A tale of two plicits

[My apologies to Mr. Dickens for the very bad allusion!]

In the process of caring for the souls of our children, we should be very careful about what we teach them. With this no one would argue. In the context of the local church, this means we carefully scrutinize various curricula to verify the teachings are sound. It means we work to insure that our volunteer teachers are both capable and theologically sound. We must always be on the guard for wolves in the flock, but most especially when it comes to our children.

Once we find a curriculum we approve of and teachers that are competent, we usually go the extra mile and make sure to tailor our teaching to the specific ages and sometimes even the specific children to whom we minister. We might infuse the lessons with specific examples taken from the world they live in - borrowing Jesus' use of parables.

All of this is good; it should and must continue. But it's not enough...

All of what I've mentioned thus far is explicit teaching methodology. As evangelical churches, we've done a pretty good job of making sure the things we teach explicitly are within the pale of orthodoxy. They're often far too watered down, to be sure - but still within the pale of orthodoxy.

But what about what we're implicitly teaching our children? Do we spend much time mulling over this issue? Frankly, I don't think so.

For example, what if your church uses a largely entertainment-model program for children? What are implicitly teaching them? Are you encouraging longer attention spans? Are you working to make the transition into the next program smooth? Are you showing them they are truly a part of the life of the local church? Are you teaching them self-control and humility?

No, no at the implicit level. And trust me: children are much more in tune with your implicit message than your explicit.

So we need to be not only on guard against heresy and twisted doctrine and all the other explicit stuff. We need to spend at least as much time dealing with the implicit level. Here are some examples:

- Rather than giving children a script to re-enact a Bible story, try telling them the story and giving them the freedom to re-enact it in the way they see fit. This works best in a non-age segregated environments, so the older kids are given an opportunity to teach and lead the younger.

- Rather than fusing everything with "fun", try modeling your children's program after the general pattern of your adult program. Better yet, try finding ways to involve them in your "regular" worship service.

- Rather than merely reading them Bible stories and telling them what they mean, try reading them Bible stories and asking them what they mean. [Fear not - you're there to guard against heresy and gently rebuke if needed. But don't we want to encourage them to explore God's World?]

These are just a few examples. Many more could be given, but I just wanted to give some food for thought right now.

What are you seeing in children's ministry?

Hatushili