Violin, Cricket, Chess and Christ

What is this page about?

The man who writes this site heard a sermon. A sermon is a talk given in church.

The preacher spoke to parents. He said: do not let violin, cricket, chess and karate fill your child’s week. These things take away the child’s “time alone with God”. And they cannot give the child “a relationship with Jesus”.

The preacher meant well. Many good people say the same thing.

But there is an idea under his words. The idea is this. A person becomes close to Jesus by spending time alone with him. So anything that takes the time is a danger.

Is that idea in the Bible? This page tests it.

There are two views. This page gives them short names.

Both views want children to pray. They do not agree about why.

Eight points

1. The Bible’s words are “in Christ”. The old King James Bible says “in Christ” 78 times. It never uses the word “relationship”.
2. The gift comes before the command. Jesus tells his friends to stay in him. You can only stay in a place where you already are.
3. The Bible says people were baptized into Christ. Paul says this to four churches.
4. The Lord’s Supper is a sharing in Christ. Many people eat one loaf and become one body. Nobody can do this alone.
5. Faith receives the gift. And faith comes from hearing God’s word.
6. Jesus told us to pray alone. Every church on this page teaches children to pray each day. A child of God prays. But prayer is not what makes him a child of God.
7. Cricket is not against Christ. The Bible says to do everything in the name of Jesus. The real danger is missing church, and the Lord’s Supper.
8. The second view is new. The old teaching books of the churches do not have it. It began about 80 years ago.

The words the Bible uses

The preacher said “a relationship with Jesus”. Today many Christians say this.

The word “relationship” is not in the old King James Bible. This does not make the word wrong. But it is good to ask what words the Bible uses.

The Bible says that Christians are “in Christ”. Paul uses these words again and again.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 · World English Bible

In simple words: A person who is in Christ has been made new.

“In Christ” is like a place. A person is in it or not in it. And he is in it with all other Christians.

The Bible also uses pictures.

Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.

1 Corinthians 12:27 · World English Bible

In simple words: All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.

Think about an adopted son. One day he is angry and stays in his room. He does not talk to his father. Is he still a son? Yes. He did not become a son by talking. He will not stop being a son by being quiet.

The modern word is right about one thing. A Christian really knows Jesus, and Jesus knows him. Paul wrote about “the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me”.

But the modern word can leave out three things.

• Who began it. God did.
• Who else is in it. All other Christians are.
• What happens on a bad day. A son is still a son.

The gift comes first

The second view says: first spend the time, then you will have the friendship. So let us look at the order in the Bible.

Paul wrote to the church in a city called Corinth. This church had many faults. But see what he tells them.

Because of him, you are in Christ Jesus

1 Corinthians 1:30 · World English Bible

In simple words: God did this. Because of God, you are in Christ.

This is not a command. Paul does not say, “Try to get into Christ.” He says, “You are in Christ.”

Then the commands come. Jesus is speaking to his friends.

You are already pruned clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I in you.

John 15:3–4 · World English Bible

In simple words: You are already clean, because of my word. Now stay in me.

Nobody can stay in a room if he is not in the room. Jesus speaks to branches that are already in the vine. He tells them not to leave.

Other commands are the same.

As therefore you received Christ Jesus, the Lord, walk in him

Colossians 2:6 · World English Bible

In simple words: You have received Christ. Now live in him.

So there is work to do. A Christian must stay, walk and grow. His prayers can become cold, and that is bad. But the Bible does not say, “Spend the time and you will get in.” It says, “You are in. So stay.”

There is also a warning.

If a man doesn’t remain in me, he is thrown out as a branch and is withered

John 15:6 · World English Bible

In simple words: A branch that does not stay in the vine is thrown away. It dries up.

This is serious. A person can leave. But see what the warning says. The branch was in the vine. It lost something that it had.

Where is the gift given?

How do people come to be in Christ? The Bible names three places. It also names one hand that receives.

Baptism

Or don’t you know that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:3 · World English Bible

In simple words: All of us were baptized into Christ. So we were joined to his death.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Galatians 3:27 · World English Bible

In simple words: All of you who were baptized have put on Christ, like clothes.

Paul says “into Christ”. He writes this to people in Rome. He had never visited them. But he thinks they already know it.

The Lord’s Supper

The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of Christ? Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 · World English Bible

In simple words: When we break the bread, we share in the body of Christ. There is one loaf. So we, who are many people, are one body.

Nobody can do this alone at home. The church does it together. The first Christians did four things together.

They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.

