Your Child's Profession of Faith

by Dennis Gundersen

The most valuable work ever composed to help Christian parents assess the profession of faith made by a young child. "The family is all together at home, you're in your favorite chair with a book, and the phone hasn't even disturbed the peace once! Then, your seven-year-old daughter strolls over to you and quietly delivers a bombshell announcement, shattering the calm: "Daddy, I think I'm saved." What do you say now?

Genres: Parenting, Theology, Christian, Family, Nonfiction, Religion, Childrens

57 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 1994

About the author

Dennis Gundersen is President and owner of Grace and Truth Books, a Christian publisher of more than 60 books, with a primary focus on reprinting 19th century children's stories with a character building emphasis. Dennis has served as Senior Pastor at three Tulsa churches since 1984 and is currently devoting his time to writing, publishing and conference speaking. He is a frequent speaker at church conferences, men's retreats and home education conventions. He and his wife Naomi have been married since 1976, and have four sons. For relaxation, he is an avid mountain climber, cyclist, and photographer.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is NOT what my itching ears wanted to hear. It gave wise cautions to help us guard against the false assurance that can come from peer pressure, parental pressure, or "VBS highs." I found his cautions very compelling, scripturally driven, and worth taking into our discussions. He also helped with concrete examples of what we ARE looking for as evidence of true conversion. Finally, and maybe most valuable, he gives principles and verbiage for navigating the situation we are currently in: we *think* our kid might be saved, we don't want to discourage her, but we also want to avoid false assurance. Added bonus: three stellar Andrew Murray chapters included as appendices had me "amen"ing all the way to the last sentence!

Finally, and this may be a strange addition, but it's the only book I've ever been able to say this about: the prose style of this particular author is almost identical to the speech pattern of the Pictograph Man in Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. It may not be relevant to the content, but it did delight me to no end.

[Nathan Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best resource I’ve found on the conversion of children. I will be handing these out.

[Chuck Shorter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. There is a tremendous message in it, that children should not be pushed into making a profession of faith. AMEN, I agree, 100%. The author makes some a great presentation about their cognitive abilities and also the tendencies that many parents and church workers have to want to see kids trust Christ as soon as possible.

One down side about the book I'd like to point out: Great start, Great finish, but their are several chapters in the middle which seem to reiterate the same points over and over. It seemed to me that the author was just trying to get his page count up in order to go from a booklet into a book. I could imaging an editor sending the email: "We need more content!".

Highly recommended reading if you are working with children and have a love for their eternal souls.

[Anete Ābola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!
About baptism - I had not read anybody else on this subject who could deliver the message so practically, and so theologically sound.
It helps you think it through keeping in mind your own children. It talks about why we should wait before baptizing believers (especially under age 10). The book talks to parents as well as pastors. Author helps us to know what to teach/talk about with your children when they ARE ready for baptism. Basically, it helps us make a wise decision in this area.

At the end of the book there are a few chapters from Andrew Murray about raising children. They are excellent! They help us see why we need to be diligent in this work God has given us. Encouraging.
Worth re-reading.

[Mark Lickliter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an important topic, and there were some helpful things. However, it was addressed from a Baptist perspective, and kept emphasizing things like "independent devotion to Christ". (p. 18) The author used the words "independent" three times in the same paragraph. While I don't deny that our children must have their own faith, it is quite another thing to detach that from the covenant community and as members set apart in a Christian family. This is where this book's Baptist's leanings were unhelpful for a Presbyterian. I also thought this author's expectations were a little too unreasonable when he addressed the intellectual immaturity of children. Just because there are concepts such as "hating father and mother" or "marriage to Christ" that our little ones do not yet understand, it doesn't mean they are not Christians engaged in the school of discipleship. Even if they understood all of these things perfectly and "looked" Christian enough, we do not know if they are unregenerate, and that applies to adults as well. We will spend the rest of our lives delving into such difficult concepts. This book claims to not be preoccupied with a mere "profession" of faith in Christ, however, it just sets up a standard for determining such a thing that I do not find anywhere in scripture. Yes, we should examine fruit, and that is true whether adult or child, but how much fruit is good enough for Baptism or the Lord's Supper? Both of these signs and seals of the covenant represent what we haven't accomplished, yet it seems that the author's method is one of trying to earn it. It is trying to apply a standard or test, which becomes very arbitrary, that cannot be uniformly applied. What's the final verdict? How much fruit or correct answers to a theological exam are enough? There is no answer to that question in this book. The pastor is left to figure out each case, and without every really knowing for sure. Bottom line: It is important that we not give our children false assurance, but we shouldn't completely withhold the gifts of God for the people of God. Our kids are not heathens off the street, but covenant members. We should treat them as such.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very short work written to help parents understand how to think rightly about the faith of their children, with an emphasis on their profession of faith and subsequent baptism.

