Within Kyodan churches, there is a strong trend in age
distribution towards the elderly, and so within this context,
the issue of “passing on the faith” becomes even more
important. If the present trend continues at the same pace,
within ten years the membership will decline by about half,
and the ability of the church to be in mission will radically
decrease. So what is the solution to this dilemma? How
can we pass on the faith to the next generation? I think that
one effective method is to promote the practice of infant
baptism.
“Passing on the faith” is fundamentally different from
passing on one’s property or money to one’s children. After
all, religious faith is a spiritual and mental thing —an issue
of the heart. One enters the faith by first encountering the
living Christ, placing one’s trust in him as savior, and then
living one’s life in view of that. So it is not something we
can inherit from our parents in the same way we can inherit
property. The only thing that parents can do is to pray for
their child to encounter the Lord Christ through his Word,
and that must not just be through lifting verbal prayers
alone but also through taking practical steps, such as
having that child baptized as a witness towards their future.
From its inception, the rite of baptism has been a spiritual
matter, symbolizing the receiving of eternal life as the
person who has accepted Christ as Savior receives the
blessings of the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
From ancient times, this has been a solemn ceremony in
which the person confesses his or her sins and receives the
Lord’s forgiveness, and it was something that only persons
who confessed Christ as their Lord and Savior received
within the context of the church. However, when it came
to infant baptism, since small children could not do that
yet of their own accord, parents who had received baptism
themselves and were living a life of faith could stand in
place of their children to confess Christ on their behalf to
become members of the Body of Christ, the Church. This
practice was backed by the doctrine of “prevenient grace.”
Thus, the important and glorious task of raising that
child up to be a person of faith in their own right begins
as the parents, who have had their child baptized, work
together with the church that has received that child into
its fellowship. It is for this reason that the catechism was
developed, to serve as a means of faith education by which
the parents and the church community pray together and
work towards that goal from that child’s infancy. The
catechism is a powerful tool in faith education, and so the
Japanese church and laity need to become serious about
educating their children to take on the mantle of Christian
faith.
Parents who, with the concept of “freedom of religion,”
choose to let their children simply decide for themselves
when they become adults, often end up allowing them to
pass through their adolescent years idly, without sufficient
guidance. This should not be, and so as the people of God
joyously living out their faith throughout their earthly
journey, they should work together and pray to pass on
that most precious treasure of Christian faith to the next
generation of children and grandchildren. I am confident
that the Kyodan has a bright future if we increase the
numbers of children receiving baptism and if the church
puts its emphasis on faith education. (Tr. TB)
—Naito Tomeyuki, general secretary