Well, the church ladies sure had an interesting experience with their Vacation Bible Camp. I kind of wish now I had taken time off work to be there. But on the other hand, maybe it's best I didn't.
I think it was about the second or third day they were gathering the children around them and asking them questions about Jesus and God, things like Do you know who God is and do you know who Jesus is? We're talking a group that ranges from preschool to late elementary so of course they are going to have differing degrees of knowledge and attention spans and abilities. Even so, things were going pretty swimmingly until one little boy spoke up. Yes, he knew who Jesus was. And he also knew who Jesus' brothers and sisters were. Oh? said one of the ladies. Who were they? Thor, said the little lad, and Neptune and . . . Uh--hold it right there. First rule of dealing with little kids and religion, it's the same as lawyers in court, never ask a question you don't know the answer to.
Now I know this kid's family and I am pretty sure that they aren't sitting around reading Norse and Greek mythology at night let alone the Bible, so he didn't get it from his parents. Most likely he got it from watching TV. And all things considered, it's not an unreasonable answer. Kids today are exposed to such a constant barrage of superheroes, mythological figures, and so forth, that when you throw Jesus into the mix, how do you expect them to sort that out? Well, that is for the church ladies to figure out. I'm not touching it with a twenty foot pole.
To this kid, there is no difference between Jesus, Thor, Superman, etc. They are all real. The lines haven't been drawn yet between "reality" and "fantasy". To the atheist, there isn't any difference either. None of them are real.
Here is the challenge for the church ladies and other would-be missionaries: How do you tell a kid (or anyone else, for that matter), that Superman, Thor, and all the others that he or she sees only on TV or in pictures are not real, that they are simply made-up, but that Jesus, who is equally invisible save for drawings or portrayals by actors, is real? How do you tell the difference? You cannot see Jesus, you cannot touch him, you cannot hear him--the only way to have a "relationship" with him is in your head. Just like with any other imaginary friend.
I once went to an event where several costumed cartoon characters were roaming the audience. Next to me was a little girl who talked endlessly about her relationship with one of these characters. "He's my friend, he's my friend!" And she waited for him to approach her, only to be devastated when he totally ignored her. In her mind, that friendship was real. She could not understand why her friend, whom she had spend many pleasant hours with in the privacy of her head, refused to acknowledge her. Anyone who has had an imaginary friend or two knows just how powerfully real these relationships can be. It is what drives successful fiction. Harry Potter, Scarlett O'Hara, Mr. Spock are all imaginary--yet they live!
But that is not what these ladies are claiming about Jesus. They are saying he is different from all these others. Yet they cannot show these kids HOW he is different. And if I understand what I am hearing every Sunday correctly, this is a very critical matter. I want to know, what is the difference.
I think it was about the second or third day they were gathering the children around them and asking them questions about Jesus and God, things like Do you know who God is and do you know who Jesus is? We're talking a group that ranges from preschool to late elementary so of course they are going to have differing degrees of knowledge and attention spans and abilities. Even so, things were going pretty swimmingly until one little boy spoke up. Yes, he knew who Jesus was. And he also knew who Jesus' brothers and sisters were. Oh? said one of the ladies. Who were they? Thor, said the little lad, and Neptune and . . . Uh--hold it right there. First rule of dealing with little kids and religion, it's the same as lawyers in court, never ask a question you don't know the answer to.
Now I know this kid's family and I am pretty sure that they aren't sitting around reading Norse and Greek mythology at night let alone the Bible, so he didn't get it from his parents. Most likely he got it from watching TV. And all things considered, it's not an unreasonable answer. Kids today are exposed to such a constant barrage of superheroes, mythological figures, and so forth, that when you throw Jesus into the mix, how do you expect them to sort that out? Well, that is for the church ladies to figure out. I'm not touching it with a twenty foot pole.
To this kid, there is no difference between Jesus, Thor, Superman, etc. They are all real. The lines haven't been drawn yet between "reality" and "fantasy". To the atheist, there isn't any difference either. None of them are real.
Here is the challenge for the church ladies and other would-be missionaries: How do you tell a kid (or anyone else, for that matter), that Superman, Thor, and all the others that he or she sees only on TV or in pictures are not real, that they are simply made-up, but that Jesus, who is equally invisible save for drawings or portrayals by actors, is real? How do you tell the difference? You cannot see Jesus, you cannot touch him, you cannot hear him--the only way to have a "relationship" with him is in your head. Just like with any other imaginary friend.
I once went to an event where several costumed cartoon characters were roaming the audience. Next to me was a little girl who talked endlessly about her relationship with one of these characters. "He's my friend, he's my friend!" And she waited for him to approach her, only to be devastated when he totally ignored her. In her mind, that friendship was real. She could not understand why her friend, whom she had spend many pleasant hours with in the privacy of her head, refused to acknowledge her. Anyone who has had an imaginary friend or two knows just how powerfully real these relationships can be. It is what drives successful fiction. Harry Potter, Scarlett O'Hara, Mr. Spock are all imaginary--yet they live!
But that is not what these ladies are claiming about Jesus. They are saying he is different from all these others. Yet they cannot show these kids HOW he is different. And if I understand what I am hearing every Sunday correctly, this is a very critical matter. I want to know, what is the difference.
