Big Church or Little Church: What’s Best for Your Kids?

“The aim is that the children catch the passion for worshiping God by watching mom and dad enjoy God week after week. What would be the impact if, for twelve years, the children saw dad with his face in his hands praying during the prelude to worship? What would be the impact if they saw mom and dad beaming with joy in singing the praises of God? Just think of it. Millions and millions of children never see their parents sing, let alone sing songs with joy to a great God. Something really seems wrong to me when parents want to take their children in the most formative years and put them with other children and other adults to shape their attitude and behavior in worship rather than having them right there to shape them. Why wouldn’t parents be jealous to model for their children the tremendous value that they put on joyful reverence in the presence of almighty God?”

Piper certainly has a point, the influence of a parent cannot be understated. The Bible commands fathers and mothers to raise their children in the ways of the LORD (Proverbs 22:6) and worshiping together would definitely make an impression. However, there are other options available to a church, and depending on the congregation, some might work better than others. In my case, for example, our Pastor chose to call on members to become volunteers. He started by pointing to the words of 1st Corinthians, which states we all have a part to play in the body of Christ,