Raising Kids, Raising Leaders By Tom Hovsepian

Raising Kids, Raising Leaders

By Tom Hovsepian

My daughter Leslie and her husband have the cutest 19 month old daughter! She is so dang smart—loving anything new—all the while beaming that photogenic smile of hers. Her parents have to keep up with her though, and struggle to stay ahead. What used to occupy her for an hour is now examined and discarded in minutes, if not seconds. She’s like that robot in the movie “Short Circuit” wandering around moaning “more input, more input”. Indie Joy loves to learn and was built for adventure. When she can’t satisfy that yearning you’ve got one unhappy kid. What’s a parent to do? 

The other day I was babysitting Indie and I found the James Dobson book, “The New Strong Willed Child” lying on the counter. While the baby slept I read a few chapters. What genius, grace-filled, practical advice.

 

I read the section on how to deal with a strong willed teenager. Boy, did that bring back memories! I had four of them in the home at once! I loved what James Dobson had to say about allowing your teenagers to grow up. He says that all too often we rescue our kids from the consequences of their decisions, instead of allowing those adverse circumstances to teach and train them. In other words, give them the freedom to FAIL. Dobson used the classic example of teaching kids to walk. It would be absurd for a parent to suppose that a baby could learn to do so without falling often. The same holds true for a child growing into a young adult.

Author and pastor, Bill Johnson, tells the story of teaching his kids to ride a bike without training wheels. He knew they wouldn’t be able to learn without falling, so he would take them to the park to teach them on the soft grass. He provided a safe place for them to grow.

Just like raising kids, leaders must provide a safe environment for their people to grow up as well. The example is often used of how ridiculous it would be to give the keys of the family car to a 5 year old.  Well, it’s just as ridiculous to NOT give them the keys when they’re 40!

Jesus had no problem doing this, as John Wimber so deftly explained: Jesus did the works of ministry. Then He did the works of ministry while His disciples observed. Next He allowed His disciples to do the works of ministry, as He looked on. Finally, of course, the disciples were entrusted with the ministry of Jesus and “turned the world upside down”.

Danny Silk, author of “The Culture of Honor”, explains that the Scripture found in John 14:12 “He who believes in Me, the works that I do, he shall do also, and greater works shall he do …” is one of the most empowering scriptures in the Bible. We need to be people who raise up and train, not only our children, but also our leaders, to take over where we leave off—and to even go beyond what we’ve accomplished. We must have the ambition in childrearing, and leader training, to desire that “our ceiling would become the next generation’s floor”. How Jesus could entrust the Great Commission to the bungling disciples is beyond me, but He did, and it worked. How much more should we, when it comes to raising up children and raising up leaders!

Tom Hovsepian is the pastor of Church on the Mountain, a vibrant community of believers in Crowley Lake. We meet at 9:30 Sunday mornings. Call for more information: 935-4272 or www.ChurchOnTheMountain.org