On Interviews & Testimonies, Part V
Continued from Part IV
Q. Doesn't admitting young children violate the Westminster Standards? Shouldn't we only admit mature believers who can understand what is happening at the Table?
Is young child communion consistent with the Westminster Standards? Yes, I believe so. First, consider the Westminster Confession of Faith (hereafter WCF). No mention is made (wisely) of ages or intellectual capacity in either chapter 14 “On Saving Faith” or chapter 15 “Of Repentance unto Life.” Furthermore, paragraph 3 of chapter 14 shows that the Westminster divines were sensitive to the fact that mature faith ought not to be made the criteria for genuine faith since saving faith “is different in degrees, weak or strong, may be often and many ways assailed and weakened, but gets the victory; growing up in many to the attainment of a full assurance through Christ, who is both the author and finisher of our faith.” Surely it would be wrong to insist that a young covenant child give evidence of a mature faith before we count them as a genuine believer! Genuine faith may be present in covenant children, not having as yet grown up into “the attainment of a full assurance through Christ.” Why should such faith—weak and immature as it may be—serve as a barrier to the covenant child’s participation in the Lord’s communion meal?
The mention of assurance ought to remind us of another statement in the Confession which teaches that lack of the conviction of the assurance of faith is not necessarily evidence of the absence of saving faith. The Confession does indeed hold out to us the goal of attaining full assurance since those believers who “truly believe in the Lord Jesus, and love him in sincerity, endeavoring to walk in all good conscience before him, may in this life be certainly assured that they are in the state of grace” (18.1), but the divines are also quick to remind us that “This infallible assurance does not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it” (18.3).
Showing posts with label Lord's Supper. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lord's Supper. Show all posts
Saturday, February 2, 2013
Friday, February 1, 2013
On Interviews and Testimonies, Part IV
Continued from Part III
Questions About Interviewing Young Children
Let me take some time now to answer some common questions. Remember, I am a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We don't practice paedocommunion. I believe it is biblical. I have taken exception to the Westminster Standards on this point. What our church does practice is young child communion. This is the closest we can get and still be true to our PCA church order. What this means is that young children are admitted to the Table by the session when they give evidence of a credible, age-appropriate profession of faith. I say all this because the questions that will be addressed in the next few posts will all relate to this practice—that is, interviewing young children.
What follows, then, is largely advice to fellow pastors and elders who practice some form of "young child" communion.
Q. My five-year-old daughter is not mature enough to sit before nine blue-suited elders and answer probing questions. She will freeze up. Should she be denied the table for this reason?
This is a great question. Why should Christ’s little ones be denied the benefits of the Table simply because they might be too shy to answer questions under the intense scrutiny of a room full of older men? After all, most adults are often quite intimidated when they meet with the full session of the church. In the case of most interviews with adults for membership the Session is not examining for knowledge, but a credible profession of faith. But when our young children come before us we interrogate them with questions about their knowledge of the Bible, the sacraments, etc. We seldom, if ever, do this in membership interviews with adults! Why should there be two standards—one for adults and another for our covenant children? Isn’t it enough that our children confess their simple faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and their hope of heaven? I would argue that such a confession is sufficient, and that most of our four-year-old children would have an easier time before the elders if they knew that it wasn’t going to be an “examination.” Our Lord made it easy for the little one’s to come to him. When he saw his disciples making it difficult for parents to bring their little ones to him “he became indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God’” (Mark. 10:14). Therefore, the first way that we could deal with this problem is to drop the insanely intense oral examination that we often require of our children before they are allowed to come to the Table.
Questions About Interviewing Young Children
Let me take some time now to answer some common questions. Remember, I am a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We don't practice paedocommunion. I believe it is biblical. I have taken exception to the Westminster Standards on this point. What our church does practice is young child communion. This is the closest we can get and still be true to our PCA church order. What this means is that young children are admitted to the Table by the session when they give evidence of a credible, age-appropriate profession of faith. I say all this because the questions that will be addressed in the next few posts will all relate to this practice—that is, interviewing young children.
What follows, then, is largely advice to fellow pastors and elders who practice some form of "young child" communion.
Q. My five-year-old daughter is not mature enough to sit before nine blue-suited elders and answer probing questions. She will freeze up. Should she be denied the table for this reason?
This is a great question. Why should Christ’s little ones be denied the benefits of the Table simply because they might be too shy to answer questions under the intense scrutiny of a room full of older men? After all, most adults are often quite intimidated when they meet with the full session of the church. In the case of most interviews with adults for membership the Session is not examining for knowledge, but a credible profession of faith. But when our young children come before us we interrogate them with questions about their knowledge of the Bible, the sacraments, etc. We seldom, if ever, do this in membership interviews with adults! Why should there be two standards—one for adults and another for our covenant children? Isn’t it enough that our children confess their simple faith and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins and their hope of heaven? I would argue that such a confession is sufficient, and that most of our four-year-old children would have an easier time before the elders if they knew that it wasn’t going to be an “examination.” Our Lord made it easy for the little one’s to come to him. When he saw his disciples making it difficult for parents to bring their little ones to him “he became indignant and said to them, ‘Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God’” (Mark. 10:14). Therefore, the first way that we could deal with this problem is to drop the insanely intense oral examination that we often require of our children before they are allowed to come to the Table.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Private Masses
Calvin: "I call it a private mass whenever there is no communion among believers in the Lord's Supper, even if a large crowd of people are otherwise present" (Institutes 4.8.7).
Calvin is talking about a priest doing the Eucharist with the gathered people not communing. It's "private" even if there's a lot of people in the room while it's being performed by the priest because no one but the priest is partaking of the bread and wine.
Of course, private masses are still performed for various reasons by Roman priests. But the Roman church has reintroduced communion in both kinds as well as regular congregational participation at the weekly Supper. The Reformation was pretty successful in dealing with the late medieval problem of the withdrawal of the laity from the Table.
But there's another problem with the way modern Christians celebrate the Lord's Supper that might be labeled as "private mass" or maybe just "private communion." The word "communion" refers not only to our communion with the resurrected Jesus through the bread and wine at the Supper. There's also a horizontal dimension to the Table that flows from union with Jesus. We are united with one another. We commune with Jesus and with one another. "Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17).
Calvin is talking about a priest doing the Eucharist with the gathered people not communing. It's "private" even if there's a lot of people in the room while it's being performed by the priest because no one but the priest is partaking of the bread and wine.
Of course, private masses are still performed for various reasons by Roman priests. But the Roman church has reintroduced communion in both kinds as well as regular congregational participation at the weekly Supper. The Reformation was pretty successful in dealing with the late medieval problem of the withdrawal of the laity from the Table.
But there's another problem with the way modern Christians celebrate the Lord's Supper that might be labeled as "private mass" or maybe just "private communion." The word "communion" refers not only to our communion with the resurrected Jesus through the bread and wine at the Supper. There's also a horizontal dimension to the Table that flows from union with Jesus. We are united with one another. We commune with Jesus and with one another. "Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of one loaf" (1 Cor. 10:17).
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