PEARL 8

Church: When Kids

Don’t Want to Go

Responsible parents want to bring their children up with established

spiritual values. They want their kids to have faith, understand the
Christian message, and know God intimately. That means involving the
family in a church and its activities. Unfortunately, there comes a time in
our children’s lives when they don’t want to go to church. They have to
sit still for so long. They don’t really understand what the guy up front is
talking about. Their Sunday clothes make them feel like there’s an army
of ants loose in the linings.
A more serious reason for many kids’ dislike of church is rebellion
against parental values.^7 Children learn early in life that their parents
can’t get into their brains. We can’t make them think what we think or
believe what we believe. When we try, we invite their disobedience; the
kids see us usurping control, and they want to grab some of it back. This
is another area of parenting in which proper modeling is vital. If, from
our children’s infancy on, we have spoken positively about going to
church — oftentimes to each other, but within earshot of the children —
we will have encouraged our kids, without coercion, to like going to
church. We want to make genuine, well-placed statements like, “I’m sure
glad I have my church. I enjoy my friends and always get such needed
encouragement while I’m there,” or, “I always feel a lot better when I go
to church. It really helps me keep my values in place.” Positive
statements can set the bug in our kids’ ears and lessen their inclination to
rebel.