In January I read a book that changed my perspective in curriculum writing in a major way. The book was “Show them Jesus” by Jack Klumpenhower. It convicted me that teaching the Gospel and showing children Jesus in every aspect of God’s Word needs to be our number #1 priority. We need to show them Jesus as we live and act, but also in the way we teach. We must point them to the Gospel at every possible moment. 

Now wait, haven’t we been doing this? We’re Christian churches and organizations.  We’re all about Jesus, right? The Gospel is what saves us. But if I scrutinize my own Christian life & upbringing, I feel like we file the Gospel into the “Salvation” category. It’s the big dramatic Gospel presentation to save kids at VBS, DNow and Camp. But the Gospel is so much more. As Jack Klumpenhower says in his book, 

“You see, the good news never becomes old news. It always has more to teach. It keeps changing us, burrowing into the soul and rooting out deeper sins.”

We should always want to teach and show and reveal more of who God is and the redeeming work of Jesus Christ in our lives and the lives of the children we minister to. GOD is ALWAYS at work, no matter a person’s age. 

There is something that plagues ministers of students and kids all the time: Parents who want kids ministry  and student ministry to “fix” their kids. They want them to act better, to be pure, to be “good”. But being good is never enough. There is a phrase I’ve used over and over this year when I explain the gift that is Salvation to our kids, “there is nothing too good we can do to earn God’s grace or nothing too bad we can do to lose it.”

Yet when we look at the lessons we teach on Sunday, often we teach the “moral” of the story. We want to pull a moral lesson about human character rather than “the worth and work of the main character, God” (Jack Klumpenhower). Any children’s television show can pull a lesson about moral character–The story of Esther can teach kids to be brave, but so can an episode of Paw Patrol or a Little Critter book or Pixar movie about a fish named Nemo. Instead, Esther can teach children that God is always at work even when his name isn’t mentioned. Even when we forget about God he always remembers and cares for us. 

We show children Jesus so they love him. That they will grow in desiring to know Him. Another quote from Jack Klumpenhower say this: 

“…Jesus is our example. As kids come to love him, they will want to be like him. But first they need to be wonder-struck by him. When that happens regularly, wanting to be like him will follow naturally enough.”

Do we create an environment where we are “wonder-struck” by Jesus? When was the last time you were in awe of Him? In the book Gospel Deeps, Jared C. Wilson refers to the Gospel as “playing”. He says: 

It is not out of bounds to think of hearing the gospel proclaimed as playing if we are receiving the word with gladness, savoring its declarations like honey, joyfully submitting to its Authority, and reveling in the infinite excellencies of its author. Authentic worship is in many ways a childlike Wonder. –Jared C. Wilson, Gospel Deeps

Show them the wonder of our Savior and the incredible ways God has written this beautiful story of Redemption and do it through play, do it through teaching, do it through worship, through games and small groups and legos and even hard conversations. 

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Ephesians 5:15-16

Our time each Sunday is limited. Each week we are giving a brief window that we can impact these children, but what are we impacting them with? A character trait? A moral lesson? Or are we impacting them with the Gospel? 

I write this brief post today to encourage you to step back and evaluate your efforts–I did and God has opened my eyes to an intentional way of teaching that drips of the Gospel and reveals more of the person of Jesus Christ with each lesson. 

I also recommend that  you read “Show them Jesus”, though I don’t agree with each and every point made in the book, it did open my eyes to a new method of teaching and writing curriculum that facilitates a Gospel conversation. 

(The link below is an affiliate link to the book, each purchase through it helps to fund this free site.)

Thanks for letting me share my heart and how God has been at work in my own ministry,