Parenting Bible Study, or Bible Study for Parents?

In our poll this week, we asked the question, "How many of you have Sunday School classes for parents in your church?" Currently, it looks like the "no's" are outpacing the "yesses" by about two to one. And as I've talked with lots of people about our Life Truths Bible study curriculum, I've found myself clarifying the difference between a parenting Bible study and a Bible study for parents quite a few times. So maybe we are asking the question wrong.

There are several great parenting Bible studies out there. The Parent Adventure is one of them. If you haven't watched the video interview with Rodney and Selma Wilson yet, I hope you will. A good parenting Bible study will gather a group of parents together to study what the Bible says about specific issues parents face.

But Life Truths is a Bible study for parents. Meaning, we gather a group of parents together to study the Bible. Not every topic every week is going to be specifically about parenting. That's because the Bible is not primarily concerned with making you a better parent. The Bible has one agenda from cover to cover: to conform you as an individual into the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). At the beginning of history, God made humans in His image. And at the end of history, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is (1 John 3:2).

But here is the amazing side benefit: the more you devote yourself to becoming Christlike, the better parent you will be. The better spouse, the better employee, the better supervisor, the better citizen, the better human being. Because all things are held together by Christ, the All-Sufficient One (Col.1:15-19), we will become more effective at everything we attempt to do as we draw closer and closer to Him.

So what is the value of having a class for parents, if we aren't going to focus on parenting? Great question. We believe there's tremendous value in studying the Word with people who are in the same life stage as you are. Because all of you are going to be coming into your study of the Word with a shared perspective. And when the teacher gets to the question, "How does this apply to your life?" then you are going to be able to answer that question from a parent's perspective, learn from each other, and let iron sharpen iron.

If you are a minister of education reading this, I hope you will consider starting new Bible study classes for parents. I hope you'll have some groups that do parenting Bible studies. But I hope that on Sunday mornings, you will consider a study like Life Truths. It's for parents, from parents, because God's Word makes us better parents.