Teaching Children Scripture: A Foundation of Catechisms
The Glorious Weight of Training Your Child
I’ve never wanted to be a teacher, and I always knew that there were far better people for the job; my very best friends being some of those people. In my younger years I would say things like “I don’t have the patience” or “I just don’t like kids that much”. However, now that the Lord has given us a child, I’m discovering that teaching is one of the main focuses of parenthood and it was also in fact true that I didn’t have the patience, however, the Lord is mighty and able to call us from sin and sanctifying us by His Word. So here I stand with a child, along with this duty to teach him. There are also many opinions, resources and classes available to help me out in that task. It can sometimes be tempting to get overwhelmed. Where does one even start, especially given how important laying the foundation of teaching children Scripture.
The Lord is good and doesn’t leave us unequipped to do this important job. He has instructed parents to train up our children and has given us His very Word to do so! So, when we look at the gift of Scripture, it is a daily grace to us and God’s providential hand that His Word is not a book with many little stories, but one big and continuous story. A big story in which we receive our worldview from. This is especially important considering the study of His Word is the most important thing one will ever study and, Lord willing, apply to one’s life.
Catechism: A Foundation for Biblical Truths
How do we take such a wonderful gift and begin to set the foundation of Scripture on the hearts of our children? How do we take the systemic nature of scripture and teach it to our children, so that they may handle Scripture rightly, love what God loves, hate what He hates and go on to anchor their lives in a way that honors and glorifies Him? This is where catechism becomes essential to the instruction of our children.
What is catechism? Catechism, by its definition, is a system of religious instruction usually arranged in a question-and-answer format (Britannica). It’s a clear and structured path to set up a theological framework for a child (or new convert, but that’s another topic) to place Scripture upon. It can be viewed as a skeleton of sorts in which we can rightly flesh out scripture into place. Catechism allows us to not just fill our children’s heads with knowledge for the sake of knowledge but gives us the opportunity to fill their hearts with truth. It allows our children to not just understand what they believe, but why they believe it. An example of a catechism would be:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
(Westminster Shorter Catechism)
What Comes First? The Building or the Foundation?
I’ve seen a big push in teaching youth about apologetics the last 5-10 years or so. Apologetics is the defense of faith and is essential and such a good thing to be teaching. However, typically when we put apologetics in front of the child first, without giving them a “base” for it, they don’t have the ability to piece it all together as one flowing structure, but leaves them with stand-alone, fragmented pieces. How can one defend what one doesn’t understand?
In order for us to disciple our children in apologetics and other areas of life, we must first understand what we are discipling them to. We should view our children, not as neutral beings, but as those to whom are called to be brought up in the Lord (Ephesians 6:4). In other words, we don’t wait for our kids to “accept Jesus into their hearts” before training them in God’s Word. With catechism, we can disciple them to truth from the very beginning of their lives.
Since we can view catechism as a foundation, we are able to find the truths that go all throughout Scripture as our starting points. Thankfully, and again in God’s providence, these clearly laid out foundations already exist. Catechisms such as the Heidelberg and Westminster (shorter) are fantastic tools for us to use; tools created by our early church fathers to equip the saints to learn the truths of Scripture systemically. These catechisms teach things such as:
-God’s character and His nature
-The problem of sin and our need for a redemptive work
-The person and work of Jesus
-The role and function of various spiritual aspects like law and gospel, prayer sacraments etc.
Catechisms and Apologetics Work Together Against False Doctrine
Catechisms not only aide in discipleship and apologetics, but it’s also a crucial aid in equipping our children against the various false teachers/teachings of this world. Paul warns, especially in Ephesian that, like children, we are susceptible to being tossed “to and fro by the waves and carried by every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). In the context, he is talking about immature/new believers, however, he uses children as an illustration since children are that way. What catechism does, not just for the child, but also the adult believer, is it attaches an anchor in place to biblical truth before they have an opportunity to be shipwrecked by the world (who, by the way, is also catechizing our children, but in a way contrary to God’s Word).
And here’s a big truth: catechizing our children isn’t teaching them to be mere intellectuals, but it’s teaching them the precepts found throughout the psalms and proverbs. “I have stored up Your Word in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” (Ps. 119:11) It’s instructing our children on loving the Lord with all their minds, enough to continually apply it to their hearts; it teaches them to love truth deeply.
