D.A. Carson, the author of the devotion “For the Love of God” we are using as we Walk in the Word, explains how he learned wonderful songs growing up that taught him facts about his faith. He writes,
I am grateful that I was brought up at a time when many of the songs we learned gave us some facts, some data, some reasons for things. Many Christians today could not name either the twelve patriarchs or the twelve apostles, and are dismally ignorant of a lot of other elementary data that the least informed Sunday school student a generation ago mastered by the age of six or ten. Of course, the acquisition of mere data does not necessarily make a Christian. On the other hand, ignorance of Scripture almost always ensures a painful immaturity.[1]
I envy the foundation this man received by his upbringing. I was not in church as a child. I received Christ at the age of 15 and began my journey limping from the lack of a Biblical background and worldview. I have since learned a great deal of theology, language, and history, but there are simple things that I have not memorized that I could now know had I received a good church upbringing.
I could have learned songs about God instead of songs that begin “Beans Beans good for the heart, the more you eat them...”
I grieve over the foundation I did not receive. My grief is greater now as I see most of the children in my city and corner of the country called the “Bible Belt” missing out on the same foundation.
Mom and dad, you can give your child a solid foundation in the faith of Jesus Christ. The church can help. Together you and the local church can provide your child stories, songs, relationships, and habits that will serve them through eternity. It is your duty according to Deuteronomy 6 and it is the church’s joy to help you.
Email your comments or questions to me at jpettus@lhbg.org.
[1]D. A. Carson, For the Love of God : A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God's Word. Volume 2 (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1998), 25.
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