The Modern Christian Parent Trap

By Michael Griego on September 11, 2026 • ( 0 )

Are you trying to raise good, healthy, whole, wise, and productive children of faith? Beware of the real Christian parent trap. ♦

Many of us remember that classic Disney movie, The Parent Trap, starring Lindsay Lohan. Many old-timers may remember the original version starring Haley Mills playing the dual role of clever twins scheming to reunite their divorced parents.

Either version is cute, fun and ends well.

The Christian parent trap I’m referring to here is actually attractively insidious with long-term damaging implications.

Good Gone Worldly
We’ve all seen good kids, even from “good Christian families” go off the deep-end when they get to college or even high school. Some students merely just drift away from the faith of their youth. Recent extensive research (Barna Group) reveals that nearly 3 out of every 5 young Christians (59%) disconnect either permanently or for an extended period of time from church life after age 15.

The 6 major causes for their drift from vibrant Christian lives are varied:

The Christian church feels stifling, fear-based and risk-averse.
Their Christianity experience growing up was light and shallow.
Christianity comes across as antagonistic to science.
Their church experiences related to sexuality are often simplistic and judgmental.
Christianity seems too exclusive.
The Christian church feels unfriendly to those who doubt.

Even as church attendance in America is increasing in 2026, these issues still exist.

So how does a parent combat this?

How do we raise and influence our children and grandchildren to be healthy, whole, wise, reverent, and productive little people, then teenagers, young adults and ultimately grown adults raising and influencing a new generation?

It’s tough enough doing so as a cultural secularist. How do you increase your odds for success if you’re a Christian wanting to raise astute children up in the Christian faith?

The first step is to understand the red flag of a fundamental deception that applies to modern Christian parents of young children and developing teens: Who’s teaching your kids?

Children Are What They’re Taught
In fact, children are a function of what they learn, regardless of who’s doing the teaching. If we want a particular outcome we best consider the source of their teaching. If we, as parents, are teaching our children Christian ethics, standards, Biblical precepts and principles, then they run a very good chance to owning those same teachings as they develop. The home is certainly a critical learning ground.

One’s church is another influential training arena. A family may attend a local church that supports good Christian beliefs and even has a good children’s program.

This all works well and good from toddler through pre-school years.

But then what happens?

We send them off to school. It may be public or private; those even highly rated by common standards. Either way they are now outside our complete influence, at least through noon or mid-afternoon.

Is this a problem? Maybe or maybe not. But now you’re not necessarily controlling all that your children are exposed to or are learning.

The Christian Parent Trap
And that’s the real Parent Trap. It’s the assumption that your children are getting all they need at home, church and school. “Hey, even 2 out of 3 ain’t bad!” you might say. Actually, 2 out 3 unfortunately may not be good enough. It may even be fraught with problems while you’re blithely assuming all’s well and good.

Here are common scenarios of the modern Christian Parent Trap:

Home Training – As a family you pray at meals (most meals – well, mostly dinner), you read your children from Bible story books (sometimes), you even do a family devotional once in a while (actually, not that often).
Church Training – Your family attends a “good Church” that believes in Jesus (or at least seems pro-God) and has a good Children’s and Youth Program that you plug your kids into on Sunday morning. Better yet when they have mid-week programs for Jr/Sr High students and fun winter and summer Church camps they can attend.
School Training – Your children attend a good public school (high test scores!) or a good private school (Catholic or secular). Your focus is mostly about a good education, but some religious training is a plus.

The problem with the scenarios above is that you can be lulled into thinking your children are getting a good sound Christian upbringing and education.

Let me share a case study very close to home.

A Case in Point
We raised our 3 children in Mountain View, California. All attended public schools through high school and each graduated from good colleges (UCLA, Westmont College, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo). We attended a good Bible-believing mega-church and the kids went through all the good programs from age 3-18.

Nothing wrong with all of that except that 2 of our children got burned out on Church along the way. They found their way back eventually to the faith of their youth and today all 3 are solid in faith and stronger than their parents were at their age. They and their spouses are raising Christian families in ways that are avoiding the Christian Parent Trap that my wife and I fell into:

Home Training – This is serious. “Fix these words of mine to your hearts and minds…Teach them to your children and speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk along the road, as you lie down, and as you get up.” (Deuteronomy 11:18-19) It’s on the parents, with fathers leading, to wisely engage and train up the children to God’s Word and Ways in the home. The home doesn’t have to be church-heavy. It should be fun, safe and reflect the Spirit of God. Our focus would be consistency in all things, rooted soundly in Biblical principles.
Church Training – Big miss for us. Do not assume that even good churches are sufficient to supply the wise Christian upbringing and training for your children. We only superficially augmented the teaching we thought they were getting at church. Churches do well but are absolutely no substitute for home/family Christian education and training. Children today should be challenged with relevant training and equipping in Christian apologetics.
School Training – New dilemma. Today we would mostly likely put our children in solid Christian private schools or consider home-schooling with its many teaching resources and co-ops. I believe a major trend is afoot here with the demise of quality in some states and the public school system’s disregard for Biblical moral teaching. Who is teaching your child and what they are teaching them is even more crucial in today’s wide-open cultural landscape.

If you think about it, the Christian Parent Trap is real but avoidable. Our mistake was taking things for granted and making huge assumptions. The modern-day is fraught with risks for our children but not without solutions. It becomes a matter of awareness, depth of faith, and personal priorities.

Are you caught in the Christian Parent Trap?
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Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. – Deuteronomy 11:18-10