For the sake of this essay, two main types of young Christians can be identified. The first type of young Christian is one who is young in age and faith. He was been born into a covenant home, raised in the bosom of the church, and educated in Christian schools. He has been gathered into God’s covenant from the line of continued generations. The second type of young Christian is young in the faith, but not necessarily age. He has recently been called by the preaching of the gospel out of the darkness of either heathendom or apostate Christianity. The Spirit-driven preaching of the gospel that irresistibly called him to faith in Jesus Christ and gathered him into the fellowship of the covenant happened primarily through the work of a mission field or the evangelistic efforts of a local church. Both of these young Christians—from very different walks of life—have been adopted by God into the same covenant of grace. Not only are these two Christians related through their adoption into the covenant, they are also related through various practical out-workings of life within the covenant. With this in mind, two of the means God uses to guide these young Christians in covenantal life—Christian education and mission work—are of especially great importance and require our attention and support.
Before exploring the means by which these two Christians are guided in covenantal life, we need to examine briefly what the covenant is and what life within the covenant looks like. The covenant can be defined as the relationship of friendship of God with his chosen people in Jesus Christ.[1] The covenant is established by God. The covenant is not a covenant of works whereby man merits salvation and friendship with God, it is merely of God’s grace that man is included in the covenant. What then is covenantal life? In short, covenantal life is the walk of the elect with God through the outworking of his Holy Spirit dwelling in their hearts. With the Holy Spirit in their hearts (John 14:17), God’s people are enabled to live a life of sanctification in blessed, covenantal fellowship with God, seeking “the things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, and not things on earth.”[2] The Holy Spirit, promised by Christ in John 14:16–17, was poured out on the New Testament church on Pentecost, given with the covenant promise recorded in Acts 2:39: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” Here we see the two young Christians described above. In “you and your children” we see the first young Christian, gathered into the covenant in the line of continued generations with the help of Christian education. In “all that are afar off” we see the second young Christian, gathered by God into the covenant through the preaching of the gospel on the mission field or local church evangelism.
God’s means of gathering the “you and your children” Christian
The first Christian we described, gathered from the line of continued generations, is led in the life of the covenant through several means: the preaching of the gospel in the church where he has been baptized, education and discipline within the Christian home, and education in the Christian school. For the purpose of this essay, we focus on one of the means that God uses to guide this young Christian in covenantal life, namely, Christian education.
What important purpose does Christian education serve in the covenantal life of the young Christian? Christian schools, like public schools, teach skills like reading, writing, critical thinking, discipline, communication, and stewardship, but they do so from a godly and covenantal perspective. The skills he learns from this perspective are reflected in the way he conducts himself toward God and his neighbor. Prof. David Engelsma describes this type of education:
The very instruction itself must tend towards influencing the children’s ethical attitudes and behavior. When all of the instruction is God-centered, the love and fear of God are stirred up in the children’s hearts. In addition, the Christian school points out to the child that in all the relationships of life he is called to love and fear and, therefore, obey God. This is the very foundation of morality. Out of thankful love to God and His Christ, he is to honor his parents, submit to his teachers, subject himself to the State, live purely, love his neighbors on the playground, and work at his studies to the best of his ability.[3]
The skills he learns from the godly, covenantal perspective are critical not just for life in general, but specifically for life within the church. The many skills the young Christian learns in the Christian school are important for the future of the church, not only for its governance, but also for evangelism and mission work. When witnessing to the ungodly or to the apostate Christian, the child of God must not only know and love scripture, but he must also know how to communicate it effectively.
