*a post totally inspired by my smooch-able husband!*
i am going to quit reading my children bible stories from any other source than the bible itself. i am done with the fairy tale versions that publishers are putting out there. this includes sunday school lessons as well as children's films. i have yet to see someone really take on the nitty gritty of the some of these bible characters. we elevate them to a level of "hero"... when really their stories are suppose to let us see their failures and point us to the real Hero who rescued them.
last night mark read the book of jonah to the kids out of the bible. when we got to the end of the book i realized i have never actually heard the MOST important part of that story... the end... listen what jonah says to God after he has returned to nineveh and God had mercy on the people,
"1But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2And he prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live." 4And the LORD said, "Do you do well to be angry?"
seriously, i laughed out loud. the part of the story when Jonah reveals his own angry heart towards God about God's undeniable forgiveness towards nineveh is mysteriously left out of most children's books (and adult books for that matter). isn't jonah always portrayed as the hero who finally listened to God after he was swallowed by a fish? really, the major lesson here is the deep, deep, self righteousness Jonah possesses and how God deals with him. wow, that is SO much more applicable to my children's lives than "hey, obey God or you'll get swallowed by a fish". i can bring my children to this passage and say to them it doesn't matter if you go to africa, asia, or austraila if you don't understand your need for Jesus, and only out of that love you desire to spread His truth... you are a clanging gong. it doesn't matter if your Christian dance card is full of good works, if you don't understand love... you are nails on a chalk board.
The same exact thing happens with the story of the parable son. we always just talk about the younger brothers need for the Father. But really the younger brother and the older brother had the same heart condition, neither wanted their father's love, they wanted to use him for their benefit only. The younger brother realized his need while the older brother pouted outside the party. Tim Keller has written and FABULOUS book called "the prodigal God". READ IT!
when i grow up i am going to write a series of children's books entitled the following.
1. Noah and his drinking problem
2. Abraham and his lying tongue
3. David the adultery and murderer
4. Sarah the mocker
5. Rachel the Rotten
6. Leah the lame
7. Jonah, the missionary who got angry when God forgave
and on and on. pretty sure zondervan wouldn't be thrilled to market those books, eh?
the point is.. we don't need biblical heroes... we have One. we need to teach kids that God uses messed up, ordinary, lowly, rotten, lame, lying, deceiving people to do His good and perfect will! It is not the goodness of those people that elevated them to "Bible Character Worthy". rather, the extraordinary things God ordained in those peoples lives to reveal HIMSELF.
It's ok to let our kids in on the secret that Christians aren't perfect... far from it. within that message there is abundant grace to be explored. abundant grace that will show our kids just how forgiven and how loved we are.
so here is to telling the REAL story!
~s
I'm so thankful that you guys honor God by putting his word so central in your home. There are way too many families that never read the Bible together.
ReplyDeleteWe have used the Bible all alone on occasion during 9 years of family worship and it was rich. I do think that there is much to be said for teaching kids the word of God by filtering it for them so they can clearly understand the point. Its really easy to get stuck and/or distracted by lesser things in the text. This is true for both kids and those of us with more experience in the Bible. We are just easily distracted.
Its also important for me to remember what the whole Bible says about certain topics. That is why Godly people in church history developed Catechisms.
Here is one of the best blogs that I've read with some great suggestions on resources to use for family worship. We just bought this book at the top of the page and we've been using the well known "Jesus Storybook Bible" and "Big Picture Bible" in rotation every year at some point.
Check it out---http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2011/11/28/the-new-gospel-story-bible-65-off/