Acts 2:42 · World English Bible

In simple words: They kept on learning from the apostles. They stayed together. They broke bread, and they prayed.

The word of God

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs

Colossians 3:16 · World English Bible

In simple words: Let Christ’s word live in you fully. Teach each other, and sing together.

In this verse, “you” means many people. Paul is writing to a whole church. The word of Christ lives in a church when people read it aloud, teach it and sing it.

Faith is the hand

that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith

Ephesians 3:17 · World English Bible

In simple words: Christ lives in your hearts through faith.

Faith is like a hand that takes a gift. Martin Luther was a church teacher 500 years ago. He said: “my faith does not make Baptism, but receives it”. In simple words: my faith does not make the gift. My faith takes the gift.

And where does faith come from?

So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Romans 10:17 · World English Bible

In simple words: Faith comes when a person hears God’s word.

Two fair questions

Some baptized people do not believe. What about them? This is true. The Bible tells about a man called Simon. He was baptized. But later Peter said to him: “your heart isn’t right before God” (Acts 8:21). A gift can be given and not taken. Every church that baptizes babies says this too.

Some churches say that baptism is only a sign. What about them? This page does not decide that question. But those churches also say that God joins a person to Christ. They say he does it once, when the person believes. They do not say that a person builds it with hours of time.

Reading the Bible alone

Reading the Bible alone is good. It is one way to hear God’s word. Paul wrote to a young man called Timothy.

From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures

2 Timothy 3:15 · World English Bible

In simple words: You have known the Bible since you were a very small child.

Timothy learned it from his mother and his grandmother. They taught him.

There is a very old Christian rule about mornings. It is about 1,800 years old. It says: pray when you get up. Then, if there is teaching in church that day, go to “the church, the place where the Holy Spirit abounds”. If there is no teaching that day, read the Bible at home.

So reading alone has a real place. But it is not the place where a person is joined to Christ.

Praying alone

The preacher had good Bible verses on his side. We must listen to them.

Jesus prayed alone.

Early in the morning, while it was still dark, he rose up and went out, and departed into a deserted place, and prayed there.

Mark 1:35 · World English Bible

In simple words: Very early, when it was still dark, Jesus went to a quiet place alone. He prayed there.

And Jesus told each of his followers to do the same.

But you, when you pray, enter into your inner room, and having shut your door, pray to your Father who is in secret

Matthew 6:6 · World English Bible

In simple words: When you pray, go into your room. Shut the door. Pray to your Father, who is there in secret.

So a Christian should pray alone. A Christian who never does this is not obeying Jesus.

But look at two things.

First, Jesus was God’s Son before he prayed. When he was baptized, a voice from heaven said: “You are my beloved Son” (Mark 1:11). That came first. He prayed because he was the Son.

Second, look at the words “your Father”. The person already has a Father before he shuts the door.

What the churches teach children

Every church on this page teaches children to pray every day. Martin Luther wrote a small book for families in 1529. It tells them how to begin the day:

In the morning, when you rise, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say: In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

Martin Luther, the Small Catechism, 1529

In simple words: When you get up, make the sign of the cross. Say, “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Then say the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

A child is baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. So the child’s first words each morning are the name from his baptism. The prayer takes about three minutes. Then Luther says: “Then go to your work with joy”.

So what is the difference?

Both views want a child to pray. They do not agree about what she is doing.

The best writer for the second view

His name was A. W. Tozer. He was a pastor in America. In 1948 he wrote: “God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can.”

Much of this is true. We can know God better and better. But Tozer was writing to people who were already Christians. He wanted them to enjoy what they had. Some preachers make his words shorter. Then the words become “time alone gives you the friendship”. Tozer did not say that.

Cricket is not against Christ

The preacher put cricket on one side and Jesus on the other. He spoke as if they wanted the same hours. Paul does not see the week like that.

Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus

Colossians 3:17 · World English Bible

In simple words: Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This means everything you say and everything you do.

“Whatever you do” means everything. It means cricket too. A girl who is in Christ is in Christ when she holds a bat. She does not leave him when the game begins.

The Bible likes to see children play. A prophet called Zechariah wrote about the city of Jerusalem. He wrote about the day when God would live there again.

The streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

Zechariah 8:5 · World English Bible

In simple words: The streets will be full of boys and girls. They will be playing.

Jesus himself grew up as an ordinary boy.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Luke 2:52 · World English Bible

In simple words: Jesus grew wiser and taller. God was pleased with him, and people were too.

The preacher’s verse

The preacher could use this verse.

