SPEAKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT GOD

PART I

Who will speak to the children about God? The question is intriguing. It may even be crucial.  In our specialist-prone society the answer is likely to be, "The Specialists will speak to the children about God." By "specialists" it is meant, the pastor, the youth minister, or one of the other staff members of our church if our church is larger.

The correct answer to the question, "Who will speak to the children about God?" is EVERYONE. And everyone means everyone. A child's peers speak to him/her about God. Even silences from significant others speak clearly about God. Maybe the question ought to be, "Are the messages my child receives about God compatible with the God in which I believe?"

A child in our community picks up a lot of messages about God. We are a community that talks a lot about Him. Unfortunately the god our child hears about from "everyone" may not be the God we believe in. The god one hears about most often in East Texas is the god of civil religion. It is difficult to distinguish between patriotism and devotion to this god.

Many of us East Texans believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Father God of Jesus the Christ. We want our children to hear about this God and we want the message to be accurate.

The most powerful "God-messages" a child receives comes from his/her home. "What if God's name is never or rarely mentioned in the home," you ask? That silence is a very strong message about the real god of that home. And then if the family occasionally attends church, it is clear to the child that the God spoken of in the church has little to do with what his/her family is really about.

One of the reasons for regular worship is to insure that the home messages we give are accurate regarding the God in whom we believe. "Specialists" (ministers, Sunday School teachers) can reinforce what the home teaches about God. It is, however, difficult when the god taught in the home is a different god from the one taught in the church. Religious schizophrenia is often the result. Adults who suffer from religious schizophrenia are easy targets for strong, authoritative cult leaders.

Who will speak to the children about God? We all do.  I suggest that you let your church reinforce what you are teaching about God in your home rather than trying to get the home to reinforce the teaching of your church.

PART II

Which was the first the religious institution established by God: ( ) Church, ( ) Synagogue, ( ) Temple, ( ) None of these. If you answered "None of these," you answered correctly. Actually THE HOME was the first religious institution established by God. Long before the giving of the Law to Moses, God established the home with the father as the priest that taught the children about God and led them in worship. The book of Job has this time as a backdrop. Job served his family as a priest: "...Job would send and sanctify them (his children), and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did continually" (Job 1:5).

The home that speaks most effectively about God manages to do so in the context of speaking to Him. When parents focus on practicing their relationship with God in the home, they are likely to do their best job of speaking about the God who is loving, caring, forgiving, and wanting the best for His creation. In some homes, worship becomes an act done to please God. It is often feels forced. It becomes rigid and wooden. When this happens, the message that comes through is that of a God who is hard, condemning, slow to forgive. If you would like for your home to be a place where children and grandchildren are spoken to effectively about God, you may find the following principles helpful.

FIRST...Recognize the opportunities and the limitations imposed by the age of the children. Younger children are not able to understand adult terminology and their attention span is shorter. They have lots of time, however, to be with you. Teens can understand more and their attention span is longer, but catching them with their busy schedules is a problem. The more you can practice your relationship with God taking into consideration the limitations and the assets presented by their ages, the more successful you will be.

SECOND...Make the most of rituals. Do not let them become meaningless ceremonies. Fill them with dynamic meaning. In stead of saying to a younger child, "Let me hear your prayers," try "I would like for us to talk together about our day and then talk to God before we go to bed. At the meal time (every family needs to sit down at the table for at least one meal together each day), don't allow the saying of grace to become a formal ritual. Something could be said like: "Before we thank God for his material blessings, let's check in with each other. Has anyone had anything especially good happen for which we need to thank God? Does anyone have a fear or problem about which the family needs to pray?" Find opportunities to use the established rituals of the family in dynamic ways.

THIRD...Look for opportunities to "walk your faith" among the family and invite the family to walk along with you---church attendance, special religious events, Bible reading, doing acts of caring for others, sharing your faith with someone.

Let your children/grandchildren observe you talking to God more than talking about God. "The real things in life are more caught than taught" (Harry Emerson Fosdick). When a parent or grandparent knows what it means to be accepted and forgiven by God and acts out that sense of redemption before children there is the greatest likelihood that authentic messages about God will get through. Don't worry about weaknesses, inconsistencies, need for forgiveness. If you practice your relationship with God, the message will get through. God knows that "...we have this treasure in earthen vessels..." (II Cor. 4:7).