This is a topic that I think all Christian parents with baptistic convictions struggle with--myself included. There is some great material in the book--particularly on practical ways we ought to speak to our children about the gospel, the urgency to repent, our love for Christ, and other matters of discipleship. These are the greatest strengths of the book.

Gunderson is very cautious to only trust the profession of children under very specific criteria--namely those whose lives bear fruit and can articulate their belief in Christ and their love of Jesus. As a baptist myself, this is helpful, but I do wonder if the line isn't still being drawn a little too strictly.

He writes addresses the objection about baptizing children prematurely and the consequences of that, and asserts that no one has ever regretted being too cautious in baptizing a child professing faith after waiting for greater confirmation. There is a measure of truth here, but I'm not sure I'm convinced of this.

Baptism in the New Testament is something that comes immediately after a profession of faith. Keeping baptism as close to the profession of faith is the goal. I fear that Gunderson's caution is what leads to delaying baptism until adulthood. I say, bring the children into the church and disciple them such that they remain, rather than hold them at a distance and see so many fall away.

So I think I would heir more on the side of guarding the baptismal less than Gunderson calls for, but perhaps guarding the communion table more carefully than most churches do.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful book in thinking through a Child's faith. How do we support, encourage and think through the gospel with young children. I appreciate the concern he raises with not rushing forward with baptism as well.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of Bible and practical wisdom for both parents and pastors. Highly recommended.

[Jared Beiswenger · Rating 2 out of 5]

First the good. I appreciate stressing that the child put their faith in their own words and not simply repeating a general catchphrase. I also appreciate the author's frustration with parents trying to funnel their kids towards baptism without them making an independent choice on their own. There are a few helpful questions at the end to ask your children to put their faith in their own words.

Unfortunately, I think there is a lot of questionable guidance rooted in a failure to define baptism using what the Bible says about baptism. For this, I recommend simply reading all the verses in the Bible about baptism, and you'll get a better perspective than reading this book. Just google "baptism: a complete list of bible verses". In short, baptism should happen immediately after the profession of faith.

If you want more details about my problems with the book, feel free to read on...

He starts off the book with a bit of a logical fallacy - "the Bible never mentions baptizing children", therefore... he draws some conclusion... The whole book starts on shaky ground.

He never defines baptism that I remember, but he seems to pull from Acts when believers are "baptized and added to the church" to construe that baptism is the ritual by which believers are given local church membership, and that the pastor must have some certainty of the person's salvation prior to being baptized. Acts 16 has 2 baptisms that don't really fit his mold.

He makes a crazy analysis of Matthew 3 that John the Baptist DENIES the religious leaders baptism when they come to the Jordan because he "sees their heart". You really have to add a bunch of stuff to the scripture to come to this conclusion. Especially when you compare Luke, where John makes the same "Brood of vipers" statement, but there is no mention of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

He has multiple chapters with detailed theological evidence showing that children are indeed... less mature than adults. Thank you for that detailed analysis.

He says that children shouldn't be baptized until they've had the opportunity for their faith to be tested to the point where they have to abandon family, etc. Yikes. I'm not ready for baptism, myself.

The crux of the book seems to be that because some parents rush their children to baptism, he has placed greater requirements on children than we would place on adults. He's worried about the great danger of giving a child a false sense of salvation, yet he never talks about how this practically plays out in the lives of children. The only way I see this as being a danger is if the baptism is the END of the discipleship process where, once baptized, you walk away, never to expose yourself to the gospel again. To me the far greater danger is not celebrating the child's decision and putting a marker at the START of the discipleship process, having them profess a commitment that we can hold them to when they stray from it.

