This morning I was getting the boys ready for school and talking about where we were going. The boys go to a Mother's Day Out at a church. Here was the conversation:
Boys: We are going to church
Me: No we are going to school. Church is where we learn and worship Jesus, but school is where we practice following Jesus.
Boys: We are going to school!
Me: That's right, did Jesus hit his friends?
Boys: No!
Me: Then we shouldn't hit our friends at school either. Did Jesus talk back to the teachers?
Boys: No!
Me: Do we talk back to our teachers?
Boys: No!
I quit this line of questioning and example sharing after the talking back line. Notice, I couldn't say they were right on talking back to his teachers. Jesus actually did talk back to his teachers. I quit talking because this made me ponder whether or not the rules for our kids is about being nice, moral, and having good manners or is it about following Jesus.
No doubt Jesus was nice and no doubt Jesus was not so "nice". Our goal shouldn't be to teach that good morals equal being a follower of Jesus, but living in his promises on his path is following Jesus. This may mean standing up against false teaching. This may mean speaking out against our own political bends. This may mean challenging our churches to rise above the surface level applications of how to follow Jesus. Just because you are a good person doesn't mean you are a kingdom person. There is more to Jesus than following rules and being nice. Jesus is about being radical against complacency! Jesus is about transformation! Jesus is about reaching everyone! Jesus is about standing up about righteousness even when its unpopular! Jesus is about passion! When we begin to follow this Jesus we might look forward to gathering together with other Christians in order to walk the kingdom pathways.
Boys: We are going to church
Me: No we are going to school. Church is where we learn and worship Jesus, but school is where we practice following Jesus.
Boys: We are going to school!
Me: That's right, did Jesus hit his friends?
Boys: No!
Me: Then we shouldn't hit our friends at school either. Did Jesus talk back to the teachers?
Boys: No!
Me: Do we talk back to our teachers?
Boys: No!
I quit this line of questioning and example sharing after the talking back line. Notice, I couldn't say they were right on talking back to his teachers. Jesus actually did talk back to his teachers. I quit talking because this made me ponder whether or not the rules for our kids is about being nice, moral, and having good manners or is it about following Jesus.
No doubt Jesus was nice and no doubt Jesus was not so "nice". Our goal shouldn't be to teach that good morals equal being a follower of Jesus, but living in his promises on his path is following Jesus. This may mean standing up against false teaching. This may mean speaking out against our own political bends. This may mean challenging our churches to rise above the surface level applications of how to follow Jesus. Just because you are a good person doesn't mean you are a kingdom person. There is more to Jesus than following rules and being nice. Jesus is about being radical against complacency! Jesus is about transformation! Jesus is about reaching everyone! Jesus is about standing up about righteousness even when its unpopular! Jesus is about passion! When we begin to follow this Jesus we might look forward to gathering together with other Christians in order to walk the kingdom pathways.
RSS Feed
