My 4-year-old kid will never see the inside of a Christian school, because of stuff like this. And if any family member takes them to a church and this is said to her in any form, she won't be going anymore.
There's a lot of joy that was robbed of me growing up because I had this shit floating around in my environment, and I'm still recovering. I don't want that for my child.
Excellent response! I hope she sees this and listens to your wise feedback.
A little over a year ago, when my son was 4 years old, he had something like this said to him and we are still trying to help him recover. He’s said numerous times that God can’t love him because he is a sinner, and comments like this filled him with such shame. I hope people take your feedback in this post seriously to avoid hurting kids faith in the future.
I'm sorry that happened to him. You didn't ask, but it may help to keep telling him stories of God coming close to sin/sinners. The ones that show more overtly how God comes close in love.
The flippant and mic-drop stuff that is said to kids… and they have no idea the ripple effects of this and how much harm it can cause years layer. I give EMDR therapy for religious trauma and sometimes it’s because a 4th grade Sunday school teacher said stuff like this. Never say anything about Jesus that could show up in your child’s trauma therapy in 20-30 years!
So much bad theology being unleashed on children. Always breaks my heart.
I’m always very intentional about explaining Easter and the connection to joy. Yes egg hunts, candy, Easter meals with family. The Resurrection of Jesus is the triumph of love. Love wins! Children deserve to take joy in that victory.
As for sin and suffering, they are part of human existence. Not an earned punishment, but rather something so terrible that Jesus lived among us to experience human trauma so none of us would ever have to suffer those things alone again. Jesus does draw near in love not wrath.
I’ve been teaching these messages for 33 years now and I clearly have to keep going because the broader church is still so careless with children.
Similar to this piece, your previous writing on Easter helped me advocate for new verbiage in children's church and at our version of VBS. So thankful for your commitment to engage the world of our kids.
Delivery is everything, and certainly should be kept in mind when teaching children theology. Questioning is a great method.
I think an important question to ask children is: Why is the Gospel GOOD news? If we’re teaching our kids the whole of God’s word, the natural answers that flow should include both the reality of the consequences of sin (namely death and separation from God our Maker… BAD news) AND the great news of the free gift of salvation from those things. Salvation that we have in Christ by grace through faith. Death should never be the conclusion, but it also shouldn’t be left out of the conversation.
Jesus absolutely had a heart for children, and neglecting to teach them the whole of his word would be to neglect the warning of Matthew 18:6. Jackie could have delivered it better, but in its essence, her theology came straight from the Bible and just needed to be brought together in a more thoughtful way.
Kids deserve good answers to hard biblical questions, which means they need to understand both God’s wrath AND his goodness. Both his judgement AND his grace. We must walk the line between being gentle with their hearts, minds, and souls, and also teaching them to love and understand all of God’s word… even the harder parts.
The reality is, the words of scripture are not exclusive to adults. Jesus LOVES children and the promises he makes are for them as much as us. That includes promises like 2 Chronicles 7:14 and 1 John 1:9. The gift of salvation is as much for them as for us. What a gift it is to a child to trust in their early age that they can rely on God to receive forgiveness from AND put off sin. That they don’t need to live burdened or in fear, but can live in full freedom because of the mighty work of Christ.
Might we learn to present the Gospel story to them winsomely, but faithfully, that they may never depart from it.
Can't say I co-sign wholesale, but kids can always tell when you're winging it and folks who have spent years ministering to children can tell when you're winking at the adult audience but talking to children. Tough video to watch.
Ugh that was rough. Jesus didn’t tell children they were sinners or to repent. He just held them, blessed them, and welcomed them. The kids will understand their own need for forgiveness when they’re older. There’s enough shame in this world, we need to start them on a solid foundation of love and acceptance!
A 'friend' of mine once posted that when her foster child says that he's bad she says 'yes, you are we are all sinners...' (insert explanation about Jesus whatever) and I have never gotten over the fact that a licensed therapist would do this to a foster child even if she thought she was injecting nuance and 'but Jesus loves you anyway.'
The parent and inner child in me is grieved and angered to see children spoken to in this way (the content and the talking down to!) Thank you for this corrective perspective. Kids deserve so much better.
Thank you! Even tho I grew up in it I still don’t get the evangelical flex of it being important to convince kids they are bad and deserve bad things and that enjoying what’s good is bad.
My 4-year-old kid will never see the inside of a Christian school, because of stuff like this. And if any family member takes them to a church and this is said to her in any form, she won't be going anymore.
There's a lot of joy that was robbed of me growing up because I had this shit floating around in my environment, and I'm still recovering. I don't want that for my child.
