I'd like to start thinking through some issues about the children of believers.
Some Christian traditions baptize their children before any profession of faith; others dedicate them instead. Some traditions have been known to encourage their children to "sow their wild oats" and let them come to their own decision to follow Christ later in life; others treat them as functional believers from birth. Some traditions allow young children to partake in the Lord's supper, others adamantly forbid them. In some traditions, parents express great anxiety about their children's salvation and are only relieved when their children have made a "credible" profession of faith; in others, they are satisfied with their children's simple trust in whatever their parents tell them to believe.
There are a whole host of issues wrapped up in these different approaches to children, several foundational doctrines underlying each perspective. A Christian's view of his children will be intimately connected with his understanding of the true nature of the church, the true nature of God's covenant with his people, the relationship between the Old and New covenants, the nature of the sacraments, the nature of true faith and conversion and so on and so forth. I'm beginning to think that in many ways, one's doctrine of children can reveal almost the entirety of that person's theology.
Here's what I'm after in this initial post. I want to try and determine what the real points of difference are between these various understandings of the children of believers and their relationship to the church. How are we to frame the question? What is the crux of the matter, the point of stasis?
Is it a matter of young children being members/ non-members of the church? partakers/non-partakers of God's covenant with his people? different/no different from the children of pagans? capable/incapable of true faith? Is it a question of what the default assumption should be? out until proven to be in/in until proven to be out? Are they to be treated as Christians? pagans? some third category?
Maybe the question is as simple as this: as Christians, should we treat our young children as if they are Christians or non-Christians?
I'm not ready to start talking about the answer yet. What do you see as the question? If we had to identify one central issue, one point of disagreement upon which all of these practical differences are based, what would it be? One side says that the children of believers are X, the other side says that they are non-X. What's the variable here?
7 comments:
Perhaps a more helpful form of the question should be "At what point should Christian parents begin to treat their children as if they were Christians?"
Or, maybe: "Is there any particular thing for which Christian parents should wait before they begin to treat their children as if they were Christians?"
It seems that the terms "believers" or "Christians" might not be the most helpful. What are some other possibilities? Children of God? Members of the family of God? of the household of faith? Partakers of God's Covenant with His people?
What about "saints"? Ooh. That seems to have potential. Maybe that's it. "Should believing parents deal with their children from the presumption that they are among the saints or as if they were not?"
That seems pretty close to being the right question. And, based on what little reflection I've done on the relevant biblical texts, I suspect that this phrasing of the question nearly allows it to answer itself.
But I'll think about it some more before pressing on.
As always, reader input is greatly appreciated here. This series of posts is certain to remain at a rather sophomoric level without it.
I see you out there. Speak up.
Great questions. My kids are 21,19,15, and 14. I've also got a grandchild (known in the blogosphere as child #2a)
Here are some of my questions and a few insights
Questions
1) What are the full implications of the child being born with a sin nature?
2) Does the Bible teach an "age of accountability?
3) What happens to infants who die?
Insights
1) The book of the NT that uses the most family terms is I John, showing that there is a close tie (even overlap) between spiritual family and physical family. In the OT covenant, the two are even more closely tied together. (ie descendants/family of Abraham)
2) For my money, the best chapter in the Bible on parenting is Ezekiel 18. Good parents can have bad kids and bad parents can have good kids. There is no formulas or guarantees of success in parenting (however you define it.
3) When Jesus told us to pray "Our Father who are in heaven" He was letting us in on something really big.
4) In response to search for good nomenclature, How about "When should we treat our children as children and when do we start treating them as adults? Our culture isn't very good and coming of age markers or rituals.
Hello Brad, I posted a rather long response to Travis Prinzi's question.
http://www.restlessreformer.com
Here it is.
