What a great intro to my message today. Rodney Atkins sings about something that hits home to every mom and dad. "Watching You" is a song about how our children are watching everything we do. They're listening to everything we say. And, more likely than not, they will grow up to be a lot like us. Is that a scary thought or a comforting one?

We're wrapping up our "Family Matters" series by talking about "A Parent's Greatest Challenge." Last week we talked about a parent's greatest privilege which is to lead your children to accept Jesus as their Savior and then help them become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. There is no greater privilege for a parent. Yet the spiritual is usually the one area that the typical parent seems to neglect.

If you missed any of these messages I encourage you to go online where you can listen to the sermons in this series as well as download them onto your iPod. We'll also put them in a CD binder if you'd like to purchase the whole set. The CDs are a great witnessing tool, especially if you have some friends and family that are going through family struggles right now.

So, what is a parent's greatest challenge? The greatest challenge is to model the Christian life. I want to clarify something straight up with you. I didn't say that the greatest challenge is setting a good example, even though every parent should do so. I said the greatest challenge is to live the life of Jesus before your children 24/7.

Your children learn from you. Keep in mind that most children cannot think and learn abstract truth until they are well into their grade school years, probably 9-10 years old. So how do they learn? They learn by observing. They notice things. They watch you. They watch your routines. They notice your demeanor. They learn how you handle the crises and stresses of life. So if you really want to be the best parent you can possibly be, live like Jesus did. And you will automatically model for your children the pathway for their greatest happiness and fulfillment in life.

Little children are awesome. They say some things that are classic. Why? Because they can't think in abstracts. They learn by observing. Listen to these children:

• Clinton, age 5, was in his bedroom looking worried. When his mom asked what was troubling him, he replied, "I don't know what'll happen with this bed when I get married. How will my wife fit in?"
• Melanie, age 5, asked her Granny how old she was. Granny replied she was so old she didn't remember any more. Melanie said, "If you don't remember, you must look in the back of your panties. Mine say five to six."
• Tammy, age 4, was with her mother when they met an elderly, rather wrinkled woman her mom knew. Tammy looked at her for awhile and then asked, "Why doesn't your skin fit your face?"
• Steven, age 3, hugged and kissed his mom goodnight. "I love you so much, that when you die I'm going to bury you outside my bedroom window."
• Jack, age 3, was watching his mom breast-feeding his new baby sister. After a while he asked: "Mom, why have you got two? Is one for hot and one for cold milk?"

Your kids are watching you. What kind of model are you living before them? One of the classic verses on parenting comes from the Old Testament book of Proverbs. "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it" (Proverbs 22:6). The word train is a word which suggests far more than merely providing spiritual instruction. It includes modeling, loving, disciplining, equipping, encouraging, and every teaching method thinkable. What an awesome challenge-to train your children in the way they should go.

What makes this challenge even more daunting is revealed when you engage in an in-depth biblical study of the wording in this verse. "In the way he should go" literally is translated "according to his way." Train up a child "according to his way." In other words, every child has a God-given bent. God has uniquely, beautifully, and creatively shaped every boy and girl according to His own design. It is up to the parent, with God's strength and wisdom, to understand the child's God-given bent and then train him/her accordingly.

The best way any parent can fulfill this challenge is by modeling the life of Jesus. Who is the greatest example of love, humility, servanthood, patience, compassion, and leadership? Jesus, without question. So the question every parent needs to consider is: how can I best live like Jesus before my children? Or, better, how can I best live like Jesus period? You can't live your life one way when the kids aren't around and then try to be like Jesus when they're present. Why? Because that's not living like Jesus.

Scattered throughout the Apostle Paul's writings, we find him encouraging believers to follow his example, to pattern their lifestyles after him. For example, to the Corinthians he wrote, "Therefore I urge you to imitate me" (1 Corinthians 4:16). What a bold statement. In the preceding verse he reminded them that he was their spiritual father. God had used him to lead these Corinthian Christians to Christ. And then he nurtured them in the faith. On more than one (perhaps three) occasions he spent time in their city helping them to go deeper in their spiritual walk. "I urge you to imitate me."

