Catechisms

Hi Family. First off – I miss you all tons and I can’t wait to gather with you again (hopefully very soon, Lord willing!). That time will be SO SO sweet.

I’m sure that these past few weeks have shifted your family’s usual routines and schedules just like ours. Only a few weeks ago, Amy and I would likely have told you that we were a little too busy in that season – and now, so quickly, the pendulum has swung full force in the other direction with regards to any/all of our extracurricular commitments. This has been a really tough season as we have mourned with friends who have lost jobs, have been separated from family due to quarantine, and comforted those who have struggled with health issues. However, Amy and I have also been encouraged in many ways these past couple of weeks. We have learned some new patterns and routines that have been really sweet for our family. One of the newer routines, and most profitable perhaps, is that we have a renewed focus on the discipline of catechisms as a family. Over the past couple of weeks, our family has been reviewing and stretching ourselves with a daily discipline of memorizing catechisms.

Similar to Cole’s recent post (Scripture Memory), I want to encourage you to consider the challenging, stretching, and good labor of memorizing a catechism! We’ll briefly consider why we might utilize a catechism, how we might implement the discipline, and finally how it might effect our lives day to day.

Why focus any time and energy towards learning catechisms?

There are many verses of scripture that could support the practice and discipline of catechisms, but I’ll just name a few that came to my mind as I write this:

2 Timothy 2:2 reads, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.” We are called to make disciples, entrusting to others what we ourselves have learned. Catechisms are a means to simplify larger doctrines into simple phrases that are easy to be memorized and passed on to other faithful people to do likewise.

Similarly, Paul also charges Titus to know and teach sound doctrine in Titus 2:1, “But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.” Utilizing a catechism allows us to stand on the shoulders of giants who have gone before us to create the catechisms and organize the sound doctrine in a simple way.

Additionally, we are warned again and again in scripture to guard ourselves against false teachers. One example of this would be in 1 Timothy 6:3-4 as Paul charges Timothy to be able to discern between true and false doctrine: “If anyone teaches a different doctrine, and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.” For us to be able to know when a teacher is teaching false doctrine, we must be confident of our understanding of true and sound doctrine! The discipline of studying and memorizing a catechism is a wonderful tool to help us grow in sound doctrine.

How might this look practically?

The past couple of weeks, Amy and I have been working on memorizing catechisms at breakfast with the girls. While they are already sitting down eating, I’ll just ask them the questions and work with them to memorize the answers. We’ve had to practice at this because it takes a lot of patience and grace by the parents and the kiddos here! This is hard work, but it's good work!

After a few days, we decided to add in bonuses and prizes for memorizing certain numbers of the questions and answers. We’ve created a sticker chart to help us keep track of our progress.

We also had a lot of traction with the girls once we explained to them that we were also trying to memorize the same catechism questions and answers. Initially, they just felt like it was something we were making them do, but now Amy and I make it much more obvious that we, too, are repeating the answers and trying to work these into our memory. It is fun to celebrate together as we succeed together – all while memorizing dear truths of doctrine!

What effect might we expect from the practice of memorizing catechisms?

Just like Cole mentioned with regards to the practice of memorizing scripture, memorizing core doctrines will help you to routinely draw them to mind. You will find yourself repeating core truths of the faith to yourself and with others that you know are memorizing the same things. Additionally, I have found that it has shaped the way I pray for my family. We regularly pray together, and even this week I have found myself inserting doctrinal truths from The New City Catechism into my prayers for my family. For example, I recently prayed something like, “Father, I pray that you would help my daughters to grasp the truth that they were created by you, in your image, and for your glory and that they would love you and obey you, trust you, and obey your commands.” That prayer is a paraphrase of questions 4 and 6 of The New City Catechism.

For the past several years, it has been common for me to pull to my mind the first question of the Westminster Catechism, “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

There are many catechisms out there, where should I start? So if you are new to catechisms and are ready to dive in, you will quickly find that there are many catechisms out there. My family has begun working through the New City Catechism, which you can find here and in the covid-19 resources page that UBC has put together.

You may also find a lot of value in other catechisms like “A Baptist Catechism” which is simply a revised version of Baptist catechisms that are several hundred years old.

I’m sure that there are other catechisms that would be edifying and helpful, but these should provide a good starting point! My prayer, along with the elders and many others in our body, is that we will be those who worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. I pray that we would know the truth, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life, and that we might believe in his name that we would be given the right to become children of God. I pray that we would grow up together in Christlikeness and that we would strengthened so that we stand our ground when the day of evil comes.

Let us prepare individually, aid in the preparation of our brothers and sisters, and our children in the building up of the faith by arming them with the truths of scripture.

For further study on catechisms:

· Tim Keller’s Introduction to The New City Catechism

· Desiring God’s “A Baptist Catechism”

· Ask Pastor John Podcast on Catechisms

---

~ written by Michael Gaddy