Saturday, October 11, 2008

What Is the Chief End Of Man?

I have to confess a little something. I had never heard the word "catechism" until maybe a year ago. As a matter of fact, it was when I was flipping through my first Veritas Press Catalog. They had all these books about teaching your child the catechism. Which I had lived a long time without learning and never thought I was missing out so hey, why bother, right? Only, for some reason my mind kept creeping back to learning about it. So I started looking online at some reformed websites. They all recommend teaching the shorter catechism to children. There is even one called Child's First Catechism that you can teach to really young kids. Well, anyway, I like my set-up the way things are so I am just fine not adding something to it. Or, is there a little something missing? We open our school day each morning with Bible study. But are they really getting it? Do they truly understand the "big picture"? Am I thinking about it too much?
A month or so ago we had a long-range planning committee after church one night. Mark had to work that night, so guess who was there representing the youth: yours truly. Our pastor asked for us to think up goals for the new church year. I would really like to see our church grow. (not the normal Baptist kind of growth-nickels and noses. I mean really grow-spiritually. I would like to see us grow closer as a church family, that kind of thing) So I have really been thinking how to achieve those goals. Here is my master plan: get rid of our Sunday School Material. At least for a little while. Teach the adults and youth basic Biblical doctrine. I know that might sound kind of weird, but there are way too many people who don't know simple Bible truths. Even some (ok, most)of our teachers could use a refresher course. Have the children learn the catechism. Well, see my idea was originally to not tell anyone, just present it at the next meeting. Not knowing if Mark and the pastor would a.)like the basic concept or b.)mind that I was volunteering them to design the new material. Seeing as how I am also trying to work on my own self at getting closer to God, and a seeing how a submissive wife would not volunteer her dear hubby for something without first asking if is it okay, I thought it might be a good idea to talk to Marko about it. He somewhat liked it, but said, "You can't put that about the children learning the catechism" I said "Why not?" (ok, maybe I'm not that submissive!!) He said, "Well, that is like a Reformed-R-Us kind of thing, and we are just not a reformed church." Ah, point well made. He also suggested that I run the idea by the pastor before the meeting so that he has time to process it. (or reject it straight out)
So, that still leaves me with the feeling that I need to learn the catechism myself, and teach it to my children. So we started it last week. We are taking it slooowly One question per week. Our question last week was What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. We even found a CD on Rhapsody of a guy singing the catechism. I have said for years that Samuel can learn anything if it is set to music. (not kidding, he can sing this)Well, by Tuesday he was in his room doing a puzzle and singing "What is the chief end of maaann? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him fuurrever."
Can you really think of a better example of glorifying, or enjoying God?

12 comments:

Annemarie said...

Kelli,
I wish with all my heart that you lived close by! I absolutely know that you would be one of my best friends.

Mark's comment about the Reformed R Us thing, cracked me up. But it is true. Catechism says reformed to almost everybody ans that is scary to some. In fact, I still really need to do some reading about what exactly reformed means!

This is the book that we are using. Well, the one that we used for the first 5 weeks of school and that we are going to start using again on Monday. :) The preface is excellent! In fact, if you are looking to persuade someone that teaching the catechism is a great thing, I would buy it for the preface alone.

http://www.amazon.com/Training-Hearts-Teaching-Minds-Devotions/dp/0875523927/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1223810458&sr=8-1

There is a Sunday School material out there called Generations of Grace. It is fantastic. With a ton of prayer and a lot of persuading, we were able to get this curriculum into the 6th grade department of our church. I loved teaching it!

~Annemarie

Kelli said...

Thank you so much for stopping by, Annmarie. Right now we are just using some material that I found free on the internet. I was contemplating buying the book you mentioned. Your glowing review has pretty much sealed the deal.
Thanks for the recommendation in Sunday School material. We really need something. Our kids know all the stories in Lifeway material because they have the same thirteen stories every quarter. Well, it is almost Christmas. They will take a short break to teach the nativity.
I wish we lived close together, too. It would be so great to have friends that are more like-minded.

rthling said...

It was just last year that I realized that catechism is not a catholic word.
My mom and husband grew up catholic, and after breaking free from that oppressive doctrine, anything that smelled like it or felt like it would have been scorned.
One of my friends in our homeschool group introduced us to some of her books. I confess that beyond a cursory interest, I have not looked into it further.
It did raise my eyebrows, but I really enjoy the Christian Liberty Press Bible curriculum every year. It is very sound, and teaches the kids systematically through the Bible. This year Caleb is in I&II Samuel and Hailey is doing a chronological study of the Old Testament from I Samuel to Malachi.
But I do agree that our Sunday School curriculum needs to get back to basics. People used to think I was special or something, because having grown up cutting my teeth on basic Bible doctrines, I knew much more about the Bible than all the other kids. Even now, I get reminded sometimes that most people, grown-ups included, don't know the basics.
When our church did a study on The Purpose Driven Life, (I know, GASP) I was frustrated with everyone thinking that such superficial drivel was considered enlightening. But some people really don't know that man was created with the purpose of bringing God glory and to fellowship with Him. It boggles the mind.
And PS. If you lived near me, I think we'd be very good friends, as well. And Shawn and Mark would probably be good buddies. Maybe because they look sort of alike.

