By Starr Meade
Editor’s NoteL This is an excerpt from her article Evangelism Starts At Home which is available in its entirety online at Modern Reformation. Evangelism and church renewal do start at home… by renewing ourselves and our families in God’s truth so we may as winsomely as possible see others encouraged to believe God’s Word and be transformed.
How does a biblical catechism help us to faithfully evangelize our children? First, a catechism provides an excellent dictionary of terms used in the Bible itself when the Bible presents the gospel message. One of the clearest presentations of the gospel found in Scripture is the third chapter of Romans. This passage, however, cannot be clearly understood without a grasp of the terms it uses. The twenty-third verse tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Well, what is sin? That is precisely the question asked in question 14 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. The answer: “Sin is disobeying or not conforming to God’s law in any way.”1 Surrounding question 14 are questions and answers that deal with how sin entered the world, how it was passed on to all humans from Adam, what its results and consequences are, and what is God’s reaction to it. All of these answers would assist greatly in helping a child to understand why sin is a problem that demands a solution. Romans 3 also tells us that we are justified as a gift, by God’s grace, and not by works of the law. Justification is one of the most important concepts of the gospel. Our children must understand what it means. Question 33 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks “What is justification?” then goes on to give an excellent answer. “Justification is the act of God’s free grace by which he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight. He does so only because he counts the righteousness of Christ as ours. Justification is received by faith alone.” Again, in Romans 3, we find that “faith in Jesus Christ” is necessary for justification. The catechism asks, “What is faith in Jesus Christ?” (Q. 86) The answer: “Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, by which we receive and rest on Him alone for salvation, as He is offered to us in the gospel.” We could continue this exercise for quite some time, finding in the catechism clear, concise explanations of most of the terms used when the Bible presents the gospel. There is a series of questions explaining the nature of God, another explaining the process of redemption, yet another series explaining at length the nature and work of Christ-all key concepts that must be understood if the good news of the gospel is to be clearly grasped. “But isn’t it possible to have all that head knowledge as just so many intellectual facts?” someone might wonder. “Isn’t it the response of the heart that really matters?” Of course it is. A child (or an adult) could have an intellectual grasp of gospel truth and fail to respond to it. On the other hand, can anyone respond to truth he or she does not know? Our goal for our children should be that they clearly grasp the important truths of Scripture in order that they may then faithfully respond to them.
A second benefit of a good catechism as a tool in evangelizing children is the use the Holy Spirit can make of it in bringing conviction of sin. Children are just as self-righteous as the rest of us. They tend to believe that knowing the Ten Commandments is the same thing as keeping them. Children cheerfully rattle off “Thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not commit adultery,” confident that they are in fine shape with God since they have not done any of these things. In those sections where the catechisms discuss the Ten Commandments, they ask questions designed to get at the heart of each one. The resulting answers provide excellent expositions of the commandments, based on the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. These explanations of the commandments show us just how rigorous God’s holy standard is. They also show us how far short we fall. For example, the Heidelberg Catechism asks for a recital of the Ten Commandments, including the first one “You shall have no other gods before me.” It does not allow a child (or an adult!) to feel smug about how he or she has never bowed to a little statue. Instead, it goes on to ask what the Lord requires by that first commandment. Part of the answer is this: “That I sincerely acknowledge the only true God, trust him alone, look to him for every good thing humbly and patiently, love him, fear him, and honor him with all my heart. In short, that I give up anything rather than go against his will in any way.” Whew! That’s a high standard. But it’s God’s standard. Church children especially need to see that the standard is hopelessly high. They have not attained it, nor will they ever be able to. Only the person who has despaired of ever saving himself sees the need for a Savior. A diligent and careful study of the Ten Commandments as explained in the catechisms can be of great use for helping a child to see something of the sinfulness of his or her heart. Of course, this will prove helpful not just in evangelizing but in day-to-day parenting as well. A big part of parenting is correcting sinful behavior and training in godly behavior. If our children are learning the Ten Commandments in all their fullness, they know God’s standard and we can constantly point them back to it as we correct and train.
1 In writing this article, Mrs. Meade quoted from the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1986), as well as from the Heidelberg Catechism (Grand Rapids, MI: CRC Publications, 1988)
Read the entire article at Modern Reformation
Starr Meade is the author of Training Hearts Teaching Minds: Family Devotions Based on the Shorter Catechism
