Visitors and members of Salem Baptist Church will now find a feature inside of our weekly church bulletin entitled, “Catechism Corner.” Each week, we post and read one or two questions and answers from the children’s version of The Baptist Catechism. Why are we doing this? Here are a few reasons:
First, Salem is committed to the family-equipping model of family ministry. One aspect of this model is that our church is intentional about partnering with parents, grandparents, and guardians to equip them to become the primary disciple makers of their own children. The children’s catechism is a very effective way for parents to begin teaching their children sound doctrine at an early age. On the Day of Judgment, those revealed by God to be the most faithful will not necessarily be pastors. It could also be mommies and daddies, grandmas and grandpas who have faithfully taught the Bible and prayed for their children. Parenting is a very serious responsibility. We want to give parents every advantage in their efforts to teach and live out Christ before their children.
Second, the battle for the hearts and minds of children begins at a much earlier age than parents often realize. By the time children begin talking, they have the capacity to memorize and repeat what they have heard. Aside from the fact that one of the cutest things in the world is for a two-year-old to answer the question, “Why did God make you and all things?” with “For His own gwowy,” children as early as one and two are capable of memorizing small bits of truth. The children’s catechism contains great truths about God and the Bible in bite-sized nuggets. For example, the very first question is “Who made you?” With the majority of families no longer regularly attending church, we cannot be assured that children are growing up with even the most basic knowledge of their responsibility to their Creator. The children’s catechism can help us teach our children the most important truths they will ever need to know.
Third, parents and children can together use the catechism to increase their fundamental understanding of key doctrines such as justification, sanctification, and even to define sin. The children’s catechism can be a useful tool in family worship and can help adults and children increase their knowledge of Scripture. Additionally, the catechism can help people of all ages be more responsive in their evangelism efforts, as they will be better equipped to answer questions such as “Who wrote the Bible?” and “Can anyone go to heaven with this sinful nature?” The catechism is not the Bible, but it is a very effective memory aid to help us better recall to mind what the Scripture reveals to us about God and man.
Finally, the phrase “Baptist catechism” is not an oxymoron. Several people throughout the years have expressed to me that they associate catechism with Roman Catholicism. However, Baptists and particularly Reformed Baptists have a rich history of catechizing both adults and children. For example, Benjamin Keach published a highly influential Baptist catechism in the seventeenth-century known as The Baptist Catechism. This catechism served as the basis for Charles Spurgeon’s popular nineteenth-century catechism. As part of our intentional focus on the sound doctrine of Scripture, Salem Baptist Church is committed to recovering this proven method of Bible instruction by introducing the children’s version of The Baptist Catechism on Sunday mornings at the “Catechism Corner.”