When you have kids, lots of questions about faith are raised that haven’t been before.  When you realize you have to teach your children about God, religion, and moral values, you realize it’s not quite as simple and straightforward as you think it’s going to be.  Little people can ask big questions. Not only that, but the answers you give to those questions will help determine their journey of faith throughout their lives.  No pressure, though. ;)

When it came time for our first little girl to start attending preschool we had to make some hard decisions about where to send her.  Everyone we knew sent their kids to the school at our church.  That’s fine, but it’s not something I wanted for our children.  I wanted to make sure, instead, that they are exposed to an array of faiths, cultures, and socioeconomic situations and I wanted them to to do that in the course of ‘real life’.  Watching it on TV or talking about ‘other people’ in theory isn’t the same as making friends with them in preschool.  I’m a firm believer that my church’s school would inhibit all of this dramatically and I think, in our post-modern world of Christianity, one of the most important things is to raise Christians who build authentic relationships with people different than them.

Dradle Dradle Dradle….

Today I go to my daughters preschool to see their Holiday program.  I know that, during the past few weeks, they had some Hanukkah days at school where they made paper menorahs and learned the dradle song.  Most modern Christians I know would shudder at this because, for some reason, it’s evil to learn about other religions (ok, that’s a bit overstated, but you get my drift).  So, naturally, being brought up in this Christian church I wondered if this was something I should be afraid of.  (that may seem silly to some, and I don’t blame you if you think so).  It was like a left-over feeling that I know I’d at least have to deal with somehow.

I started to think about it and realized how sad it is that this attitude teaches Christian kids how to judge others at a very young age. By even making mention of the differences between our religions (at an age when they can’t grasp those differences) we start to build division and judgment in our children who are too young to even understand the concept of Religion, anyway. By questioning the beauty or history of what they’re taught we’re sowing seeds of future separation between ‘us’ and ‘them’.  That, in God’s eyes, is never a good thing.

Starting with God

One of the things I realized early on with my kids was that the Christian message, as simple as it seems to adults, is incredibly complex for a kids brain. I wondered very early how to teach my children that God is three persons, but one God.  It didn’t take long for me to realize it would just get confusing, so I learned to just start with “God”. God is, amazingly, a concept that kids can grasp.  “Something” out there that loves us, provides for us, and hears us when we pray.  Keep it simple and emphasize the personality, not the theology, of God.

As my first daughter approaches 4, we’re able to start to teach her more about Jesus.  Sure, explaining that Jesus is the same person as God (even though we ’see’ Jesus in our books but never see God) is incredibly challenging, but we slowly get there over time…and God helps us with that.  The Spirit will be a whole other thing later (and I think that’s less of an ‘intellectual’ piece of the puzzle anyway).  This idea of starting with God and then adding Jesus makes alot of sense for our kids…afterall, it’s the same progression God used with humans in general. Yahweh led them until Jesus rescued them and, finally, the Spirit sustains us.  This is a God determined progression that helps guide our parenting.

1491

This past year I read the book 1491.  A fantastic history of The Americas before Europeans arrived.  Reading it really helped convey the beauty of the societies and cultures that were developed and at home before Columbus arrived on those shores.  Of course, eventually, the story had to come to a tragic end with the Spanish invading and tearing the place up.

What really struck me about the invasion story was that it wasn’t powered by greed or warlords.  It was powered by Christianity. Now, you’d have to read the history yourself to get the full flavor of this, but these invaders held the Cross of Christ high as they massacred the ‘heathens’.  They believed it’s what God wanted them to do.  They were certian that to become Christian you had to become European as well (Jesus was European…wasn’t he? ;).  So, anything ‘primitive’ must be beaten out of you:  your culture, your clothes, your language and your concept of God.  All of it had to be torn down and rebuilt before you could “know God”.  Today, that obviously smacks with ignorance and brutality.

And yet.

And yet…we continue down the same path today.  It seems that we’ve wandered far from my daughters paper menorah but it’s about to come back around.