Initially, the words sound arrogant, don't they? What would you think of me if I stood before you and said, "Hey, Chapin Baptist people, if you want to be like Jesus, just look at me. Be like me and you will be like Jesus"? But that was not the spirit of Paul's attitude here. At the same time, however, shouldn't we be deep enough in our walk with God that we could urge others to pattern their lives after ours? Shouldn't our lives so reflect the life of Christ that we could in good conscience and a sincere heart urge others to imitate us?

And shouldn't that be how we model our lives before our children? Think about this concept. Last week we said that a parent's greatest privilege is to lead our children to Christ and to nurture them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. So the Apostle Paul's statement, "I urge you to imitate me," should apply to every parent because not only are we the biological parents of our children, but we should also be their spiritual parents. If your children imitated you, would they be fully devoted followers of Jesus?

A couple of weeks ago I was telling Kenny the direction of my messages for the upcoming Sundays. When I told him about the subject for today, he immediately said, "I could talk about that subject." At first I thought he was talking about how he'd like to talk to parents of teenagers and let them be aware of ways they are not serving as good models for their students. But when I probed him, he informed me he was talking about how his mom and I had modeled the Christian life for him. I was humbled by the comment. About a week later I went back to him and asked if he was serious about wanting to say something to the congregation. So I've asked Kenny to come and share just a few minutes. I am out of my comfort zone because I have no clue what he is going to say. So Kenny, come talk to us. [Testimony]

Train up a child in the way he should go. I urge you to imitate me. Parents, in every area of our lives, we need to model the Christian life. We need to model a time alone with God each day in His Word. We need to model for our children how to pray and how to trust God to meet our daily needs. We need to model for them how important the local church is. From us, they need to understand that the local church is the hope for our lost and dying world.

We need to model for them that people matter to God-all people: the poor, the criminal, the drug addict, the handicapped, the nerd, the person of a different race, the teacher they can't stand, the police officer who wrote them a ticket, and the troublemaker. We need to model for them that being a Christian is not just a matter of attending church occasionally. We should demonstrate by our actions that we will be in our place of worship and Bible study every Sunday. We should engage in ministry projects to show them what it means to care for those less fortunate than us. We need to model for them what it means to love our wife like Christ loved the church and what it means to respect our husband.

The things we do socially should model what it means to be a Christian. There is a huge problem of teenage drinking in our community. And parents get so bent out of shape when they get a call from the sheriff's department that their child has been cited for underage drinking. Where did they learn that behavior? In more cases than not they learned it from their parents. "But I'm an adult. It's legal for me to drink." True, but is it the wisest thing for you to do? I have a strong feeling that if Moms and Dads took more seriously a parent's greatest challenge, to model the Christian life, they would recognize that drinking doesn't serve as a good witness to their children. Now that I've made a bunch of you mad, let me bring the message to a close.

The other night Tyler had a few of his friends staying over. I walked through and talked to them a few minutes and they started talking about my sermon last week, a parent's greatest privilege. They were bragging on the message, talking about how good it was. Sweet music to the preacher's ears. Then one of them said, "Man, if I was a parent, I sure would have felt guilty after hearing that message."

I took that comment in two different ways. First, my purpose is not to stand up here and bash you and try to heap tons of guilt on you. I want to encourage you. I want to help you move your life in line to where God wants you to be. On the other hand, if it's the Holy Spirit making you feel guilty, then so be it. After all, that is one of His roles, to convict us of our sins. And if there is any sense of guilt inside your heart, praise God. He's talking to you. But the key is for you to make some adjustments in your life that will address the cause for the guilt.

So parents, our greatest challenge is to model the Christian life before our children. What are the areas where you are being successful? What areas do you need to work on? Life change. That's what Chapin Baptist is all about. If lives are not being transformed, we may as well shut the doors. When it comes to your role as a parent, God wants to transform you. Let Him. Model before your children what it means to live a life totally committed to Jesus Christ.