I was scrolling through some old videos on my phone this morning and came across a few clips of family worship from this past summer. Joining us was a missionary family from South Africa who stayed in our home for a week. In total, there were 15 of us. For posterity’s sake, I guess I recorded the singing portion of our joint family worship so I could go back and watch it later. But the truth is, I had forgotten that I had even recorded it.
The videos were only 30-60 seconds long, but watching them caused me to reflect on why family worship is so neglected today. The prayers were sincere. The singing was earnest. The Scriptures were powerful. The joy was real. I know there are a number of reasons why family worship is neglected today. Some of these reasons are unworthy excuses not to have family worship, but some of the reasons are legitimate. One such legitimate reason relates to discouragement. Perhaps the biggest reason for the neglect of family worship among Christians today is discouragement. How many parents have good intentions, but get discouraged after just a few attempts? Why do some start off strong in leading family devotions only to give up after a while? Again, there are multiple reasons for this, but I think that discouragement may stem from trying to do too much in family worship.
This morning as I reflected on that, I came up with an acronym that’s easy to remember. My hope is that this acronym will jump start your family worship. The acronym is S.I.M.P.L.E. Family worship should be simple, and here are five quick ways to maintain simplicity in family worship. In this article we will consider the first three ways, in the next the other three.
S-The S stands for short.
As a general rule of thumb, family worship should err on the side of shortness. As Calvin once said, “I am naturally given over to brevity.” If you like brief sermons, then you may be a Calvinist! Family worship should not be the length of a Lord’s Day service. Indeed, family worship should neither compete with nor replace gathering with other saints each Sunday. It should be brief– 15-25 minutes. Granted, the time will vary depending on the age of the participants, but consistency in family worship depends on brevity. Otherwise, it loses its effectiveness and discouragement sets in. How many families lose interest in family worship due to the stress of assuming that they cannot afford to spare one or two hours in the evening? But family worship doesn’t have to last that long, and in my opinion, should only last that long on special occasions.
The seedbed of our church began with family worship in my living room. We would invite friends over for Bible study and singing on Sunday evenings. Time would get away from us. I would teach longer than I’d intended. More hymns would be requested than planned. Prayers and theological discussion would continue for a couple of hours. Those were special times. But what family could sustain this every night of the week? Don’t be pressured to draw out family worship. The first step to keeping it simple is keeping it short.
I-The I stands for intentional.
Keeping family worship simple depends upon having a plan. The plan itself is simple, not elaborate. In fact, it comes down to one decision. Determine what time of the day is best for your family to gather for spiritual devotions? Is it in the morning? At dinner time? The evening? Right before bed? Determine a time of the day and stick to it. Family worship should become as routine as brushing your teeth or washing the dishes. This is one reason we have our family worship at dinner. Everybody has to eat, and this locks in family worship as an important part of our family’s day. But whatever time you choose, make sure it’s seen as a priority. Otherwise, it will be easy to justify skipping. It must be a time in the day that is relatively convenient for everyone. Related to the first point, it must also be a time slot in which it can be accomplished in a relatively short window. Of course, you also want to avoid rushing through family worship. On the other hand, there will be many times when it’s unavoidable to go quicker than ideal. During these moments, trust that having a quicker family worship time is better than skipping it all together.
The key to creating any habit is consistency. So, determine shorter (rather than longer) windows of time, and commit those times to family worship. If you do this for two solid weeks without fail, you may be surprised how simple family worship actually is.
M-The M stands for memorable.
Family worship should allow for a level of informality that public worship usually doesn’t possess. One way to keep the attention of especially smaller children is to incorporate story telling. Consider developing biographical sketches of some of the great heroes of the faith. Tell about John Bunyan’s arrest and imprisonment, which sovereignly led him to write Pilgrim’s Progress. Speak about the boldness of John Knox before the Queen. Quote a little Luther for good humor. And reminisce real stories where the Lord worked in your own life to convict you of sin, stir up a greater love for Christ, or spur you on in the Christian race. Story telling should not be common place in public worship, but private worship is made memorable with stories that captivate children.
Next time we will consider the final three ways to make family worship simple.