When teaching our Children about other faiths, we shoudn’t act like Cortes or DeSoto, completely massacring those that hold different spiritual beliefs. When we tear down other faiths, set them up as ‘those people’ or subtly convey a message that “they’re evil” we hold the cross high as we destroy the beautiful diversity of God’s people.  Too often we think we have to stop everyone from singing the dradle song before they can start to hear our message of salvation.  I’d suggest we do nothing of the sort.

Starting with God (redux)

Instead of tearing other faiths (and cultures) down to ‘make them Christian’ I suggest we simply acknowledge and respect their journey of faith and where they are currently.  I heard a story, recently, about a Christian mom and daughter who lived next door to a Muslim family.  When the little girl saw the Muslim mother’s head covering she asked what it was all about.  The Christian mom simply told her that the Muslim woman loved God and that’s how she worshiped and honored him. Think about the other ways that conversation could have gone in a number of other Christian households.  It would have started with judgment, conveyed disdain, and ended with the child feeling that the woman next door was ignorant and evil.  Which approach is more God honoring?  Which approach allows God to judge and us to bring Christ’s message of respect, honor, and humility?

Like the Muslim woman next door, serious seekers of other faiths are honestly pursuing God. The other two major world religions (Judaism and Islam) are even outwardly pursuing the God of the Old Testament.  Other faiths may not be seeking exactly the God that we, as Christians, know, but the concept of God is similar in feel and function to the one we call The Father.  So, as we talk about sharing Christ’s message of love with the world, I’d suggest we’ve already got a head start with people who recognize this “God concept”.  If like teaching children, or like God taught humanity, we start with “God” (ie. The Father), we’re on a well trodden path.  If we start by tearing down “their God”, we took a wrong turn somewhere.

Adding Jesus

So, all this made me think about next steps.  As Christians, we believe in The Father, of course, and we have a concept of “God” not unlike other religions.  So, what’s the difference between us and that Muslim woman next door?  Jesus, of course.

The Bible makes it quite clear that Jesus is the point.  It says directly that “no one comes to The Father except through Me (Jesus)”.  So, I’d suggest that, while other religions have the general concept of The Father (in once sense or another), and that is who they seek, they’re missing the one crucial component that the bible offers us as a path to God:  We must know Jesus in order to truly know God.

Rather than tearing down God, I am going to suggest we simply start by “adding Jesus”.    Good missionaries know this concept well.  They go into tribal areas and, unlike Cortes, don’t run around tearing down cultures.  They take the native religion and redefine it in the light of Christ. They don’t destroy what’s beautiful.  They don’t tear down what’s established.  They add Jesus, and thereby, add a door which opens to God.

What then?

After adding Jesus to a Muslim’s life, what then?  What happens when we add Jesus to a Buddhists practice?  What’s the next step after a Confucian monk accepts Jesus as the path to God?  What then?  God takes over (as we remain his light in that person’s life).

If you believe that we don’t convert people, that instead it’s God’s job (through the work of The Spirit) we can let go after sharing the message of Christ (after sharing it each opportunity we get, that is).  We can put it in God’s hands when we’ve shared the path to Him.  It’s on His shoulders then.  The spirit will naturally follow and God will transform that life how He wants…that’s His business, not ours.  Maybe it will include making them a “Christian like us” or maybe it will include making them a Buddhist follower of Jesus Christ. That’s His prerogative and none of your business.

Back to Preschool

All of this helps me understand how I want to raise my 3 year old in the faith. I want her to build real realtionships with people of all kinds.  I want her to respect people of different faiths and find the incredible beauty and honor in other cultures and most of all, I want her to simply add Jesus to those around her. I don’t want to teach my kids to judge:  I’ve seen this in other Christian children and there is nothing more ugly than an ignorant child judging someone trying to seek God. I don’t want to teach my kids to divide or to hate.  I don’t want my girls to view those of other cultures or faiths as enemies.  I, instead, want them to view others as God views them:  People just like us, sinners who only have hope in Christ.

So, in the end, I’m proud of my girl’s paper menorah. I’ll smile and groove a little while she sings the dradle song.  And, every day, I’ll try and add a little more Jesus to her life, so she can share that with those around her.