Accounting for Accountability
The Baptist church has quite a problem: We are losing churched young adults at an alarming rate to the growing ranks of the un-churched.
[In comparison] to older adults, twentysomethings have significantly lower levels of church attendance, time spent alone studying and reading the Bible, volunteering to help churches, donations to churches, Sunday school and small group involvement, and use of Christian media (including television, radio and magazines). In fact, the most potent data regarding disengagement is that a majority of twentysomethings – 61% of today’s young adults – had been churched at one point during their teen years but they are now spiritually disengaged (i.e., not actively attending church, reading the Bible, or praying) [1].
Pastors and sociologists have been searching to find the root of this exodus. While theories abound concerning this “departing youth” dilemma, I propose that the key lies in child evangelism. An improper conception of child evangelism combined with a lackadaisical discipleship process produces weak compromising Christians, who are unprepared for the realities of the Christian life.
Consider the paradox we are facing: Within our congregations, we consistently find people who claim to be regenerate, yet they lack a basic understanding of regeneration or the ensuing sanctification [2]. This result requires us as Baptists to reconsider our methods of child evangelism, especially within a paradigm of believer’s baptism.
Child Evangelism
So what is a proper theology of child evangelism? This is especially difficult due to the juxtaposition between (a) the desire to see children raised in church come to a saving faith and (b) an imprecise date for the age of accountability. The desire to see our little ones follow Jesus is appropriate and should be exhorted. However, in our eagerness to see children saved, we occasionally forget to ensure their comprehension of salvation and its implications (this can apply to adult converts as well).
Thus the topic of child evangelism is vastly important for us. It is one of the most important ministries of the church, yet it is also one of the most disregarded theologies. Its importance lies particularly in the fact that the large majority of converts to Christianity are children. This discussion therefore concerns us greatly. One’s theology of child evangelism will begin inevitably with one’s view of original sin.
Original Sin: Damnable or Pardonable?
What is original sin, and why is it so important? Original sin is the sin nature that has been handed down to the human race from Adam. And while most orthodox Christians hold to the doctrine of original sin, they do not agree on the ramifications for our little ones. One group contends that original sin is damnable at the moment of birth and must be forgiven by regeneration; while the other holds that original sin was paid for at Calvary, leaving only personal sin as damnable. Furthermore, a discussion of original sin correlates with our views on baptism, which in turn has great ramifications on the way in which we frame our theology of child evangelism.
(a) Damnable Original Sin
Those who hold that original sin is damnable believe that a child who is still in the womb is culpable for his hereditary sin handed down from Adam (Rom. 5:12-21). This view was first proposed by Augustine of Hippo, but has lost proponents through the centuries. Thus few now hold to this view of original sin. Even so, those denominations that once followed this theology still practice infant baptism in a memorial capacity if not regenerative.
Those who practice infant baptism for regenerative purposes traditionally have a very strong doctrine of original sin. Under their paradigm little ones would be lost for all eternity if death were not preceded by baptism [3]. Accordingly it is logical to baptize infants as soon as possible. However, note that those who hold this position also expect these children to be confirmed. Simply put, confirmation is the processes of strengthening the child spiritually through instruction, culminating in a ceremony in which “the bishop anoints the forehead with the holy chrism in the form of a cross” [4]. The confirmation is reserved for youths who, having become aware of the profundity of sin and their need for a redeemer, make a personal commitment to God and the church. This is an important aspect of their theology from which we could learn.
While it is still considered a sacrament, other churches practice infant baptism for memorial reasons. These claim baptism is a covenant that children and parents have with God. Viewed as a continuation of the Abrahamic covenant of circumcision, this arises from a social conception of Christianity with a heavy emphasis on home edification [5]. The parents and church are charged with the spiritual education of the child; however, regeneration does not occur until the child reaches the age of discretion.
(b) Pardoned Original Sin
The opposing view of original sin believes it to be pardoned rather than damnable. Under this paradigm, Christ identified Himself with the human race in His incarnation. Then by His death on the cross, He paid for our original and individual sins. While He paid for our original sin unconditionally, He paid for personal sins conditionally—the condition being faith. Therefore, when infants are born, though they have original sin, the blood of Christ has covered it.
Under this paradigm, children are not culpable until the age of accountability, which is variable [6]. And this is the rub. In our eagerness to protect our children from eternal damnation, at times we rush the work of salvation. The age of discretion, or accountability, should require the ability to reason, not only our guilt before parental figures, but also before a holy God. In our proper eagerness to usher our children into the Kingdom, we can push them prematurely toward the age of accountability.
This is dangerous. For one, concepts such as holiness and sin require abstract thinking. Thus we must be careful not to push our little ones into a premature age of accountability before they have developed the ability to think abstractly or have a grasp of the gospel. Second, we are not demanding enough of their grasp on salvation, resulting in an uncomprehending conversion. A child raised in a home flush with Scripture may reach the age of accountability sooner than a child bereft of biblical influence, but the basic grasp of sin, guilt, a holy God, the wrath of God, redemption, and a personal relationship with God must be in place before true conversion can take place [7]. If there is no grasp of the gravity of “taking up your cross and following [Him],” how can there be true conversion?
