This week, by request, I am passing along a number of websites you can visit to help you stay current (that is, ahead of - if you want celebrity news, read People) on what's "out there" for kids to see and hear.
My niece, soon to be 3, sings this song she picked up at church: "Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see - Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see - For the Father up above is looking down in love - Oh be careful, little eyes, what you see." Of course, no three-year-old understands what that really means, how to train their eyes to shield their minds from harmful things. Instead, three-year-olds notice everything (fortunately, they don't comprehend it all). So her parents get the job of discerning what Molly's "little eyes" see, particularly during the times when her attention is captivated by electronic media.
Parents and other caregivers should be concerned about what is being taken in by their kids when they sit in front of screens - movie screens, TV screens, and computer screens. Not alarmed - concerned, as in, taking ownership of responsibility: "What my kids see is my concern." At a young age, there is a very real danger of screen media consumption stunting brain development. But for kids who are a little older (and even big people!), we are still right to be vigilant about what is being watched, because of its enduring impact.
Remember that every movie, song, show, poem, or whatever, contains a message. The message is bigger than the individual words spoken or images shown. The message is a statement about things that are real, true, beautiful, valuable, and so on. It is the message communicated through a piece of media that leaves an imprint, and that should concern us most. What are shows, movies, and music teaching our kids about family life, about honorable character qualities, about attitudes worth emulating, about who is good, about the meaning of life? What general view of the world is being communicated - safe? scary? basically having its act together? broken and in need of redemption? What, in short, is the "take away" from what they've seen and heard?
I'm now going to suggest a profound way to know: Ask Them! Develop the habit of asking one simple follow up question, the goal of which is to unearth the message as it was perceived by your child. The question is, "What did you learn about ___________ from that movie?" (or TV show, or CD, etc.) This is important: kids take away lots of different messages after they've sat through a presentation. Trust me - I know! Oftentimes what you intend for them to "get" is not what sunk in and stuck. So you have to ask the question, or you will end up trying to fight a problem that isn't there or remedy a misunderstanding that doesn't exist or you will miss the wrong impression that was formed.
Once you know, you begin to combat or confront these misperceptions. One Christian author, who I can't recall, plays "Spot the Lie" with his kids, where they watch a show or movie together and try to identify the lie that is perpetuated. Sometimes your response needs to be to ensure that the message stops getting through - that there is no reinforcement of the false idea. That's where the websites I suggest can help, because they give you heads up on content.
But make no mistake - it is ideas, not instances, that are far more dangerous to kids in terms of their lasting impact. Remember the Superbowl halftime show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake and the "wardrobe malfunction", the partial nudity broadcast live to the world? I was doing high school ministry at the time and watched that game in the company of about a dozen high school boys. What was striking to me is that few of them were even paying attention - they were eating, wrestling, visiting - and that those who "saw it" were as confused as the rest of us, sort of like a "what just happened?" response. And then, it was over. Only it wasn't. More than four years later, the $550,000 indecency fine on CBS is still being fought over in court. Meanwhile, teens were regularly gathering between 2003 and 2007 to watch "The O.C." on Fox - a truly horrible show in terms of the message it communicated, but which never drew indecency fines and was never condemned in the way the halftime show was, apparently because they steered clear of exposing a breast for three seconds. Ridiculous. (And don't forget MTV's follow-up, "The Real O.C.", which was a reality-based series, further ensuring your kids that teenage TV life constitutes normal.)
It's been said that "art imitates life". But I'm not so sure. I think much of what is created for screens, that is necessarily dramatic and graphic and eye-catching and of course edited to 44 minutes, is a crude construction of reality - and it leaves behind a version of life that we, in turn, imitate. California has long been a cauldron of national culture. But now the nation is shrinking. What is broadcast via MTV and E! and even Disney is quickly and eagerly absorbed by the rest of the country, and then copied. We are creatures of habit and creatures of imitation. We learn to dress, talk, and react based on what we see. Don't underestimate the modeling influence that television and movie characters have. Raise your sights above the particular words they speak - those are the details - and discern the broader picture that is painted. Is it edifying? Is it admirable? Is it true?
I would urge you to use the websites below not primarily as a means of censorship, but to raise your own awareness, and, as with any resource I recommend, to equip you to open a dialogue with your kids about what they're watching. Don't assume that just because the only movies your kids watch are PG or free of offensive language they are free from the negative effects of media. Use television shows and movies to help kids understand the world. Learning and growth doesn't happen by keeping kids in the dark. It comes by processing through with them, at age-appropriate times, the issues of life.
