by Josh Liu

O LORD, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways. (Psalm 139:1-3)

It is an amazing truth that we may be known by God. That is, God is personally active in the life of a person and intimately relates to His elect children. Yet how often is it the case that we forget God. On a scale of 1-10 (1 being nonexistent, 10 being constant), how would you evaluate your consciousness of God throughout your day, from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep? You are never at a moment where you can be truly self-sufficient or independent of God; to seek independence from God is sin. Adam and Eve incurred the curses of God by rejecting dependence on God’s words (Gen. 3:1-19); sinners under the wrath of God, refusing to honor God as God or give thanks to Him, are abandoned to their wickedness and depravity (Rom. 1:18-32). God ought to so saturate your life that to “remove” God from your life would leave nothing behind.

This is the theme of chapter four, “What Is a Family? A Job Description,” in Paul David Tripp’s Age of Opportunity. The present article seeks to summarize this chapter. This book is one resource the youth staff has been reviewing to complement our study on biblical parenting. The youth ministry seeks to partner with parents in the discipleship of their (youth-age) children, which requires understanding what God requires of parents revealed in His Word. In chapter three, Tripp proposed that the family is God’s primary learning community, with parents as the primary educators (Tripp, 41). He goes on in chapter four to describe principles that guide parents in teaching “God’s truth in everyday life” (p. 53). He identifies three foundational themes to every human situation for parents to remember: 1) family is a theological community, 2) family is a sociological community, 3) family is a redemptive community.

Family Is a Theological Community

Tripp posits that “the ultimate fact of family life is the fact that God exists and that we are his creatures” (Tripp, 54). Thus, the parents’ goal is to “root our children’s identity in the existence and glory of God” (Tripp, 54). Life finds true meaning in God.

Why think, work, obey, love, study, discuss, serve, or give? Why? Why? All of life blows into a chaotic mass of meaningless choices unless it is rooted in the one fact that makes every other fact make sense–GOD. (Tripp. 55)

This teaching by parents of a moment-by-moment consciousness of God is founded on Deuteronomy 6:20-25. To do this, parents should remember:

1. That every moment is God’s moment. “There is never a moment where God is absent, or inactive” (Tripp, 56). Teens (or sinners in general) do not naturally live in God’s moment, but rather are wholly self-focused, focused on the horizontal and present.
2. There is always a higher agenda. The greater purpose of every situation of life is God’s purpose, not personal desires or happiness.
3. Their (the teens’) story in God’s story. The Bible has often been mishandled as some sort of glorified encyclopedia with verses organized topically. Scripture is the unified revelation of God’s story in redeeming His people. To teach God’s truth to children “means that every day, in every way possible, to embed the story of your teenager in the larger story of God” (Tripp, 59).
4. To exhort their children to trust and obey God. People tend “to do things that are God’s job and they forget to do the things that he has called them to do” (Tripp, 61).

Family Is a Sociological Community

Family involves relationships, which will provide opportunities for conflict and sin (cf. James 4:1-2). Thus, Tripp writes,

The family will teach and model what it means to love your neighbor as yourself or it will violate that standard at every point and teach a self-centered individualism. Powerful messages about the nature of relationships will be taught in they way Mom and Dad talk to one another, serve one another, make decisions, and deal with their differences. It is impossible for a family to escape teaching and modeling some functional philosophy of relationship for its children. (Tripp, 63)

For example, you have heard of stories of siblings in a heated argument. In the midst of the yelling, the sister picks up a phone call from a friend and her tone and demeanor completely transforms to a sweet gentle voice. “The family is the context where the teenager’s true heart toward relationships is consistently exposed” (Tripp, 65).

Family Is a Redemptive Community

Finally, Tripp describes the family as the context of in-depth, constant modeling of the gospel. “Because of sin, the family is a place of unfulfilled promises, broken dreams, and disappointed expectations” (Tripp, 65). The revealing of sin opens opportunities for revealing the need of Christ. Tripp encourages parents to model the gospel by confessing their own specific sins and failures to their children, and communicating their own need of Christ. Tripp shares a powerful experience with his daughter who, one night, broke down before him, telling him that she

“can’t do it, I can’t do what you are asking me. It’s just impossible…When you tell me to give [my brothers] something of mine, I do, but I hate it and I am mad at you for asking me and mad at them for taking it! I don’t want to share, I hate it! It’s impossible to enjoy!…She began to realize that in her own strength, by the exercise of her own will, she could not obey God. In her room that night, she began to cry out for Christ. (Tripp, 67)

Parents need to remember that empowering work of God in those who put their faith in Him (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9; Phil. 4:13). Tripp also encourages parents to not distance themselves from their children’s sins and failures, but to identify with them (Tripp, 69). He reminds parents that they cannot shelter their children from this fallen world, but to redeem it by bringing in the gospel.

The parent can teach God’s truth everyday, in the mundane moments of life, by remembering that the family is a theological, sociological, and redemptive community. Ultimately to remember God and point their children to God in every moment. The parents’ job is not to raise “successful,” wealthy, well-liked, independent children. Rather, their job is to glorify God by bringing their children up in the instruction of the Lord. These are helpful reminders and principles as Lumos youth ministry seeks to support families through the ministry of prayer and God’s Word.

To encourage you to pursue moment-by-moment God awareness, consider the following reflections:

1. When you worry about food or clothing, remember God’s gracious provisions (cf. Matt. 6:25).
2. When you see a bird, may you be reminded of God’s sovereignty and care for you (cf. Matt. 6:26).
3. When you’re stuck in line or in traffic, or are running late, remember God’s plans (cf. Prov. 16:9; James 4:13-15).
4. When you have to work, remember God’s joy in faithfulness (cf. Matt. 25:21b; Eph. 6:5).
5. When you suffer, remember the privilege of sharing in Christ’s sufferings (cf. Phil. 1:29; 1 Peter 4:13)
6. When you see the stars, remember God’s omnipotence and omniscience over creation (cf. Ps. 147:4).
7. When you experience illness, remember God’s strength and promise of eternal glory (cf. 2 Cor. 12:9; Rev. 21:4).
8. When you handle money or valuables, may you remember the surpassing treasure of Christ who ransomed you with His precious blood (cf. Phil. 3:8; 1 Peter 1:18-19).
9. When you wake up in the morning or age, remember God’s grace of life, mercies, and coming judgment (cf. Lam. 3:22-24; Ecc. 11:9).

The list goes on. May Scripture–God–saturate your every moment.