Tony Kummer lists five spiritual dangers faced by Christian kids who get too much religion and not enough actual interaction with Jesus. Here are three of them:
2. Knowledge Can Promote Pride: Something happens inside of us when we become the expert. Children feel that same sense of superiority when they have more religious knowledge than their peers. Too often over-churched kids build their identity around that achievement, even when it doesn’t involve a growing relationship with Christ.
3. They Have Learned to Pretend Pray: A real struggle for grown-ups is connecting with God through prayer. Too often it becomes routine and dry. Most younger children learn prayer as an act of imitation. Many don’t even realize that something cosmic is happening when we address our words to God. They don’t feel the presence of God or even expect that they should.
4. They Don’t Feel Their Lostness: Many over-churched kids don’t know what life is like without the comforts of faith. Their brain say ‘forgiveness’ before their heart feels ‘I’m sorry.’ Because they know about grace, they have never really struggled much with guilt.
He offers nine helpful strategies for avoiding those dangers. Here are a few:
5. Teach the Bad News: According to the Bible, we are all sinners who have earned the displeasure of God. Without Jesus, we would have no hope of passing God’s judgment. Over-churched kids need to realize that they too need a Savior. They need to learn about sin. Keep teaching the 10 Commandments, but also teach what Jesus said about loving your neighbor. None of us can really meet those standards on our own.
6. Model Repentance: With over-churched kids, we can’t pretend that Christians are always the good guys. They see behind our Sundy morning smiles and know that we’re not perfect people. When we are honest about our failings, and confess our sins, it points them to the Gospel. When teaching, use examples of Christian repentance and be transparent about your own struggles. This is a key to parenting, but it’s also a great strategy for kids ministry.
7. Make It Relevant: Connecting the Bible content with real life is something we often overlook. Even kids who have heard all the stories need help connecting the dots to real life. Kristi made this point on our Facebook page, “I find those kids get more involved if you can make it relevant to what they are going through at the time.” So take a few minutes and think about relevance. Why does this Bible lesson really matter in each child’s life? How can the truth of this passage help them with the problems they are facing?