David Anguish
Our title, taken from the book by John Westerhoff, is a question which every thoughtful, God- fearing parent asks at one time or another. We would hope that every congregation also would ask it. The fact that it is raised suggests several things, not least of which are the following.
First, it suggests a concern for children and especially for the things which really matter, the things which last into eternity. "Will our children have faith?" inquires about something other than their developing athletic, musical or dramatic skills, test grades, or whether they're on the fast track to a well-paying job. None of these things last. Faith does.
Second, to ask about the faith of our children is to express a concern to commit to helping them develop mature faith. The Bible nowhere suggests that faith nurturing is easy. The word used in the most famous passage to encourage it is "train" (Proverbs 22:6). Training by its very nature is not something to take lightly. Effort must be expended.
Third, to ask about our children's faith is to show concern for the church of tomorrow. Among the things which the story of God's people shows us is that his people are never more than one generation away from abandoning him. While parents must take seriously the task of faith development — it is primarily their responsibility — no one who loves the Lord and his church can be unconcerned with what happens to all the church's children. Failure to successfully develop faith in our young people is a commitment to see the church of the future left weak or non-existent in our land.
Fourth, the question, "will our children have faith?" hints at the inadequacy which all honest parents feel from time to time when they consider the awesome task before them. Make no mistake about it, child-rearing is hard work. Even in the best of cases, it is easy to lose perspective, to feel that for every step forward you take as a faith nurturing parent, you take at least one (if not two) backward.
It's important, then, to remember some things about the process. First, keep in mind that parents are also recipients of God's grace. Though we may fail in different ways, we are not alone in being imperfect. Whether they admit it or not, even "experts" have some growing to do. Second, remember that your children are individuals with minds of their own and agendas to match. God no more created them to be robots than he did you. Just as you cherish your freedom (remember when you were trying to get out on your own), so they cherish theirs. And sometimes their choices will frustrate what you want. That's reality, but it's also a comfort when we are tempted to dwell on where we've gone wrong.
Speaking of going wrong, it's also important for most of us to remember that we are probably better parents than we sometimes think we are. If we are committed to seeking God's reign first (Matthew 6:33), and if we exhibit that commitment in our efforts to nurture our children's faith, we will generally see good fruits from our labor. This is especially true if we keep in mind that what we are after is children who have their own faith, not merely an imitation of ours. They might not follow the precise course we did, or the one we would have chosen for them. But that's not really what we should want anyway. Our goal is for them to develop a mature faith. Countless examples throughout history show that, where this goal is the commitment of God-fearing parents, strong faith results in the children of those parents more often than not.
"Will our children have faith?" Good question. The answer is found in our commitment to realizing that goal.