Posts Tagged With: Child Theology

One Generation from Extinction

Posted on February 11, 2019 by Pieter Stok

The following is another post written by my wife:

When I married I lost my surname and took my husband’s. My sisters also married and then the name we had since birth was lost from our family. With no brothers to be able to carry the name into the future, it was gone.

My parents-in-law also saw the future of their name disappear. They had two sons, who married and gave them eight granddaughters. Whether by marriage or when they die, the surname will be lost in one generation.

photo 4Our faith heritage can suffer a similar fate. In just one generation the faith of our fathers and mothers can be lost. Who holds this fast? In whose hands can we entrust this faith to ensure that our grandchildren and the generations to come will carry on trusting God?

The obvious, and truthful, answer is there in the question. We trust God to hold us and keep us trusting Him. But that doesn’t allow us to be passive while God does all the work.

Our family will never be big. Probably our two grandchildren (aged one and three years) will stride toward the future holding hands, just the two of them, carrying the family history and folklore and faith with them. From our perspective it is a scary country that they are entering, full of dangerous terrain, uncertain and dark valleys, and threatening inhabitants. As grandparents we come from the relative calm of a Christian era, when even those who were not Christian lived by a Christian moral standard. Today we paused and asked ourselves, how do we prepare these little children for that foreign country called The Future?

Fortunately it is not up to us alone, and I believe this is the key. Of course they have believing parents and we must support them in their role to nurture faith in their children. But they also have five Aunties and an Uncle who will model a life of faith to them. We can and must give every effort to ensuring our faith heritage is not lost. We have a holy task as grandfather, grandmother, auntie, uncle, sister, brother, and parent. And as we do this we are obliged to hold each other accountable before God.

There is a future world in need of the Good News of Jesus. And I pray it will hear this Good News from the lips of my grandchildren.

 

 

Categories: Children, christian, Christianity, Faith, Hetty's Devotions, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Bible Black Holes

Posted on July 26, 2016 by Pieter Stok

Another blog post from my wife.

Did you know there are black holes in the Bible? There are mud puddles, canyons, and prickle bushes as well.

I know about these because I tell Bible stories to kids.

Have you ever noticed how many empty spaces there are in Bible stories? For instance, what did Jesus and Zacchaeus discuss over lunch? And what was happening on Easter Saturday?

Try telling these stories to children. They’re not afraid of black holes. They will launch straight into them.
Slimy mud puddles that most Sunday school teachers avoid, such as how Mary got pregnant? Kids will take a running leap into that one.
Tricky prickle bushes that college theologians won’t venture near? No problem for the minds of 5 year olds. A group of preschoolers once explained the Resurrection to me.

Grownups can read the signs at the top of a cliff that say “Don’t go too close to the edge” or “Danger. Unstable cliff edge”, but kids only see an opportunity to explore.
Burning bushes, talking donkeys, floating zoos, miracles…
And the best part is that they will joyfully take the grownups by the hand, if we are willing to let them lead us.

Next time you’re reading your Bible and you find a black hole, find a child to tell the story to. Sit alongside them and wonder together. No space suits, flack jackets, parachutes, or safety harnesses required.

Categories: Child Theology, Children, christian, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

Child Theology

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Pieter Stok

Being a naturally conservative person I always tread warily when I come across new (or in the following case, renewed) ideas. But a movement that has piqued my interest is the “Child Theology” movement. Once again, it was my wife, a natural advocate of children, who brought this to my attention. The Child Theology movement is a relatively new movement that gathers together ideas and concerns that have been present for centuries.

It resonated with me because, for a long time, I have had the nagging feeling that we have not acknowledged the place, function and meaning of children in Scripture. I have always been struck by how many children God used (Josiah, Jeremiah, David, Samuel, Mary etc.) in proclaiming and delivering His Word and too often we have treated this fleetingly. Child Theology takes this one step further. It actually asks how children can develop and deepen our understanding of theology.

Let me quote from a website: (http://www.childtheology.org)

Jesus put a child in the centre of the disciples when they were having a theological argument about greatness in the kingdom of God. It is plain that Jesus thought the child’s presence would give the disciples a clue to the essential truth they were missing.

Occasionally over the centuries, the child has disturbed theologians at work, but has not been in a position to shape theology consistently.

In Child Theology, we are invited to take good note of the child in the midst as we think about, for, to, from and with God in Christ. As we do that, we expect our theology to change for the better. In Child Theology, we embark afresh on the journey with Christ into the open secret of God in the world.

One of the movement’s most articulate proponents is Marcia Bunge: Professor of Theology and Humanities at Christ College, Valparaiso University( a Lutheran University in the US). She has edited two key books in this area:

1. The Child in Christian Thought and Practice explores how churches and theologians have touched on this topic over 2000 years.

2. The Child in the Bible uses the writings of a number of theologians to survey the place and function of children throughout Scripture.

This movement is not child centred but God centred. Children come into the picture as a valid and valuable means of strengthening our understanding of His Word. His people, of course, are both young and old.

Pastors, parents and the Christian community in general will be the poorer if we do not hear what our friends in Child Theology have to say.

Categories: Child Theology, christian, Christianity, Devotional | Tags: , , , , , | 3 Comments

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