Tiny Theologians

Margaret Kiser

“After all, we aren’t trying to make tiny theologians!” This statement stopped me in my tracks while listening to a podcast one day in my car. The host was arguing that all a child needed for sufficient spiritual education was to become acquainted with and acquire a positive feeling about a church community. For all of us in ministry to children, around children, or even simply has children sitting around the breakfast table, a statement like this should cause us to stop and evaluate the what and why of ministry to children.

What are we communicating to children by not teaching them theology?

Providing a loving, welcoming, and safe environment is critical to love and care for little ones and their families in our churches. But is that sufficient? Do we stop there? Is there more we can do to impress on even the youngest hearts important truths about God, his loving plan of redemption, and how he has called us to live? In the same way you wouldn’t construct a beautiful new house without a solid foundation, it is a disservice to our covenant children not to give them a strong biblical foundation and framework on which to build their lives.

Several weeks ago, a new little friend checked into Sunday School. After welcoming him into the classroom, a few trips down the slide, and some hide and seek, we sat down to our Bible lesson. As we were finishing, I asked him if he knew how to write his name on his paper. He replied that he could write the “R” and “Y” but not the last two letters. With a little teamwork, his paper was finished and put away. This made me think; would we ever tell this sweet friend that it was unimportant for him to know how to write out ALL the letters of his name? Would he go off to high school or college only knowing the first two letters? Of course not. It would be foolish to say that as long as he had a positive feeling about his name it wasn’t important for him to know the truth of how to spell it. Despite what culture wants us to believe, there are absolute truths. There are truths about the Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and mankind that we need to teach our children. These truths will impact the way they live their lives. After all, how can a person glorify God and enjoy Him without truly knowing Him?

If we believe that there are truths about God that even our youngest children can and should know, then it stands to reason that we must teach them these truths. If theology is the study of God, then we are, in fact, trying to make children into tiny theologians. Let’s address the elephant in the room (or in the article) about how in the world we do this. Am I suggesting cracking open a big scary theology book as we sit down to eat goldfish every Sunday morning? Nope, bored toddlers are dangerous! I am suggesting that we give our children bite sized theology at every turn, praying that the Lord will take these truth seeds and plant them deeply in children’s hearts, growing themuntil they are “trees planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season” (Psalm 1). So, if it is vital for children to know truth about God, and if it is our job to teach them these truths, then is it imperative to keep three things in mind:

1. Keep it simple, 2. Make it a conversation (or a song), 3. Be consistent.

1. Keep it simple

Psalm 78 says, “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old…we will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He was done.” God reveals Himself through His holy Word. As we teach children stories from God’s Word, we are teaching them about God Himself. Our loving God who acted on behalf of His sinful children in Exodus, is the same loving God who acts on behalf of His children today. A lesson on Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep might look like hiding cotton balls, finding them, and then clapping when we have found the long-lost sheep. Gathering and eating manna crackers as we learn that God is our provider teaches us that God gives us what we need. Big truths about our Big God don’t have to be complicated; but these truths have to be communicated so that children come to know and love the God who made us, loves us, and saves us.

2. Make it a conversation (or a song)

Each week I hold up my Bible and ask the same question. What book is this? The children’s response of “the Bible” leads me to say, “The Bible is God’s Word. Everything in the Bible is true!” In the same way the prayer before the Bible story gives us achance to say, “it’s time to talk to God; God always hears us when we pray.” Passing around the Bible as we sing “The B-I-B-L-E” and having the children touch the page where the Bible story is found helps instill the reverence and honor for the Word of God that we want our children to have as they grow and learn.

3. Be consistent

“But we did this lasterday!” This was the response from a five-year-old friend one Sunday morning. Yes, we did, and we will keep doing it again and again! Despite my friend’s objections, little people like predictable patterns and behaviors, even though they can be anything but predictable at times. Simple, predictable, and consistent routines communicate truth without words. A Preschool Bible lesson might only last ten minutes. But this repeated emphasis on what is invaluable imparts the truth that this time with God is both fundamental and familiar. It is a time to be cherished and honored. By God’s grace, thisconsistency will develop in the child a life-long love of time spent in God’s Word, in prayer, and with His people in church.

What a privilege to pass on to the next generation the wonderful deeds of our sovereign and loving God. Of course, we want our children to feel loved and cared for when they come in the doors of our churches. We want them to look forward to coming and we want them to be sad when it is time to leave. But most of allwe want them to be changed by the grace of God. We want them to love God and love others, to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we want them to arise and tell these truths to their own children so that they should also set their hope in God (Mark 12:33, 2 Peter 3:18, Psalm 78:6-7).