What does the Bible say about faith and children?
For some strange reason there are times and situations where we think of the Bible as a last resort for information and exhortation. This can be true in the raising of our children; perhaps we worry that the Bible is a contextual document that doesn't apply to the context we live in... but such isn't the case.
Below are a five references from Holy Scripture - four from Dueteronomy and one from Luke - dealing with faith and children. They are by no means exhaustive but they are (surprisingly?) relevant and hold promise.
Deuteronomy
The book of Deuteronomy (meaning "repitition of the law") was written by Moses as he was preparing the tribes of Israel to enter the promised land under the leadership of Joshua.
Moses was old... Moses was staying behind.
He wanted to make sure that God's chosen people remembered what was important from their history in the wilderness and before regarding their relationship with the one true God. In this way Deuteronomy can be thought of as similar to Luther's "Table Talk"; warm, personal, informal... It is as if Moses had the people for whom he had worked so hard and whom he loved so much gathered around him at the table.
In these passages Moses refers to children and faith four times and there is a progression to his comments; from demand to method to reward.
"But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children"
- God has been active in your lives... don't forget. Not forgetting takes effort.
- Notice, also, the intergenerational activity.
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."
- Our relationship with God is primary... but Moses has more to say.
"Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
- Faith needs to be in the heart... and spoken... and visual... and written. Do you think Moses would have used multi-media tools to express and pass on faith?
"When (not if) your children ask you in time to come, “What is the meaning of the decrees and the statutes and the ordinances that the Lord our God has commanded you?” then you shall say to your children… (repitition of Israel’s story)"
- Although we cannot predict when, our children will ask questions... so we must be prepared to answer.
- Imagine this text written in the Christian context, "When your children ask you in time to come, "What is the meaning of baptism, why do we go to the altar for bread and wine, why does the pastor preach after reading from the Bible, why do we pray, why does the pastor bless us at the end of worship, why is the cross central in our church?" then you shall say to your children, "Baptism is God's words of promise tied to water; in, with and under the bread and wine Christ is present, the Word is present in the words... Let's sit down and I will tell you the wonderful story of the Good News of Jesus Christ." "
"You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem on your forehead. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your ancestors to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth."
- Moses tells the people that following this formula of living the faith and sharing the faith through many aspects in their daily lives has the effect of "passing on the faith."
Moses, in Deuteronomy, has words of warning and encouragment. Jesus, in Luke, has words of warning and encouragment as well.
“Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"
- Jesus is speaking of persevering in prayer and of "ask(ing) and it will be given" but he is using, as an allegory, the truth that loving parents give only good gifts to their children. The question for us is; what are we giving our children? Is it a good gift to withhold teaching or to not take advantage of a teachable moment? No. It is a good gift to consider the development of faith as primary in the lives of our children.
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