THAT'S EPIC: A Modern-Day Cliche Reminds Us To Teach What's REALLY Important

Epic as a noun means a long narrative that tells of a hero's deeds. As an adjective EPIC means very imposing, surpassing the ordinary and possessing heroic proportions. "That's EPIC" is the cliche of the day. It's like saying "that's awesome," "that's wicked" or "that's sweet." I was recently told that my beard was epic. I thought to myself: "That's interesting." My beard's not long. I surely don't think it's heroic or out of the ordinary. Maybe the gentleman telling me thought it was unnecessarily imposing. I don't know. I guess when we start using one word to describe everything, the word tends to lose its meaning. Nothing really becomes epic or awesome or wicked or sweet anymore when one says that everything is. In fact, as I have been pondering what's really EPIC, I can only think of one thing. Lest you think that I actually had an original idea, I didn't, at least not in this case. The first I heard of epic, in it's original sense, was through a great book by John Eldredge, called, you guessed it, Epic.

You could ask your child what is epic and they may say that WordWorld or Spiderman or One Direction is epic. You could ask your twenty or thirty of forty-something friends what is epic and they may say Michael Jordan, American Idol or Titanic. Ask anybody and you'll probably get a different answer every time. What, then, is truly Epic? Answer: sharing God's redemptive heart for his people through discipleship. As parents the privilege and responsibility of discipling our children is epic, truly epic. We are conveying a story about a hero who did the seemingly impossible. He rescued the unrescuable. He justified the wicked. He restored hope. He reinstated purpose. He is the hero of the epic that creation claps about.

For parents, and for the church, discipleship is the process whereby this epic is breathed into our children's spiritual lungs.  In Joshua 4, when the Israelites finished passing over the Jordan river to the Promised Land, God set into motion a visual reminder for his people to relay to their children his heart of redemption for them. God told Joshua to have one man from each of the twelve tribes to take a rock from where the priests stood firmly when the Jordan was parted and place them where they were lodging that night. Sound a little ridiculous? Twelve tribes. Twelve men. Twelve stones. For what? "That this might be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the  ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever. God wanted parents to remind their children not just about what he has done, but who he is. One way that he does that is through visual reminders that will spark conversations between parents and their children.

The primary avenue that discipleship occurred then, as it does now, was through formal, but, more often than not, informal, conversations between parents and their children. Conversations that happen on the sports field, in the backyard or on the front porch of our homes. Yet, if many of us are honest, we get so busy with other things that it is difficult for us to take the time to disciple our children or we become so exhausted that we don't have, nor want to expend, the energy that it takes to disciple our children. I freely confess that it is easier to sit with my kids and watch a show or let them mindlessly stare at the computer while I get "important" things accomplished around the house than it is to pull out Scripture or a spiritually-themed book, such as The Chronicles of Narnia series. I have done this. Often. For days. Even weeks at a time. Lest I live in the guilt of what has been lost because of my own busyness and restlessness, I have to CHOOSE to live in the hope that God will continue to mature me in recognizing my role as the primary discipler of my children. Singer/songwriter Brandon Heath sings in his song Wait and See these life-giving lyrics:

God won't forget all the plans 
He's made for me
I have to wait and see
He's not finished with me yet,
He's not finished with me yet 

God's plan is to mature us as disciples who reproduce other disciples in our lives. First and foremost, as parents, our primary responsibility is discipling our own children. It takes grace. It takes courage. It takes sacrifice. But it's a battle worth fighting. Making disciples out of our children, reproducing disciples, is the epic that I want to be involved with. Even if it costs my time, energy and emotion, which it surely will. 

How Do We Make This A Reality?

1. Nursery-Kindergarten: Complete the Discipleland take-home sheets that are provided each week in Shepherd's Town Adventures with your child(ren). 
2. First-Sixth Grades: Complete Disciplezone.com material each week. How? Go to www.Disciplezone.com  click the grade, unit, and lesson your child is currently in; then follow the tabs on the bottom to complete the discipleship material.
3. All: Be natural. As your going about your everyday life talk about Jesus, creation and redemption just as naturally as you would talk about what your child did at school that day. Don't be cheesy about it and let it become an everyday part of your family talks. It pays off!

This is a tough journey. It's epic! The Epic. But we are in it together. So get out there and take your spot in God's redemptive story. Tell your children about the hero, Jesus. Take time with them to go through material that will allow them to know God. And once they know God, they will get the choice to love and serve him with their lives. That's the reward that Christ deserves and the one that we can be a part of.

A Fellow Parent-In-Process,

Josh