What We Teach Our Children Matters
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
I remember how it felt, if little else. Wow, I must be really bad. Whenever I sin, God can’t be with me. This is the message I internalized as a result of the teaching on sin I received at an early age: “God cannot be in the presence of sin.” With an object lesson to illustrate the point if we were lucky.
Now, with adult eyes, I read the Bible and find a message to the contrary. God seeks out Adam and Eve in the garden, after they have sinned (Genesis 3:9). God makes garments of skin for them, with which he clothes them (3:21), an intimate act. Their banishment from the garden is not punitive, but for their salvation—so they do not eat from the tree of life and live forever in their current state (3:22).
The Bible is full of instances where God draws near, even to “a man of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5). God speaks to Cain, even as he knew Cain was contemplating murder in his heart (Genesis 4:6). And one of the charges against Jesus by the religious leaders of the time? “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:6).
The teaching we receive as children matters; these are the messages we carry forward for life, for good and for ill. How would my childhood relationship, my budding faith, have been different if the idea had been reversed? “Sin cannot exist in the presence of God: when God approaches, he makes us clean!” Or, as Paul puts it, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Now, that is good news for a child (and for an adult!).
Because what we teach our children matters, The Messenger has begun publishing a new column called “Inviting faith” (back cover). The idea behind the title is to consider how we can invite the next generation into faith. Jesus is attractive. As we demonstrate his character and model our lives after his teachings, we invite faith. As Heidi Schartner says in our first installment, “The more often our kids see our love for God, the deeper they will know his love.”
And will we demonstrate imperfectly? Of course. As Gretchen Ronnevik reminds us, “As I fail and sin as a parent” (or as a grandparent, family friend, or other teacher), “I get to model the beauty of confession and forgiveness, made possible by the cross” (“Carseats, gluten and opinionated bloggers,” pp. 14–15).
We hope you will enjoy this new column and look for ways you can “invite faith” in those you come across, whether children, teens or adults. If you have questions you would like to see addressed in this column in the future, or you have some expertise to offer and would like to write a future column, let us know at messenger@emconference.ca.
