Reformátusok Lapja, 1968 (68. évfolyam, 8-12. szám)
1968-08-01 / 8-9. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 11 The Invasion of Children When the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia, the whole world protested again. . . We do not like invasions! But whether we like it or not, there is an invasion going on in this country of ours, and regardless how we may fortify ourselves that army is going to conquer, capture everything we have! Who composes this army of invasion? Our own children! They are going to take possession of every home, of every political office, of every business, of every school, of every church, and nothing, absolutely nothing is going to he left to us. . . This is how important our children are: they hold in their hands the great tomorrow! It is well, then, to pay attention to our children, especially in these days when the doors of the schools have opened again. Of course, in this brief article, we are primarily concerned with the religious education of our children. Generally speaking, there are three factors which determine the future character of a child. Ancestry is the first factor: some children are “half damned in their birth” as they carry into this world the burden of their parents’ iniquity (Ex. 20:5). Secondly: environment plays an important part in character development. Just as it is far harder to grow flowers in the dark alleys than in the garden of the open country, it is far harder to rear children of sound character amidst the evils of slum, starvation and utter poverty than in a more wholesome and healthy environment. But far more important than heredity and environment is the third factor which we may call proper religious training. Without this, the best ancestry and the most wholesome environment may go for nothing, while by proper religious training both bad ancestry and bad environment may largely be overcome. Is this not the implication of the scriptural injunction: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6). In this fact lies the immense significance of religious education: proper response to God’s love creates Christian character. There are two agencies which must carry the responsibility of Christian education jointly: the home and the church. These two agencies can he wings on which we reach our goals as children of our Heavenly Father. But alas, in these days both home and church seem to be broken wings. . . The crisis is evident in both agencies. In the great majority of our homes the “faith of our fathers” is no longer a creative force. When a few years ago I conducted a survey in seven of our congregations, it became clear that 67.9% of the first generation, 84.5% of the second generation, and 91.3% of the third generation Hungarian Reformed church people never practice family devotion. Only 10% of our church membership say grace when the family eats together. Is this not an indication of the fact that even in outward rituals we lost the hallmark of Christian homes: living by the Word of God? No wonder that our families cannot withstand the onslaught of rampant secularism and fall victims not only of the “revolution in middle-class values,” but also of godless materialism and faithlessness. The result is a “lost” generation... Unfortunately, the situation in our churches is equally critical. While in theory we confess that “the Lord enjoined his people to exercise the greatest care that young people, even from infancy, be properly instructed” (II. Helv. Confession, chapter XXV), in practice we perform this obligation so poorly that the Sunday School training is called “the most wasted hour of the week.” What is wrong with our Sunday School work? The goals are not clear, the teaching material is used indiscriminately, the teachers are not competent, the physical set-up is unattractive, time and budget are insufficient, the interest and co-operation on the part of the parents are discouragingly minimal, etc. And perhaps similar lists can be made in regard to catechetical instruction, youth work, adult education, etc., in order to show the symptoms of our deficient education in our churches. What to do, then? If it is true that “unless the church is a teaching church, it will soon become a dying church” we must ask with urgency: where to start the change in this process of death and decay? Evidently, the primary responsibility rests with the adults! Christian education both in our homes and in our churches is doomed unless parents take their proper responsibilities seriously. You all know the story that once upon a time various kinds of fish came together to hold a convocation. There were sharks, catfish, bass, northern pike and almost every kind that you can think of, except the little crabs. The shark who was the presiding moderator made a speech that it would be nice to invite the little crabs. All agreed, and thus next Sunday the crabs arrived: all walking backward, sideways, crooked. According to the shark the first thing to do was to teach the little crabs how to walk straight. So the fish took the whole Sunday morning to teach them how to walk straight. Then they went home. Next Sunday the crabs walked as crooked as ever before. So they spent the entire Sunday teaching them again how to walk. Then all the fish went home. On the third Sunday the crabs came again, but walking crooked again. The whole conclave became very discouraged so that the old shark had to make another speech: “No use to teach the little ones how to walk because their fathers and mothers did not walk straight at home!” This is what we mean by insisting that Christian education is doomed to failure if the adults, especially the parents, do not fulfill their obligation. Parents are the most important religious teachers of children! In re-establishing the teaching function of adults,
