‘Bring the little children unto me’

I have been blessed in my ministry to have many opportunities to share Jesus’ faith with children and youth. This is only thanks to the many people who worked with me, to the church prioritizing young disciples, and to the Diocese of Toronto, which funds such activities through numerous grants.

In the last seven years, I have been a part of two churches where I have led youth groups and after-school clubs and helped to design children and youth curriculum and worship.

There have been several moments that led me to want to share my experiences.

• After a potluck Maundy Thursday service where we practically lived out the Last Supper and Garden of Gethsemane, a seven-year-old child said to his parents, “I think I understand why Jesus had to die for us.”
• At the end of three years of leading a youth group, which culminated in a comprehensive Youth Christianity 101 course, one young person wanted to pursue ministry, a few others began their own bible studies, and one was attempting to launch a Christian group at school.
• At an after-school club where we would have a bible study with prayer in the middle (after sports and before board games and video games), one child from no faith background asked a Christian child of about nine, “Do you even like reading the bible? Isn’t it boring?” The child responded, “The bible is awesome.” A few weeks later, the child with no faith background excitedly came running to me to show me the bible app on his phone.
• At another after-school drama club where we would act out a bible story every day, during snack one of the children asked what the other children’s favorite bible stories were (unprompted by me). The children began to list all of the stories we had acted out together and reminisce about all the fun they’d had acting them out.

These are just a few of the experiences that first stuck out to me, but there are many, many more. Based on these experiences, here are five ways to get kids and youth excited about the gospel of Jesus Christ:

1. It starts with you

“Your commandments are like honey.”

Your relationship with the bible and Jesus is what you minister and share from. If we’re not excited, digging in and being changed by Jesus, why would we expect those we’re teaching to be any different?

On top of that, excitement is contagious. People want to know what’s exciting and experience it too. This can go a long way to inspire youth to struggle with something difficult like prayer or bible reading, because they know good will come from it. People need to see and know that what Jesus is giving us is good news. If they don’t see that within you, it will be a lot harder for them to look for it in themselves. Youth especially have the ability to sense when someone is being ungenuine or pushing something – it can be abhorrent.

It’s good to ask questions, to admit where you are still searching, to speak about what you have learned from them, to wrestle with difficult ideas, and to always search for hope.

2. Be consistent

“Pray without ceasing.”

Try to have at least a weekly practice of bible reading and prayer. The only way we get comfortable with anything is by practice. Consistency starts to shape our minds, our ability and our willingness. How many times have you thought or heard that the bible is a hard book or that prayer is scary? I’ve heard it a lot, but through consistency, I’ve seen practically every child and youth become a lot more comfortable with both.

Practice prayer and read the bible together from the start, even if it’s short and simple at first. You don’t want children to feel tricked when faith is being introduced in a more fulsome way. It also helps everyone understand that this is an essential part of who you are.

If you’re a parent, try to do more with your children. Integrate prayer and your faith in daily experiences. Pray with them when you wake up and go to sleep, at mealtimes, and before sports or tasks (especially difficult ones). Talk about how faith relates to everything you’re experiencing together. Ask them what they’re learning and thinking about, as it pertains to faith. Open the bible with them – there are plenty of children and youth bibles. In my ministry, I have been able to do much of this at different times, but I first saw it modeled in my father.

3. Let them ask questions, search and decide

“I will give you a heart of flesh.”

If we ourselves need to ask questions and search, we need to make space for our children to do the same thing. We want their faith to be their own. We want them to build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, even as they build relationships in the Church. We build a personal relationship with Jesus by doing the work of searching for him privately and in groups. When we create the right setting, we empower young people to search for Jesus, and we create space for God to meet them there. It’s OK for them to think differently from you. We believe that God is wisdom and truth; we need to trust that if they are truly searching for him, the truth will be revealed to them in God’s timing. We don’t leave them alone, but we guide them with a gentle and loving hand.

Giving children and youth a level of control can be helpful, but a completely open hand often leads to a void. I have tried numerous times to try activities, studies or even a schedule based on feedback from the youth. If I just openly asked for ideas, I would often get very little response, or I’d get ideas that may not be feasible or even desired by the youth. It often turned out better when I would pray over their needs, next steps, interests, feedback, etc. and then I would bring to them three options. After practicing this for a while, they would often approach me with ideas and interests.

4. Look at it many ways

“Jesus taught them in a parable.”

We all know scripture can be tough, prayer can be scary and faith challenges us consistently, so it’s helpful to look at these things in many different ways. When I first started a youth group, I would take whatever activity we were doing and use a theme related to that activity as an entry point to talk about the gospel. I would even organize activities like serving at the food bank or meeting with other youth groups to talk about themes like service, worship, unity or evangelism.

At Messy Church or Sunday School, we use games, crafts, experiments, objects and cooking to explore the themes of a bible passage. In worship, Sunday School, Messy Church and the drama club, we get people to act out, relive and embody the story. We would always make sure to open up the bible.

In bible studies, we would read from different bibles, including something like The Action Bible or The Jesus Storybook Bible, or I would create a personal paraphrase, always making sure that a more literal translation was read to allow for digging deeper.

All of these examples create ways for people to see faith in a new way and relate it more fully to their everyday life.

5. Dig deeper

“God, your thinking is too great for me.”

Children and youth are way more capable than you think. They’re asking questions and thinking about many big ideas related to faith – sometimes more than adults do. Even a few days after you begin to instill the practice of bible reading, experiment with bigger, more difficult questions related to the text. Don’t feel like you need to resolve them, but you should have some ways of pointing them forward.

The problem of suffering is a great example. I find it hard, even in myself, to resolve the problem of suffering, but I know that suffering is a consequence of sin, brokenness and trespassing, ours and others’; that Jesus bears our suffering with us, and he even redeems suffering by making it something good; that suffering is a way we understand God’s love (as he suffers to redeem us); and finally that God will remove suffering. This is a lot, and giving youth or children this much can help them to approach God and understand him better.

Debate is all right, but be careful it doesn’t become argumentative. Don’t get wrapped up in smaller things – unless you can easily boil it down to a smaller and simpler point. We want to inspire them to dig deeper without them feeling like it’s a burden. Ultimately, you are giving them an example of how they can grow in their exploration of faith.

When we boil down all five of these ideas, we need to make sure that we’re keeping up our relationship with Jesus in a way that excites and challenges us. We then want to invite others into that same experience of faith through deliberate, consistent and open conversation and exemplification. Our faith in Jesus Christ is immensely exciting; we only need to help others see that too.