THE IMPORTANCE OF CREEDS, CATECHISM AND LITURGY IN THE CHURCH

​​Some of you may be surprised to hear me say this, but as I’ve grown older, and especially since I’ve been a part of a local congregation (a “local church”) which practices these things, I have learned their importance. Let’s first start with why creeds such as the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. However, I’d also like to emphasize the importance of the “Statement of Faith” and the “Church Covenant” of the local church that I am currently a member of.

First, why do I feel these are important? First, it simplifies the essentials of the gospel and what it means to be a Christian down into a common language that everyone across generations can speak. They also encourage us to search Scripture to find out where these truths came from and if this is something truly “biblical” in nature. Also it helps provide unity for us as we come around a common definition of what it means to be a “Christian”....it is not a word or belief system that we get to make up on our own, nor is it a moving target, but it is something that others have seriously thought about how it was defined in the Bible and they knew it was important to codify these truths into creeds that could be recited and memorized, even during a time when most people couldn’t read, so that they could not be lead away by false doctrine, because they knew what the “one true faith” was.
“Start children off on the way they should go,
and even when they are old they will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)
This verse has taken on a new dimension for my as I’ve seen for myself the things that adults can recite that they learned as children. Lyrics to a song, quotes from a movie, and so on. In a way this is our culture’s own “catechism” and attempt to teach some form of “theology” from the producers and artists to our children. This is also a huge goal of our education system--to build in a worldview that will govern the way a child things about everything while they are young and their minds are still “plastic” (moldable), because we know at some point their worldview and belief system will become very “concrete” and nearly impossible to change. While it is important for adults to repeat and learn these truths, it is vital for our children to lean the truth about Christianity before they are led astray by someone who wants to tell them that it’s something different than how it is defined for us in the Bible.
One word of caution though is that we should not replace knowledge of the believe system with actually embracing and believing ourselves. Many of us can recite many things that we may or may not actually believe to be true or some things which we believe don’t have any truth value at all. Knowing what marriage is and being able to recite wedding vows doesn’t make a person married....that’s a relationship between a man and a woman who have entered into a covenant with each other until death. In the same way Christianity is covenant relationship between Christ and His Church, but it is a covenant relationship that even death cannot separate. Until someone enters into that covenant, they cannot be considered to be part of the “bride of Christ” also known as “the Church.” Just like wedding vows aren’t only for the wedding day and are something for those participating to repeat to each other often when they need to be reminded of truth and for those who are witnessing to hear and remind each other, the parties involved, and for those who don’t understand to learn what the covenant of marriage is all about, so also do creeds, catechism, and liturgy play a vital part in us sharing our true faith with others, helping each other stay on track and not be led astray by cults and false teachers, and helping us understand and love more deeply the One who loved us and gave Himself for us. It is a way to remember who He is and what He has done and who we are and how we did nothing to deserve or earn any of the love or grace He has shown.
Be careful because as there is good liturgy, there is also some bad liturgy. Make sure you always are a “Berean” that checks everything against the entire council of God’s Word. If you’d like to see some of the items that I’ve been speaking of here, I’ll provide some links for you at this time.

1) Statement of Faith for our local church: https://hcfellowship.com/statement-of-faith/
2) Church Covenant for our local church: https://hcfellowship.com/church-covenant/
3) The New City Catechism (this is what our local church uses for our Children’s Catechism): http://newcitycatechism.com/
4) Here’s a link to the Apostle’s Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed: https://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/creeds
Last but not least, all of these mean nothing without actually knowing the Word of God. In today’s culture there are so many free Bible websites and apps, but there’s also still something special about having a printed copy of God’s Word in your hand that you can read, cross-reference, and take notes in. Some of my best memories growing up were seeing my father having his devotions in the morning and making it his priority first thing, and then sharing that time with us as we asked him what he was reading and he would read it to us and explain it to us. Creeds are no substitute for teaching and instruction, and I encourage everyone to be a part of a local church that provides this and to provide it for your own families because this is a responsibility given first to parents (as I quoted from the book of Proverbs, but also in other verses).