Is the religion of Christ only for children? That's a stupid question isn't it? Yet I know many people who take their children to "Sunday School" every week, drop them off and then come by afterwards and pick them up. Yet the parents rarely if ever attend any of the services. Now I would much rather see parents bring their children than not to bring them, but some things about this have always puzzled me. These parents send (or take) their children where they will be taught the Bible. They will be taught the importance of the church, that it was purchased with the blood of Christ (Acts 20:28). They will be taught that only those who obey God's Word will be saved, and that this applies to all people; that Christianity demands that we be faithful, that we must live our lives as we were taught in the Bible. This includes attending worship and working in the Lord's church (Heb. 10:25; 1 Cor. 15:58, etc.). Now these children are not naive. It won't take them long to put two and two together, and when they do they will wonder, and likely will ask their parents some questions. Some of these questions may be: "Mommy, doesn't God have a church for big people?" "How long do I have to go to church before I can quit like you and Daddy?"

You have such a short time in which to mold the characters of those little ones that God has given into your hands. You owe them something better than to let them play cops and robbers while the church is assembled for worship and while you hide your neglect behind some puny excuses. Before you are aware of the passing time, your little boy will be his own man and your little girl will be a woman. Do you want them also to quit the church when they are older? It will take a lot of teaching, likely more than they can get in the Bible classes, to outweigh the influence of your example.

Truth Magazine XX: 47, p. 743
November 25, 1976