There are debates in Christian circles regarding styles, philosophies, and methods of education.  Some are advocating that past methods, be they classical, behaviorist, or otherwise, have not worked and that we need a new method.  It is hard to doubt that somewhere something has gone wrong.  Consequently, we are raising young people who have not been trained to think from a solid foundation that will not dissolve into air under pressure.  That has never been more obvious in the church and the home. Recently, those two basic units, which have been the main arena of learning for children throughout history, have not played a significant enough role in children’s learning processes.

A young person who knows the Christian faith and has some basic understanding of its doctrinal underpinnings is rare.  The late Francis Schaeffer said we may be sending our children into the world naked, that is, ill prepared to face the challenges.  He said we are not answering their questions but rather teaching them our answers to questions they may or may not be asking.  That is the challenge! Part of our privilege and responsibility in our churches, homes, and schools is to teach our children the truth.  They must not be dumbed down.  We must not only teach them “line upon line and precept upon precept” so that they can answer all the questions in Bible trivia, we must also teach them (and from an earlier stage) how to think, how to process ideas, and how to analyze and evaluate new ideas to which they are exposed.

Starr Meade has developed a unique approach to help us do our part to prepare our children and youth, as well as ourselves, to stand on solid footing in our quicksand world.  His tool is the Shorter Catechism.  There are other more definitive and in-depth studies on the catechism (such as the two volumes by G. I. Williamson). However, Meade’s method combines reading, memorization, explanation, and discussion in a daily devotional format using one question and answer per week. His aim is for readers to memorize, learn, understand, and apply the truth of each catechism to their lives. 

I was struck by Meade’s reference to the Puritan pastor Richard Baxter who, as a vital part of his pastoral responsibility, visited all eight hundred families in his church during the year and centered his visits on instructing each family in the Westminster Shorter Catechism.  Not only did he teach them the content, but he also made certain that they understood the answers. Baxter, great preacher though he was, actually claimed to have more impact and effectiveness in “demolishing the kingdom of darkness among his church members through this practice than through all his public preaching to them.”

Meade correctly observes that among many evangelicals, even of the more “reformed persuasion,” doctrinal instruction has fallen out of favor.  Because of the assumption that we either do not really need to know biblical doctrine or that doctrine divides and we should not encourage that, doctrinal preaching and teaching is put on the shelf or done in such a scholastic style that it is not relevant to daily life.  What has happened in our circles, because we are so committed to the Bible, is that we have fallen into the trap of teaching our children moralism, which really runs counter to Christianity.  “If we do this God loves us; if we do not do this God does not love us.”  The heart and soul of the Gospel is totally missed in this approach.

In our postmodern world where God is whatever we want him to be and Christianity is deconstructed and reconstructed to fit our desires, we need to focus on biblical doctrine. However, we cannot stop with simply teaching the content of that doctrine. We must show our children, youth, and adults the difference that doctrine makes in our lives, including our relationships and work.  We cannot make God’s Word mean anything less than He intended it to mean, but we must also realize that if we cannot apply His Word to our circumstance, it is not profitable to us either.

Training Hearts, Teaching Minds is a tool to help us apply God’s Word to our circumstances. When I read the manuscript before it was published I realized that such a book could be a valuable resource for individual or family study.  I know realistically, that because of the influence of modernity, families do not have much time together.  Hence, the book’s design (with six days’ worth of devotional readings) is not realistic for every family, but it could be modified for fewer than six days. With my travel schedule while our children were growing up, we aimed at four family devotions per week, which was more realistic for us.  This book would fit easily into that scheme.

I would definitely encourage churches and families to use Training Hearts, Teaching Minds. It could also be used in some classroom settings.  Pastors could heartily recommend it to their members.  I would even challenge churches to provide a copy of this book to each family in the church and from time to time have some accountability and evaluation of how it is being used—perhaps with personal testimonies.  I would also encourage the users to read the Scriptures related to each passage because, though we are deeply grateful for our doctrinal standards, their base is the Bible and families need to carefully make that connection.  God used the Shorter Catechism to bring me into the Presbyterian church years ago and I still believe that, properly used and taught, it can be the best way to teach the basics of the Christian religion.

One example from the first question and answer will illustrate some of my comments. (By the way, Meade uses the Westminster Shorter Catechism in Modern English but the original wording can be easily substituted.) Q. “What is man’s primary purpose?” A. “Man’s primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”  The thought for day one centers on using things for their intended purpose.  Meade concludes, “Things work best when we use them for the purpose they were intended.  God had a purpose in mind for human beings when He created them.”  How important it is for us to know, understand, and apply that truth to our lives.

Clearly this is not a formula that is guaranteed to make a difference, but I would challenge you to give it a try.  You and your family will be the winner and God will be glorified as we live out our faith daily.

- Charles Dunahoo, CEP Coordinator