God’s means of gathering the “all that are afar off” Christian
The second young Christian introduced above is gathered by God into his covenant of grace by means of the preaching of the gospel. This happens primarily on the mission field or through local church evangelism efforts. The personal evangelism of believers also contributes to the gathering of new converts into the sphere of God’s covenant by bringing them into contact with the preaching of the gospel. Rev. J. Kortering emphasizes the covenantal goal of personal evangelism, which we can extend to mission work as well: “As Reformed believers, our goal is not simply to ‘save souls’ but to bring souls into God’s covenant, including the church, home, and school.”[4]
What purpose, aside from calling out of darkness and into the sphere of the covenant, does the preaching of the gospel serve in the life of the young Christian? Has the preaching of the gospel accomplished its only task upon the conversion of the young Christian? By no means. As a part of their covenantal life, having been converted, they must be converted daily, nourished, preserved in the faith, and edified by the preaching of the gospel.[5] The church fathers of Dordrecht were convicted of the importance of this aspect of the preaching of the gospel as well—the preservation of the believer—when they wrote: “And as it hath pleased God, by the preaching of the gospel, to begin this work of grace in us, so He preserves, continues, and perfects it by the hearing and reading of His Word, by meditation thereon, and by the exhortations, threatenings, and promises thereof, as well as by the use of the sacraments.”[6] Not only does the preaching of the gospel gather God’s elect from darkness and into covenantal life, but also it preserves them in that covenantal life of fellowship with God and their fellow believers.
Two means of gathering into the same covenant: similar importance
Christ’s last words to his disciples before he ascended into heaven can give us some insight into how Christian education and missions are of similar importance. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19–20, emphasis is mine). One among many of the things that Jesus commanded his disciples was to “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 19:14). Jesus commanded his disciples and us to gather his people from the four corners of the earth through the means of the preaching of the gospel. But he did not leave it at that. We are to bring our children to Christ, educating them in the Christian school as well as the Christian home, because these young Christians are as much a part of the kingdom of heaven as the young Christians gathered through mission work.
A second way we can see the similar importance of Christian education and mission work is through the communion of saints. The Heidelberg Catechism describes the communion of the saints as follows: “that all and everyone who believes [gathered from the line of continued generations by Christian education or from heathendom by the preaching of the gospel], being members of Christ, are, in common, partakers of Him and of all His riches and gifts.”[7] The two Christians we described, whether gathered from the line of the covenant or from heathendom, are gathered into the same covenant fellowship with God. How then are we to judge which means is of greater importance in the plan of God to save his elect?
A third way that Christian education and the spread of the gospel through mission work have similar importance can be seen in the wisdom of the authors of the Heidelberg Catechism treating them in the same sentence in the explanation of the fourth commandment. “What doth God require in the fourth commandment? …that the ministry of the gospel and the schools be maintained.”[8] Christian education and the spread of the gospel go hand in hand, therefore both must be viewed by us as important means God uses to bring his people into covenant fellowship with himself.
A fourth way that suggests that Christian education and the preaching of the gospel are of similar importance can be seen in the way that the two means complement each other. The preaching of the gospel complements Christian schools by instilling in new believers the calling to educate their children in the fear of the Lord as a demand of the covenant they have been gathered into. The demand of the covenant upon the new believer is brought home through the preaching of passages such as Deuteronomy 6:7: “thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children;” Psalm 78:5–6: “For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded to our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them;” and Ephesians 6:4: “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This demand of the covenant is also placed on faithful parents when they take upon themselves the baptismal vow to “see these children…instructed and brought up in the aforesaid doctrine, or help or cause them to be instructed therein.”[9] In addition, Christian schools complement missions by instilling in covenant children a burden for their lost brothers and sisters who have not yet been brought into the sphere of the covenant. The Christian schools can also encourage young Christians to partake of the communion of the saints with those who have been recently gathered into the fellowship of the covenant. The schools can do this through various mission awareness and pen pal programs. The schools also teach children to communicate effectively, preparing them for future evangelism opportunities and also for communion with new converts from different walks of life.
A fifth way in which these two means God uses to gather into the covenant are of similar importance is the reality that both of the young Christians described above are at a most delicate stage in their godly lives. Extending the picture Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 3:6, the planting has occurred, but the watering has only just begun. Christians learn throughout their whole lives, but the beginning stages are especially important since they are foundational. Both are beginning their lifelong journey into the word of God. Both of these young Christians are in the earliest stages of their walk of sanctification. How and what they learn at this point in their walk has a great influence on their future development and walk as a child of God. In this regard Christian schools and missions each have their own important aspects, but they each share the common goal of leading young Christians in the way of truth; therefore they both deserve our enthusiasm and support.