I'm also a little uncomfortable with his guidance that children should always obey parents before the Holy Spirit. He outright says that a child should disobey their conscience when a parent asks with the example of the girl in the book playing secular music on Sunday. I don't think many children have the tools to discern this sort of thing, but I'm uncomfortable with a blanket answer.

There is a final, most egregious problem that undergirds the whole book, but it's most clear when he states that if a child can't make a public profession of faith in front of the church congregation, then it's a sign the child isn't ready for baptism. It's a smack in the face to people who don't have the means to do that, particularly the mentally disabled, who will never in their lives meet his prerequisites for baptism. If we've denied the "least of these" from baptism, then we have gone astray.

[Kyleigh Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful, especially to think through how assessing a child's profession of faith can be more complex than an adult's, and why there might be reasons to wait longer between profession and baptism for a child than we might for an adult.

Critiques first, and then the positive:
I think he overstates his case on children not understanding commitment and not seeing decisive rejection of sin as clearly in a child (also areas some adults don't truly understand or demonstrate at baptism). I don't know how much it was noticeable to adults, but I definitely knew that following Jesus was a life-long commitment and was seeking to turn from sin (which in my childhood was mostly lying and pinching my brother), read my Bible, and share the gospel by the time I was baptized at 8. I'm not saying that will be the case for every child, but I think children are more capable of understanding these things than Gundersen suggests at times--especially when that child is regenerate! We are more cautious than many with our children's professions of faith--so I don't give these critiques with a mindset of rushing a child in to be baptized or assuming any profession should be taken at face-value. I agree that questioning any profession of faith is wise, not to cast doubt, but to make sure the professor truly understands what they're professing.

My biggest quibble is his statement that if a child's conscience is plaguing him to be baptized, the parents should tell him that the most important way he follows Jesus as a child is obeying his parents. This is not necessarily an untrue statement, especially if a child is in blatant unrepentant sin or doesn't understand the gospel or is being heavily influenced by peer pressure. Obviously there are instances where a child can certainly be told this! But if a child has been hearing a biblical view of baptism at home and at church, without influence or cajoling from anyone, and is feeling this way, I strongly believe it needs to be taken seriously, and the older the child, the even more seriously it needs to be taken, especially if not being baptized is cutting a child off from church membership and communion. Gundersen states elsewhere that children can't really understand a commitment that would make them have to choose between Jesus and parents, but then says that for a child, obeying the parent should always come first, regardless of conscience. It's not that there aren't times this case can be made, just that I'm uncomfortable with how black and white he made it, and there are times when a child's conscience has made me realize that I as the adult was the one who was wrong. It was just one comment, but this is a tender spot from experiences of those close to me, where it was not the parents, but the church, denying baptism based on age.


The good:
I gave this book four stars instead of three because there was still tons of good food for thought. This book is worth reading! Even if I think he overstated his case, I still agree that these are areas in which children often are different from adults, and so we should be aware of them while assessing a child's profession of faith. His chapters on what to look for to assess readiness (repentance and faith, clear profession, affection for Christ, determination to obediently follow Christ, and decisive rejection of the reign of sin) were so good, and in them he did also note that these signs will be demonstrated differently depending on age--he's not expecting children to act like adults.

Most helpful: seeing childhood as a time of teaching and training, not rushing, and with that, to move discussions about "when can I be baptized?" to focus more on knowing Jesus and following him, encouraging a child with what I do see, asking them how they see fruit in their life, and/or challenging them when there is disconnect between life and profession. This is particularly helpful when a child is professing and parents aren't quite sure if the child is ready for baptism, but it can also lead in neatly to a deeper discussion of baptism as the child is more ready.

All in all, I think I have a clearer idea of what to look for in my children's lives and have been challenged to encourage them to come to Christ even more.

[Paul Dare · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the 1994 edition. I think every Pastor should read this book. More importantly every parent. It's written more for parents than Pastors. Gundersen is challenging us to take a deep breath, step back and take it slow when we think our child may have come to faith in Christ. Be excited, but let's be careful not to rush to any conclusions. Praise God our kids are even thinking about these ultimately important things at all. But don't conclude that just because little Johnny says he thinks he has become a Christian that he necessarily is. Gundersen is graciously encouraging us to have a conversation with our children, began an ongoing discussion to see what the Spirit of God might be doing in their heart and encouraging our kids to continue to seek the face of the Lord. We should be very careful not to push them toward baptism or any kind of other outward act or commitment because there is a great risk to do things to please men or do things their friends are doing. If pushed, this could lay the foundation for them to be deceived into thinking they are a Christian when they haven't really had a work of grace in their heart.

