Sinner or saint?
Sinner or saint?
I am taking a class on child spirituality and the cultivation of the “religious potential” of children. I use the term “religious potential” becuase that is what part of the title is of the book we are reading. In the introduction they speak of children as already having a relationship with God, we are merely the facilitators of them growing closer in relationship with Him. I can easily accept this, but I’m thinking of how we commonly think, as christians, that children are born in original sin and have to be saved. I think that is why we are so adamant that we shove the Bible (stories) down their throats and stand over them piously as though they cannot teach us anything and if they do not know Noah and his 7(?) sons they will not pass into the “big church”. I am beginning to see the very opposite may be true. The idea of deschooling is very interesting. The thought that we should not be passing information then checking to see if they can regurgitate what we “taught” but to put the child in touch with sources that reveal God to them and establish a relationship and grow that relationship is not something new to me, but excites me to hear it being used and grown in what most people view as the most “religious” of denominations. I think if we grab ahold of this in our community, it could spread and we could have a whole new generation of kids who actually have a relationship with God that is real and not based on bible story and memorization. Hmmm, just a thought.
April 28th, 2005 at 9:35 am
I think there is probably a balance between the views of children “already having a relationship with God, we are merely the facilitators of them growing closer” and the “children are born in original sin and have to be saved” viewpoints.
The way I see it is that these statements are a matter of perspective. I would probably agree that children have some kind of relationship with God (just because I think everyone does in a sense) but it’s broken from the start because of our nature, and therefore the second perspective (that people are born into sin and need to be “saved”) is also correct.
I think that there is no place for the “fire and brimstone” approach (especially with kids), but at the same time I also think that it’s impossible to really understand grace without grasping / acknowledging how much we need it (including kids).
April 28th, 2005 at 9:44 am
Someone was telling me that she was a bit dismayed when her child couldn’t answer a basic “Christianity 101″ question, given the emphasis on scripture in their household. But a friend reminded her that the child’s understanding of God is formed more by the way it’s modeled by the people in her life. Because of the way her parents live she knows compassion, humility etc. It kind of goes back to Tim’s discussion about the necessity of the Bible in knowing God.
Michel
April 28th, 2005 at 5:03 pm
I to see how it could work better. I’ve grown up in church my whole life and I too would fail Christianity 101. I learned more about Christ by watching my parents relationship more than anything else. As a parent now, I see myself “teaching” my children the same. Plus, I don’t know enough of the stories to share….
April 28th, 2005 at 10:17 pm
I agree with the need for balance. As a product of private/religious-based education for a large chunk of my childhood, I can say that learning about my faith not only helped me understand and appreciate it better, it made me aware of how informed I was later in life when I ran into people’s misconceptions.
I think the big problem lies in fixing the child with spiritual blinders. God can be found in many places, particularly outside the walls of the worship space. A personal relationship is far more likely to make an impression and foster healthy spirituality than one centered on dependence, guilt, or shame. Especially the latter.
An interesting thing is that at times, the Bible admonishes us to be more like children in our approach to faith.
April 29th, 2005 at 10:35 am
Yes! And don’t children approach life with trust, innocence, instinct and abandon? That is before they’re scarred by this world and the people in it.
Michel