Where to Find Info on Movies
Christian Film Producers
www.christianmovies.com
www.christianfilms.com
www.christiancinema.com
Reviews/Content Advisories:
Focus on the Family is at www.pluggedinonline.com
Also, the Internet Movie Database has a “Content Advisory for Parents” (under Additional Details) for most films: www.imbd.com
Dove Foundation gives its “seal of approval” to movies that meet its criteria. This tends to be more thematic-based than content-based (in other words, one or two swear words won’t automatically disqualify a movie if it has a wholesome message): www.dove.org
Dove’s reviews are here: www.christiancinema.com
Hollywood Jesus: www.hollywoodjesus.com
And: www.christianitytoday.com/movies
Another review site is www.screenit.com but it’s a subscription service. With all the free ones, why would you pay? I guess there’s no way to know until you actually put down the money.
Teaching Guides
www.teachwithmovies.org is a subscription site, $12/year for unlimited learning guides based on 285 movies.
http://www.christiancritic.com has some study guides as well as movie synopses
http://www.connieneal.com/discussion.htm TONS of questions meant to help kids explore spiritual themes and discuss the content of Harry Potter
Here are some discussion activities that can be used with clips of movies (if you don’t have time or don’t want to show the whole thing): www.thesource4ym.com/videoclips/
Info, articles, and thoughts for parents of kids at North Coast Calvary Chapel.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
A Moving Target?
In another week, I'll make my first face-to-face meeting with a dozen other children's ministry professionals who have embarked on an educational journey together. We are all members of a cohort assembled by Bethel Seminary-San Diego, in pursuit of not only our master's degrees, but I'd like to think some truly innovative ideas about how to minister to kids better.
Anytime I have the chance to interface with others who think about and practice children's ministry, it provokes introspection - both healthy and overly critical, I suppose. But just when I think I have this monster called ministry figured out, I encounter something that throws me for a loop or makes me wonder if the "progress" we're making with kids is really what it seems to be.
Anytime I have the chance to interface with others who think about and practice children's ministry, it provokes introspection - both healthy and overly critical, I suppose. But just when I think I have this monster called ministry figured out, I encounter something that throws me for a loop or makes me wonder if the "progress" we're making with kids is really what it seems to be.
Our program naturally involves a lot of reading about ministry models and the assessment of spiritual progress, and every book is a humbling reminder that there is more than one way to skin this cat, but also provokes a reassessment of what we are working towards. Frankly, there are a lot of opinions about the ultimate goal of children's ministry, and not all of them complement each other, and not all of them are correct. By "ultimate goal" I mean what we hope to see in kids at the end of all of our efforts, not the week-to-week goals (a smooth running program), year-to-year goals (that participation will build), community building goals (that kids will make friends), or instructional goals (that kids will learn X, Y, and Z).
It's become fashionable and strategic recently for children's ministries (like churches) to develop mission statements. In our ministry, we have one too: our passion is to have the biggest dreams, the best discipleship, and the most care. But language is limiting. What does that mean? Absent constant clarification and re-explanation, those just become words on a page. Now, there's some truth to the observation that you can tell a ministry's values simply by observing what it does - and that's why we've also developed these values and distinctives. They are our guideposts to define the boundaries. If, in delivering ministry, we stay within those markers, it should keep us on course for the ultimate goal. But what is that? If the ultimate objective remains fuzzy, then assessment becomes really difficult.
How many times to we hear of churches that want to turn people into "fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ"? Or who encourage kids to "follow Christ" or "live in obedience to God" or "develop a biblical worldview"? Yet each of those descriptors, while partially helpful, fail to capture the totality of what we would hope for our kids. On the other hand, it's easy to get hooked on specific outward behaviors - do they speak, act, dress, or comport themselves as a Christian should? - when in reality, Christian maturity and growth is more than the sum of its parts. A vital, growing Christian is not just the accumulation of a set of behaviors.