May 18th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Well, here goes then. My family is Reformed Presbyterian and so our children were baptized in infancy (good article about infant baptism here:
http://www.credenda.org/issues/18-4doctrine101.php )
One other interesting article I read on Paedobaptism/paedocommunion.
http://www.credenda.org/issues/18-1liturgia.php
Because we believe that God’s covenant has been made with families of believers we took very seriously the duty we had as parents to enable and instruct our children in the proper participation of worship and the sacraments. Our children never participated in any activity at church while a worship service was offered. They rarely stayed in the nursery as infants (unless they were going through that loud stage.) We considered our children non-communing members of our church. In the ARP Church, covenant children must attend communicancts class usually when they are young teens and then are admitted to the table as communing members of the church. Some time before our 3 oldest were communicant members, I began to have this nagging feeling that I was witholding the bread and the cup from my children and doing so in error. They had made a profession of faith to mom and dad at a very early age, and I feel they understood at that point the work of Christ sufficiently to also have understood the meaning and purpose of the Table and how to approach the table. I never felt this was a decision we as parents could make for our children, we just went with the traditon. With my youngest, because we are currently attending an Episcopal church, we made the decision to allow him to commune as soon as we felt he understood the table and that he was capable of examining himself before partaking. (I Cor. 11:27-29) He did not attend a communicants class and he was 9 1/2 when he began taking communion.
So I guess that we are kind of in the middle of the paedobaptists and the paedocommunionists…we practice both, but communion is not a priveledge immediately conferred.
I do believe that children belong in worship with their parents. Not in children’s church, not in the nursery, not sitting with their youth group. HOWEVER, if you are the type of parent who cannot/will not help your child participate in worship and that child is preventing others’ ability to worship by distracting others with their behavior, then those children and a parent need to be able to have an alternative space where the worship service is either video or audio available.
I'm a pirate no more!!
Thank you, RP and Margaret, for your thoughts.
RP, your questions (especially the first two) are extremely important parts of this issue. The answers to those questions and the answer to the broader question I'm working through will certainly all go hand in hand.
Margaret, it was not you, but rather Travis who was guilty of piracy, and I accept your comment as restitution and grant him full pardon.
You raise, with the issue of children in the worship service, another very practical question that I believe is ultimately answered according to one's understanding of their children's position in Christ's church.
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It's quite fitting that the first two responses here come from folks in traditions which represent somewhat polar opposites on this question; RP from a church in the Anabaptist tradition, and Margaret from a Reformed church.
It is also interesting that neither of these appear to represent the most extreme position in either respective camp. It occurs to me, as I consider the responses together, that what we may have here is less a question of precise definition, and more a question of degree between two extremes.
At one extreme you have those who hold that the young children of believers have a position and participation in the people of God that is really no different that of a child of non-believing parents.
At the other end you have those who leave no room for any distinction between young children of believers and the adult believers themselves.
Merely teaching your children the faith, going further and allowing them to participate in public worship, taking one more step and baptizing them before they profess faith, or even allowing them to partake of the Lord's supper: these could be construed as representing various points along the spectrum between these two extremes.
Again, then, the question would seem, in this light, to be more one of degree: To what degree should the young children of believers be considered members and participants in the covenant people of God? not at all? fully? or something in between?
Yes indeed. This feels closer to what I'm after. Thanks again for your help, RP and Margaret.
Father of 2 (3 yrs and 1 yr) with 1 on the way. We had our firstborn annointed (a compromise with the baptist church we were members of at the time). When we did that we felt we were agreeing with God that our son was set apart for a life different than those outside of the church. He (and his brother and next sibling) have been prayed over since their conception and will grow up in the faith. Whether or not he (they) embrace the faith ultimately is between them and God. So far we treat our 3 year old as if he will embrace the faith. We pray and sing at night (as much as he is able to participate) and we have started verse memory that teaches the "story of redemption" (as opposed to just classic verses from all over the place). The part I struggle with is corporate worship since he is 3 and cannot sit through a whole service without disrupting ours and others worship. Anyway, good start- good stuff, hope to hear more.
Thanks, Christian, for your thoughts. We'll be pressing forward here shortly.
Came by your blog by way of Danger Blog Great topic. I have found it disturbing the way I have observed churches place children in a 3rd class seat. The result is that kids grow up and out in epidemic proportions. (Barna shows 65 to 94 percent of high school students stop attending church after graduation.)
My own experience is that I share my faith with my kids through my lifestyle. My daughter chose Christ at 7. We will see with the other 2. One of the neatest things was when we turned off the TV started having a family bible study and worship time. Suddenly they started asking all kinds of questions.
Esau
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