Brackenhurst Baptist Church, by God’s kind providence, is a multigenerational congregation, as evidenced by a diversity of ages. Many members are 60 and older; a large number of members are between 30 and 60; and there are a lot of young adults, young people, and a ton of children! One of my joys on Sunday is watching mothers care for their infants and seeing young children playing with each other. I love meeting with many of our children for “Reading with Uncle Doug.” I love our kids and pray regularly for their salvation. I am believing God for the salvation of our children, seeing them discipled and becoming faithful members and leaders of BBC. We have good reason to anticipate a gospel faithful multigenerational congregation for many years to come. And, of course, the seeds of that future are being sown today. With this in mind I want to briefly address a matter that I believe will be helpful for our church: namely, teaching our children reverence for the Lord, a mandate revealed in Scripture. Hear O BBC:
The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Among other lessons, it is clear that the Lord expects parents (with fathers leading the way) to teach their children who God is and what he expects of his people. This is to be a 24/7 priority. Certainly, this non-negotiable mandate (reinforced in the new covenant in Ephesians 6:1–4) applies to what our children are taught in school, their exposure to the Internet with both its “sense and nonsense,” as well as life in the home. But it also applies to life in the church, particularly as we gather on the Lord’s Day. On Sunday we have the opportunity and responsibility to teach our children to revere the Lord.
The word “revere” or “reverence” is akin to the biblical concept of the fear of the Lord. Though it can be argued that the idea of being afraid of God (“holy dread”) is included (for example, Isaiah was terrified to be in the presence of Holy God [Isaiah 6:1–5] and Peter was terrified upon realising he was in the presence of God—in Christ [Luke 5:8]), yet usually the idea of the fear of the Lord relates to having deep respect for God’s majesty. He is truly awe-some. And our children need to learn this. But how? How can we help them to take the Lord seriously? Let me suggest a couple of ways.
First, teach them that the Lord’s Day is exactly that. It is his day. Specifically, it is the day Jesus claims as the beginning of his work of new creation (Revelation 1:10). Like the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), the Lord’s Day is set apart for him in a unique way. And our children need to know this. They need to know that their lives will be scheduled around this day, not the other way around. From the cot, their psyche should be so influenced by mom and dad’s habitual commitment to corporate worship on the Lord’s Day that any other way to spend Sunday will be a major aberration. Included in this should be the practice of participation in Sunday School (our all-aged Family Bible Hour). We have some of the finest Sunday School teachers on the planet. What a privilege for your children to be under their influence.
Second, train your children to be reverent before the Lord as the church gathers for corporate worship each Lord’s Day. Teach them, at an appropriate age, to bring their Bible. And as an old Fogey, I don’t mean a Bible app but an actual Bible. Teach them that God’s word is the most precious book in the world and that they are blessed to have a copy and should steward this blessing well by learning it. And a great way to learn the Bible is to pay attention as it is being preached. For this reason, teach your children to stay in their seat and to stay tuned to what is being said.
Because of my vocation, I rarely sat with my family for an entire church service when we were raising our family. But my wife most competently had things under control. She expected our kids to get a drink of water or to use the bathroom before the service. If they left during the service to “do thusly,” they would not get dessert at lunch. “How cruel!” you might say. Not so. Jill is wise and she knew that training the children to take corporate worship seriously could, in fact, be a matter of spiritual life and death. And by the way, none of our kids needed therapy because of this rule, and, as far as I am aware, they continue to “stay put” during worship! This should apply as well during corporate singing as we sing truth together, instructing one another as we vocalise praise to God.
A helpful concept to remember is that, when we gather for corporate worship, we are not the audience, but rather God is. We do not gather to be mere spectators; rather, we are participates aiming to please and bring honour to our triune God. At the risk of sounding cranky, I wonder about the prudence of bringing our coffees and water bottles to corporate worship. I am concerned that these can distract us (and perhaps others). Further, this might play into the mindset of being a spectator. And that is not helpful. After the service may be a better time to caffeinate and rehydrate. I raise this to highlight that we should take full advantage of the worship experience. As we hear God’s word read and proclaimed, as we pray God’s word, as we sing God’s word, as we witness God’s word in the visible ordinances, remember that God’s design is that we—including our children—will experience something of the glory of his person and the power of his gospel.
Reverence is the posture our hearts need. Reverence is the posture our children’s hearts need. If we fail to train them in reverence, then irreverence and irrelevance may be the unintended training we actually provide. May God help us to raise a believing and reverent generation (Psalm 78:1–7).
Doug