by Mark Entzminger/ July 13, 2015
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.
Are we teaching them that God rewarded Abraham because he was faithful? Joseph because he was good? David because he had a pure heart? Esther because she was obedient?
If kids start to believe that the only way God can use them is if they’re perfectly obedient, they’ll spend their whole lives struggling to believe He has an important place for them in His story.
Moralism vs. Relationship
Do you know what your volunteers are teaching the kids in your ministry? I don’t want to be an alarmist, but I do want you to look at your Sunday School lessons with fresh eyes.
Are we teaching the kids in our ministry about the true character of God—His love and grace—or that the heroes of the faith were really good people who deserved God’s favor?
I encourage you to gather your leadership team and remind them to teach the meta-narrative of God’s story. Every Bible story shows an aspect of God’s purpose: to pursue the hearts of fallen people for His own glory. We need to help the children in our ministries experience God’s story by learning how each lesson they are taught on Sunday relates directly to their own lives and their own relationship with God. We do this by helping to expand their understanding of Scripture and by embracing the gospel in every story—not just learning specific virtues.
Every time kids show up at your children’s ministry, they should be reminded of the storyline of the gospel that is woven through the entire Bible.
Have you considered practical ways to share the meta-narrative of Scripture with your kids?
