Helping Make Faith an Adventure
The most effective way to help your children grow in their faith is by joining them in the journey and making faith an adventure. I love how C.S. Lewis expressed it in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Young Lucy asks the Beavers if the godlike figure Aslan is safe. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver…”Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Too many teenagers view faith as dry, boring and not relevant to their own personal lives. We have to help them see this life adventure of faith is not necessarily the easy road, but it’s the right one. Help your children understand faith is a fun adventure. We can build beautiful memories and experiences that fit with what Jim Rayburn, founder of Young Life, was fond of saying: “It’s a sin to bore a kid with the gospel.”

When my two oldest daughters became teenagers, I took them to Mexico to do mission work. We worked hard building a church. The dirt, sweat and calluses on our hands were not what I or they were used to. I kept wondering if they were having an OK time. One night, we snuck away from the group and got some tacos from a street vendor. I had studied at the University of Mexico one summer, so I knew enough Spanish to be dangerous in ordering the food. What I remember most from the trip was how hot it was—and that each of us got sick from those street tacos. (In fact, my wife reminded me the other day of what a poor decision it was to venture out on our own!) What’s amazing, though, is just this week Cathy and I flew back from the beautiful country of Ecuador, where one of those daughters now lives as part of an eight-month mission experience. During our visit, we talked more with our daughter about why she had decided to serve in a developing country. The first thing she mentioned was our time together serving in Mexico.

Every family can find ways to serve the poor and oppressed. I always am amazed how teenagers come through when they are physically and spiritually challenged to move beyond their comfort zones and make a difference in the lives of others. Even the most self-centered teenager is inclined to move beyond him or herself and perhaps have his or her heart break with what breaks the heart of God.

Spiritual Discipline
I’ve always been intrigued by the advice Paul gave to his protégé, Timothy: “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7). Another version of that same advice from the Bible is: “Train yourself to be godly” (NIV). Teaching our children spiritual disciplines, and in a sense training them to honor God, is something that can be done. Henri Nouwen once said, “A spiritual life without discipline is impossible. Discipline is the other side of discipleship.” Somehow the fine line between training and discipline is teaching our children to love God out of a response for what He has done for them and not just because they feel some sense of family responsibility.

I did an experiment several years ago with a Christian high school. It cost me about $750, but it was well worth the expense. I was speaking to the students about the power of prayer and devotions. I don’t remember the talk being particularly exciting or motivating to these students, but at the end of the message I decided to present a 50-day challenge. I asked them to commit to spending five to 10 minutes of devotional time with God for 50 days straight. If they took my challenge, I would buy lunch for everyone who accomplished it. Even while explaining the details, my mind moved to the fact that because I wasn’t very disciplined as a high school student, especially with devotions, they wouldn’t be either. I figured I would have no problem buying lunch for the few students who might meet my challenge. Even when more than 100 students took the challenge, I still didn’t think it would cost me much. After all, I knew that youthful commitment often doesn’t follow through. Well 50 days later, I got a list of 83 students who succeeded with my challenge. My first thought was of joy that they had attained an amazing goal. The second was, “My wife is going to kill me!” Even a cheap lunch was going to cost a lot! I ended up taking five to six kids at a time to lunch at a nearby Mexican restaurant. I really enjoyed hearing what they learned during the challenge, and it was great to recommend more tools to help them with their devotional life. In just 50 days they had established a wonderful habit. No, Cathy didn’t kill me. She and I agreed it was one of the best investments we could make in the lives of young people.

Studies show that if we spend 25 days doing almost anything, it can become a habit. Another 25 days will solidify that activity for life. We mostly focus on breaking our kids’ bad habits, but what would happen if we encouraged good and life-changing habits?