By: Daniel Whitworth

Elders all over the nation are concerned about the dropout rate of our young people. It is a tragic thing to see these precious boys and girls who are so thrilled with Bible study as little people, grow cold and uninterested in the Lord’s work as they grow older. Several congregations have made in-depth studies of all the factors available concerning all their young people, with an eye to learning what might be done to help solve this problem. What do we need? More youth programs? More youth rallies? A special teacher?

From the material that has been published on these studies, it seems to me that one great central truth has begun to emerge. Faithfulness of the young person to Jesus doesn’t have anything to do with special programs or teachers. It is not dependent on whether they are members of a large congregation or a small one. The single most important value is their own immediate family.

One congregation found that where both parents were faithful to the Lord. 93% of the kids remained faithful. On the other hand, if only one of the parents was faithful, that figure dropped to 73%. Where the parents were only what we call reasonably active in the Lord’s work, only 53% of the young people maintained their faith.

Now, here comes the shocker. In those cases where both parents attended only infrequently, the percentage of the children who remained faithful to the Lord dropped to 6%.

Do you want your children to go to heaven? Make sure you are leading them by your faithful example.