Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children, Part 2 (Book Review)

In the first post on this subject, I reviewed Beeke’s explanation of the need our covenant children have of being evangelized.  In this final post, I first overview his instructions on the content that should be taught to covenant children, and second his description of the means we should use to bring the content to covenant children. 

Teaching the Content of the Gospel:

      In a nutshell, Beeke exhorts parents to teach their children the whole counsel of God.  Parents should not be content that their children know a few bible stories, but we should impress upon their hearts the biblical teaching about:  

1.      God
2.      Seriousness of Sin
3.      Hell
4.      Necessity of the New Birth
5.      The Law of God
6.      The atonement
7.      Faith in Christ
8.      Teach them about Jesus
   

Using the Means:

Armed with the content of the gospel, Beeke’s final section is an encouragement to parents to make the most of the means that God has provided for the evangelism of their children.  While he lists several, two of the most important are prayer and catechizing.  

Prayer:

Since it is God alone that can bring the new birth to our children, prayer is an essential privilege and responsibility of parents for their children.  Parents should make it a point to pray for their children as well as pray with them on a consistent basis.   Chares Spurgeon once wrote: “How can a man be a Christian, and not love his offspring?  How can a man be a believer in Jesus Christ, and yet have a cold and hard heart in the things of the kingdom towards his children?...It is our business to train up our children in the fear of the Lord; and though we cannot give them grace, it is ours to pray to the God who can give it; and in answer to our many supplications he will not turn us away, but will be pleased to regard our sighs.”  

Catechism:

Unfortunately, Catechism is a lost practice in many Christian households today and badly needs to be taken up.  Catechism, teaching bible knowledge and doctrine to children through a question and answer format, was a backbone in the reformed church for many centuries.  Puritans especially believed that the ministry of the Word on Sunday should be reinforced by personalized ministry through catechism.  Parents were expected to set aside time each week, in addition to family worship, to catechize their children. Behind this was the desire of the parents and churches that their children do more than “ask Jesus into their heart” but actually understand who Jesus was and what he had done for them.  Properly understood, evangelizing our children is not merely bring our children to make a profession of the Gospel, but teaching them what it means to live in light of the Gospel.  Parents should be looking for more than a quick and easy conversion of their children, but rather be committed to building up lifelong believers whose hearts, minds, will, and affections are won for the service of Christ. 

Practically, Beeke gives several suggestions for catechizing children today:

1. Do it at least weekly with your children, 30 - 45 minutes. 
2. Use a good catechism like the Heidelburg or WSC 
3. Use illustrations from Scripture and daily life to help the children understand the answers they are learning
4. Persevere even when you do not see fruit. 

Conclusion:

Christian parents should remember that leading a child to Christ is a journey, sometimes a long journey, in which they are dependent upon the Holy Spirit.  We cannot bring about the new birth in our children, but we can faithfully take hold of the means that he has given to us to use.  Our hope is that the sovereign God will delight to convince and convert our children from generation to generation, which he has promised he will do.