The other limiting factor is that no ministry undertaking meets the ultimate goal perfectly. Small groups, retreats, music, midweek programs - all of them establish supports for kids' spiritual growth, but none is "just" what kids need in their entirety. That's why I put little stock in any approach to child development, parenting, or ministry that involves the word "just". We are sometimes told that you "just need to teach kids to respect their parents" or "just give kids consequences" or that kids "just need to learn responsibility" or "just need to spend time with their parents." We "just need to listen" to this speaker or "just read this book". The answer is never to "just" do this or that because ministry happens among people and people are organic and constantly changing. Thus, the lesson I used six months ago that went over like gangbusters may not work in another three years. (In fact, sometimes what work on a Saturday night bombs the next morning!) Camp experiences are singular and won't minister to everyone in the same way. Evangelistic crusades bring some to conversion and spiritual decisions, but not everyone.
So the target may, in fact, appear to be moving. But in reality, I think it's not dissimilar to the re-aiming that happens anytime you shoot an arrow. Because regardless of how good the last shot was, or how good it felt, you have to lower the bow, re-focus, and calmly take another shot. There is no such thing as "merely" repeating what was done before.
Above all, we need to acknowledge that spiritual growth doesn't exactly happen because of what we (parents and churches) do to a kid; rather, when spiritual growth is happening, it's the work of God in a life. Sometimes our best work is to notice and come alongside the process that's already happening, and to be patient with that process. Exhorting kids to diligent human effort is giving them religion. But a spiritual life is just that - a life. It is dynamic and changing, and implies a transcendent relationship with a higher power, with kids reaching out to God and God reaching out to them, and the change that happens in kids as a result of that.
How do we keep after this elusive target? We need to try different things. We need to operate on many fronts. We need to be working to build the greater Christian community so that kids are fortified in every environment - in their homes, among school friends, in their neighborhoods, on their teams, and of course, at their churches. We need to be sensitive to kids' questions and listen to their insights. We need to make conversation about spiritual things as natural as talking about what we saw on TV or YouTube yesterday. And we must be willing to constantly revisit and reframe the goal, lest we fall into a pattern of "just" doing this or that. What a shame if kids spent 18 years under our diligent watch, only to come away no personal relationship with God, no sense of his calling on their lives, no desire to know him, no real understanding of how he works. What if, at the end of all we've done, our kids don't need God? Will we be ok with that?
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Questions from Kids
What do kids think about? What do they believe? What motivates them?
Kids are tough nuts to crack sometimes. Maybe they don't believe we'll take them seriously, or maybe they think their questions are silly or unimportant, or maybe they think they have something about the world figured out that they don't. And sometimes they just aren't articulate enough or don't have the right emotional language to express what they're feeling and where they're stuck.
If you believe as I do that great teaching answers the questions kids are already asking, then it's important that we know where kids are coming from, that we give them a space to think and ask questions without being judged, and that we pay attention to what they're asking. Because the question they ask isn't always the real question, as evidenced by the questions we've been collecting over the last few weeks.
We've invited kids to write out questions that really trouble them and submit them anonymously, with the added provision that if they want a personal response they can leave their e-mail address or phone number. Here are just some of the questions:
What conclusions, if any, can we draw from questions like these? Several, I think:
1. Kids are curious about existential realities, like Where did God come from? and Why did he create the earth? Their minds are trying to get hold of abstract ideas like eternity and substance.
2. Kids are starting to face the question of evil: if God is good and loving, why is there evil in the world? This is a major stumbling block for people of faith. As one who is now working his way through the book, The Shack, I am well aware that just as personal circumstances can cause different people to approach this question differently, the same circumstances mean people will answer the question differently, too.
3. Pre-teen kids are perceptive to things they've heard or read in their Bibles that don't exactly make sense. For instance, the question about God going down into hell - as a kid, I was forced to memorize the Apostle's Creed and the line about Jesus "descend[ing] into hell...on the third day he rose again", and so I just sort of accepted it as true without really thinking about where we got that belief and why it was significant. I don't think a question like that reflects doubt, but a desire to reconcile what seems not to make much sense.
4. Related to that, kids are curious as to why God has acted in the way he has. Most kids will accept at face value a statement like, "God is all-powerful", because I said it and I'm an adult and they trust me. But the working out of that belief takes some wrestling: Why is there still sin? Why is there Satan? Why does God let a bad thing happen?
5. Kids have a desire and a need to understand what motivates other people, and how they think. How can people adhere to other religions? Why would they be angry at Christians or ban the religion altogether? We ignore discussing these things at our peril. Kids of this age are beginning to understand that the world doesn't revolve around them and their needs and that the world is full of differences, some God-ordained, some that are the result of sinful choices. When kids meet others with different spiritual convictions but who are still "good people", there is some dissonance that happens. Kids need an organizing structure for seeing the world, particularly when encountering people who think and believe differently than they do.
