Faith and Driving Lessons...

I had an interesting experience the other day with my oldest son. He passed his test to get his permit so we have been allowing him to drive around a bit (while we're in the vehicle with him, of course). Here's the strange thing, he doesn't know how to get home or where any place is that he has been to all his life when he is driving there.

You see, it is something totally different to be taken somewhere instead of going there yourself. When we are driven somewhere we let our guard down, we don't pay attention. But when we are the one driving to and from somewhere, we are much more attentive (at least we're supposed to be).

Jonathan has allowed me or his mother to take him to church or back home all his life, and so he has never felt the need to pay any attention as to how he needs to get there on his own.

Many parents make a dangerous assumption when it comes to their own children and spiritual matters. They will assume that because their child has come with them all their life to church, that the child will be as close to God as they are. Not so. Faith is kind of like driving.

Until you are actually behind the wheel on your own and not relying on someone else to drive for you, you aren't focused like you need to be. Many children do church because that's what their family does, but they don't necessarily have a real, authentic relationship with Jesus on their own because they have relied on mom or dad for that.

Parents need to not assume that their child loves God like they do. Faith is NOT a private thing (contrary to popular opinion) but it is something that cannot be passed on or inherited.

That's why I am opposed to infant baptism. Infant baptism is a man-made tradition that presupposes that once an infant is baptized that the child's faith will come via his or her parents' faith. But the whole idea of infant baptism goes against what Jesus said in Mark 16:16. An infant cannot believe. They do not have the mental capacity to be able to do that. (Now, slobber, puke and poop they're good at.)

So my point is parents need to teach faith to their children and never, never make assumptions about their child's faith. That is the driving message behind Deuteronomy 6:4-8. It takes a lot of effort to develop faith in the lives of our children. But if we do it correctly, when they get behind the wheel and go out on their own, they will always know the correct path to take!