Example in the Home

There is a sharp rise, statistically, in the number of young people who grew up in the church but who are now leaving it. Once they reach college and get away from home, they don't want anything to do with church anymore, and that's a shame, friends. Sometimes it's not the parents' fault, but it also could be an indictment against us, the parents or the kids.

What kind of example have we given them in the home? Do they see the reality of God in the life of their parent, or do they just see a religious hypocrite? The parent who says, do as I say and not do as I do, is seen through by the teenager in the home. The parent who is one way at church and another way during the week is a poor example to the other family members. If you're as sweet as honey to your friends at church but mean like a snake to your family, it says a lot about you and your influence in the home on your family, and it's larger and deeper than you realize.

You may be able to fool your friends with your supposed Christianity, but you can't fool God, and you can't fool your family, who have to live with you when you're sinful, exposed nature. Do you maintain a family altar in the home, where you regularly read scripture and pray with your family members? Do you encourage them to memorize scripture by your example of scripture memorization? Do you live a separated life in the home by being guarded as to what you watch on TV and the internet? Do you drink alcohol in the home? Do you cuss and lose your temper? Do you resent people and carry a bitter spirit? How you live in your home will affect how your children live for God. Let me give you some examples, friends.

C.T. Studd went all out for Christ and the gospel because he had a real Christian for a father at home. Edward Studd was conferred in a D.L. Moody meeting, and immediately Studd sold his champion racehorses and turned his massive country estate, Tedworth, into a preaching chapel, where he continually hosted preachers on a regular basis. He wanted to be sure his three sons were saved, as their passion in school was the game of cricket, and they were well known in England for their sports acumen on the Cambridge cricket team.

The first impressions they had of their father was negative. He was annoying because he was always asking about their souls. But one by one, Edward Studd won his kids to Christ by his godly example in the home.

C.T. Studd would describe his father along these terms. He was a real live, play-the-game Christian. C.T. Studd became a famous missionary to China, India, and Africa, panning the lines.

Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. He saw his father's zeal for Christ and the gospel, and it was contagious.

What is your zeal for, friend? The game of golf? Tennis? Football? Do you care more about your athletic team winning the game more than you care about the souls of men? Your kids are watching you, being influenced by you, either in a good way or a bad way. Let me share this true story with you. Several decades ago, me and another man met for prayer twice a week at six o'clock in the morning to pray for revival to come to our church, and we did this for six months.

Revival did not come to our church, but we learned a lot about revival and praying for it, and we heard about a church in a neighboring state where God had broke out in revival, so we traveled there to get in on what God was doing. Because of the distance we had to travel, we arrived at the church late, and it was evident that God was there. The felt presence of the Almighty was overwhelming and powerful.

There was in the sanctuary a solemnity of the awful presence of God. All you could do was weep. The next day I called the church secretary to find out how this church had come to have such a powerful revival, and she related to me the following story.

It seems the men of the church went away for a weekend retreat, and while they were there, they got hold of God, and God got hold of them. To such a degree, He transformed their lives. When these men got back home to their family, they began to treat their wives with a new respect and love.

They led their wives in prayer each morning, and with tenderness toward them made the wives go all out for God as well as they saw how wonderful it was to have a husband who was a real godly leader in the home. Soon the women at the church had come forward in dedication of their lives unto God, and they began to live like godly women should live in the home. This, of course, was too much for the teenagers who saw what it was to have real Christians for parents, and it got to them.

The night my friend and I had visited that church was the night the teenagers of the church had come forward in surrender to give their lives to Christ as they were won over by the reality of God in the lives of their parents. How is it with you, friend? What kind of an example are you in the home? I'll say this, God says in His word, return to me and I will return to you. Doing business with God by getting serious with Him is not typically a pleasurable experience, but it's always a fruitful one where you come away spiritually enriched, and the ones who benefit the most from a parent on fire for God are the rest of the family members.

Are you ignitable or are you just dead wood? Your family is waiting for the reality of God to manifest itself in your daily life. Either way, you are an example in the home, one way or the other, either one that draws your family members to Christ or drives them away. Let us pray.