How to Create little Consumer Christian….

Parents, I wanted to give you a little advice on how to create a consumer Christian out of your child. It’s actually not that hard, but there are a few practical steps that you can easily take to instill a consumer mentality regarding spiritual things. While there are plenty more that could be added to the list, I provide here only some highlights for you to consider.

First: Teach your children to complain about the worship music

This should be easy for you to instruct on if you are already in the habit of doing it yourself! Make sure and pick apart the worship pastor’s selection of songs each week. If you make a practice of this, you are sure to instill in to your children the truth that the music needs to please their personal preferences. Make sure that they know that if poor music selection by the worship pastor goes on long enough they must gossip about him, and or get rid of him. Don’t tell your children that they can listen to any of their favorite Christian music tunes the other 166.5 hours during the week. Make sure that they know that the 20-30 minutes of music on Sunday is the only true time that worship through music can be had.

Second: Teach them that everything should be fun

Candy canes, lollipops, ice cream and unicorns…. This is what you need to teach your children to expect when they come to church. Make sure they understand that fun, fun, fun must be a part of everything that is done, done, done at the church. Time at church should be akin to incredible pizza, going to see a movie with friends or heading over to the local bounce house. Whatever lessons are being taught must include time for games that illustrate the lesson and let them get out all of their energy. If it’s not fun, then the family will need to find a different church. After all it’s impossible for young people to learn to control their bodies. Make sure that your kids know that they are owed fun.

Third: Teach them that the Christian disciplines are boooooooooring!

Prayer, time in the bible, fasting or faithfully attending church? All these are things that were done in the past. Make sure that your kids understand that their only real obligation to God is to believe the gospel. If they believe Jesus died on a cross for their sins, they are good. Prayer and time in the bible is for the professionals like the pastors. Make sure that your kids understand that your time working out at the gym is what gives you the energy that you need to live. They will also need to play plenty of sports because physical exercise is critical for their spiritual health. Time with God happens when they are at church, so there is no real need for spiritual things in the home. Home time should be filled with fun things like video games or devices.

Fourth: Teach them that their feelings matter as much as the truth

If something really difficult is preached and it hurts their feelings, make sure that your children know there are other churches they can attend. Personal reflection about sin can make a person feel guilty, and life is too short to feel bad about something. Make sure that if something offends their sensibilities that they know that truth is a tricky thing and no one has a corner on it. Let them know that the bible can be interpreted to mean whatever they want it to mean. Truth is relative to the person and how they feel about something. Teaching your child to avoid things that might hurt their feelings will allow them to slip out of any sticky situations that they don’t want to deal with.

As I mentioned before, there are plenty more things that will help you create a little consumer Christian, but this is a good start for today. Good luck and remember to remind your children that life is all about them!