6. Kids by and large are not crying out for character or life-skill instruction. Their questions are deep and meaningful.
And not easily answerable. But they present a huge opportunity, because oftentimes the question that gets asked isn't the one that needs to be answered. Instead, if you can re-frame someone's understanding of the world - who God is, how he interacts with mankind, what our obligations are towards one another - the questions answer themselves.
This will be a great journey, and I invite you to follow it at our newest blog site, http://surgenotes.blogspot.com, where outlines of all the weekend messages will be posted from now on.
Kids are tough nuts to crack sometimes. Maybe they don't believe we'll take them seriously, or maybe they think their questions are silly or unimportant, or maybe they think they have something about the world figured out that they don't. And sometimes they just aren't articulate enough or don't have the right emotional language to express what they're feeling and where they're stuck.
If you believe as I do that great teaching answers the questions kids are already asking, then it's important that we know where kids are coming from, that we give them a space to think and ask questions without being judged, and that we pay attention to what they're asking. Because the question they ask isn't always the real question, as evidenced by the questions we've been collecting over the last few weeks.
We've invited kids to write out questions that really trouble them and submit them anonymously, with the added provision that if they want a personal response they can leave their e-mail address or phone number. Here are just some of the questions:
- Do animals go to heaven?
- How do you know Jesus is real?
- Is it wrong to comfort your friends when they did something wrong, but they're sorry?
- Who created hell?
- Why can't God destroy Satan and sin?
- Is Satan a person/who created him?
- Who are God's angels and who created them? Who are the devil's demons and who created them?
- Can God still talk to us?
- Why do people get depressed?
- Do dogs and cats and dinosaurs go to heaven?
- What is forever?
- What is it like in heaven?
- Why did God choose Mary to have Jesus?
- Why did God go to hell?
- I once read in the Bible: Temptation is not a sin. If it was, Jesus would have sinned. What does that mean?
- What does it mean exactly to fear God?
- How can I get a friend that is cool and popular that I am nervous to talk to?
- Why is Jesus Christ outlawed in other countries?
- Who causes people to sin?
- Why does God allow evil things on earth?
What conclusions, if any, can we draw from questions like these? Several, I think:
1. Kids are curious about existential realities, like Where did God come from? and Why did he create the earth? Their minds are trying to get hold of abstract ideas like eternity and substance.
2. Kids are starting to face the question of evil: if God is good and loving, why is there evil in the world? This is a major stumbling block for people of faith. As one who is now working his way through the book, The Shack, I am well aware that just as personal circumstances can cause different people to approach this question differently, the same circumstances mean people will answer the question differently, too.
3. Pre-teen kids are perceptive to things they've heard or read in their Bibles that don't exactly make sense. For instance, the question about God going down into hell - as a kid, I was forced to memorize the Apostle's Creed and the line about Jesus "descend[ing] into hell...on the third day he rose again", and so I just sort of accepted it as true without really thinking about where we got that belief and why it was significant. I don't think a question like that reflects doubt, but a desire to reconcile what seems not to make much sense.
4. Related to that, kids are curious as to why God has acted in the way he has. Most kids will accept at face value a statement like, "God is all-powerful", because I said it and I'm an adult and they trust me. But the working out of that belief takes some wrestling: Why is there still sin? Why is there Satan? Why does God let a bad thing happen?
5. Kids have a desire and a need to understand what motivates other people, and how they think. How can people adhere to other religions? Why would they be angry at Christians or ban the religion altogether? We ignore discussing these things at our peril. Kids of this age are beginning to understand that the world doesn't revolve around them and their needs and that the world is full of differences, some God-ordained, some that are the result of sinful choices. When kids meet others with different spiritual convictions but who are still "good people", there is some dissonance that happens. Kids need an organizing structure for seeing the world, particularly when encountering people who think and believe differently than they do.
6. Kids by and large are not crying out for character or life-skill instruction. Their questions are deep and meaningful.
And not easily answerable. But they present a huge opportunity, because oftentimes the question that gets asked isn't the one that needs to be answered. Instead, if you can re-frame someone's understanding of the world - who God is, how he interacts with mankind, what our obligations are towards one another - the questions answer themselves.
