I sat in the back of the youth group stunned at the words I just heard from the youth pastor. I looked at the other father who was with me and quietly asked him, “Did I just hear that correctly?” Unfortunately, I had. The newly hired youth pastor was passionately teaching teenagers, including my son, that same-sex attraction was okay and encouraged them to pursue relationships with other same-sex attracted individuals. Later, this same pastor would inform students that he didn’t see anything wrong with crossdressing and that he embraced social justice ideology.
I’ve been a pastor for nearly twenty years, some of that as a youth pastor. I always envisioned my children going to youth group. When progressive views and values were being taught to my son, that changed the trajectory and plans for our family. Youth group is a modern invention that replicates age-based public education. It’s only 70 years old. While I’m not opposed to it, I’m also not married to it. And you shouldn’t be either. Christians have successfully passed on lifelong faith to the next generation for 1950 years before youth group existed and will continue to do so long after it is gone.
God used that experience as a catalyst to encourage a group of five fathers to launch a father and son small group that we call The Man Co. and it has turned out to be a huge blessing for all of us. This article will explain what we do, how we operate the group, and some of the reasons we do what we do. My hope is that you will consider launching a Man Co. group to disciple your son.
A Means to Disciple our Son
God has given the church an important role in the life of the family. Every family in our father and son group worships corporately, serves actively, is involved in different discipleship ministries of the church while recognizing that we are not going to rely on the church to disciple our sons and especially not a 20’s-something individual with half-baked ideas, toxic-theology, and disastrous guidance for life-choices. One of the reasons we homeschool our five children is to do all that we can to help them become mature, godly adults who walk with Christ all their days. God has given parents, specifically fathers, the role of discipling children. A father and son group became a practical way for us to obey God’s command to raise our children in the instruction and discipline of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).
Josh Mulvihill is the Executive Director of Church and Family Ministry at Renewanation. He served as a pastor for nearly 20 years, has a PhD in Family Ministry, serves on the board of Awana, and is the author or editor of ten books on parenting and grandparenting including Biblical Grandparenting, Preparing Children for Marriage, Biblical Worldview, and his latest 50 Things Every Child Needs to Know Before Leaving Home. He is married to Jen, they have five children, and live on a family farm in Minnesota. Josh blogs at GospelShapedFamily.com, enjoys camping with friends, reading a great book around the bonfire, and catching big fish in Minnesota lakes.
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