Childlike Guilt?
As I've posted earlier, my five year old son Jaron has started attending AWANA this year, a children's program that emphasizes patriotism, good behavior, and Scripture memorization in no particular order. One of the verses that Jaron had to memorize for tonight (dreadfully out of context) was James 2:10:
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10 (NIV)
My wife Lori read the verse to him over and over but he refused to try and say it himself. The more she tried, the more upset he got, to the point that he was almost throwing a fit on the floor. Lori calmed him down and then asked why he didn't like the verse. Jaron replied, "It makes me feel bad."
We've worked pretty hard at teaching Jaron what Jesus is like and how to have a relationship with him. He instinctively felt that something about this verse wasn't right...that this isn't something that Jesus would say to him.
I could explain to him about the role of the law in Jewish society and about Jesus' treatment of the law in Matthew 5-7, but even though he's a smart kid, that would probably go over his head.
How would you respond to this situation?
posted by Corey @ 5:15 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
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I guess I would just use the opportunity to talk about God's love and grace. The fact that it makes him feel bad probably means he is in some way aware of his fallen condition.
That's a tough one though. It's great that he's not blindly memorizing scripture but thinking about it :)
Cory, that is brilliant!! Granted I don't have kids, but i would be absolutely blown away by my son realizing that a verse taken out of context doesn't feel right based on what he knows about Jesus.
Understandably, he is not going to get the whole "out of context" deal or Jesus' treatment of the law. Perhaps, he doesn't need to spend long periods of time dwelling on this verse. Better for him to understand what it means to treat people like Jesus and to see it in his parents than to wrestle with the "law" stuff right now.
I know I was more messed up in the long run because for me it was the other way around growing up.
I think erik said it well. In a similar way, I would tell your son he doesn't have to feel bad about the verse because Jesus made a way for us to be accepted by God even though we can't obey the law perfectly. I also think it's encouraging that he was so convicted by the verse. Usually when someone gets agitated by something that's taught in the Bible, it means that the Holy Spirit is getting through.
Julie,
That's kind of how my wife responded. She decided to add to Scripture so that the verse ended with..."but Jesus forgives us", which we then fleshed out with him.
Your comment raises a great question, though. How can we tell when that feeling that 'makes me feel bad' is conviction verses unhealthy guilt and shame?
Corey,
I think that 9 times out of 10, just like your son, we just know.
Perhaps adding more scripture to the end of his memorization would help, something like "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus"?
Thanks for sharing.
Thats what is so cool about using the law in evangelism...what an open door. Corey, your son was humbled by the law! And your wife gave him the best news ever (though he had likely heard it before)
The law is a mirror that shows us our sin. We need hearts like your wonderful son, Corey, that we would be broken when we sin.
My seven year old does the same thing. He will hear a verse like this, and will feel sad. He will check himself, because what I teach my kids when they have this experience reading the Word is to 'examine yourself'. He heard on the radio that liars will have their place in the lake of fire (Revelation 21:8) and began to cry. He cried because he had told a lie! I showed him from the scripture that what he needed to do was to agree with God that it was sin (confess) and to turn from the love of sin- leaving it completely- to the love of God (repentance)> I then explained that in His case, Jesus had already paid the fine for that sin, but that we should strive by His power to not tell lies, because lying represents the character of the devil, and we want to emulate the character of our Father in heaven.
Wait a minute, you say, he is only seven! Believe me, folks, if your child is born again, the Holy Spirit in them is the same as in us and they have a spiritual understanding, and a tenderness to the Holy Spirit that we need to understand and emulate.
Thanks for sharing this, Corey!
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