Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin
What is it?
Building on the belief that one of the primary roles of parents is to disciple their children, this book begins to pave the way for that journey and give clear direction for how to pursue that aim. The authors define family discipleship as “leading your home by doing whatever you can whenever you can to help your family become friends and followers of Jesus Christ.”
If that seems too vague, don’t worry, they don’t leave it there. They go on to frame all of family discipleship into 3 categories – time, moments, and milestones. First, they give practical advice for how to create space and time to regularly discuss and live out the gospel. Next, they encourage us to take advantage of opportune moments in every day life and leverage them for gospel conversations and activities. Lastly, they teach on the importance of commemorating spiritual milestones with thoughtfully planned celebrations and events.
The whole book has a very encouraging and empowering tone. The calling is great but the authors believe that you as a parent are more than capable to answer that call.
“Family discipleship does not have to be intricate or complicated. You just need a willingness to focus on the child who is in front of you, and together focus on the God who is everywhere.”
Who’s it for?
This book is written to parents. It’s not so much a how-to manual but rather a guide to get you started in the right direction. It serves as a conversation starter by getting you thinking about things in a new way but leaves space for you to consider how to best apply it in the context of your family.
“This material will best serve you if it is not read by only you. Our hope is that this book could be read as an aid to help you get on the same page with your spouse or community as you consider your plan to disciple your kids.”
How’d it go?
“I read this and resonated so much with the framework of the book. It took an incredibly daunting and overwhelming topic and not only made it attainable but also exciting. I found myself filled with ideas and eager to begin implementing them. I shared the book with my wife and we have called back to it regularly when parenting and discussing how to disciple our kids.” – Carter Brown