Partnering With Parents

Deuteronomy 6

4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. 6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. 7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. 8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

Here is the mission call for youth ministry if thee is one to be found in the Bible. This call is not for a paid, professional student minister, it is for Moms and Dads! Parents have the ultimate duty to their children and to God in this regard. Those of us who toil in student ministry are here to supplement what parents are supposed to be doing, and we need to partner with parents in the spiritual instruction of their children. Now, I realize that there are parents who shun their sacred responsibilities towards their children, and then we student ministers and volunteers must stand in the gap. However, I believe that student ministry must partner with parents, affirm parents, and encourage parents to teach their children what the Scriptures teach. To do any less is to undermine the system God has set up!