One Thing I Wish Every Christian Home Practiced

A little thing that adds up big time

In a world of so much busyness, when choosing to do one thing inevitably means choosing not to do multiple other things, we all want to pick the most worthwhile uses of our time.

“Bang for your buck” is one of the single biggest factors in any decision we make.

That being the case, one of the most impactful items any home can add to their schedule is the practice of family worship.

Why?

In Deuteronomy 6, Moses charges fathers and grandfathers with passing the faith on to their children. Part of that charge is the command to “Teach them diligently” morning and night, going and coming.

This does not mean “make sure your kids get to Bible class and youth group events.” It means that parents, fathers especially, have a duty to teach their children how to follow God by regularly discussing the Word in the home.

In our 2013 Focus Press survey of those who left the church, 61% of respondents said they regularly attended Bible class in their youth. Only 13% rarely or never attended. On the flip side, 74% said the Bible was studied together 1-2 per week or less in their home.

In other words, those who fell away had parents who got them to church but didn’t teach the Word at home.

That doesn’t mean a regular family devotional would be a magic bullet that guarantees faithfulness, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

• It tells everyone in the family that God is a priority every day and not just one or two days per week.

• It gets Dad to realize his place as spiritual head, and Mom to follow his lead.

• It gets the kids learning the Bible and helps them develop the habit of asking Dad and Mom questions about it.

• It helps them learn the songs so they can pay attention and participate in worship on Sundays.

• It fills the home with the fragrant aroma of praise and gratitude to God and lifts the mood of everyone involved.

There is literally no downside. The only challenge is making it happen.

What and how?

You don’t have to be spending 2 hours a day doing deep dive exegetical studies on the book of Ezekiel. Reading small sections, noting the truths they teach, and making application where necessary goes a long way. A few we’ve done:

• Read a set number of verses in Proverbs each night, picking one or two to comment on

• Read a Psalm and discuss what it says about God and His relationship to man

• Read one section per night through the Gospels

• Read one entry from a book of major Bible stories

• Read a chapter of an epistle

The content will be age-dependent. When little ones begin to understand and participate, simple Bible lessons on the major stories, or one or two verse lessons will go a long way. Sing songs they can keep up with, and let it grow with them.

Memory verses are also a great practice, and kids can start on that way earlier than most people think. Keep it simple and start every night by reciting it together. You can also find a catechism that aligns with your beliefs and teach your family key doctrines by learning one or two answers at a time.

Ask around the table for any questions or thoughts. Sometimes they’ll have something, sometimes they won’t.

After a few minutes of discussion and commentary, sing a few songs together.

Take prayer requests. Perhaps ask everyone to pick one thing they’re thankful for.

Say a closing prayer. If any discussion spills over, great! If not, put your Bible away where you’ll have it ready for the next time.

(Don’t have kids, or at least not any at home? That’s no problem at all. It just means you might even have a little more time to spend, and can go deeper with your discussions. Married couples should certainly be in the Word together, whether they have kids around or not.)

When?

Busyness is probably the biggest challenge of all, but it’s worth overcoming it to make sure to get it done.

One survey found that 84% of the Silent Generation had family meals together each day growing up. That fell to 76% among Baby Boomers, 59% for Gen Xers, 46% for Millennials, and 38% for Gen Z. Yes, there are always exceptions—hopefully temporary in most cases.

But, generally speaking, if your family is too busy to share a meal around the table together, something needs to be cut back. Shared meals are the biggest ways human beings connect, and if a family can’t do that together, how much parenting is really taking place?

The goal should be to have at least one meal around the table together each day. With that habit in place, family worship time is an easy add-on. It probably won’t happen seven days a week, particularly if you’re going to Sunday night worship and Wednesday night study. But at least 3-4 devotionals per week should be the aim.

Forming the habit

Like anything else, what gets prioritized gets done. If there is time for TV shows, sports games, social media scrolling, or even important things like dishes and laundry, then there is time to spend 10-15 minutes with the Lord. Just don’t leave the table until you’ve had your devotional.

It’s also important to note that, if Dad’s at home, he needs to be driving the habit. In Ephesians 6:4, he was the one charged with bringing up the children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That means he can’t be a passenger in the process. If Mom has to nag him to do it, neither of them are going to be happy, the habit will be harder to form, and it won’t be as impactful as it could be.

For this reason, church leadership needs to lean on their men to take up this habit and equip them to carry it out. It’s one thing for a wife to keep nudging her husband to do family devos. It’s another for the elders to let the men know that this is something they expect from the men of their congregation, and occasionally ask how it’s going.

Why not start today?

As I said at the top, I don’t know if there is any practice you can add to your life that would be more impactful than regular family worship. Rarely is it the big events that make the biggest differences in life, but rather the slow, faithful, regular contributions that add up over time.

If you’re already practicing this, keep up the good work! Don’t hesitate to try to recruit others to the practice.

If you haven’t, why not start today? It might be awkward at first, but it only takes a few times before it’s a habit. It probably won’t be long before the kids will remind you of it, set the Bible out for you, suggest their favorite songs, etc. Give it a shot.

If your wife has been nudging you to do it, it’s okay to acknowledge that her desire for it is good. Make it what you want to do and not just what she wants you to do.

Make your home a place where God’s Word is opened and His name is praised. You won’t regret it for a second.

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Notes

• This post isn’t meant to be a sales pitch, as you genuinely don’t need to spend a dime to get started. However, if you’re looking for some kind of resource to help you, check out our Family Worship Guide or A Closer Walk with Thee books at Focus Press.

• The Christian Chronicle invited me to offer an op-ed on Christians and immigration, which you can find here

• Think Deeper Podcast is on a two-part series on the challenges facing the church. I plan to write more on this particular point soon, but you can hear what I have to say on the episode: