Psalm 127: 4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.

After I took the picture that you see here on our Father/Son retreat to Camp Peniel last month, the scene of the father helping the son to aim his bow made me cock my head to the side in astonishment as I reviewed it on my digital camera.  Not only that I am apparently a closet shutterbug, but that the scene portrays what we are after in terms of ministering to the students at Cornerstone.  All of this happening of course at a Father/Son retreat where dads and sons were pouring themselves into one another.  It caused me to ask three questions of myself and of parents regarding how to disciple our younger followers of Jesus at Cornerstone…

Am I Aiming The Arrows?

First, am I even aiming my children like arrows?  The intensity as seen in the picture displays for us a precision and focus required when aiming an arrow.  So it is with our children.  It is so easy for us as parents to be distracted while we are aiming because we are blown around by many different things like desires and goals, aspirations, bosses/workplace, our “me time,” sports/drama travel teams, and perhaps even philosophies that may be counter to arrow-aiming.

A man explained to me this month that his father never really “forced/guided” his children towards anything “spiritual” and let them “make their own choices” and that he plans to do the same for his kids because “anything else is just brainwashing.”  While that perhaps sounds open minded, humble, and courteous, what that Father might not realize is that he is actually passing on that philosophy to the child.  So in essence, though he claims he is not aiming, he really is aiming.

Now, if this is a Christian man, either the child adopts the “choose your own way, son” philosophy or the child picks up some other version of spirituality not in accord with Christian spirituality.  The point is, if we do not aim our children, someone will.  None of us have come up with anything on our own.  We are all influenced as things are revealed to us.  We are all “brainwashed” by someone or something.  Thus, as Christian parents, if we believe Jesus is who he says he is, we ought to be aiming our children with great intensity, focus, and precision.

Where Do I Aim The Arrows?

But where do we aim then?  The simple answer is always a good one – Jesus.  We aim them towards the beauty of his creation.  We aim them towards the fallenness of beauty that is a result of our sin.  We aim them towards redemption of beauty found in Jesus through his life, death, and resurrection because it is the story on which we build our ethics and morality.  It is the story on which all livelihood hinges.  We aim them towards being transformed back into the likeness of Christ, being more human and whole, and that we are working towards the great glorification and consummation of his Church in his Kingdom that is to come.  We teach them that this is why we work, play, drink, eat, breathe or do anything.  We aim them towards this story because it is our story and we are a part of that story.

Am I Supposed To Aim Alone?

This probably sounds really daunting and perhaps overly philosophical and most of us probably have a hard time even relating to our young people.  This is why we cannot do this alone.  The Lord has given us the provision of the broader family of the church.  We have other warriors next to us helping us aim the arrows with the same intensity – older parents who have gone before us who can help us point the arrows in the right direction; overwhelmed younger parents or single parents that we can come alongside and help to maintain their intensity in the aiming; peers who can stand over our own children with us and aim them towards the gospel.

One of the most profound moments of the Father/Son retreat for me came, not in any teaching we received nor even in the small group devotional we had as a church (though that was fantastic), but when Luke Saugier was watching Tristan (my son) shoot his bow and I was able to stand over Titus (Luke’s son) and help him aim his arrows.  He pulled back as far as his little arms could muster and Titus shot his arrow further and straighter than he had before and I am not a good archer or teacher.  Certainly no better than Luke.

There is just something about a different voice giving the same instruction that sometimes helps us to hear more clearly and transform.  Often it is another pair of hands and eyes, another warrior coming alongside to help us aim with great focus, intensity, and precision so that we might see Christ in all his beauty and to see ourselves in his story.  Are we doing this for one another?