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last night at our young adult bible study, we had a great discussion about grace and law and guilt and motivation and how to live out our commitment to christ in a way that is true to scripture…and not dominated by an unhealthy view of god, the church and ourselves.
paul wrote the letter to the galatians to challenge them to stay true to the gospel he had taught them (justification by faith) and to avoid turning to another gospel (a returning to the law…salvation earned by human effort). here’s where my questions come in.
we all openly admitted that our church upbringing had taught us to “do” things to please god. go to church…study the bible…be good to others…put money in the offering plate…bring a friend…give god your best…pray…memorize scripture…go to vacation bible school…sing the songs…have a daily quiet time…and the list goes on.
children are taught…in church, as well as in society…to take responsibility for ourselves. we are praised for effort and we take pride in our independence, work ethic, and success. we are led to believe that anything worth having will cost us. nothing is free. nothing of value comes cheap. it is better to earn it than to have someone give it to you. you’ll appreciate it more. there will be deeper satisfaction and the feelings of accomplishment will continue to push us to greater and greater effort and commitment.
so here they are:
how do you teach a child the concept of salvation by grace through faith from an early age?
how do we express the greatness of redemption from slavery to the law…while at the same time, teaching personal responsibility?
how do we teach children that god is not impressed by church attendance, sunday best, quarters in the offering plate, and being nice to friends?
how do we teach children that there is nothing we can ever do to earn any part of our relationship to our heavenly father?
how do we help our children build a concept of god and commitment to the kingdom that is free from legalistic works…and full of grace-filled, loving responses to god and people?
how can we help kids grow up into people who love…simply because they are aware that god has loved them first?
how?
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