persona many people knew, I froze. Today, I talk to men who feel this way all the time. They feel inadequate or unprepared to lead their family in the study of scripture and the worship of God. What they fail to realize is that God, in His sovereign plan, placed them specifically with their own families. God did not put another, more qualified man in that family on purpose. God has given them a specific task with a certain group of individuals, according to the counsel of His own will, so there is no one better equipped to do the job.

Are you aware that the Bible gives us a pattern to follow for family discipleship?

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 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. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (ESV)

1. Love God

It will be a tough thing to express the Gospel of Christ unless you know it personally. Your teaching to your children should come from the overflow of your experience with the Lord. You can’t teach what you don’t know, and you can’t lead where you don’t go.

2. Words of God on your heart

You should read the scriptures in such a way that they are buried deep inside you. Luke 6:45 tells us that from the abundance of your heart, your mouth will speak. If you spend your time filling your heart with the scriptures, it will fall from your mouth when you teach your children. This is not because you have studied at seminary. God’s word is living and active, and can teach your heart all you need to know.

3. Teach them to your children

You should have time set aside for this. If you find yourself struggling to fit it into your schedule, it’s time to start tearing down some idols. Will television, surfing the internet, video games and shopping fit into your day after you set your teaching time in stone? If not, leave it in the past. You must teach your children; this is not a suggestion, it is a command.

4. Talk of them when you sit

There will be times when you sit around the house as a family. Man men take this time after work to fall asleep, or just unwind from the day. Is following the commands of God important enough to ignore your weariness and press on to fulfill your duty as a man? What else keeps you from sitting together as a family and sharing the Word with each other? Is it your lack of love for Christ, your apathy to the spiritual condition of your kids and your wife, your constant on-the-go schedule? Check your priorities and make the tough decisions necessary to disciple your family. Open the Bible and read it, talk about it, and pray about it.

5. Talk when you walk

Take some time to walk individually with your children. You might go right after dinner and spend a few minutes walking around the neighborhood. Take this time to leave distractions behind, and ask questions of your children. Take their spiritual temperature. These times have been very revealing to me as to how I can minister to the individual needs of my children.

6. Talk when you lie down

One way that I have made this time fruitful in my house is to pray for my children individually as they go to bed. It doesn’t have to be anything elaborate. Know your children, know the Lord and the prayers will come. I ask my boys things like, “What does a Godly man do?” They answer, “Protect, provide and lead.” I ask my girls, “What does a Godly woman do?” They answer, “Support, inspire and nurture.” These make great springboards into discussion.

7. Talk when you rise

Start the morning out with scripture, maybe a song. A proverb per day works great, because there are as many proverbs as days in the month. Read one every day, and you will repeat them every month, writing them on your kid’s hearts.

8. Actions conform to God’s Word

Pray that your actions conform to the word of God. Children learn as much from your example as from your teaching. The more conformed you are to Christ, the more of a picture your children will have to look at when times of testing come in their own lives.

9. See the world through the lenses of the Word

Every business decision, every recreational decision or vacation or movie, or anything should be held up to scripture and conformed. This comes with experience, and the Godly counsel of well saved men. Ask for help in these areas.

10. Sanctify your family name

Families who strive in these principles, though faltering and imperfect, will be known by their love for the Word of God and effort to obey it. To the degree that you conform to the word of God, you will also glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.