Lisa and I met our friends Dan and Kristin several years ago at a youthworker conference where I was speaking. This sweet and tender young couple asked if they could share a meal with us, and we did. While we don’t live close to each other, that meal was the catalyst for multiple conversations since, and we have been ministered to deeply by the ways in which this couple has navigated some very difficult circumstances, all the while maintaining their faith in Jesus Christ to walk with them through pain and heartache. You can learn more about that by listening to this episode of our Youth Culture Matters podcast where they shared with us about how our suffering draws us closer to God.
I’ve been thinking about them over the past few days after reading one of Kristin’s most recent blog posts: “Whoever Wants Your Kids Will Get Them.” Kristin writes regularly about her life and our lives. . . all with a mixture of kindness, truth, and grace. The title of this post caught my eye, as what we do here at CPYU is work to help parents, youth workers, educators, and everyone else who loves and leads kids understand the cultural forces shaping our kids today, along with how to bring the light of God’s Word to bear on those realities. Ultimately, we want to see our kids enter into adulthood prepared for a lifetime of biblically-faithful, whole-life Christian discipleship. We’ve got our work cut out for us, and intentionality is a crucial non-negotiable if we hope to see this happen.
I asked Kristin if I could share her words here. . . words from a mother/youth worker who cares deeply about her own daughter, along with the sons and daughters of those to whom Dan and Kristin minister. With Kristin’s permission (she didn’t hesitate!), here’s what she wrote. . . and I encourage you to not only take these words to heart, but to read Kristin’s other posts at kristinsterk.com. . .
Our world is out to get our kids.
Look at the music. The movies. The apps. The phones. The trends. The clothing. The video games. Our world is working tirelessly at trying to get our kids’ attention. Our world is screaming for our kids and if their voice is louder than ours, whoever wants our kids, will get them.
This has become more and more evident to me over the past few years, as we not only raise our own child, but as we walk with kids in youth ministry. What it comes down to is this:Whoever influences your kids the most, will have the most influence over them.
Think about the kids in your life. Who or what is influencing them? Is it their friends? Styles and trends? The latest iPhone app? The lure and need for bigger and better? A certain ideology? Whatever is influencing your child the most, will most likely be the thing they focus on the most, changing them, to “get” them.
But what if WE worked unceasingly, to ensure our kids are influenced by first of all, the Bible? Christian principles? God-honoring styles? Selfless actions and not self-focused apps? Biblical character and not conforming? Real Christian relationships and friendships and not just virtual besties?
Our world WANTS our kids. And whoever wants them the most, will get them. Whoever influences them the most, will get them. So, who is influencing your child? What do you allow into your home, on your phones, and into your conversations around the dinner table or in the car? What is the focus?
IT MATTERS. We can do our best to be our kid’s greatest influence, but if we don’t speak louder than what’s around them, their roots will be sewn into the world’s ground, not the foundation of Scripture. Someday I will have to give an account for how I raised our daughter. It’s a high calling! But when God’s perfect design is violated, bad things happen. Sin. And sin has consequences. It’s a slippery slope, but it will so be worth it! Because these are the principles they will take into their families, and their families, and that’s where a legacy starts.
Every decision matters. Let’s help our kids understand that too. Because where our treasure is, there our heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). A daily self-check for me too!
Spot on Kristin! Thank you.
Editor’s Note: Here’s the Youth Culture Matters episode we recorded with Dan and Kristin. . .