I was chatting to someone in the summer about shopping for clothes. (A favourite subject for us girls!) She'd been spending her birthday money in Next and Gap, and was dressed head-to-toe in her new purchases. Even her bag was new (and seriously gorgeous!). But before you blokes switch off completely from this exceptionally girly blog, let me point out the sting in the tail. The girl I was chatting to was six - and the birthday money from her Granny was £150.
This same girl - a regular member of a Sunday morning church group - has recently told her leaders that she no longer believes in God. I can't help wondering if the two are connected. When a six-year-old girl is given £150 to spend on clothes, what 'need' does she have of God? When she comes from a loving family, has a full network of friends, and is in the top section of her class at school, how is she to understand that she is actually helpless and hopeless unless she puts her trust in Jesus?
Those of us who work with younger children constantly face this challenge - how do we help children to understand spiritual truth in concrete terms they can relate to? Especially when the culture that surrounds them seems to show, in such tangible ways, the exact opposite. Yes, we need to teach God's Word faithfully. Yes, we need to put the time into finding ways to illustrate God's truth that will be clear and understandable to those we teach. But, whatever age we work with, we cannot change a young person's heart. So we also need to pray for the Holy Spirit to open up their hearts to their real need, and to open their eyes to see beyond the culture that surrounds them.
2 comments:
I agree, particularly in a society that faintly deifies children.
I'm well out of my depth even thinking about teaching 6 year olds.
However, I was thinking about appropriate spiritual development for children and young people, with a small group of people who are doing the OBI youth and children’s module. I wouldn’t know how to do it with out tears being involved, and without getting some “interesting parental input”, but when is it appropriate to think about eternity? That is where society runs out of steam.
I think you're right that 'society runs out of steam' on the topic of eternity. When we did some training on 'Heaven & Hell' at a Big Issue series a couple of years ago, we looked at how you talk to young children about what happens after death. All too often they are given a blanket reassurance that Granny/Grandpa/the pet rabbit are now happy in heaven, without any biblical basis for saying this. The principle we adopted was this: you move from what you don't know to what you do know. For example, if you don't know if Granny was a believer: 'I don't know exactly where Granny is now - but I do know how you can be sure that you will be with Jesus when you die.' One leader in my session also came up with this: 'You can be sure that wherever Grandpa is right now, the things he most wants for you is to know that you will be safe with Jesus when you die.'
Post a Comment