Caribou Report - A Dad's Duty

This week I read an article that I was sent through email.  It was a book review from The Christian Science Monitor on Thieves in the Temple By G. Jeffrey MacDonald.  The review comments on some very informative issues pointed out in the book.  The comments made and today being Father’s Day made me think more about the duty I have as a father to my children.
The article notes “In 2008, MacDonald notes, ‘a whopping 44 percent’ of Americans had switched religious affiliations in their lifetimes, compared with only 4 percent in 1955. Churches have fed this ‘shopping around’ trend, MacDonald contends, by seeking to attract ‘customers’ by watering down their core values and offering convenience, comfort, and guilt-free affirmation.”  44% of Americans switching religions is an unbelievable number but many other polls (i.ie, Barna) show about the same numbers looking for a church that “fits them.”  The article goes on to state, “MacDonald does outstanding work in describing how sacraments like baptism, communion, and marriage have been watered down to satisfy customer demands. MacDonald relates his own efforts as a minister to raise the standards for receiving communion. His parishioners responded with anger, demanding that no preconditions be placed on receiving:  ‘I faced resentment for as long as I was at the church,’ MacDonald notes ruefully.”  
These snippets of information make me wonder about my own teaching as a dad.  Did I do anything to make Christianity palatable instead of honest?  Did I make it a point to tell my children that being a Christian was hard work?  Sometimes, because of my own wandering away from the church for so many years in their youth, I wonder “what if?”  I do not dwell on this thought for long as I know where I failed and I know where I think I did well as a father. 
At the end of the article the author makes one last observation from the book.  He writes, “MacDonald continually calls upon churches to renew their commitment to moral purpose, to stress that ‘the life of faith is actually a sacrificial one.’ MacDonald concludes by describing a few examples of successful churches that ‘reinforce the notion that spiritual growth is supposed to be difficult and uncomfortable at times.’”  I appreciate this statement as it reinforces what we know from Scripture.  Jesus told the disciples that they would be hated because He was hated in John 15:18-25; Matthew 10:22 and Mark 13:13. 
Matthew 16:24 says that to be a disciple we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus.  Luke 14:25-33 also tells us that we must sit down and count the cost of being a disciple of Jesus.  This is as individual as we are.  Part of that cost is “laying down the old life,” “putting to death the old life,” and “taking up our cross” to follow Him.  This is not palatable to one who wants to be comfortable but it is the truth.  As a father it is my responsibility to teach my kids the truth even when it is not comfortable, even when it hurts.  I am a Christian and it means that I will do battle every day to stay away from evil and do good even when it is painful.
Dads, let us always teach our children the truth even when it is painful for them and us.
Jay