How important should the spiritual education of children be to their parents?

It's huge for parents to think about, because the Bible clearly commands us to bring up our children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord, and that is a parent's primary responsibility. Therefore, what becomes of our children should weigh on us as heavy as anything weighs on us.

So yes, it is worth all the time we can give to it.

Can we pass the spiritual responsibilities of raising our kids onto others?

No. The pastor and the Sunday School teacher come in alongside as supplementary partners to reinforce and to bless what is happening at home, hopefully. That's the ideal.

We realize that there are homes in which children don't get what they need. They show up at church for one reason or another, and the church, Sunday School, or Wednesday night program become the meat and potatoes of their spiritual life. That's not the way it should be.

So when we think about the way a church should aim to be, it is to instruct moms and dads to model, teach, pray with, and instruct their children in such a way that they would become the primary means of imparting the spiritual inheritance. And Sunday School, worship services, clubs, and other activities become supplementary reinforcements and blessings on that.