Today I received an email from a blogger friend of mine. In the email, he asked me to read his blog about a particular Sunday School curriculum that his church has been using and how they are treating the Easter story.
I was surprised by the blog and shocked by the curriculum's treatment. I know I should not be shocked any more, but I was. So, I read the letter from the curriculum about the Easter lesson and went to the company's website to confirm this all.
What I found was yet another reason that parents should take very seriously their role as the primary disciplers and Bible teachers of their children. My friend is a serving Christian and he attends a great church. Still, thousands of churches will be using this curriculum this Easter. Parents should know what their children are being taught and what they are not being taught.
I have included parts of the blog article below so that you can read the information it contains for yourself.
I was given a copy of a letter that came to our Children’s Pastor on Wednesday that really ticked me off. I was furious. Now when you click to read this letter I have no doubt that you will be furious as well. And to be quite honest I think you should be. However, as I was reminded, my anger was quite misplaced. Let me explain to you the situation.
The people who produce the Sunday School curriculum we use for our 1-5 year olds decided to not give the Easter story on Easter Sunday. Actually, they decided not to give the Easter story at all to this age group. Here is their reason, “because of the graphic nature of the Easter story and the crucifixion specifically, we need to be careful as we choose what we tell our preschoolers about Easter.” Further they say, “We have made this choice because the crucifixion is simply too violent for preschoolers.” They go on to justify their reason for this by suggesting that theories of cognitive development show that preschoolers are concrete thinkers and therefore “are simply unable to truly grasp what it means to die and then be raised again through the power of God.” So on Easter Sunday, the preschoolers at nearly 1400 churches will not hear the Easter story. As a parent of a nearly 4 year old, I really, really, really must disagree!
There are many reasons that I disagree with this, too many reasons to list here. But here are four that deserve some consideration:
1. Whether they mean to say it or not, they are displaying by action that a child should not be exposed to the Gospel until elementary school. Here is what they say; “We believe that, by waiting until children are in elementary school to tell them the marvelous story of Easter, they will be better able to understand it and accept God’s offer of salvation.”
2. They are also basing this decision on secular theories of cognitive development instead of God’s own Word! As concrete thinkers, it is more valuable to expose them to the BEAUTY of the Gospel at this age, so that a concrete foundation is able to begin to be established. If they hear and know the story of the Gospel, they will see it as concrete and will have less chance of doubting it later. This is a time when preschoolers are most pure of heart and pure of mind. To miss this opportunity is incredibly risky.
3. When people begin to pick and choose what is or isn’t appropriate to be taught from God’s Word, those people clearly show that they have no respect for the authority of God’s Word.
4. They are eliminating THE CROSS! We are talking about THE CROSS here for crying out loud! The most vital aspect or our relationship with Christ will not be exposed to preschoolers at 1400 churches across America. My First Look says their goal in the preschool years is to “build a foundation for that eventual decision by focusing on God’s love and telling preschoolers that ‘Jesus wants to be my friend forever.’” HOW CAN YOU DO THAT WITHOUT EXPOSING THEM TO THE CROSS!
By now, I think you can understand my indignation. There are many other areas, but these are the most dangerous in my mind. When I came to these conclusions the other day I was outraged. I wanted to call and chew someone out. I wanted to write nasty emails. I wanted to get in a fight with someone and let them know how wrong they were. However, I am so glad for the Grace of God at work in my life.
As I prayed about this the last two days, I was humbled. The key for me to remember is that whether they are enemies of the cross who have never heard its beautiful message or if they are brothers and sisters who are damaging the Gospel unintentionally, winning the argument isn’t as important as winning them. The people at My First Look are great people. I have had a great dialogue with them and they have answered all of my questions with genuineness and respect to my disagreement with them. It doesn’t change the fact that they are in error here and that they need to be corrected. However, before you strike and lash at them, remember whom you represent. Remember Peter’s own words in 1 Peter 3:14-16. Remember that people are more important than the argument. Write these good people. Email them, call them, but please remember that the goal here is not to make an enemy and embarrass the Cross. The goal is to rescue brothers and sisters from error. That has been and will continue to be a really tough lesson for me.
Blake on March 14th, 2008, @ http://www.twoinstitutions.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment