HEARTLAND | Lisa Sergent
I’m amazed and even jealous when I hear people talk about their family’s Christian heritage. They recall learning about Jesus from their grandmother, hearing about their great-grandfather’s dedication to tithing as a child, and listening as their father led Bible study each evening before they went to bed. Others talk about holding Sunday morning services at family reunions. Their children are raised in church and make professions of faith before they are out of elementary school. All of their family members know Christ.
My family doesn’t have a rich Christian heritage. I didn’t grow up in a bad home; my parents were and still are very loving and, I believe, quite wonderful. I am blessed to call them my mom and dad. I just didn’t grow up surrounded by a Christian family.
My father’s parents were not Christians, but thought if they were “good” people they would go to heaven. My mother’s parents argued about religion from the very start of their marriage, he being Catholic and she, a member of the Christian Church. Because of their arguments my mother and her sister were not allowed to go to church. They rarely if ever talked about God in the home.
Thankfully, my branch of our family tree “branched out” from tradition. My mom became a Christian shortly after I was born, and my father when I was 12. (I met Christ three years earlier). My brother and sister came to believe in Him, too. But many of our family members still don’t know Him.
I have one relative who dismissively calls the story of Noah and the flood, “that old myth.” Another steadfastly maintains, “As long was we are good, God will send us all to heaven.” My heart aches for my paternal grandfather who died without making a commitment to Christ (to our knowledge).
So, with my parent’s generation, my family is just beginning to start its Christian heritage. Now, I see my parents teaching my nephews and niece about Jesus. I listen as they sing songs about Him and are eager to pray. My sister-in-law became a Christian after their first child was born and joins my brother in raising their children in church. My brother-in-law knows Christ, and I married a wonderful Christian man. It is my hope that my nephews and niece will one day have their own children who will reap the joy of being part of a Christian family and become Christians themselves.
If you are a product of a Christian heritage – rejoice and thank God for that heritage. Pray for new Christians and those Christians who do not have such a heritage and that they will be start of generations of their family living for Christ.
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