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• Why Teach Children Doctrine?

Why Teach Children Doctrine?

Christian doctrine is a statement of what the Bible teaches Christians to believe about God and how we can know him. Orthodox Christian doctrine is based entirely on Holy Scripture. From the time of the Reformation, such doctrine frequently has been taught using some form of catechism, a method of teaching by questions and answers.

However, teaching doctrine is out of vogue with many Christian parents today. Instead, some choose to teach character as the basis of their children's spiritual education. Others expect their children to comprehend Christian doctrine strictly by reading Bible stories with them. Some choose an eclectic approach--a little bit of this, a little bit of that--taking the best of several different strands of often conflicting thought and/or approaches. The main goal for some is simply to lead their child in the "sinner's prayer," believing that to be the main hurdle of their child's spiritual experience. Others, want-ing their teaching to be practical, purposefully avoid doctrine.

However, it is important to realize that everyone has a doctrine--a way of understanding what the Bible teaches. Everyone who teaches children there-fore provides them with some type of doctrine based on the perspective and value judgments he or she brings to life. Thus, we must ensure that the doctrine we teach is sound. All Christian parents want to teach their children biblically. But "biblical" has come to mean a lot of different things to different people. Good, orthodox doctrine arises from a proper understanding of Scripture. Good doctrine provides a grid for being able to plot an understanding of fam-ily, daily life, science, history, friendship, emotions, beauty, work and worship.

Our goal is to equip both parents and children with a robust enough theology to answer the hard questions of life. Good doctrine will direct our thoughts to the right questions: Who is God? What does he require of me? How can I know him? How can I please him? Instead, our "felt needs" society directs us to ask how God can solve the little problems of our lives. Our human focus tends to be on how God can fit into our life plans rather than how we fit into his plan. A poor grasp of doctrine, or a wrong doctrine that concentrates on such secondary issues of life, can leave a vacuum in our children's hearts and make them easy prey for any "religious" group that offers them more than they think they are getting. With the question, "why did God make me?" and the answer, "for his own glory, that I might love and obey him in all I do," our children can confront all the secondary challenges of life with confidence, peace and joy. They have the big answer!

Fuzzy doctrine is a natural by-product of a fast-paced society in which most of us tend to be "doers" rather than "thinkers." It is easier. However, those in Christian work often find that, without good reasons for doing so, the people they minister to do not stick with the commitment required to truly take the Christian path. Why? Doing without thinking leads to a flaccid Christianity that struggles to answer the hard questions of life. As Sinclair Ferguson states in Know Your Christian Life, the best "thinkers" have historically been the best "doers." The best preachers, martyrs, missionaries and Christian civic leaders have been those who have grappled with the most challenging biblical teachings.1 Indeed, the people who have most influenced us personally with respect to the gospel are serious students of Bible doctrine, even if they do not consider themselves as such. They are seeking to conform their minds to the Bible's teachings, rather than leading self-serving, busy lives that lack depth.

By-products of good doctrine are righteousness and Christian character. Christian character, as the sole focus and foundation of one's theology, results in nothing but morality. Simultaneously, an absence of strong doctrine naturally leads to looseness in Christian living. (The twentieth-century American church is a showcase for this point.) But teaching that stresses God's holiness and man's responsibility, along with God's gracious provision of Christ, will produce in individuals a Christian vitality evidenced by love, gratefulness, humility, duty and service.

Parents who were brought up with "the sinner's prayer" have a challenge on their hands. They may have come to believe that if our children pray that prayer, they are "safe" no matter what they do later in life. Yet a child may pray that prayer without a work of grace truly taking place in his or her heart. Salvation is by grace through faith, and not through a particular prayer. The sinner's prayer may be, and often is, an expression of faith, but it is not necessarily so. Rather, Scripture teaches that those who believe in Christ become his followers (Luke 9:23), and we must therefore disciple our children ever the long haul, teaching them daily and hourly what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ. We must teach them that trust is more than intellectual assent, that those who love Christ will keep his commands (John 14:21), and hat we must examine ourselves to see for sure whether our faith is genuine. leading a child to examine his heart requires time, patience, commitment and understanding of doctrine, but will be worth far more eternally than giving ism or her the false security of a prayer prayed on the surface of the heart.

We have great confidence in the ability of our children to profit from more than a "Bible stories" curriculum, and to absorb doctrinal truths from scripture that will reveal the character of God in a personal way, explain God's provision for us from justification through glorification, and uncover the riches of a salvation that permeates all areas of life.