Creating a “Culture of Discipleship” in Your Home
6:32 PM PDT, May 12, 2008, updated at 7:09 PM PDT, May 12, 2008
 If I were to throw out the question “How are you discipling your kids?” to a men’s group at my church, the typical answers in response would be something like We hold a weekly Bible study, I lead a family prayer time, or I take my kids out weekly to talk. Men are problem solvers after all. So we tend to look at discipling as a set of tasks that we can work into our calendar. Family devotions, one-on-one talks, and prayer times are great activities, but they will usually prove ineffective if they stand on their own. The pitfall of an activity-based approach to family discipleship is that a man ends up segregating “discipleship” from “normal life.” To kids, discipleship becomes That Thing That Dad Leads at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesdays, just before they get to watch Lost. In contrast, the practical teaching of Deuteronomy 6:6-9 tells a far different story. A man is to teach God’s Word to his children by talking about it everywhere (at home and on the road) and anytime (at night and in the morning). Seen in this light, discipleship is not divorced from normal life; it is the very definition of normal life. The implicit message of Scripture is that a man is charged with establishing a “culture of discipleship” inside of his home, in which faith is integral to everything going on. When such an environment exists, everything a family does is a discipling opportunity—meal conversations, songs played, movies watched, and attitudes expressed around the home. A culture of discipleship demonstrates the reality of God’s hand in all situations and reinforces the need for a person’s faith to impact their behavior and attitudes in the most common of situations. When this culture permeates a family, Bible studies, prayer time, and impromptu faith discussions no longer seem unnatural and out of context of everyday life. And here is exactly where the investment of hands-on leadership pays off. The only kind of father who will be successful in “making culture” in his household is one who is fully engaged and has “street cred” with his family. He must be hands-on to be in a position to influence the family culture, and he must be seen by his wife and kids as a leader to have the influence necessary to actually pull it off. Based on excerpts from:  The Expeditionary Man: The Adventure a Man Wants, the Leader His Family Needs
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Bio
I am author of "The Expeditionary Man", "The Myth of Happiness", and several "For Dummies" books designed to make meaty truth easily approachable for postmodern readers. These books include "C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies", "Christianity For Dummies", and "Christian Prayer For Dummies".
Before becoming a full-time author, I spent several years in the high tech world. I was V.P. of Product Development at NetObjects, an Internet software company, as well as inventor/architect of NetObjects ScriptBuilder. In between authoring Christian books, I write computer books as well, such as "XSLT For Dummies" and "Building Facebook Applications For Dummies". I graduated from Taylor University and pursued graduate studies at American University. Though a native Hoosier, I now live in Princeton, Massachusetts with my wife and three boys. |
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