This morning one of my co-workers played a song from YouTube that she remembered from being a child in Sunday School. It was about Noah’s Ark and the great flood. It talked about the water falling on the people and so forth and so on. I wonder if the next song will be about Joshua and the Israelites slaughtering all the pagans and their women and children!
Is it only me or is it a tad odd that we have kids sing songs of God’s judgment from a young age while panicking when they listen to Miley Cyrus? Do you think we should introduce children to these biblical stories in such a bubble wrapped way? Should we wait until they are older while singing songs about the fruits of the Spirit or something a tad less controversial when they are young? Or is there a benefit to slowly introducing the more controversial aspects of the biblical narrative to young children in a way that allows them to ponder it from a cautious angle?
the archives near Emmaus 
Brian,
I am certainly not a child psychologist, but I think teaching children difficult things from a very young age is important. I think it is better to surround children with the fullness of Biblical and theological teaching including things like the God’s judgment, the Trinity and the fruit of the Spirit. Of course they will not fully understand what it means and will not be able to rationally comprehend what they are taught but they absorb the stories, truths and data from the Bible and theology as true and it shapes their view of world. When they are older and their brains have formed more they will gain the ability to comprehend and more fully understand, but they will also have a great amount of knowledge to reflect on with their new skills.
I think this was very much my experience in life. My family and church immersed me in the Bible and theology from a young age and only in the last 10 years have I really started to understand what all that stuff I was taught as kid really means, but I knew what it was already. Also, I think it is a great trust builder in God. While my current reason for trusting in God have some rationals aspects, as I grew up all I knew was to believe in Jesus, my family made it that way because they taught that’s just how the world was. It is something for which I am very grateful.
I think heavy exposure to U2 at a young age is the appropriate course of action here.
I found it ironic that you posted this at the same time that Scientia et Sapientia posted this: The Outrageous Prayer of David in Psalm 109 and Charles Spurgeon.
In response to Daniel, if children are to be taught the “fullness of Biblical and theological teaching” (sic) at a very young age, then he would have to include Song of Solomon and Ezekiel 16, which even the Jewish scribes of old would keep from their children until they were older. I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with the flood song, I just have a hard time believing that the fullness of Scripture is appropriate for all people at all times. It’s clearly not.
Ted,
I don;t have a problem teaching SOS or any of the more gruesome texts of the OT to kids. I don’t think there is anything too explicit in SOS for children. Children were exposed to violence, blood and sexuality on the farm for thousands of years. When it is taught in a proper way both violence and sexuality can be taught to children in the proper context. However, note I reserve the right to change my opinion when I actually have kids. I’ll admit this is easier to say from a position of safety.
Daniel: I can see from where you are coming. I agree that we should introduce children to these concepts, but it seems like there may be a better way to do it.
Carly: Yes, U2 solves all the world’s problems! 😉
Bryan: I am pretty sure Billy was inspired by my post! 🙂
Ted: I agree, there are some aspects of the Scriptures that seem to be a tad too “adult” for young audiences. I think I would skip David’s infidelity or Joshua’s military slaughter of the pagans!
Brian,
I agree, it might be better to explain the judgment of the Canaanites in a more somber way than a sing a long.
I have three young children, and we try to be very honest with them about some harsh realities. I don’t want to sugar-coat the very broken world we live in. At the same time, I want them to understand and experience that brokenness in a way that is appropriate for them.
We talk about death. We don’t gasp or cringe when our four year old asks us about the origin of babies. We try to use appropriate language and be very honest with them. I don’t want them to think that God is “nice” when in reality God is just and loving and merciful and many other things. Our children will not understand peace and mercy apart from strife and judgment, so we try to paint a complete picture of who God is by reading all sorts of stories from the Bible, not just the happy ones.
That being said, we don’t often sing songs about judgment. Rather we focus frequently on our experience as a family within the covenant–an experience of pardon, righteousness and peace with God.
Daniel: Good idea, I imagine a song would be a bit odd. Well, unless it was by Veggie Tales!
Will: I am sure there is a way to approach these subjects like you do. It seems like a very difficult thing to navigate. I agree that we don’t want to “suger coat” God, but I wonder how much the human mind should be able to handle at a young age.
“difficult” may be an understatement given our culture’s heritage of hiding reality from kids. We do our best and beg God to pour out grace on our efforts.
I agree that a song is not an appropriate way to teach those kinds of truths. Dealing with the harsh reality of a fallen world is unavoidable, even for young children. However, putting grave truths to a lively tune is sort of sick. I think most contemporary kids praise songs/Bible story songs avoid mention of the more graphic portions of scripture.
When you are raising kids, you get a feel for what they can and cannot grasp or understand at different stages. If you are intentional about teaching your kids a Biblical worldview at all, you will know when and how to introduce or explain difficult topics. Usually, if they are old enough to ask a question, they are old enough to get an honest answer. 🙂
Crystal,
This is a great point. You may be on to something. If they haven’t come to the point where they have questions no reason to force some things on the children, but if there asking it is evident they are already grappling with it.