Lest you think Gundersen is poo-pooing the possibility of children being converted, I counted at leat 9 times in this book, that he affirms his belief that children absolutely can come to faith. He emphasizes this point plenty of times throughout this short book. What he is arguing is that even though it's possible, this doesn't mean we should take just anything our children say as proof that they must be converted and should be baptized. What I really appreciate here is that Gundersen not only says what not to do (rush to baptism), he also gives some great pastoral counsel on what to do while you walk with your children through this time.

I'm all for encouraging folks who are truly converted to be baptized with the urgency of the Eunuch in Acts 8. What we don't want to do is rush our children to make an outward proclamation when we are not reasonably (never positively, since we cannot see their heart) sure that an inward change has happened first.

[Matt Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Gundersen's book Your Child's Profession of Faith is a needed book for Christian parents and pastors. The tendency in the last 70 years has been to baptize children at an extremely young age simply because they made a profession of belief in Jesus or prayed a prayer at children's camp. This book offers a helpful corrective in light of the unique challenges in affirming whether a child's profession of faith is credible (a task that the church is charged with).

To be clear, Gundersen does not say that children should not be baptized. He never gives a minimum age for when this should happen. Instead, he encourages the following of parents and pastors:

1) Direct children to Christ. It is far more important to point them to their need to trust in Jesus than to point them to a past profession of faith.
2) Parents have time. There is no reason to rush baptism and risk giving children a false confidence that God has saved them.
3) Parents should instruct children in the importance of obedience. Children should obey their parents.
4) When a child gives evidence of God's grace in their life, encourage them!
5) When a child professes faith in Christ, encourage this!
6) If and when a child wants to be baptized, ask good questions. The demands of discipleship are no less serious for children than they are for adults. While children's thoughts and confessions may be less mature and formed than that of adults (and, really, this is the point of the whole book!), Jesus still requires them to repent of their sin, forsake idols, and embrace him as Lord, etc. Good questions can help parents and pastors better assess where a child is at spiritually.

I think the book could use a better cover and the writing could certainly be improved, but there is lots of wisdom in this book.

[LAMONT D · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE REASON WHY I HAVE SUCH AN INTEREST IN THIS LITTLE BOOK OF MINE IS TWOFOLD: 1) MY VOLUNTEER WORK YEARS AGO WITH CHILD EVANGELISM FELLOWSHIP AND 2) MY OWN TESTIMONY AS A YOUNG CHILD - MY CONVERSION AND SUBSEQUENT BAPTISM AT A YOUNG AGE FOLLOWED UP BY A REDEDICATION AT AGE 18 TO CHRIST. THE AUTHOR MAKES SOME GOOD POINTS BUT I HAVE A LOT OF QUESTIONS FOR HIM AND WONDER IF THE CONTROVERSY HE IS TRYING TO ADDRESS IS UNNECESSARY IF WE DON'T WANT TO RUSH HAVING A CHILD BAPTIZED WHICH IS HIS WHOLE POINT. BUT IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC REGARDING YOUNG CHILDREN. WHY NOT PRESENT THEM THE GOSPEL AND HAVE THEM RESPOND? JESUS AFTER ALL TOLD HIS DISCIPLES TO LET THE CHILDREN COME TO HIME AND THAT WE NEED TO HUMBLE OURSELVES LIKE A CHILD.

[Mh Weyler]

This was recommended by BSF on their biannual book list. I read this short book very quickly. It was written by a pastor as he counsels parents to assess more thoroughly whether their child's profession of faith is genuine or not. I think that taken with a grain of salt, his principles were sound and all Biblical. His premise is not that young children cannot accept the Lord at an early age, but that they cannot show the real proof in spiritual fruit over an extended period of time. He fears that parents may just accept the profession or even worse, coach the child into the profession without a genuine work in the child's heart. I think most of the thoughts were ones that I already knew, and have intentionally applied, but it was still worth the read.

[Abbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on such an important topic. I especially appreciated the chapter towards the end on when your child is ready for baptism, as well as Andrew Murray’s instructional chapters copied at the end. I still feel like I have a lot to learn in this area, and pray often for God’s grace about such a weighty matter.

