Growing Up in s Christian Family

Growing Up in s Christian Family cosmos raised up in a un flowerpotnyly oriented family has its mix of bless(prenominal)ings and curses. The blessings ar certainly the pledge and stability of a family whose foundation is strongly well deviceted in the Word of God. The curses argon the problems that place as a result of be swept along the river of the trust of the p bents. I am writing this paper with intentions of highlighting the readers with these problems in mind. As one deal with considering the assent of the pre-adolescent tikeren from within the congregation or from the family prospective, one ought to ask the straits, When argon electric shaverren ready to pull back the assent commitment of their spiritedness? Therefore, beforehand I draw my ideas from separate various sources, I would like to start with a somebodyal experience of a friend of mind whom I came to bang during my basic combat training in Fort Jackson, southwestern Carolina, and whom we atomi c number 18 stationed together in Camp Robinson, North Little Rock.Andrew is chaplain assistance for my army unit and my pie-eyed battle buddy whom I thought would be a best backdidate to interview for my inquiry paper. Based on his responses to my curiosity about his spiritual life, he in springed me that his family was deeply included in the life of the perform way before he was born. His father was a church leader. Among his best friends, was the son of the church chairman and a nonher was the pastors son. According to Andrew, he spent much of his while with his friends both at the church and at all(prenominal) others homes. Each of their parents played a single- treasured function in their formative eld. This was our wide family. We were more than like cousins than friends, for each of our natural extended families were hundreds of miles away, he tell with a good looking on his face.He went further by saying that they were no different from the other kids, except obviously the bond that they had, held them closer to the influence of the church. So, when it came to making a termination for Christ, in that respect really was no decision, he express. In the case of Andrew, one is left to believe they had no other choice other than go with the flow. So, as early as the age of five, the three of the best friends would respond to the request of their childrens chapel instructor and prayed that saviour would come into their hearts without having a firm cognitive sniff out of their prayers. Was there a deviate in their populates? No, they were simply spare-time activity the natural order of events for children in the church.Furthermore, Andrew stated that when they were twelve, after several years later, their Sunday school class met in the pastors study for baptism and membership class. Again, previseations dictated that by this time in their lives it was time to stool this step. So, one Sunday evening the three friends, along with oth ers in their class, stepped into the water and were baptized. Were we demonstrating to the homo that we were now dead in our sins and transformed into new life in Christ? he wondered. No, we were following the sequence of events of all the church kids that went before us. It was a right of passage into the next level of life in the church. Were we forced or coerced into doing this? No, we desired to take these steps beca intent it was the proper liaison to do.Andrew confessed that as he grew in his experienceing and faith, he came to resent both the acts of the church and home. He perceived the events as supreme and meaningless. He felt that he had been misled and was given a false soul experience of his stupefy in Christ. I concluded that I was non saved during those early years and I target areaed to the practice of child evangelism, he protested. This state of hostility toward his church lasted for about three years during his late teens as he struggled with his subst antiate got indistinguishability and his relationship with God.Now, Andrew is a married man and Chaplain assistance in the military unit. His wife and he are planning to have children in the nearest future. Therefore, in light of his make spiritual nurture he is left to wonder how he would measure a childs spiritual readiness or more explicitly, how would he know when a child is ready to make a decision for Christ and for baptism? It is with this question that every parents out there should bear in mind when considering spiritual formation of their preadolescence children.Another quest one would want to put extra emphasis on is the psychological pay backment theory. Those of us who went through adolescent tip and the parents who work or live with adolescents know first-hand that they are at once impractical to live with and a joy to have around. They are moody, critical, combative, and absent-minded they are also creative, energetic, and impassioned about the populace and th eir place in it. However, research on pre-adolescents organic evolution has sh receive clearly that the surface behaviors of early adolescents provide lamentable clues as to what is really going on inside them, in their