I have been listening and reading stuff from the guys at www.ids.org for over a year now. They are New Covenant Theologians who have a passion for Reformed Baptist Theology. I absolutely love these guys, they have been such a blessing to me. Here is a paper they wrote on how to deal with your nonbelieving children in the context of Church. They bring up some very interesting points, that I really never even considered. Here are a few.
1. We should not let our children lead worship (you know children choirs) unless they are believers.
2. We should not treat them as believers (i.e Lord's Supper, serving in the ministry, and other church related functions).
3. We should not let them lead prayers, for they are nonbelievers (unless of course that is a prayer of repentenance)
These are just a few. I had a few objections that I emailed them about and I am waiting for a response. As for now let me know what you think. God bless.
3 comments:
Hi Lionel,
I found your blog through Eric "Gunny" Hartman's blog. Gunny was pastor to my family during my studies at DTS. I consider him a dear friend.
On the issue of children in the church, I think the three points you have listed are consistent with baptist ecclesiology. I was raised baptist, and ordained just prior to seminary in a Southern Baptist church. In my experience ecclesiological issues like the one you've raised here are typically not thought through very well in baptist churches. The result is that most baptist churches are inconsistent on this point. They forgo the baptist prerequisite of regeneration and treat their children as if they were covenant members.
Late last year I converted from baptist to covenant theology, which has caused me to really think through ecclesiological issues I previously neglected. Covenant theology maintains that the children of believers are members of the covenant, and should therefore, while being exhorted at every turn to trust Christ just as we all (even professing adult believers) should be, they should be treated as covenant members. According to the three points you raised that means:
(1) They should sing to their Lord in worship under the leadership of teaching elders.
(2) They should be allowed to take communion as soon as they profess faith in Christ.
(3) They should be encouraged to pray to God who is their Father.
I think a fundamental difference between the two views is this:
Baptist theology leads one to assume the non-election of their children until the child proves otherwise.
Covenant theology leads one to assume the election of their children until the child proves otherwise.
Anyway, just some thoughts. I enjoyed reading your post very much. I think the ecclesiological issues you've raised are very important.
In Christ,
Jay
Thanks Pastor Jay. I greatly appreciate your insight, is that unusual going from Baptist to Covenental? I have wrestled through the first two systems (not as well as I like) but have found issues with Dipensationalism and CT. I am studying NCT now in hopes to shed some light on some of the things I struggled with the others. God bless.
Lionel,
It was kind of strange. When the Covenantal system of thought finally clicked in my mind it was kind of flood-like. Lot's of puzzle pieces that I'd never really fit together suddenly began to snap into place. But getting to the aha moment took some time. One thing that finally go me there was understanding that I can never know with certainty the condition of another person's heart (i.e. whether they are regenerate or not). That wasn't difficult. My Calvinist soteriology had already taught me that. But from there it was realizing that the Bible never makes regeneration a prerequisite to covenant membership. It makes regeneration prerequisite to salvation but not to covenant membership. That was the aha moment for me.
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