[Shelley Lawler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great resource. Clear answers to hard to tackle questions about baptism in the church. I really appreciated the pov of the pastor when it comes to child baptisms. And the clear examples of how to have conversations with your children to encourage them and not squash their enthusiasm about a budding but untested faith.

[Jonathan Seger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful little book. Short summary: In children, look for the same evidences of conversions that you would in an adult, and don’t make decisions in haste regarding the eternity of children’s souls.

[Dwain Minor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The topic of a child’s profession of faith is one that can deeply trouble parents and their pastors. Nobody wants to manipulate their child or give false assurance to their child. Gundersen does a very good job discussing a biblical way of thinking through this difficult topic.

[Good · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little helpful in how to lead your kids to Christ when in a Christian family. More like a flower opening. Felt like left with unanswered questions.

[Kelton Zacharias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful book for parents as they lead their children thinking about baptism.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful wisdom.

[Sela · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book sounded intriguing, given where Kahlen is at right now, so I was excited to read it. However, it fell short of my expectations. I was hoping it would be more about what a child’s faith looks like, how it differs from a child, and some questions to ask or ways to tell if your child’s profession of faith is real and lasting. While it covered these things, it was only in the last 26 of the 94 pages. The first 68 pages were spent on discussing the childness and immaturity of children. I have three of them. I didn’t really need that many pages to explain that to me. I suppose that if I didn’t have such an awesome church, which emphasizes training up our children in the way they should go, I might have found some of his discussion eye-opening, but such is not the case.

Also, his writing style seemed very cumbersome and unpolished. The thoughts were simple but the vocabulary was more complex. It did not lead to smooth reading. I had to read several sentences multiple times in order to figure out what he was trying to say.

With those things said, I really did enjoy the last three chapters. I could have skipped the rest and just read these chapters on The manifestations of faith, When your child is ready for baptism, and some concluding counsels as well as the questions for pastoral interviews with children about baptism. This part was more what I was hoping for. The main points and the scripture references were very helpful. I still felt like his writing was cumbersome, but if I just read the bolded main points and pulled out the scriptures related to the topic, then I gained something useful in my interactions with my kids, specifically my almost-6-year-old.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this product through The Old Schoolhouse Homeschool Crew in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

[M.J. Hancock · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a helpful book for parents! Every parent should stop and consider this topic, and understand where he stands on this issue in this age of "easy-believism" and "repeat a prayer after me."

This older pastor walks through the Scriptural truths relevant to the struggle every parent faces regarding their child's profession of faith. He tries to strike a balance of encouraging their child to believe, but not pushing them into a false profession and encouraging a false assurance. In my opinion, I think he errs a little on the cautious side, not even dealing with key passages like "Let the little children come." But maybe that's because he know most of his audience errs wrongly on quickly encouraging a profession. He does present some solid Scriptural arguments on the cautious side, that I had not considered before.

[Keri Murcray · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a person who was saved as a child, I was disapointed in this book. Though I can understand what the author is trying to say, I think that the main focus is about baptism rather than salvation. Though he mentioned many scriptures about children I found it glaring that he did not mention Luke 18:17 “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Yes, children may never be able to give an accurate description of the deep doctrines of the faith, but can they believe in God and be saved - I think it is absolutely possible.

[Jeremiah Richards · Rating 2 out of 5]

While providing important questions to consider, it left me with more questions than answers. Being a credo-baptist, I see now I'm stuck with the gray area of defining "profession of faith." The covenant symbol idea of baptism certainly is clean and easy to deal with. I just have to be convinced from scripture. The wisdom and principles in this book could be applied to any child of a Christian home, whether they are baptized or not, because you are dealing with affirming their identity in Christ.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful resource for thinking through how to understand a child's desire to express faith in Christ. Gunderson provides helpful and healthy cautions in giving a child assurance without necessary fruit.

[Douglas Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sad.

[Chuck Bonadies · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful and balanced approach to understanding a profession of faith from a child.

CB

[Anthony Vance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. A MUST read for every parent, preacher, and especially Pastor! A most serious subject handled here in wisdom and love.

[Kristie Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Practical and informative. This is a great read for parents to help in discerning a child's profession and in helping to nurture their faith. Love this book!