minds and souls. The common perception of students in gist schools is that they are constantly in storm and stress, peer driven, rebellious toward adults, moody, uncommunicative and unpredictable. Unfortunately, these views are popular myths and have resulted in generations of mis generalizeing and inappropriate attention to the needs of 10 to 14 years old.Early adolescents are rarely perceived as beingness deeply thinking, caring and valuing persons who are greatly influenced by shaft adults. They are in the final stages of fortifying the character and face-to-faceity that will distinguish them as adults difficult, serious and personal questions and inquiries into the meaning of life and death are very important, for they play a crucial role in their faith culture.In his theory of cognitive development ( submit 1), Jean Piaget put forth the knowing counter decompose of biological adaptation to the environs. He said that as we adapt biologically to our environment, so in like manner we adapt intellectually. Through assimilation, accommodation and rejection, the external world is organized and given structure.Adaptation dumbfounds at make with the exercise of sensory- aim reflexes. Differentiations via reflexes are the first adaptations that are of eventual importance in cognitive development. As the child develops, the adaptations he makes are increasingly less related to sensory and motor behaviors alone, and may be less clearly intoxicaten as adaptations by the untrained eye.Each successive stage is built upon the one before in an accumulating, orderly, sequential and hierarchical manner. Yet the cognitive structures are developed in an invariant sequence. That is, the work of cognitive development, marked by the development of structures, is the same for all children, although the ages at which they attain feature structures may vary with intelligence and the amicable environment (Piaget and Inhelder, 1969, p. 153).Erik Erikson, in his theory of psychosocial stages (Table 2), similarly stated that an individuals personality develops accord to predefined steps that are maturationally set. Society is structured in a way that invites and encourages the challenges that arise at these particular times. Each stage presents the individual with a crisis. If a particular crisis is handled well, the outcome is positive. If it is not handled well, the outcome is negative. The resolution of each stage lays the foundation for negotiating the challenges of the next.Lawrence Kohlberg views the development of morality in basis of moral reasoning (Table 3). The stage of moral reasoning at which people can be placed depends upon the reasoning behind their decisions, not the decisions themselves. He believes that t he stages are sequential and that people do not skip stages, although they land and leave them at varying times.Implications on Spiritual DevelopmentUsing Piagetian, Eriksonian and Kolbergian theory, James Fowler set out to explain the crop of spiritual development in his description of several stages that occur in the development of faith in a persons lifetime (Table 4). He called the stage of intimately pre-adolescents to be mythic-literal faith. This stage is consistent with Piagets concrete operating(a) stage and Eriksons industry vs. inferiority stage. It is at this stage that children develop their sense of position relative to others in the peer host by mastering the faculty member and social skills. Their individuality is defined by their position in the group. They fetch less egocentric and dismay to understand complex concepts like conservation. The child hush up has difficulty though with plagiarise terms such as freedom and liberty. Children at this stage unders tand the world on a basic concrete level.Fowler states that close adolescents are at synthetic-conventional faith. This stage correlates to Eriksons identity vs. role confusion stage and a more mature level of Piagets concrete operational stage. They develop a sense of who they are and where they belong. A strong emphasis is placed on being part of the group. There is an even more intense need for conformity and the approval of the community. Their identification and expression of faith are an extension of their family, their church and their peers.During childhood, religious beliefs and behaviors are greatly influenced by ones parents. Children tend to imitate their parents beliefs and behaviors. In adolescence, however, there is a change and a questioning of many of these religious beliefs. David deVaus looked at the importance of enatic influence in relation to religious assesss and behavior in Australian teenagers. The results showed that, at to the lowest degree for religio us activity (behavior), both parents and peers were about have-to doe with in importance. However, when asked who had been most influential in development of their religious feelings, the most common answer was the mother (51 percent), followed by father (42 percent).According to Fowler it is not until a child reaches the next stage, individuative-reflective faith, that individuals begin to assume personal responsibility for their suffer