My buddy Chad and I were discussing his recent speaking engagement with the 5-year-olds at his church. I told him that the thought of doing that was scarier to me than standing in front of 5,000 adults.
But I was reminded that the great German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, required all of his PhD students in theology to teach children’s Sunday School.
The reasoning was simple: If you can’t articulate it in a way a child can understand it, you don’t really understand it yourself. All of us who think of ourselves as people who “know God” should be having more conversations with kids.
I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I jus graduated from seminary and yet I struggle greatly at times to articulate the central truths of our faith with our 6-year-old and our 4-year-old.
1 comment:
I fully agree. If we can't communicate the big truths of the gospel to little kids we probably don't really understand these truths ourselves.
Spurgeon and Luther shared the same sentiment in relationship to preaching:
http://life2gether.wordpress.com/2008/10/21/is-your-eye-on-the-children-when-you-preach/
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