By Matt Maddix
As a father, I am constantly reevaluating my effectiveness in following the scripture, “Train up a child in the way which he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart.” Ladies and gentlemen, we have a responsibility to our children and the generation coming behind us. We owe to God, to our future, and most importantly, to our children to properly train and mold their lives in the direction they should go. While we all assume that the scripture refers to discipline or something a mother could claim over her wandering child, the real challenge of that scripture is to train up a child in the way he should go. Which way should our children be going? I’m a firm believer that too many of our children have no sense of clear direction about their future. However, the Roman Catholics declare, “Give me a child until he is 8, and we’ll have them for life.” The Mormons pride themselves on having over 52,000 missionaries worldwide ages 18-25 that are giving two years of their lives to missions work for the Mormon church.
It’s a conviction of mine that we in the church must do a better job preparing our kids for radical Christianity. I’ve had too many teenagers come to me at one of our Boot Camps with tears and say, “I’ve been in church all my life, and this is the first time that I’ve ever experienced or even seen this.” What a tragedy that we’ve failed our kids by bringing them up in a boring, complacent, and average Christianity. It’s alarming to me to think of the amount of Christian kids that will graduate High School having never been on a mission’s trip or been a part of something adventurous, radical, and out of the box. I think it’s time to follow God’s command and train up our children so when they are old, they don’t depart. I’ve traveled the world and listened to thousands of frustrated pastors declaring that their number one problem is coming not from the new people or the youth but rather those that have been in church fifteen, twenty, or thirty years. Why would that be, and how could it be that so many people appear to have departed as they’ve gotten older? It all goes back to that scripture; they departed, because they weren’t trained when they were young. We must take a long look at our Sunday school curriculums and consider changing the format and style of many of our Sunday school approaches. I went to Bible College for 3 years and met hundreds of kids that were raised in church their whole lives that didn’t know how to teach a Bible study, were afraid of going to the streets, and had never won a soul. At first they were repelled by my passion for soul winning but learned to love me, because they encountered someone fresh and sincere about Christianity. I’ve never been a participator in the professional, shallow, or political side of the church. I’ve always sought to be authentic and associate with people that were real and serious about making a difference. However, many of our people have only become what we have trained them to become. It all starts in the nursery and Sunday school class. For example, our church in St. Petersburg has a history of doing huge and radical outreaches, and many times we used to leave our kids with a few ladies, and let them watch Veggie Tales or Disney cartoons, etc… However, I became very convicted as my six year old boy asked me last year, “Daddy, how come we can’t go Soul Winning with you guys?” It was a turning point in my life and mentality; I am determined to train my little boy to serve the poor, conquer his fears, and learn how to win souls at a very young age. Caleb is 6 years old and has already won 6 people to God and has a passion for Soul Winning.
We are going to Washington DC for a Soul Winners Boot Camp, and little Caleb is going with me. We now have a “Kids Reaching Kids Boot Camp” while our Soul Winners Boot Camp is taking place. It’s exciting to think our kids will be having their own session on Soul Winning and will be doing their own Soul Winning and block parties. Shannon Peacock from Conyers, Georgia will be leading our children and taking them to the streets for Soul Winning. At our Boot Camp in Houston, Texas, Shannon trained two 8 year old kids on how to teach a Bible study, and those 8 year old kids taught two Muslim kids a Bible study about Jesus. What a revolutionary and amazing concept that we’ll be taking our children to the streets, and they will be feeding the poor and serving other little kids who are without Jesus. Caleb is going to Boot Camp, and I am excited that by the time he graduates High School, he will have been on missions trips, experienced feeding the homeless, feeding hungry children, blessing other kids, praying kids through to the Holy Ghost, and teaching Bible studies. It’s the greatest lesson and legacy that I can pass to my son, and I sure believe that he will receive a passion and compassion for souls in a greater way than even me. We are now opening Soul Winners Boot Camps to entire families, and we actually encourage you to bring your children to Boot Camp; let us empower them when they are young, and when they are old, they will not depart. What an awesome thing to watch little kids learn how to be Soul Winners! |