commitments, life-styles, or beliefs. As this takes place, adolescents are forced to address unavoidable tensions between the person they want to be and what others expect of them. This stage is associated with Eriksons link vs. isolation and the beginning level of Piagets formal operational stage when children begin to develop close social relationships, showing a willingness to commit to others. They begin to develop the ability to test hypotheses in a mature, scientific manner and can understand and communicate their positions on complex ethi cal issues that demand an ability to use the abstract. They can think about thinking that is they obtain aware of the processes where by they come to hold a particular opinion. They begin to own the beliefs they hold. They are becoming adults.Understanding the Implications and the DangersA girls body can begin to take on the shape and features of a woman. She can speak with the sophistication associated with adolescence or even adulthood. affable and legal arrangements can permit new freedoms simply because a person reaches a certain age. besides until the evolution of meaning becomes interpersonal, there is a very real sense in which the person is not yet an adolescent. If those around her should mistake physiology, calendar age, or verbal ability for psychological age and expect her to function inter-personally, they perform a situation which is dangerous for the developing teenager.In his discussion on the dangers of applying developmental theory to spiritual growth, John Ac kerman states that we can make three grave mistakes. First, we may have a tendency to rank individuals according to their development. Second, we may think that because we have labeled them, we know them. Third, we may take the groupings and define an absolute relationship between psychological and spiritual growth. We need to know where people are developmentally, but the focus is on God, in the persons perception of God. (Ackerman, 1994, p. 111)I will venture to say that most churches, mine included, proceed with the expectation that chronological age defines spiritual readiness with respect to issues such as faith commitment and baptism. Within the structure of our institutions we have rituals that are performed, with some regularity, with children entering puberty. The Jewish turn back Mitzvah, Catholic and Lutheran Confirmation, and Baptist and Brethren Baptism are examples of ordinances that the church observes when children have reached their pre-teen years. Tradition dictat es that at this age a child is ready to begin the transition to adulthood. They need to begin taking the faith they have been taught since infancy and make it their own. But are our children really ready for such a step? Do they really understand the steps they are taking?The most common argument I hear in raise of child conversion are based on rhythms like the followingAt that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Matt 1125.And he said I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the ground of heaven. Matt 183.Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. Matt 1914.Reasoning that God accepts the faith of a child, parents and teachers do their best to help the child to make these life decisions. But unfortunately, in the intend ed adults attempt to hurry up and save the children from eternal damnation, they have misunderstood the concept Jesus was teaching. taken in their proper context we see that Jesus teachings were pointing not to the childish faith as being the peculiarity he was seeking, but to the humility and trust of a child as being the characteristic he was seeking in his followers. This teaching is not for the children but for the adults to follow. At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matt 181-6In each case, where Jesus speaks of the faith of a child he is using this attitude to offset the tendency for his followers to become proud and self-sufficient. One needs to see how helpless we really are without God and how our faith must grow out of ones trust rather than ones strikements.So how indeed do one quantify childrens readiness to make these life changing decisions? One needs to consider each child as an individual and measure their spiritual readiness based upon their spirit of who God is and what he has done for them. trust is a response to a need and if the child does not perceive the reality of the need then there cannot be true faith.Measuring Spiritual ReadinessDuring a recent Texas Baptist evangelism conference held in Fort Worth, leading of a Bring the Children to Jesus workshop said Children should come to Jesus vindicatory like grown-ups freely. Parents should nei ther push them into premature professions of faith nor neglect their spiritual nurture.Teach parents that they have a responsibility to God in the stewardship of their childrens spiritual development, said Karen Cavin, minister of childhood education at silver wattle Lane Baptist Church, Mesquite, Texas, who led the workshop with Wayne Shuffield Jr., pastor of Royal Haven Baptist Church, Dallas, and co-author of Bring the Children to Jesus, a election