Book Review: Family Discipleship by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin
I recently finished Family Discipleship: Leading Your Home Through Time, Moments, & Milestones by Matt Chandler and Adam Griffin. As someone who is involved with children’s, youth, and family ministry, I found this book to be a valuable resource. To be honest, it’s a book I wish I’d had the time to write.
It’s short, simple to understand, and easy to implement into your everyday life. As the subtitle indicates, the authors break down the topic of family discipleship into three sections: time, moments, and milestones. Chandler and Griffin lay out the reasoning for each element of family discipleship, and then they show how they each one of them has practically applied that element in his home. I appreciated the fact that the principles can be and were applied in different ways in different families.
The authors defined family discipleship as “leading your home by whatever [means] you can whenever you can to help your family becomes friends and followers of Jesus Christ” (30). This is a great working definition for parents to keep in mind. After all, our family is our first and primary—though not our only—ministry. Our kids need to see how to live the Christian life through our practical example and through explanations of the whys of what we do. They also need to be given time to practice what they have learned. This happens best in the context of daily, day-to-day life.
By framing their definition this way, Chandler and Griffin take some of the pressure off parents. Parents don’t have to come up with a sermon or lesson all the time. Rather, we must simply be willing to use the God-given, teachable moments that present themselves and teach our kids what God is teaching us. This definition also serves as a reminder to parents that we need to be growing in our own faith if we are going to have anything to give to our kids. As Jen Wilkin wrote in the introduction, “Discipling a family is costly and far from easy. Parenting is hard work, and no one does it perfectly” (21). In other words, family discipleship requires both tenacious intentionality and faithfulness, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
As Chandler and Griffin moved through each of the three sections, they provided helpful charts that parents can fill out—or at least think through—as they seek to disciple their kids. But as practical as the book is, it doesn’t overpromise. Chandler and Griffin are careful to remind the reader that the job of parents is to faithfully proclaim the gospel message and leave the any heart-transforming results to the only One who can do that work, God himself.
Family Discipleship is a resource that can be used with parents at any stage of parenting; it’s never too late to start. I would especially recommend it to new parents. Moms and dads, if you’re serious about discipling your family, get this book. Pastors, if you’re serious about parents being the primary spiritual influences in their kids’ lives then give them this book. You can get it by following the link at the top of the page, or…
Our friends at Crossway have generously given us a copy of Family Discipleship to give away. Sign up here for our weekly newsletter. Then, on October 31, we’ll randomly select one new subscriber and send you a copy of Chandler and Griffin’s Family Discipleship. Don’t miss out. Sign up now!