Family Driven Faith

Young people are leaving Christian churches in droves. Why? Voddie Baucham argues that the reason is no more and no less than a lack of biblical literacy and real education in the faith. Family Driven Faith is an urgent call to parents to raise kids who know and love God's Word, and whose roots are deep in faith rather than starving in the shallow dirt of pop religion.

Among the challenges confronting families, Baucham identifies our culture's anti-marriage and anti-child attitudes as among the worst. The antidote he offers is for Christian parents to model their family life on Deuteronomy 6, a model in which parents teach their kids the truths of God's Word, model right living, and constantly keep Christ at the center of everything they do and say.

This book is both myth-debunking and a positive call to family worship and training. One of the most important myths Baucham debunks is the modern conception of love in all its forms. Real love isn't all about sex, it isn't overwhelming, it isn't uncontrollable, etc. It is an act of the will, is accompanied rather than ruled by emotion, and manifests in selfless living.

Baucham writes as if he were conversing with readers privately, using the most easy-to-understand analogies and metaphors to convey the most difficult concepts. He also infuses the text liberally with Scripture passages—his arguments and exhortations are nothing if not biblical and theologically motivated. Each chapter ends with suggestions for putting concepts to work in your family, or simply for self-reflection and contemplation.

One of the best chapters is called "Marking the Home as God's Territory." In it, he talks about engaging children's senses through the act of family worship, making faith memorable and tangible for them, not just an abstract concept outside of experience. The best way to accomplish this is through family worship, for which he provides several guidelines and suggestions.

In an age when problems are constantly blamed on outside sources, Baucham tells Christian parents gently but firmly that it is their lack of spiritual guidance more than anything else that leads to their children abandoning the faith and the church. Instead of leaving it at that, though, Family Driven Faith offers a plan for reclaiming Christ-centered home life.

This book should alarm you, but it should also encourage you to instruct your children before it's too late. The need for upright Christians is as pressing as ever, and the biblical promise of generational faithfulness for those who pursue God is the best (and in some ways, the only) way forward. Voddie Baucham ably points the way forward: directly into the heart of God and His Word.