Calling out the "Apostates"

After reading the first chapter of our new book for adult Sunday school, I'm really impressed. It unashamedly presents a strong case for the centrality of the local church in God's plan and a believer's life.

The authors square off against the idea that Christians don't need the local church, facing the church's detractors, such as popular Christian pollster George Barna, head-on. Referring to 1 John 2:19 they spell out the principle that those who claim to be a Christian but separate themselves from the church may possibly be just disobedient, but "it is more likely that they are not really believers". Subltly, they mention that in past centuries those that left the church were called "apostates" not revolutionaries.

In another bold statement, the authors call Christians away from fighting for a "Christian America" through para-church organizations and urge us to expend our energies towards the edification and growth of the local church. For God has promised that His church will endure; religious liberty in America has no divine guarantee.

This book is off to a great start!

Sheep & greener grass

In this sermon Pastor Joel Beeke shares a good anecdote about changing churches.

After a sermon he gave at a conference a woman approached him and fawned over the message saying that she wishes she could hear preaching like that at her church. Dr Beeke cautioned her that if she were to switch to his church, within a few months she would probably be tired of his preaching, too. He went on to explain that as sheep we are prone to think the grass is greener elsewhere and often it can seem that way at first. But soon the newness wears off, other grass looks greener and the cycle perpetuates.

I've experienced this first hand and have come to regret it later. Commitment in all areas of life (which should include membership in a local church) is the better approach.

No church, no problem?

The latest podcast of White Horse Inn is really good, especially if you're not sure why it's important to be part of a local church. The corresponding magazine articles in the current issue of Modern Reformation is also well done.

Presumption -- children and church membership

"Presumption is as iniquity and idolatry" 1 Samuel 15:23

Many adult Christians have never known a time when they didn't believe; they have grown up in the church from their earliest years. My wife is one of those; however, what she said recently serves as a warning to Christian parents against presuming the spiritual state of their young children.

She cannot identify a time when she didn't believe, yet she speaks of being converted as a teenager. Is this doublespeak? I don't think so. She grew up in a Christian family and learned all about the fundamentals of the Christian faith (think Apostles' Creed) and rejected none of it; she believed this was true. However, there came a time years later when she embraced Jesus Christ as crucified for her sins, as taking her penalty upon himself and freely offering his righteousness to her. She points to this as her moment of conversion.

I write about this tonight for two reasons. First, my two older children have begun church membership class at the tender ages of 10 and 8. They have a fairly good intellectual understanding of the Christian faith (thanks to diligence in memorizing much of theWSC), and they believe it to be true. But as a parent great discernment is now asked of me. If they complete the class do I allow them to go forward in joining the church? This would imply that I consider them to be regenerated. The seriousness of this decision causes many Christian parents to postpone their children's membership until the end of high school. This makes sense to me, but how should I respond to my children's wonderful desire to join the church now?

A second cause for this post is that there are many today that were raised in the church, like my wife, that continue in it into adulthood, yet cannot recall what I described above as a conversion. This is foreign to me and I am puzzled by it. I don't doubt that many of these people are Christians--that somehow God converted them very early, even before their earliest memories. But I am curious to know whether they would say that they have always had more than an intellectual belief in the Christian faith, that they have always had the marks of saving faith in their life (a hatred of their own sin, a dependence upon Christ to save them).

This issue is wrapped up in a person's view of covenant theology, but even as an advocate of that, I see reason to be on guard against presumption. Because the stakes are so high (we're talking about your children's eternity afterall), it seems to me that Christian parents should view their children as "children of promise" without going so far as to consider them saved and ready to become full members of the church. Membership may best be saved until they reach a point in their maturity when their profession of faith reveals more than an intellectual belief.