The Sh’ma: The Family Photo Album

In the last four verses of the Sh’ma, Moses turns his full attention to the spiritual life of the home. Through a series of word pictures, and with remarkable detail, he unveils God’s model for a training venue that specializes in generational evangelism. In this collection of ten images, we see how God wants us to cultivate the hearts and minds of the littlest members of his kingdom. It happens in a place of comfort and struggle: the home. Here, in the family’s private sanctuary, its members find protection, nurture, refreshment, and stability. But it is definitely not paradise. They also learn what it means to be human, how sin takes a toll on goodness, security, and peace. Here, too, children learn how to transition into the adult world. Here young people are taught the strategy of hospitality and the art of reaching beyond the four walls of a relatively safe dwelling to meet people whose lives they may one day touch with the gospel.  

The first snapshot in the family album is a picture of mom and dad. Moses provides a caption. He addresses God-fearing parents directly: These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts, … (verse 6).

He is telling them that before they are ready to teach, they must first become learning parents.

The profound message of the text speaks to fathers, whose role is to serve as the family leader (Genesis 2). Godly fathers need to spend time studying God’s Word, even as their children are learning from God’s Word (Ephesians 6:4). But fathers understand that not all teaching happens by word of mouth. Children also learn by observing how people conduct their lives. They are especially keen to watch their own parents live according to God’s will.  

The Sh’ma’s mandate also requires godly mothers to spend time in God’s Word. Moms show their children that generational discipleship means walking in the Savior’s sandals.

A mother’s love cannot be replaced with Christian classroom instructors, athletic coaches, godly counselors, dedicated Sunday school teachers, upbeat camp counselors, or a pastor’s love.

These people can all contribute to a child’s spiritual development, and godly parents are wise to appreciate their support. But the Sh’ma’s model infers that God has authorized moms and dads to have the lion’s share of influence on the spiritual lives of their children, even when they do not feel qualified to carry out their God-given calling. For those moms and dads who feel uncomfortable, incompetent, or ill-prepared for such work, God offers holy encouragement. In Romans 15:14, the inspired Apostle Paul, speaking as another one of God’s spokesman wrote,

“I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another.”

The people Paul was writing to were mostly Christian converts living in Rome, a cesspool of immorality. Many were parents. Some were uneducated and biblically-illiterate. A few may have witnessed the martyrdom of fellow believers. They were common people. Yet, the apostle was sure that God had given them the tools and the message to speak confidently in Jesus’s name, telling his saving story to their children and neighbors.

Though it may be applied in a variety of ways, the parental role in the spiritual training of our own children is not optional. The mandate itself is not an adiaphora. The godly parent’s spiritual leadership in the home is a primary role, and not in a supportive capacity. It is a position necessarily coupled with an abiding love for God’s Word. 

The church is morally bound to honor and respect this biblical mandate. It must learn to coordinate its work with the best efforts of parents to bring God’s Sh’ma model as close to his ideal as possible.

GROUP DISCUSSION

• What distinction should Bible learners be making between head-knowledge and heart-knowledge? Why is this distinction important? 
• What special kind of knowledge did Christian parents living in Rome have that made Saint Paul so confident that they had the right tools and attitudes to instruct one another, including their children?  

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These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me (Moses) to teach you (the Children of Israel) to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, ² so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. ³ Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.
⁴ Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength. ⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. ⁷ Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. ⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

DEUTERONOMY 6: 1-9