Is It Right To Raise A Child Up In The Faith?

A Challenge Is Given

I have heard it said often that it is wrong to “indoctrinate your children.” You should let your children decide for themselves what they want to believe. And they should not be exposed to issues of Faith until later in life. New Atheists have even called it “child abuse” to raise up a child in a faith tradition.

For the Christian, this would mean that Noah’s Ark, Creation, the Crossing of the Jordan River, the Crucifixion of Jesus, the persecution of the Church, and other topics are all taboo. It’s innapropriate.

For those that have this view, a couple of questions are in order:

Is it equally innapropriate to teach your kids from a materialistic framework?
Is non-theism equally off the table when indocrtinating your kids?
What about gender fluidity? Or rights to abortion? Or other Cultural issues? Are those off the teaching market?
Is non-theism or religious pluralism off the table?

Perhaps you may not have noticed, but if we are going to be consistent in our thoughts on parenting, then we need to be consistent across the categories. If one Faith system is taboo to teach children, then all of them are.

The Normalcy of Christian Parenting

For the Christian household, it is perfectly normal, expected, and necessary to teach our children about the Lord, who He is, and how He acts. For instance, Christian parents should, of course, teach about the Gospel, that we are saved by grace and not by works. Also, we should not be afraid to teach our kids about the reality of Hell.

However, this should not be a method used to “scare them into faith” as some progressives suppose, but to communicate the reality that Jesus teaches about those who do not accept Him. As you may be aware, there are great resources for Christian parents to do so in an age appropriate way. If you are unaware of some of these resources, let me know, and I’d love to help you find them!

Let’s take a look at a call for parents to raise their kids in the way of the Lord:

A Call by God

“Listen O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heat, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, and when you are going to bed, and when you are getting up.” – Deuteronomy 6: 4-7

The Shema was the heartbeat of Ancient Israel. It was the heart of their calling as a nation, and as a people in covenant with Yahweh, the Lord.

This call would guide the people to follow the law, and to care for their God above all others. And they were called to teach their children and raise them in the ways of the Lord.

As you probably noticed, Jesus repeats this in the New Testament when He was asked what the greatest commandment is. It’s binding for God’s people. In other words, Christians are bound to the Shema.

What Do We Teach

As Parents, we are charged to teach these things:

The Laws and Decrees of the Lord.

We are called to teach them how to live for the Lord. For ancient Isreal, this was the Law Code. For Christians this is the Moral Law that is repeated by Jesus and the apostles. We are teach how to properly love our neighbors as ourselves. We should wrestle with issues that our culture would say are ambiguous, such as marriage and gender. For the Christian, we are to teach our kids to obey the teachings of the Lord over the decrees of government, teachers, and preachers.

The Exclusivity of the Lord.

We are to teach that there is only one way to know the Lord, and that is by knowing Jesus, His Son, as savior. We must teach our children the reality of sin/evil, the necessity of a savior, and about the person of Jesus. God is the only one who is worthy of worship and is the only one who deserves praise. Allah, Krishna, Bhudda, Mary and Canonized Saints, and all other deities or deified beings, are not worthy of our worship and praise. Only God is worthy of our worship, praise, and devotion.

The Why of Our Faith.

If you have worked with kids of any age, you know the favorite question that crosses their mind.

Say it with me: “But Whyyyyy?”

As goofy as this question may come across, sometimes it points to an important truth that is sometimes overlooked. Kids need a why. May I tend that this is especially important when explaining our faith?

For Ancient Isreal, the why was arguably the most important part. When their children asked them about why they were following the laws and decrees, they were to tell them: The Lord did signs and wonders. And the Lord saved us from Egypt. Also, the Lord brought us to this land that he promised us. And the Lord promised to bless us if we keep these decrees. – Deut. 6:21-25

I can picture Ancient Israelite parents answering questions like:

“Dad, why do we not wear mixed fabrics?
“Mom, why do we do celebrate Passover every year?”
“Dad, why do we need to present this dove as an offering?”
“Mom, why aren’t we able to go into the Temple this time around?”

Can you imagine answering these questions? Each of them probably had their needed response.

Parents Today

“Dad, why do we attend Church Every Sunday?”

“Mom, why do we think that marriage is only for a man and a woman?”

“Dad, why do we worship a God we can’t see? That seems weird.”

“Mom, I saw something on tv the other day, why do we think differently?”

“Dad, why do we think that Jesus is the only way? That seems pretty exclusive.”

Of course all of these questions may come and will require their own answer, as I’m sure ancient Israelite parents needed to answer similar things… Well, maybe not about the tv, but you get the point.

If you are asked the big question. The big “Whyyyy?” that Isreal needed to answer.

The answer to thebig question is this: That we were dead in our trespasses and sins, and we were saved by grace through Faith. For we were not saved by our deeds or our works. While we were dead in our sins, God sent His Son, Jesus, to live a perfect life and die on a cross for us. It is by His sacrifice that death and sin were defeated and by putting our faith in Christ, we are saved. And once we are saved we are being transformed by the Holy Spirit into a new creation.

So, is it right to raise up a child in the Faith?

I would say that it is not only right, but necessary. And I pray that we do it well.