Today begins part 1 of a 6 part series on children and the gospel message. It is proactive in some ways, but, I admit, largely reactionary. It is a reaction to the muddied language I hear in a variety of settings of communicating the gospel to children. I think it is of ultimate importance to first theologically examine the gospel message and in the 6 parts that follow, address some faulty ways the evangelical spectrum of believers communicates that gospel to children (or anyone for that matter).

Let’s start with the word “gospel.” In Greek, evangelion has always meant glad tidings or good news. After the resurrection of Christ, it came to mean the specific good news of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It is used 76 times in the New Testament and several times by Jesus. Now to Paul:

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (New International Version)

³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,

Here are a few things that I easily garner from this passage:

1. The gospel involves receiving and passing on. Evangelism should the the primary function of the church and home because as people are rescued from their sin, the creation mandate to fill the earth with worshipers can be fulfilled.
2. The gospel is of first importance. All of our life and ministry should be wrapped around this good news. We should remember it, cherish it and celebrate it.
3. The gospel is specifically Christ DYING for our sins, being BURIED, and RISING again. I teach this to kids by telling them that the DBR is the most important message in the world. We so often get the dying part right, but we forget to mention that he was buried for 3 days, making the resurrection that much more spectacular. We also very often leave people with a dead Jesus, not mentioning the gospel at all. Kids need to know the entire message because faith is preempted by the internalization of right information (see Romans 10:14-15).
4. Jesus’ death was for our sins. Let us not forget that our lying, cheating, judgmentalism, hatred, anger, malice, sexual sin, and a host of other iniquities nailed him to the cross. This is where the gospel becomes very personal. Children should recognize that their sin offends a holy God, else they will be unable to experience genuine repentance and faith (more on that at the end of the week).
5. All of this is according to the Scriptures. The entire Bible is Christo-centric. The TORAH prepares us for him, the historical books explain his lineage, the wisdom literature imparts his acumen, the prophets foretell of his coming, the gospels proliferate his purpose, Acts empowers believers with his mission, the epistles shape us to be more like him, and Revelation speaks of his return. Christ is the point to the pyramid of Scripture. It is ALL ABOUT HIM!!!!!!

I hope this has been helpful. Please join me for the next several days as I speak to the proper response we should be asking of our children. I’m sure some will be shocked, perhaps a few offended, but I hope most of you will be sharpened as we lead these little ones to Jesus!

Scripture

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (English Standard Version)

¹⁸All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Devotion

This opening illustration can be used with odd or even numbers of people. Have pieces of construction paper ripped in half prior to the meeting. If you have an odd number of people, give everyone a half piece and another person a roll of tape. If you have an even number, give two people rolls of tape and the rest a ripped half of paper. Don’t give them any instructions, just tell them they need to figure out what to do next. Hopefully they will figure out that the tape people are supposed to help the torn pieces of paper be rejoined. The point is that the people with the tape had the tools of repair in their possession. II Corinthians 5 really harks on the fact that we are God’s agents of reconciliation between sinful man and God.

Our main task in children’s ministry is to be agents of reconciliation. Children who have not yet been saved are at odds with God. They need to be reconciled to Him. God made a way for that reconciliation to be accomplished through Jesus Christ. We also serve unsaved parents and siblings. They all need to be reconciled to God. II Corinthians 5:18-20 provides two insights about this reconciliation with which God calls us to help.

1. Every believer is given the ministry of reconciliation. The evangelist is a special called office (Ephesians 4:11-13), but the call to evangelize is a calling on all believers. Our teaching in children’s ministry, our relational development, our curriculum design, should be structured around this calling.
2. God equips us for this ministry by giving us the “word” of reconciliation. The word of reconciliation is very simple. It is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sin. Kids are reconciled when they place faith in Jesus’ ability to forgive them.

God does not need us, but God chooses to use us out of His grace. It is a privilege and honor to serve as His ambassadors. You are not in children’s ministry because you have some inherent gift that God was grateful to have you serve in His kingdom. You are in it because you are an ambassador, a servant of God that He uses to spread the word of reconciliation to many children and families. Take the role seriously and utilize the emotion of “pleading” that Paul encourages in verse 20 to lead kids and families to Christ.

Scripture

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (English Standard Version)

³For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

Devotion

Have a bag of 3 normal objects (examples would be a pencil, watch, dollar bill). Get 3 volunteers to secretly see one of each of the objects. Their role is to describe that object to the rest of the group and get them to guess what it is as quickly as possible. They just can’t say the name of the object. Group members should be able to guess pretty quickly.

Explain that the gospel really needs to be this way. We don’t need to put some kind of cutsy explanation to it, we just need to be clear about what the gospel message is with kids.

