Dearest Most Darling Sons,
Tomorrow is Sunday. Are you going to church? Dear son, the father of little girls, are you taking your children to Sunday School?
Robert Fulgham may have learned all he needed to know in Kindergarten, but everything I ever really needed to know I learned in Sunday School.
I learned that it’s wrong to steal, to tell lies, or to worship any other god but the One True God.
I learned about sharing, forgiveness, and how to have compassion for others. I was taught how to obey my parents, to be faithful to my friends, and how to be content in all my circumstances, and not covet something someone else has.
I learned I wasn’t the center of the universe, that God was. And because of that, the pressure was off of me to be the best and brightest. I learned that all God expected of me was to love Him and to believe that He forgave me when I failed. I learned that I was put on this planet for a purpose: to serve others. And that meant that God had a big plan for me. What a glorious reality for a little person! God chose me!
In Sunday School I learned how to memorize scripture, that God is bigger than any giant that might try to hurt me, and that faith is what makes God happy.
I met many heroes in Sunday School: King David, Joseph, Noah, Moses, Esther, and my Sunday School teacher, Mrs. Young. (I always admired the way she popped her gum in her teeth and the big topaz ring she wore on her middle right finger.)
I learned that there were adults I could trust, who would love me just because I was one of God’s children, and who didn’t judge me or my family because we weren’t the best dressed.
Which brings me to this: once you find a church like that — a church that embraces you and your wife and children warts and all — you have found a real family. Life on this side of heaven is hard, and we can’t do it alone. We need one another. Some people say it takes a village to raise a child. I say it takes a church, which is very much like a village, except that gossip isn’t allowed.
And we have a church like that, son. I know it might seem pretty boring and backward to you because your Dad is the pastor and your Mom is a teacher there, but really, you have no idea the treasure you have in our church. I’m sad to admit that Christians don’t always act like Jesus. We try, but we fail. And because we fail, that’s why we need them.
But our church, son, is a church that welcomes you and your family with non-judgmental open arms. And they truly love you and your family.
But if our church isn’t the fit you want, then go somewhere else. Find a church that ministers to you. Go to a home church where families get together and talk about the Lord. The building isn’t important. But the community is.
Going to church is so important to raising your children. I know it might not seem so important, but I promise that line by line your children will learn God’s Word, and before you know it, they will have it in them, and they will be able to solve problems in this world God’s way.
Globalists, environmentalists, politicians — they believe they have the world in their hands. But the truth is, son, they don’t. Only God has the world in His hands. Only God knows what is best for me, you, our families.
And while I know you can find God out in the forest, or in the bathtub or even in a traffic jam, the fact is, coming together with other like-minded Christians and raising hands and voices in worship, has a tremendous blessing attached to it. It encourages you, but it blesses God and in return, you are blessed.
So go to bed a little earlier tonight, son, so you can help your wife get the girls ready for church in the morning. They need to hear about Jesus. And you need to be in His Presence so you can fill back up and face this ugly old world with grace.
