by Norman Bales

When we talk about evangelism, our thoughts usually focus on theimportance of
teaching those who never attend church services, thosewho are not actively
involved in church life and those who adhere towarped perceptions about God. I
want to suggest that the homerepresents an enormous evangelistic opportunity.
If we feel a senseof urgency toward the masses, toward the importance of sharing
thegospel, toward being salt, light and leaven in the world, we shouldmaintain an
equal amount of passion for our family members, especially our children.

A writer named Julia Rich Harris is making the rounds of the talkshows to
promote her book, _The Nurture Assumption_. Although Ms.Harris has no
credentials as an authority on child rearing, she is being given red carpet media
treatment because she offers a theory that lets parents off the hook. According
to her, parents have little to do with the formation of a child’s values and
standards. She thinks genes and peer pressure determine them.

Responsible professionals in the field of child development have challenged
her work. Jerome Kagan, a child-development researcher at Harvard, cites the
demonstrable fact that parents do have a strong influence on the lives of the
children if they talk to them and read to them. Such children have better verbal
skills, make better grades and get higher paying jobs later on. He says, “That
fact alone is enough to discredit her thesis.”

Paul said to Timothy, “I have been reminded of your sincere faith,which first
lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now
lives in you also.” 2 Timothy 1:5. He clearly saw how parental influence moulded
character two generations down the line. Many people are concerned about the
erosion of moral and spiritual standards in today’s world.

The most obvious place to reverse the trend toward spiritual decline is in
the home – the ripest of all evangelistic opportunities. In the late twenties, a
professional motivational speaker addressed a gathering of advertising
executives. To their surprise these hardboiled businessmen found themselves
listening to the speaker tell the Biblical story of Joseph – how he rose from the
ashes of despair in the pit at Dothan to the pinnacle of success as the number
two powerbroker in Egypt.

Then came the punch line. He quoted Exodus 1:8, “There arose a new king which
did not know Joseph.” Up to that point, his audience wondered how this old Bible
story connected with the concerns of the advertising business. The speaker said,
“Ladies and Gentlemen, every day the king dies and a new king takes his place.”
The new king does not know that Ivory Soap floats. It is the business of the
advertising industry to tell the new king about your products.”

In terms of sharing the gospel, the new king is born into our homes. The new
king has never heard “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.””
The new king knows nothing of the Saviour who died on the cross for our sins.
The new king doesn’t know anything about the “land where we’ll never grow old.”
It’s our job to tell the new king about these important things. The home offers
the greatest opportunity for communicating these treasured messages.

Recent research confirms the truth that the family is still the most
influential moulder of moral and spiritual ideals. To be effective moulders of
moral and spiritual ideas, parents must concentrate on the following priorities:

1. They must set an example. Jesus talked about those who see our good works
and bring glory to the Father (Matthew5:16). No one observes your life “up
close and personal” quite like those who live in your home.

2. They must instruct. According to Ephesians 6:4, Fathers are the primary
family teachers. There’s no way to delegate that job downward

3. They must commit the gift of time. According to Deuteronomy6:6-9,
parental education in Israel took place in the context of everyday living.
Parents had credibility because they were involved with their children throughout
the day. You can’t evangelize in the home unless you commit large blocks of
time.

CONCLUSION

John Clayton is a science teacher at a public school in South Bend,Indiana.
He also conducts seminars on apologetics around the nation and edits a thought
provoking little magazine called _Does God Exist_? In the November-December
issue, he wrote a short review of _The Nurture Assumption_. A portion of that
review serves as a fitting conclusion to these thoughts.

“There have been scores of professional challenges to Harris’ book,but we
would like to make two points about it. The first is a biblical notion. Solomon
said, ‘Train up a child in the way in which they should go and when they are old
they shall not depart therefrom.’ To evaluate children on the basis of the here
and now is to totally miss the long-term influence of parents.

The second point is that those of us who work as teachers know that kids who
do not have parents are almost universally problems in our classrooms. In the 40
years that I have been teaching in a public high school, I have had literally
hundreds of problem kids, and an astronomical percentage of those are kids from
homes with no mother, no father,or no one at all.”

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