There’s No Age Limit to Building A Foundation
When speaking about the importance of catechizing our children to others, often the worry of children’s ages come up: “My kid is only two, can I wait until later?” or “I’m not sure my 4 year old will grasp those concepts”
Dear reader, please understand: I’m not saying we should sit down at the dinner table, not letting our kid leave, until we have drilled the Heidelberg/Westminster into them. I am saying, however, that our kids understand a lot more than what we think. If we treat our kids like they are capable of learning, within their age given abilities, we honor them as image bearers of God who have been created to absorb so much! They’ve been created with amazing minds that can understand, know, remember and pick up on truth. When we set the bar so low, when we fail to grasp what they can learn, we must face a reality that we have stolen an opportunity from them to lay a foundation of biblical truth to their hearts. Catechism is not a mundane drill to be recited, so that others are impressed by their knowledge (heart-posture please!), but it’s a consistent way to plant the seeds of the Gospel. Ladies, hold a high view of your children and teach them truths as early as possible.
Be Faithful In the Teaching of Scripture
A beautiful verse that I think about when I’m tempted to worry if our son is even receiving anything from our instruction is Ecclesiastes 11:6…
“In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good.”
You see, we do not know when the Lord’s Word will take root in our child. We don’t know at what point the Lord will call them unto Himself. This is why we are to be, despite age, teaching our children. We aren’t doing it because they can grasp every iota of doctrinal point, but because we are putting our trust in the Holy Spirit to work through His Word over time. We teach our children in faith, all the while remembering it’s the Lord who gives the growth.
How We Put This Into Practice
In our home, we are currently going though The Westminster Catechism (Shorter). Not only has our son started to memorize and recite at the age of 3, but it has been an encouragement for me to do the same. So, what does this exercise look like in practice? I am sure there are a million and one ways to teach your child, but I will tell you what works for us!
We practice the memorization of catechism at the rate of one per month! I feel that this is plenty of time for my three-year-old to memorize it! On top of the catechism Q&A memorization, I find a verse that goes along well with it. For example, when we learned Question 1 of the Westminster Shorter, “What is the chief end of man?”, my husband and I chose 1 Corinthians 10:31 for him to memorize. While catechisms are great tools, they are man-made tools, and we always want to point back to Scripture!
Each morning, we recite the Q&A, the memory verse and we do an activity that matches up with the catechism. I’ve noticed that my son retains more when he has something tangible to do. For question 1 of the WCs, the activity was a “Glorify and Enjoy” jar. This was a jar that I wrote 30 activities on slips of paper and each day my son would pick the activity, and we would work on it together. All the activities were things that brought God glory (baking bread for a neighbor, asking a stranger how we could pray for them, leaving his dad an encouraging Bible verse etc.). My son really enjoyed that! He learned and put together that we were made to honor God in all our activities!
Something else that we do, and I am forever grateful that this is a resource, is we listen to the Westminster Shorter Catechism Songs by Brian Suave! This pastor created music to help people memorize this theologically rich text. We constantly listen to the one we are focused on for the month. The only downside I have found is that when I go to tell someone the question/answer, I find myself needing to translate it from song to normal cadence! Joking aside, it is a huge blessing to have and am thankful for this saint’s dedication to teaching others the Word of God through song! Here is the link to learn more about this project!
A Final Encouragement
Ladies, let’s go and teach our children the fullness of Scripture and the beauty of the gospel. Catechizing them is such a rich tool to start building a base that, Lord willing, we can add to as the years go on.
“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7
***A gentle side note for two groups: the above includes children who may have special needs. Our God is a mighty God who is not bound by delays in our children’s cognition, speech or developmental delays. God’s truth is living and active which doesn’t have a boundary on when it suddenly ceases to be. We can trust that God knows exactly how to reach every child that He has made in His image. We do our part, plodding in love and faithfulness and our God will do His. Find ways to work with your child’s abilities.
And to you, mama, who may be realizing they’ve missed out on teaching their children from the earliest of days: God isn’t stuck working on our timelines or our past sin/failures. We see time and time again that we serve a God who is rich in mercy, exceedingly patient and can redeem time we may have lost. A child’s heart, no matter what their age, is worth pouring into. Repent in areas that need repentance, ask God for strength and search God’s Word together as a family. Remember: the same Spirit that raised Jesus is the same Spirit that can turn a teen’s heart from stone to flesh***
