Author: Wick

What is the gospel we want our children to know?  Is it “good” only because we know it means they’ve got “fire insurance”?  Or is there something more we want for our children…and our families?

I was recently listening to one of my favorite speakers, and he brought up a good point about the Gospel.  The word “gospel”, literally means “good news”.  When a Christian talks about the “Gospels”, they generally mean the books of the Bible that tell the story of the life of Jesus Christ (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John).  But when a Christian talks about the “good news” of Christianity, they’re usually referring to the types of things Paul tells us in Romans, Corinthians, and so on.  The “good news” that Paul often talks about is that through Christ we are “justified” by faith, being offered salvation and eternal life in a renewed creation, saving us from the suffering of separation from God.  That even when life brings suffering we can have Hope for what is yet to come.  This is the good news, or the “gospel” of Paul.  It is GREAT news, of course.   But it cannot be the complete foundation of our faith.

He pointed out how even our creeds are missing something.  In the “Apostles Creed”, for example, we see the words:

“..And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord:
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;….

The words go right from “born of the Virgin Mary”, to “suffered under Pontius Pilate”.  The disciples, and those who followed Jesus from town to town seeing Him literally live out the good news…may challenge the fact that we skip right over all of those years in our statement of belief.  This kind of approach to the “good news” of Jesus looks very much like the pamphlet I received last week while at the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan.

We were standing outside the porta-potties, with an odd mixture of urinal wafers and cherry juice hanging in the thick humidity of July…when a man with long pants, long sleeves, and sweating painfully through a neck-tie smiled and handed me this flier:

I’m sure the man has a great heart.  He’s obviously dedicated to his task.  But the chocolate bunny he’s offering is hollow.  Sure it’s still a chocolate bunny, but when you bite into it…you notice something is missing.  This is the “gospel” so many young people are walking away from.

The good news we want for our children to grow up knowing and experiencing, is found in the very life and words of Jesus Christ.  It’s found in the fact that God establishes Himself as King in Jesus.  That God becomes ruler, and calls His followers to live in a way that proclaims and ushers in His Lordship “on earth, as it is in Heaven.”  As NT Wright says, it’s not about “how to have your sins forgiven’ or ‘how to go to heaven’ but … an agenda in which the forgiven people are put to work, addressing the evils of the world in the light of the victory of Calvary.”

This is the story we want to shape our children, and our families around.  Not simply that we’re “saved for Heaven someday”, but that we’re living out the Lordship of Jesus Christ even now.  Declaring to any other power or system that attempts to establish itself as foundational or “Lord” of our lives – that no matter how things appear to be, or happen, Jesus is Lord.  His ways are sacrificial love, healing grace, undeserved mercy, and responding to an invitation to come before God as His child.  And that is very, very good news…

For more on this topic, check out him talking about his book….or read the book itself!!!

In speaking to teenagers often, and in reading through parenting blogs, and simply connecting with my own life….there emerges a common theme.  We often deal with the temptation to “put on a smile” when we know it’s what other people want to see.  We feel the pressures and schedules of life to the point where our very nature becomes to “go with the flow”, and do whatever it takes to smoothly navigate the road ahead.

There’s something all of these things have in common, and it’s something every human being comes to struggle with at one point or another.  The temptation to receive our “identity”, and/or our “self-worth” from something or someone other than God.

In Genesis, we see God creating all things.  His word declares that all these things are “Good”.  God asks humanity to trust in Him, and the way He has created all things.  To receive their identity from Him alone.  But man acts defiantly, declaring to Him “no thanks, we’d like to discover our own identity”, and eats the fruit of “self”.

That changes everything.

We see how dramatic the change is, in Genesis 3:10-11

“But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? ”

God actually asks Adam, “Who told you that you were naked?”  Before this moment, mankind had received his COMPLETE identity only from God, even to the point where if God hadn’t said it…it was unknown/inconsequential.  I’m not advocating nudity here…and if your friend accidentally shows up to something naked, you should definitely tell them. 🙂

But I would love for my daughters to grow up into women who can boldly live out the identities and Hope they receive from God alone.  Our desire for our children is that they would be so strongly attached to their concept of “self in Christ”, that when life offers them other definitions or futures that fall short of what God offers them/calls them….they would know it.  I pray that my wife and  I, and our families and friends, would live out the kind of example to them, of receiving our identity so much as: God’s beloved, called His children, New Creations, citizens of His Kingdom, etc.

That may mean we embarrass them…or ourselves once in a while…not realizing how we appear to the world…only how God views and knows us. 🙂  But this is also humbling as a parent.  To recognize that it’s not my voice that I ultimately want my daughters to hear….but His.  That means I need to be drawing nearer to Him…listening to what He is saying…if I’m to speak those words to them…

This past week I spoke at Northern Michigan’s “Family Camp”. Don’t be too impressed yet, I wasn’t the “main speaker”. But I was brought in to speak to their youth (7-12th graders). There was a good sized group of over 70 teens or so, and they gave some great responses. One of the biggest things people of any age seem to deal with is finding the humility to say, “I need help.”

During the week, we’d sometimes head over to Fife Lake with my parents to have some family time. It was a nice quiet place, with a great ice cream stand, and awesomely shallow water levels for the kids to play in. Unfortunately, it was also a beloved spot to a great many geese to use as a toilet. The “gifts” left by local geese formed a natural barrier, tough for any 3 year old to jump over. Looking up to mommy/daddy or a grandparent, our daughters would ask to be helped past the ring of goose-droppings. Once past that obstacle, they could enjoy watching minnows, splashing in clear water, and discovering many sizes of snail shells.

The prayers of these teens echo a similar desire to get help over/through a difficult place in life. Simply to write or speak these words is a giant step for many people, who would otherwise be stuck on the shores of life, or be stomping solo through the goose poop of rough situations. Prayer is such an important act to be involved in, and to encourage in our children. The very act of prayer, declares there is something outside myself. If we raise our children to live as “beings who pray”, we offer them a great foundation of humility.

Here are just a few of their written prayers. May we recognize where these may echo our own, and be sensitive to where our children may be praying something similar…

“Dear Heavenly Father, Please restore my life…rid me of myself.”

“Remind me I’m yours, Lord…not satan’s.”

“Dear God, forgive me of my sins, and help me be closer to you.”

“I need help to be more humble & less prideful.”

“God, help me to let it go. High School is over now, and I know I will be happier without it.”

“God, help me to have stronger faith, and to not be a blonde.” 🙂

“God, please help me!”

“Dear Lord, help me to realize I don’t need others opinions to make me feel good about myself.”

(many of these) “Lord, help me to be a good witness/example to ________”

“Lord, help me to overcome temptation.”

“Please help me to know that your love surrounds me and I don’t have to hurt myself.”

“Dear God I am going through a hard time, please help me.”

“Thank you for letting me get to know you better lately.”

“Lord I know I’ve been acting like you’re not there, and I know you are…please help.”

“God I thank you for a family who loves me, and is always there for me.”