A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Michael D. Mock
These days there has been an increase in publishing books on the topic of family worship, and rightfully so. Despite the growth of books on the topic, Aniol’s book deserves to be among their number and consulted thoughtfully and prayerfully. The book is short and can be read in a day (as was the case for me), but it proves its argument and provides its readers with riches in resources. The book consists of three fairly equal parts, which I have summarized as Persuasion, Tips, and Resources.
Before considering the three parts of the book, Aniol helps the reader to feel the problem, to know the burden in Aniol’s heart, and to adopt it for his own. He summarizes the account between Jesus and his disciples in which the latter refuse the children to come to Jesus for a blessing. Jesus sternly rebukes them and says, “Let the children come.” Aniol essentially asks us, “Whose example shall we follow? Jesus’ or the disciples’?” Of course, Christians desire to be on Jesus’ side, to follow him. Do they, however, put their practice where their profession is? Aniol presents his purpose in writing: “My goal in this book is to convince you that children best grow into faithful, mature worshipers of Jesus Christ when they are led to Jesus by their parents in the context of intergenerational church gatherings and in daily worship at home” (4). How, then, does he seek to convince us?
Persuasion
In “Part One: A Little Bit of Doctrine, History, and Philosophy,” Aniol argues from Scripture, church history, and philosophy that wisdom requires the integration, not segregation, of children into corporate worship despite all the supposed wisdom to separate children from their parents. Since God’s will for parents is that they and their children know God, obey God, and love God (10-13), parents (and pastors) need to be convinced of the wisdom of integration. The wisdom is found in the Word of God and its robust, clear, and unapologetic perspective that children must be in worship (cf. Deut. 6:4-6, for instance). Sadly, as Aniol avers in chapter 2, the way of segregation is all too common. Its commonness, however, is rather shocking, especially when Christians today consider how rich a heritage of integration they’re leaving behind. From the days of the New Testament to the 1800s, no one seemed even to consider segregation. However, with the creation of Sunday School, the influence of Charles Finney, and the secularization of education from the likes of Darwin, Hall, and Dewey, segregation has only the appearance of wisdom. Aniol works hard to lay out before the reader the biblical evidence to return to the biblical worldview of children, instruction, and worship, all of which call for their integration in corporate worship and in daily family worship, too. Chapters 3 and 4 work well together, for in chapter 3 Aniol argues that because Christianity is the religion of the heart, the goal of Christian parents is not a strict behaviorism (even though behavior is important), nor a rigid intellectualism (even though knowledge is a must), but a comprehensive application to the whole of the person: the heart. In other words, we must be convinced in all that we are (thoughts, affections, and wills) that this is what God requires of his people. More than this, however, is that the heart must be worked on through daily and weekly habits that Aniol calls liturgies. God has designed his children to thrive in and through liturgies. How much more so will they thrive when they avail themselves of God-regulated liturgies? Children learn best by imitation (40-41), and so parents must not take a break from their children “during the most important hour of the week” (54).
Tips
After establishing the biblical, historical, and philosophical case for integrating children in the worship service, Aniol anticipates the questions, objections, and challenges raised if parents are to allow this paradigm shift to take place in their homes. Therefore, in “Part Two: Tips for Parents, Pastors, and Parishioners,” Aniol offers two chapters full of these tips: the first for worship, the second for the other six days. Aniol knows how difficult it is to train children to worship in the pew. He sympathizes with the parents’ struggles, distractions, and frustrations. He offers no silver bullet, but encouragement to stay the course, be faithful to what God has called parents to do, and to reap the harvest of righteous training in God’s timing. Aniol provides very practical counsel for pastors, parents, and parishioners on preparing for worship, which preparation starts on Monday of each week, and counsel for the day of: Sunday. He has words for those with children, those without, single members, empty-nesters, pastors, and everyone in between. The training of the children is a churchwide project, an all-hands-on-deck endeavor. In the chapter devoted to the other six days, he lays out (undogmatically, not legalistically, but quite creatively and helpfully) how parents can take advantage of mealtimes, holidays, comings of age, seasons in the family or the church, among other things, and thereby offer their children the best opportunity to know whom to worship and how. It is in this chapter that he argues for daily family worship, which can be as basic as a 15-minute Bible-reading, song-singing, and prayer-praying time; or it can be quite involved and lengthy, depending on the capacities, competencies, and desires of the family members. Having led family worship for years, I was pleasantly surprised to see some creative ways of redeeming the time given by God for godly instruction and maturation. These two short chapters will surely assist both seasoned and struggling saints in the pews, as well as their brothers and sisters who may want to be an encouragement.
Resources
Finally, in “Part Three: Tools and Resources,” Aniol fills the rest of the book with a treasure trove of resources. Indeed, proving through pagination the practical nature of his book, more than half of the book is devoted to helping everyone to be firmly equipped for the godly task of raising up these little worshippers. There is an ample bibliography for various age groups, sample liturgies for family worship, a modified, child-friendly catechism, sample prayers, helps for the season of Advent, and a checklist for each week of the year to go through the essence of the Bible in a year with the family. As I noted above, I have led family worship for years, I put resources in the hands of my church members, and I regularly teach and preach the wisdom of integration and daily family worship. I am thankful that Aniol adds fruitfully to the increase of books on the topic. I will be adding this book to our church’s book table, and I will be using its wisdom for personal and family use. I commend this book to every Christian who loves to confess with their Lord, “Let the little children come.”
Michael D. Mock