When we consider the word ‘seminary’, the first thing that likely comes to mind is a place where men go to train for Gospel ministry. However, the word ‘seminary’ originally had to do with a place or environment from where things originated. So a seminary as an institution is an environment for the training of pastors. It is a place from whence gospel ministry originates for the good of the church.
Puritan William Perkins once described the family as the “seminary of all other societies.” In other words, families are the place where nations are born and churches are built. If a church is to be theologically healthy, it will require theologically healthy families, and for families to be theologically healthy, then fathers must be theologically healthy. In other words, dads should be the theologians of their families. A godly man can do much for the sake of Christ’s kingdom by building up the church through the simple means of instructing, guiding, and leading his wife and children to see, consider, learn, and grow in the doctrines of the faith.
This principle is implied in God’s instructions under the old covenant administration of his people in Deuteronomy 6:4-7. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise”
Israelite fathers were to instruct their families in the covenant law of God. While that law is intensely practical, it is also inherently theological.
Orthopraxy (right living) flows from orthodoxy (right doctrine). In teaching their families the law of God, fathers are teaching them about God. For example, what kind of God would say “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16)? Only a God that is absolutely true in his being. And what kind of God would command his people to keep the Sabbath Day (Ex. 20:8)? Only a loving and compassionate God desires to give his people both physical and spiritual rest from all the cares and troubles of this fallen world.
Fathers are obligated to be theological shepherds of their families, grounding them in what is true and guarding them from what is not. What does that mean? Thankfully, you do not need a seminary education to be a dad theologian for your children and wife. But you do need to know Christ and be growing in that knowledge of him. That means you must avail yourself of the ordinary graces God gives you to know Christ. Here are four practical things we can do to be good theologians for our families.
1. Take your family to church on the Lord’s Day.
It should seem obvious, but worshiping with God’s people, and enjoying the ordinary means of his grace communicated in Word, sacrament, and prayer are vital to ground our families in truth. Do not neglect the Lord’s Day. Make the sabbath the most important day of the week and your wife and kids will learn much about the Lord, not only as they sit under the ministry of the church, but by your example of honoring the Lord and worshiping him.
2. Take the time to worship in your home.
Apart from regular worship with God’s covenant people, worshiping together as a family is the second most important part of being a father theologian. Family worship doesn’t have to be complicated. Leading in prayer will teach your children how to pray. Singing a hymn or a Psalm will communicate healthy doctrine to your family. God will use the reading of Scripture together to teach your family who he is and what he has done to bring redemption from sin. As Reformed men, our Confession, and Catechisms are invaluable tools to help instruct our homes during family worship.
3. Take the time to talk about who God is in the little moments of the day.
Family worship shouldn’t be the only time we converse with our wives about God, or instruct our children in the truth of the gospel. In God’s providence, those small, seemingly insignificant moments can become the seminary classrooms of our homes. Reflect on creation when you take a walk, and consider what God is still doing as our Creator. Pray with your wife before you go to sleep and thank him together for the blessings of the day. And use conversations to remind each other of the Gospel. One of the greatest joys is when one of my now adult children texts me and says “Hey dad, I have a theological question for you.”
4. Improve upon your own understanding of God.
This goes without saying, and yet the disciplines of the Christian life are something we as men can easily neglect in the business of life. However, if we are to be the father theologians God calls us to be, we must take time to read and study the Word, pray regularly, and increase our understanding of God. In addition to reading the Bible, read good books about God. Get yourself a good systematic theology or dogmatics on your shelf. Learn the language of theology to be able to explain why the big words like “justification, sanctification, and glorification” matter.
Above all, we cannot be father theologians unless we remember the gospel. It is not our ability or talents that will ensure our families' theological foundations are secure, but it is the work of Christ through the Spirit. God is good and gracious. Do not grow discouraged by your own feeble efforts of being the theologian of your family. There is only one perfect Father. He is our gracious God. So rest in God’s grace and be faithful to Christ, and God will bless. Be a father theologian and watch how your home becomes a “seminary” for the church, and the kingdom of Christ continues to take over the world.
Jeremy is the pastor of Christ Church Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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