One thing I am certain of....it must happen in the home. It will not happen in the church with all the mixed messages and confusion.
It is my observation that the more generations there are in the church the more complacent and Laodicean the next generation tends to be. I see so many second generation SDAs that seem indifferent to the things their converted parents hold dear. I'm sure some of this is because the parents chose to convert whereas the children simply grew uo in teh church therefore they did not necessarily make that choice. I am a convert to the faith and would npot change that experience for anything even given all the mistakes I made not knowing truth and even with the baggage of the past.My concern is raising children who have never known anything but the SDA church with all the unfortunate liabilites that thyat entails. There are advantages but it almost seems that there are as many disadvantages do to the condition of the church. I wish them to have my experience, in terms of fresh vibrant zeal, when they cannot do to necessary circumstances.One thing I am certain of....it must happen in the home. It will not happen in the church with all the mixed messages and confusion.
As to how to raise a faithful 2nd gen. SDA--for one thing, don't repeat the errors of the previous generation. It seems that the generation that preceded me, while they were good on rules and regulations, they were short on principles. What I mean by that is that they did a good job of teaching the SDA doctrines and standards, but they didn't do so well in articulating the underlying principles upon which the standards are based. One thing I know from being both a parent and a child, is that the question "why" is probably the most common question asked by a child. When it comes to spiritual things we owe them answers; answers that are grounded in Scripture. This is only one step in "training up a child in the way he should go," but it is an important one.
And knowing how precious faithfulness to God meant to our parents later helped us to make right choices, figuring into the equation that it would break their hearts if we did such and such, even though it appeared grayish at the time.
One thing I know from being both a parent and a child, is that the question "why" is probably the most common question asked by a child. When it comes to spiritual things we owe them answers; answers that are grounded in Scripture. This is only one step in "training up a child in the way he should go," but it is an important one.
I Where they didn't do so well, was to speak more of Sister White than the Bible. We usually got a Sister White quote instead of a biblical principle. God's love was not conveyed in a meaningful sense, saw God in a more punitive light.We all do our best as parents, and unfortunately that sometimes means that we don't get it quite as right as we desire to.
When the dad and mom are real Christians - the kids will more than likely choose to be real Christians. When they see dad and mom living out the Biblical commands to love the neighbor (who regularly beats up his live-in girlfriend and kid and steals your stuff if you don't lock it up) -taking him homemade cinnamin buns and calling the cops when lives are in danger and taking him more cinnamon buns, helping the single mom move for the ump-teenth time, feeding the cats and emptying the litterbox of the guy in jail for 5 months... all on their dime, stopping regularly to take the handicapped guy to the grocery, and dishing up an extra plate of food after potluck for the single man to take home, the dad and mom who apologize when they blow it, who aren't perfect but know that God is and loves them and will help them in every situation. It's either real and working for you or it ain't! If it ain't, then don't try to sell it to someone else. Go "fix it" and see what supernatural things happen.