I coach a third and fourth grade basketball team. Thankfully I do so as a volunteer. Why? Because I am not certain the kids will be much better by the end of the year than they are now. That could be due to my coaching abilities. But even more, it is about the whole setup of the program. I coach the kids one hour a week. And here is the problem. You can’t train kids to do anything in one hour of week. Ask any paid coach and they would tell you that daily practice is all important if you seek real measurable gains in skill.
I walk away from each practice feeling about like I feel each time I teach confirmation classes many times. You see with how we have arranged midweek and confirmation instruction, I have an hour each week to train these children in righteousness. And yet there is an expectation that I will produce in them measurable gains in their knowledge of Christ and his ways. I try to do that in every way I know how. Then again, each Monday I try to teach the kids the game of hoops. But I always am all too aware that one problem remains in each venture. You can’t train kids to do anything in one hour of week.
Here is the truth. If you want your kids to be in the NBA some day, my hour of practice with them each week will probably not hurt progress towards that goal. But it certainly will not help all that much either. If they practice one day a week there whole life, I can guarantee they will never reach that goal even if they are extremely genetically gifted. If you want them to be a great player, you are going to have to get out on the court with them each day. You are going to have to put in real time.
The same goes for your kids’ Christian education. If you want your children to be prepared to live in this corrupt generation with confidence in Christ and understanding his ways, my one hour with them will not be enough. Again it will probably not hurt but it likely will not play a big role either. If that is the only education in the faith they get, they will be left rather unprepared I fear. If you want them to be well prepared for life in Christ, you are going to have to get out the Scriptures with them each day. You are going to have to put in real time.
I wish it could be done in an hour a week. I really do. But it just can’t. And it would be wrong for me to allow anyone to think otherwise. Parents, it is time for all of us to put in real time.
Thank you for these words, Pr. Hoppe. As one who also spends one hour per week as a volunteer basketball coach for 6,7, and 8 year old boys and one who also teaches confirmation class one hour per week, I will heartily add an “Amen” to everything you have written.