We live in a dumbed-down age in which basic knowledge, understanding, discernment, and reasoning are all but shot to pieces. People seldom think carefully and analyse things, they tend to just emote instead. And sadly this is just as true for far too many Christians as well.
Thus we almost need to begin from scratch to educate an entire generation which has lost the ability for sustained reflection and critical reasoning. And that means going back to basics with biblical truths as well. We cannot assume that all believers today think biblically or have a biblical worldview.
Thus the need is greater than ever to properly train, equip and teach all believers in the basics of the Christian faith so that they think and speak in terms of a solid biblical worldview, instead of just regurgitating what the secular culture throws at them.
Six years ago an important book on this issue came out by J.I. Packer and Gary Parrett: Grounded in the Gospel: Building Believers the Old-Fashioned Way (Baker, 2010). In it the authors call us back to a long-neglected practice: catechesis.
They offer this definition: “Historically, the church’s ministry of grounding new believers in the rudiments of Christianity has been known as catechesis – the growing of God’s people in the gospel and its implications for doctrine, devotion, duty, and delight.” And they find it to be totally biblical:
We catechize because of the model and mandate of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was and is the model catechist. He was the Teacher of teachers. It is not only his example that moves us to catechize, however. We catechize by command of Jesus. Jesus charged his followers with the task of teaching on several occasions during his earthly ministry (e.g., Matt. 10:14; 13:52). Just before ascending to the Father’s right hand in glory, the risen Christ commanded his followers to disciple all the nations. This task requires the ministry of serious, sustained, systematic, and substantive teaching – “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:20). Catechesis is a faithful and fruitful ministry that flows from this “Great Commission” of Jesus.
Yes, this is simply about basic religious instruction and teaching for believers. Sometimes it has been done in preparation for things like baptism or confirmation, but it is not just a Catholic thing, as some might think. As the authors remind us:
“Thus, for most contemporary evangelicals the entire idea of catechesis is largely an alien concept. The very word itself—catechesis, or any of its associated terms, including catechism—is greeted with suspicion by most evangelicals today. (‘Wait, isn’t that a Roman Catholic thing?’)”
In fact, this practice began early on in Christian history, and most Protestants in the past engaged in this as well. Just recall Luther’s Smaller Catechism or the Westminster Shorter Catechism as examples of teaching tools for children, or Luther’s Larger Catechism, the Heidelberg Catechism, or the Westminster Larger Catechism for adults.
As Calvin said in 1548 to the Lord Protector of England, “Believe me, Monseigneur, the church of God will never be preserved without catechesis.” Solid teaching for all believers is essential, and catechesis was for centuries an integral part of achieving this.
But now most Protestants at least have fallen away from this. That explains why there is so much shallowness, carnality and heterodox teaching in the churches today. We have failed to properly train, teach and disciple others, and now we are paying the price for it.
We see this happening all over the place. Take for example any basic Christian truth, and see how it is understood and expressed today by so many believers. Consider the notion of love. Now there is a term which has been beaten to death, misused and abused for decades now – even by Christians.
Instead of speaking about love biblically, too often we speak about it as the world does. And let me assure you, the world’s understanding of love has absolutely nothing to do with the Scriptural understanding of the term. It is easy enough to demonstrate this.
Consider this scenario. You go to a doctor because you sense something is wrong, so you get a thorough check-up. A malignant cancer is discovered. Here are two possible ways the doctor can respond. Tell me which one is the most loving:
-he says you are OK, because he knows that if he tells you the truth about your condition, it will upset you, offend you, and hurt your feelings.
-he tells you the truth and offers the tough course of action needed to help deal with the cancer.
Obviously the loving thing to do, the Christian thing to do, the sensible thing to do, is the second option. Yet so many believers today have been so steeped in worldly concepts of what love and other related concepts are, that many might actually wonder if the first option is the way to go – the more “loving” thing to do.
They certainly act that way when it comes to spiritual matters. The most loving thing we can do for a lost sinner is tell him he is lost, and give him the gospel. But so many believers today feel this is being intolerant and arrogant and pushy and unloving. So they refuse to truly love their lost neighbour by telling them the most vital thing they need to hear.
So afraid are we today of “offending” anyone, or appearing to be “unloving,” that far too many Christians will not share their faith with non-believers, nor speak out on vitally important social issues from a biblical perspective for fear of being rejected, or seen as not being “nice”.
Thus we have utterly destroyed the biblical understanding of love. Consider this analogy: When a bridge down the road is out, and unless you give warning, other cars will crash into the ravine, killing everyone inside, the obvious, loving thing to do is to warn, to try to stop the traffic, to do anything you can to prevent pending disaster.
Not to warn and not to seek to avert such horrible outcomes is certainly not loving. It is being hateful in fact. You are not loving your neighbour as yourself. It is the same in the spiritual arena. We must warn others of their fate if they continue in the wrong direction with the bridge ahead out of action.
I just read again what the Bible says about refusing to make such warnings in Ezekiel 33:1-9. Let me just share verse 6: “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.”
Biblical love is willing the highest good for the other person. It is not about emotions, feelings, moods and whims. It is about making right choices for the good of others. And warning others is a crucial part of biblical love, be it warning the sinner of his ways, or the believer of his carnal conduct or dangerous doctrine.
This is why we need a new movement within the churches today to properly teach the basics of the Christian faith. It is time for catechesis at all levels, for young and old. The appalling biblical illiteracy found in our churches is doing tremendous damage and it is time for a change. And that time is now.
Of course to say we have an urgent need for teaching and sound doctrine is not to say that this is all that is needed. One can be well taught and full of correct doctrine but still be spiritually dead. We need both right teaching and right living. We need orthodoxy and orthopraxis. But genuine Christian living flows out of proper Christian believing. The two always go together.
So we need to concentrate on both aspects of the Christian life. And this volume by Packer and Parrett is a very good place to begin. But for those who do not want to read the entire book, you can at least look at a very short summary excerpt of it which is found here: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2010/march/14.26.html
Let me conclude with the closing paragraph of the book. There the authors remind us that catechesis is necessary for both individuals and
the entire church as it seeks to deepen its experience of unity of the Faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, and so become mature (Eph. 4:13). Jesus had been the Teacher of the Twelve (Matt. 23:10; John 13:13). To the Twelve, and for our sakes as well, he promised that another Counselor would come—the Spirit of Truth whom the Father would send to us in Jesus’ name to be our Teacher and guide us into all truth (John 14:26; 16:13). It is by the work of the Spirit that lives are transformed and catechesis can be found faithful and fruitful.
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