Read the passage from I Corinthians and note a few things:

• Paul notes that the gospel message was of “first importance.” Our ministry should never get to the point where we lose sight of the fact that this message drives everything we do.
• The message focuses on the DBR–Death, Burial, and Resurrection of Jesus as prophesied in the Scriptures. The message is simple and it includes those three vital components. Children need to understand that Jesus took their place in his death. They need to believe that Jesus was buried helping us to understand that he suffered death for sin so we don’t have to. Kids need to be taught the resurrection. Paul later says in chapter 15 that if Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless, you are still in your sins” (v. 17).
• When we leave out the resurrection in our gospel presentations, we leave the hearers with a dead Jesus. But that’s just half of the message. He is a risen Savior, proving that He has the authority to offer us new life in Him.

Since the gospel message is so simple, this is probably a good time to speak to some ways we communicate the response to the gospel that are not so simple. Let’s be very clear with abstract thinking children about how we lead them to salvation for fear that they misunderstand and don’t experience salvation in the first place.

• Ask Jesus into your heart–This one is not right on so many levels, yet it is probably the most popular way used to talk to children about salvation. If you would like to see an argument against this terminology from a practical and theological perspective, go here.
• Ask God to forgive you–Don’t forget the message. This one can easily leave out Jesus. I can get a kid to pray and ask God to forgive them without any effort. The problem is that they are simply asking for a favor and have not directed their faith toward the work of the cross and resurrection.
• Confess your sins–Many base a salvation response off of I John 1:9. The problem here is that I John was written to believers, and this verse speaks to confessing individual sins at the moment of commission so that your current fellowship with God can be restored. No unbeliever can actually confess ALL of their sins. They need to repent of their lack of faith and turn to Jesus in faith.
• Believe in God–James says that even the demons believe in God. Demons are monotheists. Simply being a monotheist leaves you no better than one of Satan’s minions! Again, don’t leave out Jesus!

Let’s allow I Corinthians 15 to be a great encouragement to the way we choose to share the gospel with kids. Make the presentation clear and to the point. Let’s be careful not to allow any hindrances to a child understanding and accepting the gospel!

Recently I have commented on several tools for communicating to others in rough circumstances. One was called Make a Child Smile and the other PrisonerAlert. Both of these are great opportunities for the kids and families in our churches to share love and encouragement along with the gospel message. Another one of those opportunities is called Let’s Say Thanks. It is mostly supported by Xerox, but you can see the list of partner companies here. The front page is a little difficult to operate, but it becomes easier if you choose the “View All Designs” link on the left side of the page. When I did it, I choose “other” as a message and wrote my own message thanking them for their hard work and sacrifice. I also wove the gospel message into it. It’s just another creative way that our kids and families can share the gospel with people all over the world!

If you are like me, you want the kids in your ministry to realize that there is a big world out there filled with needy people. If there is one thing I want them to remember that I taught, it is that the middle class life they live is not all that’s out there. I want them to know that there are people around the world in need of Jesus and that it takes sacrifce to reach them.

One way we can encourage our kids to impact other children for Chirst is through Make a Child Smile. At this site, your children and their families can review the stories of very sick children and write notes to them. What a great way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ in a caring and loving way! Kids could mail home made cards with tracts and Bible verses or care packages with Christian videos. I hope you’ll tell the families in your ministry about this opportunity.

Do you know what the most important thing is? (Yes, I’m playing the “what is Andy thinking game!”). Let’s try again. Do you know what the most important thing is? (Insert basic Sunday school answer here…). You probably guessed it, the most important thing is Jesus! The Most Important Thing website is a great evangelism tool that is both free and easy!

You register with them, put your brief testimony on the site and then begin sending people with whom you witness to the site. From the site, they can read your testimony, see an interactive gospel presentation and respond in various ways. You can even have the site report to you when someone reads your page or makes a decision based on your testimony. It is very simple, people just go to the site and put your name in the search bar. They can click your name based on location (in case someone else has the same name on the site) and then read your testimony about how you trusted in Christ.

This site is sponsored by the Baptist State Convention of Oklahoma, but is not denominational in nature. It is for anyone who would like a new tool to effectively share the gospel. You can purchase business cards from their site for a very cheap price or have your own made at VistaPrint like I did. I put the website address, my name and some brief contact info on the card. I use these a lot at drive throughs and in grocery store lines. I usually say something quick like this: “I love to share how much of a difference Jesus has made in my life. If you get a chance would you to take a few minutes to go to this website, type in my name and see my story?” It takes all of 10 seconds and I’ve never had someone turn away a card.

Share this website with your kids and teach them about building a testimony. They can make business cards for themselves and invite their friends to view their story!