Reducing biblical teaching down to moralistic principles is an easy trap to fall into in kids’ ministry. We want to put the gospel into terms kids can easily understand while also teaching them good behavior. But reducing the gospel to simply good behavior is a dangerous and slippery slope that can cause kids to miss the message of salvation altogether.

Ministry leaders need to grasp God’s big-picture story in order to teach kids who God really is. We are speaking to one of the first generations to be raised by biblically illiterate parents. Ideas about sin, justice, and love are no longer taught as precepts of Scripture, if they are ever taught at all. Kids don’t know Jonah from James in a time when a biblical worldview is more important than ever.

The truth of the gospel is that God loves us and pursues us in spite of ourselves, not because of ourselves. However, when it comes to the way we walk kids through the stories in Scripture, it can be easy to make it about practicing virtues or obeying the rules.