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By Dennis Rowan "Teach them to your children and to their children after them" Deut 4:9 I sometimes wonder if our Christian lifestyles are not sort of hit and run. Or, much like getting in the "drive-through" lane at a fast food restaurant. In other words we have a busy schedule, so we do our Christian "thing" and then rapidly move on. Consider how many families juggle schedules to make the mid-week service at their church; its off from school, Johnny has ball practice, Susie has dance lessons. Mom and dad scurry around picking up kids getting home in time to woof down a bite or two before the evening church service. When that is over the family gets home just in time to get the kids ready for bed. It is almost as if we scurry around with such schedules that Christianity to many means a quick fix a couple times a week. I say this is a Jiffy Jesus syndrome. The fast pace itself is not necessarily a problem, but I see it as a hindrance to long range goals among Christians. The Bible tells us to teach his commands and precepts to our children and their children after them. That, to me, means our family is high priority, multi-generational teaching is commanded, and long range goals must be a high priority for us. You can't fulfill such goals with a Jiffy Jesus mentality. How often have we heard the term "quality time" used? That usually means very little time, but productive time. This concept has been overstated, and for practical purposes it is a myth. Young people need a lot of time to learn anything of value. The reason Jiffy Jesus is a greater problem for young people is because they do not have a mature understanding of God's Word. While some adults may survive in the fast lane, our children need a large quantity of time before it can equate to quality time. Surveys have shown that 50% of students from Christian homes are denying their faith before they graduate from college. The Nehemiah Institute studies and teaches Christian views versus world views and has found that too many Christians have a "world view" rather than a "Biblical view". For example legalized abortion of babies is a world view, not a Biblical view. The institute has given surveys to thousands of peop le with their PEERS test. From 1988 to 1996, out of the thousands of Christian students that took the PEERS test, 90 percent of them left high school either "at risk" or "easy prey," because of their lack of a solid biblical worldview. The Josh McDowell Ministry had a survey taken among thousands of randomly selected church youth groups. A total of 3,700 youth were extensively surveyed. Only 43% of those youth agree that an objective standard of truth exists. Jiffy Jesus…….where
is the fruit? I know that some readers will suggest that the Jiffy Jesus
syndrome is not the problem, but let me provide two questions for consideration. It is spelled T-I-M-E.
It takes a lot of time to learn. When Solomon was trying to figure out
man's purpose in life he ultimately said this: "Now all has been
heard; here is the conclusion of the matter; Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man." (Eccl 12:13, NIV). Do we believe
that? Is that what we teach? How much time do we spend teaching this? In my opinion the top three important factors in teaching biblical principles to children are; 1) time, 2) time, and 3) time. If church leaders want to help families teach their children and their children's children, then focus should be on Christian instruction by the family unit rather than cranking up more Jiffy Jesus programs. I hasten to point out that Christian instruction includes lifestyle actions in addition to formal instruction and study at the student's desk. If we wish to evangelize the world and make disciples in all nations we had better begin at home. Home schooling is the best avenue we have.
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