Faith-Based Relationships as a Priority for our Children
By Julie Schafer Kilkeary
Julie is the Director of Marketing at LOGOS System Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Everyone is experiencing pressures and stresses that are unique to our time in history. The age of technology has sped up and opened our lives to a bigger world than ever before. We receive news of events from around the world within minutes of their happening. With the click of mouse, computers instantaneously put us in touch with people, resources, and knowledge. The convenience of technology causes employers to do their work with fewer employees. Credit cards make it easier to build up debt. More and more families are living miles from the support systems of parents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters. Our culture no longer embraces the church.

Youth and children are experiencing unique pressures and stresses that no previous generation has ever known. Many are not equipped to resist pressures such as gangs, drugs, sex, split families, and economics. A college education no longer guarantees employment, yet young people are under pressure to obtain high grades so they can go to college.

Many young people and their families are caught up in worshiping false gods: consumerism, materialism, technology, sports, drugs, sex, glamour, entertainment, wealth, science, and so forth. This can lead to destructive behavior. Some of this behavior makes headlines. It also causes people to place many things at a higher priority and commitment than church programs.

We must raise the awareness of congregations to insure that they realize the urgency and need for offering an arena in which everyone, especially young people, can experience the life-giving reality of the love of Jesus Christ.

Changing this fast-paced society that brushes nurture aside while we are overindulged in quick, flashy fixes, needs to become a priority. It may be much easier to entertain our children with television, video games, and the Internet than it is to spend good quality family time with them, but this lack of nurture is showing.

We can choose to get involved in our child's relationship with God. There are programs now that incorporate family time with the teachings of the Bible. The website www.logos-system.org, for example, tells about a program that incorporates Bible Study, Worship Skills, Family Time, and Recreation-Play into a four-part retreat experience every week, following the example of the early church. Marva Dawn talks about this program in her book Is it a Lost Cause? (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. Grand Rapids, MI.1997) saying, "children are beginning to learn through such innovative programs such as Logos." This program is committed to helping communities reclaim relationships through the church and provides the lifeline that our children so desperately need as they are up against so many pressures.

As adults we play an essential role in shaping the growth and development of young people. God never intended for any child to stand alone. Our young people need the care, support, and love of mature adults who serve as models of adulthood and give direction toward a lifetime of Christian discipleship. Let's make time to participate in our children's future with God. Our society has come to the point where we must return and reclaim faith relationships as a lifetime priority.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of the bread and the prayers." Acts 2:42

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