Berean Wife said...

Kelli,

There are actually some Baptist Catechisms. I don't know if they are specifically reformed, although your husband is right, most will think any catechism is reformed.

My husband also said that there is a study guide that goes with The Baptist Faith and Message. This isn't the best resource but it would be a start in getting others to think about theology.

(For some reason I seem to think you attend a Baptist church but I could be confused.)

Another idea is just to have the youth ask questions and later (after work on your part) help them to see where in Scripture that is answered.

I couple of our friends are just teaching through the Bible topically. They have taught Noah's Ark (more than just the basic lesson) for over a month, Jesus, Satan and I think Heaven and Hell are to follow.

Catechism takes the whole Bible and condenses it down to the main theme and answer for each question. We as Christians need to know what we believe and why.

Berean Wife

Kelli said...

Rthling,
Our church recently did Purpose Driven Life, too. I hated it. It is shocking to see how many Warren disciples there are who think that he is so spiritual. But, to those who don't know anything I guess he does seem deep. A few years ago, Mark went to a Sunday School teacher's training conference. A Lifeway person talked about how Sunday School is is such a big outreach time and how Lifeway material is written so that if a person just drops in on any given Sunday they will not feel like they are behind. Which in turn leaves everybody behind that comes faithfully because they are not learning and growing. I have seen so many churches where the adults (even older ones) are all a bunch of spiritual babies. Arg!!! It is so frustrating!!!
Wouldn't it be cool if we could meet all our bloggy buddies in person? I bet a lot of us could have fun together. Mark and Shawn would HAVE to be pals-considering they look alike, and their wives think a lot alike.

Kelli said...

Berean Wife,
You got me pegged!! Baptist it is. For several years I have said I am not Baptist, I just go to a Baptist church because I do not really know what I am. (now I have learned that I am Reformed)
Funny you mentioned Noah's Ark. That is what I am teaching in children's church. I found a coloring sheet that showed a more realistic version than what most do. It compared it to a typical one-story house. (of course the house looked tiny beside the enormous ark) A little boy told me that he had a movie that really showed Noah and his Ark and this picture did not look anything like the real thing. I had only planned to do this for two weeks but it is looking like it is going to take three, at least.
I'll have to do a search for Baptist Catechisms. I hope they do not say "live how you want Mon-Sat. Just dress up and bring your money to church on Sunday." ;-}I did not know that there lessons to go along with the Baptist Faith and Message,either.

Berean Wife said...

Kelli,

Here are a few resources for you

http://www.thefamilycatechism.com/baptistcatechism/

http://www.widgetbox.com/widget/ShorterCatechism

I have had this widget off and on my site. The Reformed church we visited would be shocked that we know so little of it, since they stress it. So I've added it back. Maybe I'll learn a little. :)

Berean Wife

Kelli said...

Thank you, Berean Wife. John Piper has the Baptist Catechism on his ministry's website. I looked at it after you told me it existed. It is surprisingly much the same as the Shorter Catechism. (I say surprisingly just because the Baptist leadership has gotten so far away from Reformed theology) I definitely will check these out.

Woo-hoo!!! My Training Hearts Teaching Minds book came today!! Yipee!!! Annemarie was not kidding about the intro. I might have to read this at the next church council meeting or long-range planning committee when they are saying "what can we do to get more people in the doors?"

Molly said...

Kelli,
I recently published a post on my blog that has links for a lot of the resources we are using in our catechism memory. I am going to look for the CD you mentioned...what is it called?

Here is the link:
http://counterculturalmom.blogspot.com/search/label/catechism

Blessings,
Molly

Kelli said...

Thank you so much for stopping by, Molly. I appreciate the links. Will be using them soon.
Bruce Benedict has a CD called The Shorter Catechism Volume 1. (I do not know if he has any other volumes, this is the only one on Rhapsody) Holly Dutton has the whole catechism on four CDs available from Veritas Press.

Anonymous said...

Kelli, I'm the author of the Catechism widgets. I also strongly recommend Training Hearts, Teaching Minds for adults and children. The Shorter Catechism has the core of Christian doctrine and this book explains it well in bite-size pieces.

More at this link, and thanks for using the widget! -Mark
http://www.everygoodpath.net/Catechism

Kelli said...

Thank you, Mark! Berean Wife told me about the widget and I liked it so much I got it on my page. I will check out the link you gave me soon!