Results of the Two Views of Original Sin on Our Theology of Child Evangelism
When children reach the age of accountability, they begin to understand what the plight of the human race truly is. They begin to see man’s nobility, man’s depravity, and the resulting discord of their interaction. It is then that they must grapple with the true nature of salvation and redemption, not before.
A conversion without an understanding of the basic principles involved, either due to youth or ignorance, results in one of three conclusions after comprehension of the true human plight:
1. They are Christians because of their prior conversion, but now they must begin a personal relationship with Christ [8].
2. They had a conversion experience when they were young, but now they need assurance of their salvation by rededicating themselves to Christ (this often involves a quasi-conversion experience).
3. They had a conversion experience when they were young, but since it does not seem efficacious, Christianity must be false.
Under the infant baptism paradigm there is preparation for this day. Children are expected to reach a day when they must “confirm” their beliefs in the efficacious work of Christ. While I do not believe this is a biblical form of soteriology, at least it takes into account the need for comprehension of salvation principles.
However, under the believer’s baptism paradigm free churches, including Free Will Baptist, hold that conversion rather than baptism is regenerative. And as a result, we should make sure converts understand the principles of this conversion before “confirming” their regeneration with baptism. Because we consider baptism as a conformational sign of regeneration through faith, we must become more discerning in our confirmation practices. If we continue baptizing converts who do not have a basic grasp of the pertinent details, we (and they) might be better served to baptize them at birth and confirm them over a long period of intense edification. I do not believe that is the correct course, but if we insist on “getting people saved” no matter their level of comprehension, we should be prepared for the consequences.
Response
Because some of our departing youth, sadly, may be making shipwreck of their faith rather than merely drawing incorrect conclusions from their uncomprehending conversion, there is a very real need for a more conscientious confirmation process. The requirements for a Free Will Baptist confirmation might run along these lines:
1. A basic grasp of creation.
2. A basic grasp of the Fall.
3. A basic grasp of guilt before a holy God.
4. A basic grasp of the redemption process (i.e. the perfect life of the incarnate Christ, His payment for our sins through His death on the cross, and His resurrection unto life through which we have the hope of resurrection).
5. A basic grasp of the goal of sanctification.
These five concepts are essential in gaining a proper understanding of salvation. We must stop confirming through baptism for those whom do not understand these truths, or we will find that we are losing many, and retaining the weak.
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[1] The George Barna Group, “Most Twentysomthings Put Christianity on the Shelf Following Spiritually Active Teen Years,” http://www.barna.org/teens-next-gen-articles/147-most-twentysomethings-put-christianity-on-the-shelf-following-spiritually-active-teen-years; accessed July 31, 2011; Internet.
[2] The best explanation of this situation can be found in the Introduction to Gideon Yoder’s book:
During the past decade a lively discussion has been carried on within the Mennonite brotherhood as to the place of children in the church and the appropriate methods of leading children to faith in Christ and to full membership in the church. Four major developments in the brotherhood precipitated the discussion at this time. The recent intensive study by Mennonite scholars of our heritage of faith and life has resulted in the rediscovery of what Harold S, Bender has called ‘The Anabaptist Vision.’ This vision of our forefathers centered primarily around two foci: the Christian life as a personal relationship to the living Christ which can best be described as discipleship and the church as the community of voluntarily committed disciples in whom Christ dwells and through whom He is carrying forward His purposes in history.
A second development has been the growing conviction that the baptism of small children is incompatible with this high view of the Christian life and the church. Great concern has been expressed about the fact that through annual revival meetings many children have been led to make decisions as early as nine and ten years of age.
A third development has been the gradual realization by church leaders that many of our congregations have become, in reality, ethnic and cultural groups, rather than living churches bound together by their common commitment to Christ. This is the result of losing ‘The Anabaptist Vision,’ the admittance into the church of those who were not fully committed disciples and the breakdown of discipline within the brotherhood.
The Nature and Evangelism of Children (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1959), ix-x.
[3] R. W. Weaver, The Religious Development of the Child (Chicago: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1913), 71, as quoted in Yoder, 12.
[4] Yoder, 39.
[5] Ibid, 46-47.
[6] F. Leroy Forlines, The Quest for Truth: Theology for a Postmodern World (Nashville, TN: Randall House Publishers, 2001), 210.
[7] I would like to make clear that I do not believe a person must have an exhaustive understanding of these principles, though they should have a basic understanding of the principles in play.
[8] In the Roman Catholic Church, this would occur at confirmation.
Further Reading
Gideon Yoder, The Nature and Evangelism of Children (Scottdale, PA: Herald Press, 1959).
O. M. Bakke translated from the Norwegian by Brian McNeil, When Children Became People: The Birth of Childhood in Early Christianity (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005).
Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (New York, Oxford University Press: 2005).
Christian Smith and Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults (New York, Oxford University Press: 2009).
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