Did Luther Get it Wrong?

I recently had the opportunity to meet Dr, Chap Clark.  Chap Clark is a professor in the youth ministry department at Fuller Seminary and author of the book Hurt: Inside world of  Today's Teenagers.  I have always respected Chap Clark and consider him a contemporary.  Like myself, Chap has dedicated his entire professional career to ministering to youth. 

Chap Clark was in the area at the invitation of a local Lutheran Church.  I was able to attend a town hall seminar.  It was an interesting mix of public school educators, counselors and church professionals.  I took a number of things away from that day, one of which is a new perspective on Deuteronomy 6.  That is the chapter where the Children of Israel are instructed to teach the Lord's decrees and commands to their Children.  Those precepts are to be passed on from one generation to the next. 

Chap Clark offered an insight into Deuteronomy 6 that I had not heard before.  He pointed out that the Lord's command was given to all the people, "Hear, O Israel."  He also pointed out that the references to "family" and "home" at that time meant the entire community.  The implication being that all those in the community shared the responsibility for passing on the heritage of faith to the next generation.   In my mind that runs counter to what I had always been taught: namely that parents have the primary responsibility for "nurturing their children in the faith." The church is there to assist and support them, but parent are to take the lead.  In the Table of Duties, found at the beginning of the Small Catechism, Martin Luther quotes Ephesians 6:4 in the command to parents, "bring them (your children) up in the training and instruction of the Lord."  The implication is that this is a parental obligation.

 All of this causes me to wonder if Martin Luther somehow got it wrong, or perhaps did not go far enough.  Maybe we should have another entry in The Table of Duties.  To the Church: "The commandments that I give you today are to be upon your heart.  Impress them upon your children.  Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)  The implication being that the community of believers has a responsibility to all the children in their midst.  When a child is baptized, they become part of our family.  While the parents have the primary responsibility, we all share in it.  We are all called to mentor young people.  That is not limited to children and teenagers, but young adults as well. 

The challenge now becomes, how do we get older adults to engage in the lives of young people.  For decades, we have allowed senior adult ministry to flourish in a bubble.  Check out the typical church on a Sunday morning.  After the service, the adults are gathered around the coffee pot, the children go to their Sunday school classrooms and the teens head to the "youth room."  And where is the space where the heritage of faith can be passed from one generation to the next?  What formats do we allow where more experienced believers can mentor those who are young?