It’s important protection you’re offering. Because, yes, no one deserves to miss out on God’s joy and delight in them.
"There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." Thank you 🙏🏻
Excellent response! I hope she sees this and listens to your wise feedback.
A little over a year ago, when my son was 4 years old, he had something like this said to him and we are still trying to help him recover. He’s said numerous times that God can’t love him because he is a sinner, and comments like this filled him with such shame. I hope people take your feedback in this post seriously to avoid hurting kids faith in the future.
I'm sorry that happened to him. You didn't ask, but it may help to keep telling him stories of God coming close to sin/sinners. The ones that show more overtly how God comes close in love.
My son had a similar experience at age four. Something he heard at a VBS that I was assured would be safe. Hang in there!
The flippant and mic-drop stuff that is said to kids… and they have no idea the ripple effects of this and how much harm it can cause years layer. I give EMDR therapy for religious trauma and sometimes it’s because a 4th grade Sunday school teacher said stuff like this. Never say anything about Jesus that could show up in your child’s trauma therapy in 20-30 years!
So much bad theology being unleashed on children. Always breaks my heart.
I’m always very intentional about explaining Easter and the connection to joy. Yes egg hunts, candy, Easter meals with family. The Resurrection of Jesus is the triumph of love. Love wins! Children deserve to take joy in that victory.
As for sin and suffering, they are part of human existence. Not an earned punishment, but rather something so terrible that Jesus lived among us to experience human trauma so none of us would ever have to suffer those things alone again. Jesus does draw near in love not wrath.
I’ve been teaching these messages for 33 years now and I clearly have to keep going because the broader church is still so careless with children.
Similar to this piece, your previous writing on Easter helped me advocate for new verbiage in children's church and at our version of VBS. So thankful for your commitment to engage the world of our kids.
Yes. This all needed to be said. Somehow my inner child was healed a bit reading this. 🥲
You deserved intentionality and care when you were introduced to Jesus too. All kids do.
This is Piper-esque reformed Baptist playbook 🫠🫠🫠
👏👏👏👏👏
Delivery is everything, and certainly should be kept in mind when teaching children theology. Questioning is a great method.
I think an important question to ask children is: Why is the Gospel GOOD news? If we’re teaching our kids the whole of God’s word, the natural answers that flow should include both the reality of the consequences of sin (namely death and separation from God our Maker… BAD news) AND the great news of the free gift of salvation from those things. Salvation that we have in Christ by grace through faith. Death should never be the conclusion, but it also shouldn’t be left out of the conversation.
Jesus absolutely had a heart for children, and neglecting to teach them the whole of his word would be to neglect the warning of Matthew 18:6. Jackie could have delivered it better, but in its essence, her theology came straight from the Bible and just needed to be brought together in a more thoughtful way.
Kids deserve good answers to hard biblical questions, which means they need to understand both God’s wrath AND his goodness. Both his judgement AND his grace. We must walk the line between being gentle with their hearts, minds, and souls, and also teaching them to love and understand all of God’s word… even the harder parts.
The reality is, the words of scripture are not exclusive to adults. Jesus LOVES children and the promises he makes are for them as much as us. That includes promises like 2 Chronicles 7:14 and 1 John 1:9. The gift of salvation is as much for them as for us. What a gift it is to a child to trust in their early age that they can rely on God to receive forgiveness from AND put off sin. That they don’t need to live burdened or in fear, but can live in full freedom because of the mighty work of Christ.
Might we learn to present the Gospel story to them winsomely, but faithfully, that they may never depart from it.
Yes! I hope she sees this. Thank you!
Thank you for this!
Can't say I co-sign wholesale, but kids can always tell when you're winging it and folks who have spent years ministering to children can tell when you're winking at the adult audience but talking to children. Tough video to watch.
Ugh that was rough. Jesus didn’t tell children they were sinners or to repent. He just held them, blessed them, and welcomed them. The kids will understand their own need for forgiveness when they’re older. There’s enough shame in this world, we need to start them on a solid foundation of love and acceptance!
A 'friend' of mine once posted that when her foster child says that he's bad she says 'yes, you are we are all sinners...' (insert explanation about Jesus whatever) and I have never gotten over the fact that a licensed therapist would do this to a foster child even if she thought she was injecting nuance and 'but Jesus loves you anyway.'
Oh this hurts my heart
The parent and inner child in me is grieved and angered to see children spoken to in this way (the content and the talking down to!) Thank you for this corrective perspective. Kids deserve so much better.
Thank you! Even tho I grew up in it I still don’t get the evangelical flex of it being important to convince kids they are bad and deserve bad things and that enjoying what’s good is bad.