This will be a great journey, and I invite you to follow it at our newest blog site, http://surgenotes.blogspot.com, where outlines of all the weekend messages will be posted from now on.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Music, kids, and worship
Music plays a prominent role in our classroom. I love the energy that builds as kids and leaders join with one voice, as they move together, as they smile and laugh and shout and celebrate. And because of this, I'm always on the lookout (or maybe, "listenout"?) for the song that'll be the next big hit in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. I've imported songs I learned in Egypt and China, songs from camps, songs I remember from grade school, and even penned a few of my own. Kids naturally go for something raucous. Repetitive is good - fewer words to learn - and easy-to-remember movements help them engage, too.
But is all this worship? Yes. And no.
There is a growing segment of sincere people in children's and youth ministry who would say that we ought to be steering kids away from the high-energy, the simple, and even the silly, because it's not worship. To them, learning to stand quietly, to focus your attention, to close your eyes or lift your hands - these are the things we should be teaching students in order to usher them into God's presence during worship time. Dancing, shouting, "I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N" - these are distractions, they say, and are actually impediments to kids experiencing God in church.
So where do we go with this? Should Sunday Schools and youth groups jettison "I've Got a River of Life" in favor of the more contemporary, contemplative, or theologically rich material that one would find in adult worship services? In short, have we dumbed-down worship instead of holding up a high standard, and are all the "fun songs" really doing kids a disservice?
I have to say no. I think songs that invite participation are of great value in ministry, that they are not "not worship", and that kids learn and benefit plenty from them. Here's why:
1. Worship is more than just singing. Any adult worship leader or pastor will tell you that teaching people about worship (and this often starts with the musicians they oversee) means taking them beyond the idea that "worship"="the music part of the service." The Church needs its understanding of the concept of worship expanded. We are teaching kids how to worship when we teach them about giving, or when we teach them to serve, or how to spend time alone with God. It's wrong to compartmentalize.
2. Beware outward appearances. Related to this, worship leaders are not choir directors. Our job is not necessarily to elicit loud singing. Nor hands in the air. Nor any other outward posture of worship. John Piper, speaking of youth ministries, once noted, "You can get hands in the air in a minute with the right crescendo." A worship leader's work is part of the larger work of the church to get hearers to give it all to God - in other words, discipleship.
3. Music provides one more pathway to the brain. Words set to music are more likely to be repeated outside of class (which is how I know we've done our jobs), and more likely to be considered and pondered over…which is the very reflection that needs to happen if kids are going to internalize new ideas. I can give a toy for memorizing John 14:6, and the verse will probably be forgotten soon after the trinket is in hand; or, I can embed "I am the way, the truth, and the life" in a song, and it's likely to be rehearsed over and over without any outside coercion needed on my part.
4. Music has huge affective appeal. We forget that much of what is "learned" in church is not what is said by us, but what is felt by them. This is certainly true of adults, who are drawn to or repelled by churches for any number of factors relating to the church's aesthetics or their own experience (too big/too small, too warm or cold in the sanctuary, too loud/not loud enough, music too stodgy/too edgy, people friendly/unfriendly, parking easy/difficult). Why wouldn't it be true for kids? Kids form all kinds of attitudes about church - and God - from their experience there. These are attitudes we can't teach, but we can influence. When we insist on making them sing songs that have words they don't understand (such as hymns) or that are written by an adult about an adult's mature spiritual relationship with Christ, that's a real turn off to kids. It suggests that they are a problem and need to change in order to fit in at church. We don't need to compromise - ever - the truths of the faith, but we can package them in music that is attractive to kids. That's just smart ministry. Maybe one day they'll grow to like "our" music - but maybe not. That shouldn't be our goal.
5. Singing together loudly (and moving together) is a corporate experience. I've seen many boys who are image-conscious let loose during worship time because there's safety in numbers. It only takes a handful to stubbornly remain seated and the energy of the whole room evaporates. But conversely, it only takes a few responsive boys and girls and suddenly everyone's into it. And a kid thinks, "Hey! I'm a small part of something really big and exciting here!" - which mimics a pretty healthy Christian worldview, doesn't it? By making worship times that are fun, memorable, and even sometimes goofy, we get a chance to lift kids out of their own skin. So much of adult worship these days is moody and introspective. I need that, sometimes. But worship (as noted above) isn't all about me. It isn't a prayer-therapy session set to music. It's a call to abandon self and take up the cause of Christ. Some of the people who have their eyes closed during worship actually need to open them and become aware of the body that they're a part of.