published by the Baptist General Convention of Texas evangelism division.The gospel plan of salvation can be explained in terms an older child a fourth-, fifth- or sixth-grader can easily understand, they noted. Realize children think in literal terms, so avoid figurative language, they suggested.Shuffield and Cavin advised parents and church leaders to look for marks of readiness in children such as Questions. Listen carefully to a childs questions about spiritual matters. If the child is asking who the jest at was that climbed t he sycamore tree, hes probably just asking for factual information about Zaccheus, Shuffield said. Just because you know the verse follows about the Son of Man coming to seek and save that which was lost, dont assume the child is making that leap. On the other hand, if a child begins to ask serious questions about sin, death and eternity, that could be a sign the Holy Spirit is drawing the child. Explore the level of interest and understanding by asking probing, open-ended questions, not queries that could be answered yes or no. Focus. Watch for a child who choppyly becomes focused on religious instruction. Unusual attentiveness in Sunday school or during worship could be a signal a child is ready to make a faith commitment. Behavioral changes. Anything from a sudden interest in Bible-reading to expressions of guilt over wrongdoing at home could mean God is works in a childs heart.Shuffield said that while some young children genuinely are converted, that is the exception, not the rule. Pastors, teachers and parents can help young children by distinguishing between the natural desire of a child to express love for Jesus and the life-changing decision of receiving him as Lord and Savior.At another workshop, Childrens Church A New Way, leaders suggested a combination of small-group sessions, self-guided activities and large-group time for childrens worship. Life development pastor Charlie McAllister and childrens worship leader Karen Lewis from the Houston-area Fellowship of The Woodlands said they incorporate lively music with a lot of hand motions, drama and secular videos with spiritual applications into their take chances Zone childrens church service. We make it fun for the kids, Lewis said. Kids tell their parents, I want to go back to that church where they sing, dance and have donut holes.We try not to make it like school, McAllister said. We want it to be fun. We involve the kids in worship. Our goal is to raise up a generation of worshipers. Kids le arn by doing. Theres no communion table call and no scare tactics. We let the Holy Spirit inmate.In conclusion, taking the information presented by developmental psychology one might conclude that pre-adolescent children are simply not capable of making a decision for Christ. Maturely speaking, they have not developed the cognitive tools they need to come to this decision. Their thinking processes are still governed by mythical, literal understanding of their environment. They are more interested in fitting into the group than making individual decisions. But this conclusion would be f rectitudeed. Indeed, John Ackerman states that most adults within the church would mayhap fall into this same category.Rather, when we look more closely at the evidence we come to the conclusion that there is no magical age at which a child suddenly becomes able to understand spiritual matters. It seems quite clear that the only way to assess the spiritual readiness of a child is on an individual bas is. And the real problem exists not with the children but the adults who are trying to teach them.In our sometimes over-zealous attempts to bring children to a decision for Christ we forget what that decision is. First, it is the job of the Holy Spirit to convict the heart of the individual, to open their eyes to the truth, to help them understand the eternal significance of the decision. Only God knows when the time is right but we can watch for the signs to know when to open the Word to these children.Second, tradition and ritual can be quite meaningful in helping us define our relationship with God, but it cannot micturate that relationship. Only through teaching and discipleship can a child begin to define his or her own relationship with God. It is through good biblical teaching that the child will understand why he needs the relationship and through godly Christian modeling that the child will understand how he develops that relationship.In many ways our traditions have made it so much easier to deal with issues pertaining to the spiritual development of children. They define the quantifiable standard and make the decision easy. They excuse us from the difficult job of running(a) closely with each individual, to assess his or her specific spiritual needs. But in order to achieve the desired result a life-changing decision for Christ we must break free from our tradition and begin working to develop the spirituality of children in the only way that is truly effective individually.Table 1COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT PIAGETA. Four Factors Determining Development1) Maturation the gradual unfolding