The rise of the mobile application, Pokémon Go, has been viewed by many parents as a deterrent and hindrance to the already daunting challenge of raising kids. While the game poses challenges, it also provides us parents with some valuable lessons that can point us toward more Christ-enabled and Christ-centered parenting.
It's amazing that, with the countless times we fail as parents, God's grace is ever sufficient to teach us every day. But there are moments when we feel clueless about how help our children maximize their destiny in Christ.
Much of what our children will become and achieve will only be possible with the grace of God, but our Heavenly Father also invites us to play our part as God-ordained parents to our children.
Sometimes we can learn a thing or two from the things our children get so excited about; we can allow these to bring light to what will help us become parents who build excitement for our children in areas where it matters. Here are four lessons we can learn from Pokémon Go about what God calls us to do as parents.
Engage your children where they are. So many times, we force our children to come to our world instead of us entering theirs. If there's one thing we can learn from Jesus, it's how He engaged people where they were. Pokémon Go does this well, as it engages this generation where they are: online. As parents, we can and should learn to do the same: engage our children from their perspective, in their world, from their point of view.
Teach your children to "go." If there's one thing Pokémon Go has effectively taught children, which many of us parents so often fail to do, it's to give them a mission to "go." If a gaming company can get our kids outdoors to catch virtual creatures with Poké Balls, why don't we put them on a mission to do even more productive things?
Know what your children value. The reason why Pokémon Go is such a hit is because it operates at a level that engages and empathizes with the values of this generation. Jesus was another man who understood that principle and engaged people with topics they were interested in, such as money and politics, and even performed miracles that would draw crowds to Him.
Get them into a community. Another factor that we can attribute Pokémon Go's success to is how it effectively assimilates people into a community of Pokémon fans. We are social beings that operate based on social elements, and we as parents should do the same by providing relationship, community, and belonging to our children.