Finally, both the preaching of the gospel through mission work and Christian education are important means God uses to teach antithetical living as an outworking of covenantal life. Antithetical living implies not only living holy lives separate from sin in this world, but also implies seeking the kingdom of heaven while in this world. Prof. Herman Hanko explains seeking the kingdom, making the connection to mission work and Christian education:
To seek the kingdom of heaven means…to seek the cause of God in the world, and that in distinction from the cause of the kingdoms of the world. The cause of God is represented by God’s church where the gospel is preached. All that belongs to that cause of the church and ministry of the gospel is part of that kingdom. And all that stands related to it belongs also to the manifestation of that kingdom here below. To this belongs the work of missions, the work of Christian education, the work of the home in the establishment of the covenant home, the work of every saint in his station and calling in life as he labors for the coming of the kingdom of Christ.[10]
From this we see the importance of mission work as well as Christian education as means God uses to teach antithetical living. As Reformed Christians living in a fallen, sinful world, our high regard for the antithesis, while necessary and good, may cause us to focus heavily within our circles (especially Christian education) at the expense of our focus on our witness to the world (especially mission work). We must not forget our calling to help the cause of the spread of the gospel in whatever way we can.
Connected with this, our tendency may also be to have more enthusiasm for our Christian schools and less enthusiasm for missions simply because of the fact that for the most part we don’t live near mission fields. We do live near Christian schools. We send our children to Christian schools and we participate in Christian school functions. In this regard we are very aware of our place within the sphere of the covenant. The danger is that we become so aware and focused on our place that we become less aware of the place of God’s elect that have not yet been gathered into the sphere of the covenant. Rev. J. Kortering pleads the cause of greater mission awareness:
We can work harder in our churches, homes, and schools to stimulate mission work. Parents, teachers, as well as preachers, have a wonderful opportunity to encourage our children and youth to consider the lost. I am impressed with the willingness of the youth of the church here to reach out to their lost friends…[but]…we must think of more ways to help them learn how to have a burden for the lost and how to witness to them when they have opportunity.[11]
As Reformed believers we must not place all of the emphasis of the promise of Acts 2:39 on ourselves and our children, forgetting about “all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” We can do better in this regard. We must to do better. God gathers his own through many means, two of which are Christian education and the spread of the gospel through mission work. He uses these means to gather his own into the same covenantal fellowship with himself. In light of our place within this covenant, we are to view these means as similar in importance. With this in mind we are encouraged toward a more balanced approach to both.
[1] Herman Hoeksema, Reformed Dogmatics, (Grandville, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2002), 1.462.
[2] Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 18, Question and Answer 49, in The Confessions and the Church Order of the Protestant Reformed Churches (Grandville, MI: Protestant Reformed Churches in America, 2005), 102.
[3] David J. Engelsma, “The Christian School: Why?” Originally published in the 1960s by the Protestant Reformed Christian School Society in Loveland, Colorado. http://www.prca.org/resources/publications/pamphlets/item/3789-the-christian-school-why.
[4] Jason L. Kortering, Evangelism in the Established Church, (Grand Rapids, MI: First Protestant Reformed Church Evangelism Committee) ,42.
[5] David J. Engelsma, Hyper-Calvinism and the Call of the Gospel, 3rd ed. (Grandville, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2014), 72.
[6] Canons of Dordrecht, Fifth Head of Doctrine, Article 14, in Confessions and the Church Order, 176.
[7] Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 21, Q & A 55, in ibid., 104 (emphasis is mine).
[8] Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 38, Q & A 103, in ibid., 128.
[9] Form for the Administration of Baptism, in ibid., 260.
[10] Herman Hanko, God’s Everlasting Covenant of Grace (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 1988), 216-17.
[11] Jason L. Kortering, “Mission Enthusiasm, A Self-Analysis,” The Standard Bearer 74, no. 9 (Feb. 1, 1998): 215.