Sometimes I think we're so passionate about kids "getting the truth" that we forget where that truth is supposed to go - not into a mental reservoir to be permanently stored, but to be passed on, again and again. As a result, kids take away from our teaching that we adults are extremely passionate about our Christian beliefs…and little else.
It is one thing to train up kids who profess to believe what their parents believe. It's another to have kids internalize those beliefs to the point that they can intelligently defend them. For the last three weeks we have been unpacking the theory of evolution in our 4th-6th grade class. In preparing to teach this, I know I've learned a lot. But have the kids?
In their book, "Why Nobody Learns Much of Anything in Church: And How to Fix It" (a must-read), Thom and Joanie Schultz suggest that people who teach in churches need to shift their focus from teaching to learning. It's another way of saying that in education, the student's experience - not the teacher's - is what matters. A well-taught lesson may be efficient, organized, visual, and even eloquently delivered, but in the end, it's all for nothing if a student didn't gain understanding.
Nowhere is this more true than when it comes to belief about subjects that set Christians apart from the rest of the world. Many non-Christians will grant some berth on certain articles of our faith: the existence of a historical Jesus, the possibility of miracles. But on the origin of the earth and animal species and human beings, Christians clearly hold a position that is not shared or understood and that plants them in the minority.
As a result, it's vital that we train kids to intelligently defend their beliefs - and this is not the same as teaching them to parrot back a bunch of words we've given them. Hearing kids say that evolution is "stupid" or "doesn't make any sense" may bring us momentary satisfaction ("Good, they don't believe it…"), but what effect does it have on someone who sincerely believes that animals evolved into other animals? The question we need to be asking our kids - and equipping them to answer - is why doesn't evolution make sense? "Evolution is stupid" or "because my pastor said so" or "I don't know, but I know some guy at church who really doesn't believe it" simply won't do. So, we have tried the last three weeks in class to present some clear, memorable object lessons illustrating the "holes" in evolutionary thought (ask your kid why evolution is like a brick wall).
But - the really important lesson comes this weekend, when we talk with them about how they'll respond to people who disagree. Just getting kids to possess the right information is only half the battle. The second task - and probably the harder one - is teaching them how to disagree and defend their beliefs in a way that is not confrontational or hostile, but helpful.
Let's face it: Christianity has an image problem. We've all known bulldog Christians who can shred non-believers with their apologetics. But the net effect is that they do damage to the
kingdom by playing into every negative stereotype of Christians as being narrow and argumentative. The question for us, as parents and educators, is what is the character of faith we are trying to develop? Being the salt of the earth and the light of the world is not just a matter of having the truth, but handling that truth in a way that edifies, rather than irritates or alienates, those who they share it with.
What does it look like to raise a young Christian who is bold enough to speak up when their faith is publicly questioned, even ridiculed, yet gentle enough to practice restraint and humbleness? That's a thin line to tread, and we can't train a lifetime habit in one weekend. But we can challenge them with the possibilities, encouraging them to listen, to respect, to suggest, and to question. Because at the moment they achieve an opening - with a skeptic who bends, a scoffer who's suddenly willing to listen, a cynic who softens - the student becomes a teacher, and their success at that time is the real measure of our effectiveness now.
Info, articles, and thoughts for parents of kids at North Coast Calvary Chapel.