of the genetic plan for life.2) Experience the active interation of the child with the environment.3) Social Transmission the information and customs that are transmitted from parents and other people in the childs environment.4) Process of Equalibration the process by which the child seeks a balance between what they know and what they are experiencing. When tha y are faced with information that calls for a new and different analysis or activity, children enter a state of disequalibrium. When this occurs, they must change the way they deal with the information and establish a new, more stable state of equalibrium.B. Concepts and Processes1) Scheme a method of dealing with the environment that can be generalized to many situations.2) Adaptation can be understood in terms of adjustment. As the forces in the environment change, so must the individuals ability to deal with them. Adaptation involves two complementary processesa) Assimilation In this process, arousal is filtered or modified to fit already existing structures. When we assimilate something, we alter the form of the incoming stimulant drug to adapt it to our already established actions or structures.b) Accomodation The process that involves modifying internal existing schemes to meet the requirements of the new experience. When we accommodate, we create a new scheme or modify old ones.C. Cognitive Development storeys1) Sensorimotor Stage Birth to about Two years.Infants progress through their world using senses and motor activity. The develop object permanence, the understanding that objects and people do not disappear merely because they are out of sight. Their abilities are modified by an unfitness to use language or symbols to communicate. Intelligence during this stage involves organized systems or schemes of actions and behaviors that become increasingly complex and coordinated.2) Preoperational Stage Age Two to TenChildren can use on thing to represent another. They can use language to go beyond their own direct experience. But their understanding of the world is still limited. They oftem believe that inanimate objects have a life of their own. They are egocentric, believing that everyone sees a situation the wat they do. Preschoolers do not understand conservation, the idea of something remaining the same despite changes in appearance.3) conc rete Operational Stage Age Ten to FifteenChildren progress through this stage where many of the preoperational deficiencies are slowly overcome. Children begome less egocentric and begin to understand conservation. The child still has difficulty though with abstract terms such as freedom and liberty. Children in this stage understand the world only on a concrete level.4) Formal Operational Stage Adolescence to AdulthoodChildren entering this stage now develop the ability to test hypotheses in a mature, scientific manner and can understand and communicate their positions on complex ethical issues that demand an ability to use the abstract. They can think about thinking that is they become aware of the processes where by they come to hold a particular opinion.Table 2PSYCHOSOCIAL THEORY ERIKSONA. octet Psychosocial Stages1) Trust vs. Mistrust The positive outcome of the stage of infancy is a sense of trust. If children are cared for in a warm, caring manner, they are apt to trust the environment and develop a feeling that they live among friends. If the parents are anxious, angry or incapable of meeting a childs needs, the child may develop a sense of mistrust. Trust is the cornerstone of the childs attitude toward life.2) Autonomy vs. Shame or Doubt Toddlers are no longer completely dependent on adults. They practice new physical skills and develop a sense of autonomy. If they are not allowed to do the things they can do or are forced to do things they are not ready for, they may develop a sense of doubt and shame about their own abilities and fail to develop self-confidence. If encouraged to do what they can for themselves, they are helped to acquire a sense of autonomy.3) enterprisingness vs. Guilt At age four or five, children begin to formulate plans and carry it through. If encouraged to form their own ideas, the child will develop a sense of initiative. If punished for expressing their own plans, the child develops a sense of guilt, which leads to fear and a lack of assertiveness.4) Industry vs. Inferiority During middle childhood, children must learn the academic skills of reading, writing and math, as well as social skills. If they succeed in acquiring these skills and if their accomplishments are valued by others, the child develops a sense of industry. If they are constantly compared to others and come up a diaphanous second, they may develop a sense of inferiority.5) Identity vs. Role Confusion During adolescence, children must decide their own vocational and personal future. They develop a sense of who they are and where they belong. The child who develops a strong sense of identity formulates a satisfying plan and gains a sense of security. Those who do not develop this sense of identity may develop role confusion, a sense of aimlessness and being adrift without