Here are two quotes I came upon recently that challenge us to think about the purpose and priority of teaching our children and youth the deep things of God:
If we want to love God more, we have to know Him more deeply. And the more we search the Scriptures, and the more we focus our minds’ attention on who God is and what He does, the more we understand just a tiny little bit more about Him and the more our souls break out in flame. We have a greater ardor to honor Him. The more we understand God with our minds, the more we love Him with our minds.
(R. C. Sproul, “Loving God with Our Minds,” www.ligonier.org)
The Church is not an academic institution. Our calling is not simply to educate the mind. In God the Father, God the Son, Martyn Lloyd-Jones urges us to study the doctrines of the Bible in order that we ‘may draw nearer to God in worship, praise, and adoration, because we have seen…the glory of our wondrous God.’ During an age in which goldfish have a longer attention span than people we must teach biblical theology in order to elevate the gaze of God’s people to that which is infinitely more worthy than all the distractions of the goldfish bowl of life. It is the truth of Scripture alone that will lead to a deeper knowledge of God and will fix our gaze upon the God of boundless grace and unparalleled glory.
(Tom Clewer, “Teaching Doctrine to Goldfish,” www.evangelicalmagazine.com)
Are we reflecting this in our homes and church classrooms? Are we using resources and teaching in a manner that helps our children and youth…
… search the Scriptures with increasing frequency and depth?
… focus their minds’ attention on who God is and what He has done?
… study the Scripture in a manner that encourages them to elevate their gaze to see the God of boundless grace and unparalleled glory?
Teaching our children the deep things of God is no guarantee that they will come to love Him deeply. Only God, by His sovereign grace through the work of the Spirit, can bring about saving faith in Christ, resulting in true love, honor, and worship of God. But it is also true that God does not act apart from His Word. And the more we give our children and youth a glimpse of the truth of God as revealed the Scriptures, the more we give them reasons to be astounded, amazed, and transfixed by His infinite greatness and worth. This summer is a good time to carefully examine and evaluate the Bible resources being used to teach your own children and the children in your classrooms. You could use these quotes and questions as a measure. Also, you may be interested in looking at Children Desiring God curricula distinctions to better understand our commitment to teaching children the Bible in a manner that points to God’s unparalleled glory in Christ.
