Jump Start # 3789
Psalms 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
It happened a week ago Sunday. It doesn’t happen often and it doesn’t mean much to most people, but it sure made my heart swell. Many of our readers know my son Jordan, who preaches in the Dallas area. He’s my third child, the second son. For he and I to be preaching on a Sunday is something that happens all the time. But this past Sunday, my oldest son, Nathan, led singing for us here in New Albany. Jordan was preaching in Dallas. My youngest son, Joel, preached on the north side of Indianapolis. This was only the third time for Joel to preach. That evening, here at home, I preached. To think, all three of my sons were leading the people of God in worship in three different places at the same time. That’s just amazing. It makes one pappa really happy.
All three of my sons are very gifted and much more talented than I am. I’ve just done these things a lot, lot longer than they have. What are some tips for training sons to serve? Here are some thoughts:
First, instill in them the value of excellence in worship. This begins early, while they are still little boys. Now, this is a Roger thing, I fault no one for being different than this, but we always had the boys wear nice clothes to services. Others wore jeans and that’s fine, but my boys didn’t. They’d fight me about wearing jeans, but I wanted them to honor God in how we dressed. Later in life, they’d wear ties to services. Dressing up puts one in a special mood and mode.
From a young age, we got them age appropriate Bibles. When preachers passed through on Sundays, they’d have those visiting preachers sign their Bibles. We were teaching them to honor those who spoke the word of God.
Second, don’t push your boys into doing things. Just teach them. They all got the gift of music from their mother and she taught them how to lead singing. We had old pitch pipes around the house and they’d practice. I wanted all of them to know how to lead a prayer. They’d do that around the kitchen table. I wanted them to be able to stand up and teach a class and give a Wednesday night invitation. As Jordan chose to preach, I was the most critical of him because I knew he would be in front of people every week.
One never knows where life will take you. One Sunday, the preacher may be sick and can’t make it to services. Does everyone look around not knowing what to do, or does one step up and do the best he can to lead and teach the word of God? I’ve been in some very small congregations. I wanted them to be able to put together a decent lesson and to do their best in helping others worship.
Third, they have been around preachers all their lives. Much of that is because of me. A majority of my dearest friends are preachers and they have come to see the goodness in these men. They love preachers as I do and from that they have learned from others.
One of the exercises Jordan and I would do as we attended Gospel meetings, I’d ask him, what did you learn? After we talked about that, we talked about the organization and delivery of the sermon. The transition points, the passages used, the way he approached the topic, the way he ended the lesson. We were seeing that each person, using his own talents approaches topics differently than others. Some are easy to follow. Some are like chasing a rabbit through a field. These are learning points. They are growing points.
When they were young, they would all have their own notebooks in which to take notes. The young ones sometimes drew pictures and didn’t get much. But as they got older, they were taking detailed notes. This is a good exercise in listening and learning.
Third, Jordan worked with me in a preacher training program. But this was after he was preaching about every Sunday out in the countryside. What I want you to see is that the thrust of the learning came from home. They saw in me, every Sunday, behind the pulpit, taking the work of the kingdom very seriously.
And, this is where it begins for you. At home. Did I ever intend to have any of the boys preach? No. I just wanted them to be able to serve God in their own way with their own talents. That one did chose to preach is special, but no more than the others who teach classes, lead prayers or song service. Serving God was the goal that I was after.
A lot of help came from their mother. She has a way of grooming and fine tuning and seeing things that I overlooked. It was a team effort. Work together to get your sons interested in the Lord and then having a heart to serve.
Thanks for letting me share these personal stories with you. Four Shouses’ leading the people of God on the same Sunday. That’s just special in my book.
Roger