Eleven-year-old Ryan wiggled around in his chair as he struggled to remember the words of the verse. “ … Love one another …” Just at that moment his friend David sat down next to him and gave Ryan an elbow-poke in the ribs.
“… As I have loved you …,” Ryan continued as he scowled and gave a sharp poke back. “I John 13:34.”
“Whoa,” I said. “Are you guys listening to yourselves? Ryan, you’re reciting a verse about loving others and meantime you’re poking David.”
“He started it.” Ryan scrunched his face up in what he obviously hoped was the world’s meanest scowl.
“Wait. Slow down,” I told him. “Again, what were the words you were saying as you two were annoying each other?
Suddenly the boys both laughed as the irony of the situation hit them.
Connecting the Bible disconnect.
We encourage our kids to memorize verses and we talk about desiring them to apply those verses and Bible truths to life, but we don’t always make an effort to show them how to do that.
Sometimes as leaders (or parents) the only times we actually DO quote a verse to the kids – is when they’re in trouble. “Darius, quit hitting Nathan. You know the Bible says to be kind.”
But to habitually merge Scripture and concepts into our everyday lives – we sometimes struggle to do that (not in a preachy, psuedo-spiritual way, but in a natural God-is-part-of-my-life way.)
Isn’t it true that kids imitate the adults in their lives? If we want them to connect verses/Bible truths to everyday activities, then we need to connect Bible truths to our own lives.
How often do kids see us use Scripture (other than when we’re teaching a lesson).
Here are some ways I’ve seen leaders/parents do that.
- Quote verses about God’s awesome creation when you’re looking at a picture or when the kids are collapsed on the floor, getting renewed energy after a frenetic game. “Wow, God created us to have legs to run. In the beginning …”
- Quote verses for fun. Some verses are fun to quote … like the verse in Ecclesiastes where we read that much study is a weariness of the flesh … when a kid is complaining about homework.
- Relate Bible truths to explain why you’re doing what you’re doing. “Yes, bringing food to the food bank is good because a lot of people go hungry, but it’s also a good thing to do because God says so in I John 3:17:18 (and many other places).”
- Quote verses or reference God’s Word when you’re talking about your own life. “You ever had one of those days? I spilled my coffee on the way to work this morning, so I had to rush home and change and that made me late for a meeting. Then I went out to lunch with some co-workers and realized that my wallet was in the pants I changed out of when I spilled the coffee and … See, even leaders have bad days sometimes – it’s not just kids. Then I remembered that lesson Leader Brad taught a couple weeks ago about joy. How many times does Paul use the word when writing Philippians? This was a good day for me to remember the joy we’re supposed to have as Christians.”
- Quote verses and relate concepts to show that you’re excited about Bible study. – even if it’s something minor. What’s important is the kids see you researching, learning and wanting to know as much as you can. “Hey, I found out something interesting. We know that the ark was built of gopher wood, but did you know no one knows what gopher wood really is?”
- Connect popular phrases to the Bible. (Kids don’t always know that many popular phrases originated from God’s Word.) When Leader Joe tells the clubbers that he almost got into an accident and escaped by the “skin of his teeth.” Challenge the kids to find where we read that phrase in the Bible.
Or when someone sees Leader Jessica’s daughter and says, “Like mother, like daughter,” see who can first find the verse where that phrase originated.
Again, kids are watching us. If they see us apply the Bible to our lives, getting excited about Bible study and paying attention to what God says when we make the decisions in our lives – then they will see, learn and hopefully follow our example and do the same.
Let’s give them something good to imitate.
Let’s connect the disconnect.