A classroom without music is a pretty joyless place. What a shame though, if we start to see Sunday school classrooms with music that are joyless. Insisting on a particular style or posture for worship robs kids of the bigger vision of worship that we in churches need to be cultivating from birth - that God is really big, really exciting, really wonderful, and really worth our energy to celebrate him, no matter how the song is written.
But is all this worship? Yes. And no.
There is a growing segment of sincere people in children's and youth ministry who would say that we ought to be steering kids away from the high-energy, the simple, and even the silly, because it's not worship. To them, learning to stand quietly, to focus your attention, to close your eyes or lift your hands - these are the things we should be teaching students in order to usher them into God's presence during worship time. Dancing, shouting, "I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N" - these are distractions, they say, and are actually impediments to kids experiencing God in church.
So where do we go with this? Should Sunday Schools and youth groups jettison "I've Got a River of Life" in favor of the more contemporary, contemplative, or theologically rich material that one would find in adult worship services? In short, have we dumbed-down worship instead of holding up a high standard, and are all the "fun songs" really doing kids a disservice?
I have to say no. I think songs that invite participation are of great value in ministry, that they are not "not worship", and that kids learn and benefit plenty from them. Here's why:
1. Worship is more than just singing. Any adult worship leader or pastor will tell you that teaching people about worship (and this often starts with the musicians they oversee) means taking them beyond the idea that "worship"="the music part of the service." The Church needs its understanding of the concept of worship expanded. We are teaching kids how to worship when we teach them about giving, or when we teach them to serve, or how to spend time alone with God. It's wrong to compartmentalize.
2. Beware outward appearances. Related to this, worship leaders are not choir directors. Our job is not necessarily to elicit loud singing. Nor hands in the air. Nor any other outward posture of worship. John Piper, speaking of youth ministries, once noted, "You can get hands in the air in a minute with the right crescendo." A worship leader's work is part of the larger work of the church to get hearers to give it all to God - in other words, discipleship.
3. Music provides one more pathway to the brain. Words set to music are more likely to be repeated outside of class (which is how I know we've done our jobs), and more likely to be considered and pondered over…which is the very reflection that needs to happen if kids are going to internalize new ideas. I can give a toy for memorizing John 14:6, and the verse will probably be forgotten soon after the trinket is in hand; or, I can embed "I am the way, the truth, and the life" in a song, and it's likely to be rehearsed over and over without any outside coercion needed on my part.
4. Music has huge affective appeal. We forget that much of what is "learned" in church is not what is said by us, but what is felt by them. This is certainly true of adults, who are drawn to or repelled by churches for any number of factors relating to the church's aesthetics or their own experience (too big/too small, too warm or cold in the sanctuary, too loud/not loud enough, music too stodgy/too edgy, people friendly/unfriendly, parking easy/difficult). Why wouldn't it be true for kids? Kids form all kinds of attitudes about church - and God - from their experience there. These are attitudes we can't teach, but we can influence. When we insist on making them sing songs that have words they don't understand (such as hymns) or that are written by an adult about an adult's mature spiritual relationship with Christ, that's a real turn off to kids. It suggests that they are a problem and need to change in order to fit in at church. We don't need to compromise - ever - the truths of the faith, but we can package them in music that is attractive to kids. That's just smart ministry. Maybe one day they'll grow to like "our" music - but maybe not. That shouldn't be our goal.
5. Singing together loudly (and moving together) is a corporate experience. I've seen many boys who are image-conscious let loose during worship time because there's safety in numbers. It only takes a handful to stubbornly remain seated and the energy of the whole room evaporates. But conversely, it only takes a few responsive boys and girls and suddenly everyone's into it. And a kid thinks, "Hey! I'm a small part of something really big and exciting here!" - which mimics a pretty healthy Christian worldview, doesn't it? By making worship times that are fun, memorable, and even sometimes goofy, we get a chance to lift kids out of their own skin. So much of adult worship these days is moody and introspective. I need that, sometimes. But worship (as noted above) isn't all about me. It isn't a prayer-therapy session set to music. It's a call to abandon self and take up the cause of Christ. Some of the people who have their eyes closed during worship actually need to open them and become aware of the body that they're a part of.
A classroom without music is a pretty joyless place. What a shame though, if we start to see Sunday school classrooms with music that are joyless. Insisting on a particular style or posture for worship robs kids of the bigger vision of worship that we in churches need to be cultivating from birth - that God is really big, really exciting, really wonderful, and really worth our energy to celebrate him, no matter how the song is written.
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