For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things

1 Timothy 4:8 · World English Bible

In simple words: Exercise for the body is a little useful. But a life that pleases God is useful in every way.

That is true. A life with God matters more than sport. But in the same part of the letter, Paul is arguing against some teachers. They said that God’s good gifts are bad. Paul answers them.

For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with thanksgiving.

1 Timothy 4:4 · World English Bible

In simple words: Everything that God made is good. We should not refuse it. We should thank him for it.

Where the preacher is right

Time is short. Good things can push out better things. So what does the Bible say we must not lose? It names three things.

1. Meeting together as a church. The Bible says: “not forsaking our own assembling together” (Hebrews 10:25). In simple words: do not stop meeting together. Churches meet on different days. What matters is to be there, most of all for the Lord’s Supper.
2. Teaching at home. Parents must teach their children about God.
3. Prayer.

The preacher spoke about the third. He did not speak about the first.

So cricket is not against Christ. But a game at the same time as church, week after week, is against going to church.

What the churches say

The full page asks five kinds of church the same questions. It uses each church’s own old teaching books. The churches do not agree about everything. But on this question they are close.

• Lutheran: “my faith does not make Baptism, but receives it”.
• Anglican (the Church of England): in baptism “I was made a member of Christ, the child of God”.
• Catholic: “through Baptism, we have already been united with Christ”.
• Reformed: “I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ”.
• Baptist, in the year 1695: God uses “his Ordinances, especially the Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Prayer”.

Here is a surprise. The Catholic teaching book uses the words “personal relationship”. It says that prayer is “a vital and personal relationship with the living and true God”. But then it gives the reason. We can pray like this because of our baptism.

So the words “personal relationship” are not the problem. The problem is the idea that we build it by ourselves.

Here is another surprise. The old Baptist book lists the same things as the other churches. The second view is not an old Baptist idea. It is a new idea. The words “personal relationship with Jesus” became common only about 80 years ago.

Be fair

Why did people start to speak in the new way? Because there was a real problem. Some churches were full of baptized people who did not seem to know God. They did not pray.

The old churches had an answer for such a person. They said: you are baptized, so pray. The new way says something different. It says: you do not pray, so maybe you have nothing.

The first answer calls a son to come home. The second answer tells him that maybe he is not a son.

What to tell a child

The two views give a child two different sentences.

• “You must build a friendship with Jesus.”
• “You belong to Christ. Keep coming.”

Think about three days in a girl’s life.

She forgets to pray for three days. With the first sentence, she feels she has broken something. It is hard to start again. With the second sentence, she thinks, “I forgot. He is still my Father.” She prays that night.

She prays, and she feels nothing. With the first sentence, she thinks it is not working. With the second sentence, she knows that feelings come and go. God’s promise to her has not moved.

She is fifteen, and she is not sure what she believes. With the first sentence, she made the friendship herself. Now she has stopped, so nothing is left. With the second sentence, there is something outside her. Her baptism happened. The church still meets. She can come back.

Jesus loved small children. Some people brought children to him, and his friends tried to stop them.

Allow the little children to come to me! Don’t forbid them, for God’s Kingdom belongs to such as these.

Mark 10:14 · World English Bible

In simple words: Let the little children come to me. Do not stop them. God’s kingdom belongs to people like them.

These children had done nothing. People carried them to Jesus. He took them in his arms and blessed them.

And Paul speaks to children as part of the church.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

Ephesians 6:1 · World English Bible

In simple words: Children, obey your parents, because you belong to the Lord. This is right.

The old teaching books begin in the same way. They tell the child what God has done for him. The English book taught each child to say that in his baptism “I was made a member of Christ”. Luther gave Christians a sentence for a bad day: “Nevertheless I am baptized”.

“Keep coming” is important too

Belonging to Christ does not mean a child can do nothing. The same old books tell the child to pray every day. They tell him to come to church. They tell him to learn what Christians believe.

So the child has work to do. But he works because he has received a gift. He does not work to get the gift.

Check it yourself

1. Read John 15:1-10. Count how many times Jesus says “remain”. Who is he speaking to?
2. Read Romans 6:1-11 and Galatians 3:26-27. What does Paul say happened to his readers?
3. Read Matthew 6:5-13. Who does Jesus tell us to pray to?
4. Read Colossians 3:16-17. What does “whatever you do” include?
5. Write down one week in your family. When are you in church? When do you pray? When are you at practice? Does any activity keep you away from church? For how many weeks each year?

Then find out what your own church teaches about baptism and the Lord’s Supper. And tell your children, in plain words, that they belong to Christ.