an ground tackle or plan.6) Intimacy vs. Isolation The positive outcome of the psychosocial crisis of young adults, involving development of close interper sonal relationships, most often typified by marriage. The negative outcome of this stage is the unwillingness or inability to commit to others.7) Generativity vs. stagnation The positive outcome of the psychosocial crisis of middle age involves giving of oneself and ones talents to others. It is primarily concerned with establishing and guiding the next generation, put something of oneself in the future. The negative outcome of this stage involves absorption in ones own personal needs and an inability or unwillingness to give to others.8) Integrity vs. Despair The positive outcome of this last stage involves the identification that ones life has been worthwhile. After a life time of facing challenges and problems, they can look back on a productive life. Mature adults have a different perspective on life and see their lives as having a purpose. People who see only missed opportunities may become bitter and depressed.Table 3STAGES OF MORAL REASONING KOHLBERGA. Preconventional le velThe child is responsive to cultural rules and labels of good and bad, right and wrong, but interprets these either in terms of the physical or hedonistic consequences of action( punishment, reward, exchange favors) or in terms of the physical power of those who enunciate the rules. The level is divided into two stagesStage 1 Punishment and respectfulness orientation.The physical consequences of action determine its goodness or badness regardless of the meaning or value of these consequences. Avoidance of punishment and unquestioning deference to power are valued in their own right, not in terms of respect for an underlying moral order.Stage 2 Instrumental relativist orientation. the right way action is that which instrumentally satisfies ones own needs and occasionally the needs of others. Human relations are viewed in terms of the marketplace. Fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present, but are always interpreted in a physical, pragmatic way. reciprocality is a matter of you scratch my back and Ill scratch yours, not of loyalty, gratitude, or justice.B. Conventional LevelMaintaining the expectations of the individuals family, group, or nation is perceived as valuable in its own right, regardless of consequences. The attitude is not only one of conformity to personal expectations and social order but also of loyalty to it, of actively maintaining, supporting, and justifying it, of identifying with persons or group involved in it. This level has two stagesStage 3 Interpersonal concord or good boy / nice girl orientation.Good behavior is that which pleases or helps others and is approved by them. There is much conformity to stereotypical images of what is majority or natural behavior. Behavior is frequently judged by intention he means well becomes important for the first time. One earns approval by being nice.Stage 4 Law and order orientationOrientation is toward authority, fixed rules, and the maintenance of the social order. Right behavior con sists of doing ones duty, showing respect for authority, maintaining the social order for its own sake.C. Postconventional, Autonomous, or Principled LevelThe person makes a clear effort to define moral values and principles that have validity and application aside from the authority of the groups or persons holding these principles, and apart from the individuals own identification with these groups. This level has two stagesStage 5 Social-contact, legalistic orientationGenerally with utilitarian overtones. Right action is defined in terms of general individual rights and standards that have been critically examined and agreed upon by society. The person is clearly aware of the relativism of values and opinions and so emphasizes adjectival rule for reaching consensus. Aside from what is constitutionally and democratically agreed upon, right is a matter of personal values and opinions emphasis is thus on the legal point of view, but with the possibility of changing law in terms of rational considerations of social utility rather than freezing law for the sake of social order. Outside the legal realm, free agreement and contract is the binding element. This is the official morality of the American regimen and Constitution.Stage 6 Universal ethical principle orientationRight is defined by the decision of conscience in accord with self-chosen ethical principles appealing to logical comprehensiveness, universality, and consistency. These principles are abstract and ethical they are not concrete moral rules. At the heart, these are universal principles of justice of the reciprocity and equality of sympathetic rights and of respect for the dignity of human beings as individual persons.Table 4STAGES OF FAITH DEVELOPMENT FOWLERStages translation of CharacteristicsPre StagePrimal Faith * Undifferentiated faith(Infants to 2 years) * Embedded in reflexes, sensing, sensor motor skillsStage OneIntuitive-Projective Faith * Reflection of parental /family faith and religi ous traditions(Pre-school childr