Book Review of "Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions: Why Children Should Be Your Church’s #1" Priority by George Barna

We talk a lot about wonder on this website. The name of the website is even Discerning Wonder. It’s hard to talk about wonder without thinking about children. Children, especially young children, seem to naturally live in world filled with wonder. Maybe that’s partially why Jesus said “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

Children clearly have a special place in the kingdom, and in many ways we can learn a lot from them. Children’s ministry plays an important role in churches and ministry in general. I know that not everyone agrees with that, and there are a lot of different perspectives on how children and children’s ministry should be done in churches. This month’s book review comes from an older book, but one that I believe has valuable information for the church, ministry leaders, and parents still today.

The book, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, was originally written by George Barna in 2003. It was based on research from the Barna Group. Through various studies and research, Barna shares that generally by the age of 13 our spiritual identity is already in place. While children are growing and developing by leaps and bounds through about age 9. After 13, most of their foundations and worldview are in place, and it becomes very difficult to change it later in life. He states that “If you want to shape a person’s life—whether you are most concerned about his or her moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional or economic development—it is during these crucial eight years that lifelong habits, values, beliefs and attitudes are formed.”

Barna doesn’t just rely on research, but also dives into Scripture to examine biblical examples of how much children matter to God. Reminding readers through Scripture that children are a gift from God, that they need to be taught how to think and act in God’s ways, that they are valuable to God and He desires a relationship with them, and more, he lays a foundation for the importance of teaching children. He sums up these reminders saying, “Jesus’ teaching in the opening verses of Matthew 18 suggests that if we, as parents and counselors to the young, lose our interest in and sensitivity to children, we have shirked one of the most important duties given by God to humankind.”

He laments the lack of priority that so many parents, church leaders, and church members place on training children. Barna says that, “I have been discouraged to discover that most American adults—including most parents—see spiritual development of children as a value-added proposition rather than the single most-important aspect of children’s development.” He does not leave things in this discouraging place though. He gives examples of ways to begin teaching children a biblical worldview and train them to be spiritual champions. He encourages readers reminding them that “If you want to have a lasting influence upon the world, you must invest in people’s lives; and if you want to maximize that investment, then you must invest in those people while they are young.”

Teaching children about Jesus, introducing them to Him and how He wants them to live is important not just for parents, not just for children’s ministry leaders, but for the church as a whole. God’s direction to teach his commands to the next generations in Deuteronomy weren’t given just to the parents, though they play a primary role in the task, but they were given to the whole community of Israel. Likewise, as believers we all bear responsibility for teaching the next generations. This can come in many forms, but we all need to appreciate and embrace the importance of training our children to be spiritual champions, and this book is a helpful tool to do just that.

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