Theology For Little Hearts. Jani Ortlund
Jani Ortlund, Author/Speaker, Executive Vice President of Renewal Ministries
Adult believers hold the future of the Church in their arms. How? In the form of the infants they train and raise up to serve the purposes of God in the coming generations.
We must be believers who pass on a robust and articulate biblical theology to the rising generation, “so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Psalm 78:7). The Church is always only one generation away from heresy and decay. Someone gave us the gospel…now it’s our turn to pass it on before our opportunities are gone. It is not chiefly about what we receive, but about what we leave.
What will we leave? Our children deserve to be gifted with a solid foundation of biblical theology. For the future church to not just survive, but really thrive, this rising generation needs to understand who their Heavenly Father is, the reality their sin nature, the certainty of Heaven and Hell, and the wonder of God’s redemptive mercies through the blood of his beloved Son. They deserve to know that all Scripture is inspired by the Holy Spirit and completely trustworthy for anything that will happen before they see God face to face. The little ones among us should see and hear that prayer through Jesus’ name is effectual and that the Church is God’s forever family, worthy of our honor and sacrifice. How will they fight the good fight of faith unless we equip them with solid theology in their most receptive years?
Ultimately the spiritual life of our children is in God’s sovereign hands. He chooses whom he wills and calls his own to Himself. John 6:44a “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” But we do have a part—a huge part! God has entrusted us to be his ambassador—his representative, his go-between--in the lives of our children (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Pray, Teach, Model
How do we do this? In our home, Ray and I have broken it down into three actionable endeavors: we pray, we teach, and we model.
Pray like crazy! Do not assume anything. Let’s ask God to grant our children a strong faith, exemplary marriages with no divorce or sexual confusion, and a hunger to serve him all their days, with God’s manifold mercies covering them. And then let’s continue steadfastly in these prayers (Colossians 4:2).
Teach the Word of God carefully, diligently, and with delight—in all places and under all circumstances (Deuteronomy 6:7).
Model a life of faith so that we can say, “Be imitators of me as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). Make it easy for our children to want to know the God we claim. Let’s entice them with his beauty and desirability.
Help them set their hope in God
For our purposes in this article, let’s camp on teaching the rising generation good theology—truths that will guide them from here to Heaven.
The psalmist urges us to teach the coming generation, and consequentially future generations as well, the glorious deeds and might and wonders of the God we love and serve. Psalm 78:3-4, 6-7—“things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders he has done…that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments…”
Let me suggest four ways you can do this:
* Family stories. You will help your child come to love Christ as he hears of how Christ has loved his family! Do you have stories of faith in your family—the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might and the wonders he has done? Oh, I hope so! If not, ask God to give you some. Use a death in the family to teach about eternity and hope in the midst of grief, or a marriage to teach about God’s good plan for men and women. Make the most of a job loss or financial difficulty to put on display God’s care for his children. Take advantage of visits with friends or extended family to rejoice with your children in how God has diligently cared for those who know him.
* Look for ways to show and tell your child the glories of God. How does God dazzle you, delight you, astonish you? Why do you admire God? Talk often of his glories, drawing attention to his power and might.
* Diligently teach the Word of God to the children in your life. The best time for us when we were raising our own four children, and even now with our grandchildren, is right after dinner, often over dessert. We used various systems and techniques, sometimes purchased through a Christian publisher, sometimes developed on our own.
May I offer a special word to moms reading this? You will need to help make this happen in your home. It will take time and effort and extra funds for curricula, supplies, and prizes (yes—we sometimes offered our kids prizes during Bible time). It will cost you something—maybe some sleep, certainly extra mental and physical energy. Please don’t resist this, because it will cost you so much more if you do not invest in the children in your sphere of influence when they are young.
“Wallpaper your mind with God’s Word”
* Finally, capitalize on the unplanned times—walking, driving, eating, playing, vacationing, working together, before bed, around the breakfast table--those Deuteronomy 6:7 moments. How will you have God’s Word ready to use? You have to know it yourself. In order to overflow you need to be full! When a container is jostled, whatever is inside will come out. For the Word of God to flow out of you in the day to day bumps of life, you need to be filled with it. Read your Bible daily. Learn it. Memorize it. Take it in way down deep. Wallpaper your mind with it.
Then, as we pray, teach, and model what we believe, we can confidently encourage our children to “hear…your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching” (Proverbs 1:8). They will grow up embracing solid theology and the future church will be in good hands.