Parents,

Sunday was our second installment of Green Thumb in Parenting. Our topic was discerning the fruit of conversion in our teens and assessing their preparedness for baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Since these topics are sort of like dominoes—the trigger for the Lord’s Supper is baptism, the trigger for baptism is conversion—we spent all our time talking about discerning the fruit of conversion in our kids. Dennis Gunderson explains why it is important to look for more than a mere profession or a simple prayer:

“So it is foolish to conclude that a child is saved merely because he makes the bare acknowledgment that these things are true. Be wise enough, parent, not to assure your child of his eternal safety on such shallow grounds! Love your child enough not to mislead him in ways you would not mislead an adult professing the same things.” Dennis Gundersen, Your Child’s Profession of Faith, 27.

We pointed to five things to look for, five ingredients that—taken together—will give you a better sense of whether your teen is converted:

1. Evidence of trusting and following Christ (does he love Jesus?)
2. Ability to communicate the content of the gospel (does she understand these truths, not just regurgitate them?)
3. Evidence of godly sorry for sin, followed by repentance (remember 2 Corinthians 7:10-11)
4. Ability to examine one’s self and the condition of the soul (does she think she is a Christian?)
5. Faith that has been tested (perhaps through rejecting the world or enduring trial)

Although we didn’t discuss it in the class, I offered these suggestions for thinking about teens and their preparedness for baptism (and thus, the Lord’s Supper):

1. Make the decision with order (baptism before Lord’s Supper)
2. Make the decision with time (slowly)
3. Make the decision with your teen (does he want to be baptized?)
4. Make the decision with others (involve community: pastors and other parents?)

A leader in the ancient church named Tertullian urged Christians to take seriously the import of baptism, and not rush to it:

“If any understand the weighty importance of baptism they will fear its reception more than its delay.”

Remember that we do not have class on Mothers Day. Our third and final class will be Sunday, May 20. We will be talking about discipleship, how to develop a simple plan for imparting essential truth about Scripture, doctrine, and godliness to our teens. As before, we will devote a good chunk of time to Q&A with my panel of experienced parents. If you have questions that you would like them to answer, leave a comment or email me this week. Thanks!

Categories: Thursday Thoughts For Parents, five15 blog