As the Burooj Classes are picking up momentum, I am able to interact and learn more about teaching the children. We have come across the story of Nuh's Ark and the Flood for the Qamar class (Burooj Kids)
and is one of my favourite stories to tell the kids. After all, it has animals.
But this is where I stopped and pondered, is the story of Nuh only about animals?
I must admist there are some amazing writers on the blogosphere and I am posting one I came across which realy made so much sence and worth posting here.
A Little God for Little Ears?
posted by Eric Zeller on 27Jul05
Some miscellaneous thoughts on teaching our kids:
Russ and I talked a couple of weeks ago about how the prevelance of fiction in our culture (movies, cartoons, tv, books, etc.) can have an effect of desensitizing kids to the awesome Biblical stories of the supernatural acts of God. Amazing acts like parting the Red Sea, making water come from a rock, feeding 20,000 people, making the dead rise again, (add the miracles of last Prophet - Splitting of moon, water from
fingers, The Night journey...- Abu Safiyah) etc., are at best no more exciting than whatever is on the Cartoon Network today. There is a difference, though - the Bible stories really happened! They are true! But sometimes kids can have a hard time differentiating.
I associated much of Christian doctrine with children's stories because I grew up in a church. My Sunday school teachers had turned Bible narrative into children's fables. They talked about Noah and the ark because the story had animals in it. They failed to mention that this was when God massacred all of humanity¦ It took me a while to realize that these stories, while often used with children, are not at all children’s stories. I think the devil has tricked us into thinking so much of biblical theology is a story fit for kids. How did we come to think the story of Noah’s ark is appropriate for children? Can you imagine a children’s book about Noah’s ark complete with paintings of people gasping in gallons of water, mothers grasping their children while their bodies go flying down white-rapid rivers, the children’s tiny heads being bashed against rocks or hung up in fallen trees? I don’t think a children’s book like that would sell many copies. (31)
His point is that when for the sake of children we make the OT (old testamant) into cute fun stories, there is a danger that when those children become adults they will think Christianity is just a collection of kids stories. I see this danger as well.
If the Bible were a movie, most of us wouldn’t let our kids watch it. I recently started telling Carrie (2 ys. old) a Bible story every night before bed. We started at Genesis 1:1 and did one section each night. This worked well until we got to chapter 4 and the story of Cain & Abel. She was shocked. She sat straight up in bed. “He killed his brother!?!” I told her yes, that it was an example of how corrupt sin makes us, etc. She seemed to get it. After that things went pretty well until we got to Lot & his daughters.
Could it be that what we need to do in our Sunday Schools (or Youth Ministries, etc.) is to make sure we are not only talking about stories, but about God? I don’t think we need to add lots of gory detail to Sunday School lessons, but we do need to make sure they are not only learning a story, but learning the theology of the story - in the case of the flood, how God despises and judges sin yet is also merciful and faithful. If kids grow up in our churches and know a lot of stories but don’t know God (like Miller at that point in his life), we have failed as teachers.
Even as I am sitting here writing this, I got an e-mail from Charles which included this quote from Ted Tripp:
Your teenagers need something worth living for that is worth dying for. Only one thing is that big: our wonderful God. No matter how much you might feel like a blind person tapping with a cane, try to find your way to show your teens the glory of God. You’ll help them make wise choices. They can’t make wise choices without understanding who God is. They can’t understand what life is about without understanding who God is. They can’t be wise in friendships or circumspect in behavior without understanding who God is. Give them a vision of our dazzling God.
I’m not really sure what the best way is to do this, and I’m sure like parents who have gone before me I will make plenty of missteps in training my kids. But I appreciate Miller’s warning about the harmful effects of sanitizing God.
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