3 FAQs, sorta, kinda answered

Reconciling OT/NT God; Participating in communion; Kids Bibles

Hi there! Happy fake fall from Southern California. It’s…almost not 90. Today I thought it’d be fun to offer some thoughts on 3 frequent questions I hear from parents. Thoughts, not answers. Any of these takes books, ya’ll.

Scroll on to read about:

• How do I help my kid navigate the seeming difference between Old Testament God vs. New Testament God?

• Is it OK for my kid to be part of communion with me in “big church”?

• Do you have a recommendation for a kids Bible/regular Bible/ devotional?

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How do I help my kid navigate the seeming difference in Old Testament God vs New Testament God?

Here’s my starting point on this: Jesus is what God is like. So if we were taught (or caught) two versions of God, or a personality switch across the testaments, perhaps our first step is to revisit the Old Testament with Jesus-lenses on our eyes. Because yeah, it would be hard to introduce your child to the caricature OT god, if that were what God was like. But our first questions must be: are we sure that’s who God is? What God’s like? What might we not yet know about the Old Testament that could help us with this?

Second, the Old Testament is hard and it’s made harder by how much poor reading of it has seeped into what we think we know. Ya’ll know Deuteronomy is my favorite book of the Bible? I LOVE IT. One of the many reasons for that is how it helps us see the story of God forming a people in love. It echos the Genesis 1 dream of a world that works in a way that matches who God is, only now it’s a community that lives that way. (And then that gets echoed in the church—it’s a whole through line!).

That’s a far cry from what we get told about lists of rules, or mis-defined wrath, or legalism. (So much could be said on each of these 3—I’ll attempt to be brief, and you’ll know that it’s nuanced, yes?)

Rules and Legalism: The Torah, the Law, is not mainly rules to follow but a way that Israel, in their unique time and place, would live in harmony with and reflective of the character of Yahweh God. Some folks understood this vision more than others, so while there are legalistic sects, it’s far from a fair characterization.

Wrath: God gets mad. God is emotional. The question is: what makes God mad? Is it the right stuff to be mad about or is it arbitrary?

The answer is, generally, when the powerful oppress others and people suffer. Take idol worship. It’s less that God’s ego is bruised and more that the way in which idols were worshipped created suffering. (Now, I do also think God feels deep sadness when people trust idols to protect and provide for them when God’s so eager to do that. But the anger is about the pain of the people.)

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Is it OK for my kid to be part of communion with me in “big church”? I came from a church where they had to be baptized first, but now I’m not so sure that has to happen prior.

If your church has a policy on this, then this is a conversation to have with them.

But my 2 cents is that kids are invited to the table Jesus set.

I don’t expect for kids to have made a decision about Jesus before participating in communion, personally. One reason for that is that not all kids have a definitive, before/after moment. In fact, many simply grow into what it means to love and follow Jesus, and communion is a key rituals for that growth.

I do think it helps a lot if kids know the stories about that meal so they can enjoy its meaning. Without the stories, the risk that it’ll be rote, done because the grown ups are doing it, goes way up. So I’d take time to talk about the Last Supper, and also the early church’s struggle with equity and power imbalance in 1 Corinthians 11:17-34.

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Do you have a recommendation for a kids Bible/regular Bible/ devotional?

I’m going to reinterpret this one to: why is finding a kids Bible so hard?!?

This is the single most common question you ask me, and I get it. We want a kids Bible we love. Kids Bible’s give us language to start with for key faith concepts; they make stories accessible. Here’s the reason they’re so hard to find, ya’ll:

All children’s Bibles are interpreted. Stories are paraphrased. Art gets added in. All of that takes interpretation.

This is a good thing-kids need it. But then, as the adult, you need to…

• basically align with the theological interpretation (I’m so picky!)

• basically agree with which stories are selected to be included (Noah’s a no-go for me, you know that).

• find artistic representation that is reflective of the Ancient Near Eastern/north African context and mindful of inclusion overall.

And here’s the biggest thing: every kids Bible will bring their theology of sin and the atonement to the storytelling. (So while I love things about Jesus Bible Storybook, this is where we drift apart.) Doing this theological work poorly can be hard on kids. What’s more, you may not actually know how they feel about what they read and hear in that Bible, but it will shape their theology.

So! Here are two you may wish to check out. You won’t hurt my feelings if they aren’t your jam:

• The Baby Bible: Stories about Jesus (for ages 0-4)

• Celebrate Wonder by Brittany Sky (for ages 5-10)

These are affiliate links, FYI.

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Hope that all gives you some food for thought and let’s keep chatting in the comments!

Four super-quick things:

1. Next time I’m sending out the Gratitude Journey! So share this with a friend so they can get it too!

2. I co-wrote Christmas curriculum for churches this year! It’s simple, play and wonder based, and has lessons for pre-K and elementary. Because it’s menu-style, you may also like the ideas for your family, of course, but it’s designed for faith communities.

3. Speaking of churches, if your church wants to gather some folks and have a workshop on Kids + Faith, I’m booking 2023 events! Hit reply and let’s chat!

4. Ask Away, my podcast for kids about the Bible, is releasing a new episodes every other Monday. Catch up on Spotify or iTunes!

May God bless you with the courage to trust Their love. Amen.