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Thursday, January 27, 2005
Bedtime at our home, when my children were smaller, was a pretty fun time all in all. We started winding down right after dinner time, which dissolved into bath time, which led into clean-up time. All of this was right before story time, which was the final act before saying prayers and going to sleep.
We read the requisite Dr. Suess stories, tales from the Hundred Acre Wood, Velveteen Rabbits, and even Beatrix Potter stories if we had the time. We thought that was a good habit that would teach our children the joys and value of reading.
Our plans were a bit more sinister, however. We also had this Bible written especially for children. You know which ones I'm talking about: The ones with the cartoon Jesus who always smiles and heavy on stories which also conveniently leave out the PG-13 or R-rated parts of stories like Noah's Ark when Noah got drunk and passed out or David's sin with Bathsheba? Yeah, we read lots of those right before bed. The joy and value of reading wasn't what we were about in that regard.
It was teaching our children about Christ.
Even though they continually chose stories like the Exodus or Paul and Silas, they got a steady dose of Jesus.
While the details of this particular night are a bit fuzzy, I had just finished reading and saying prayers with my 6 year-old. I tucked her in, which had it's own set of laughs and involved a stuffed tiger.
She asked, "Dad, are you a Christian?"
"Yes, Kelsey. It's bedtime."
"Dad, how did you become a Christian?"
"It's a really long story, Kelsey. It's bedtime, now let's turn that light out, okay?"
I figured she was trying to buy a few more minutes of staying up by getting Dad to share his area of enjoyment and expertise.
"Dad, I want to be a Christian, too."
"Whatever, kid. We'll talk about it over breakfast tomorrow if you still want to in the morning. Now, knock it off, go to bed and stop stalling."
Great parenting by the theologian/seminary grad/pastor parent, right? Everything we'd been trying to teach our child was coming to fruition and I'm suspecting her motives.
She stood up in bed.
"Dad, you're not LISTENING to me!"
My wife, hearing most of this, gives me a look that says I might want to go back into her room and start LISTENING to her.
I did.
I got out another Bible. One that didn't have any pictures of a red-headed cartoon Jesus and contained the ugly portrayals of human nature (but I didn't read any of those parts that night...come to think of it, I still don't).
We talked a bit about Romans 3:23 (a much shorter version of what was discussed yesterday), and how everyone sins and has fallen short of the glory of God.
We chatted a bit about Romans 6:23 and how people who sin are apart from God with no hope of relating to Him since holiness and unholiness can't mix, and how this separation from God was forever.
Very bad news...
BUT...
There was some very GOOD news that took place in Romans 5:8, that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The problem of holiness and righteousness for us had been solved (see the last half of Romans 3, so I took a few liberties here with her to make sure she understood it) through Christ. If we were to do a Bible study on this now, I'd want to talk with her about the Old Testament versions of atonement and the New Testament propitiation of sin, but she was six.
Anyway, then the moment of truth came from Romans 10:9, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.
I asked her if she really believed this stuff.
"Dad, (pointing to my Bible) the stuff in that book isn't FICTION." (eye roll at me)
We prayed. It's so simple a child can understand it, and yet so complex that the smartest people on the planet can't get their arms around it.
But the spiritual life has a starting point. A very distinct starting point.
My daughter might not remember the details of it as she gets older (one of the downsides of growing up in a Christian home, if that's really a downside), but I can remind her.
The reality is this, from a quote from Francis Schaeffer:
“The first point we must make is that it is impossible even to begin living the Christian life, or to know anything of true spirituality, before one is a Christian. And the only way to become a Christian is not by trying to live some sort of a Christian life, nor by hoping for some sort of religious experience, but rather by accepting Christ as Savior. No matter how complicated, educated or sophisticated we may be, we must all come the same way, insofar as becoming a Christian is concerned.”—Francis August Schaeffer, in True Spirituality.
It isn't about lining up theologically with the "right" doctrine, or cleaning up your life so God will like you better and then getting on God's team. It's simply no longer calling God a liar and accepting the free gift of life He offers through the finished work of Christ on the cross...
And then some even more staggering things happen to us at this moment, which we'll talk about tomorrow.
But for today, what was your experience in crossing over from death to life? Could you tell someone else about it and how to do that themselves?
Brent 4:13 AM
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