Timothy Paul Jones on Priorities for our Children and Families.

Parenting. It is easy for me to say that I am not an expert at parenting. I have only been a parent for one day shy of four months. Although this is not a long time, I am a youth pastor which leads to spending a lot of time with parents. A portion of any youth pastors job should be listening to, meeting with, and equipping parents to better disciple and lead their families to love Jesus. “Parent Ministry” is one of my favorite parts of being a youth pastor.

All families must set priorities. Even if they do not write them down on paper, it becomes obvious what the priorities of each family are when exploring how they use their time and what they seek to accomplish. Timothy Paul Jones, who serves as a professor at Southern Seminary, challenges parents to reconsider success in their families. This quote from page 103 of his book titled Family Ministry Field Guide asks three questions that any and all parents would benefit by asking themselves and thinking through priorities in their own families.

“What does it profit our child to gain a baseball scholarship and yet never experience consistent prayer and devotional times with us, the parents? What will it profit our chid to succeed as a ballet dancer and yet never know the rhythms of a home where we are willing to release any dream at any moment if we become too busy disciple one another? What will it profit the children all around us in our churches to be accepted into the finest colleges and yet never leverage their lives for the sake of proclaiming the gospel to the nations?”