Today’s post is a lazy (or pragmatic) woman’s attempt to kill two birds with one stone. Lisa-jo Baker’s Five Minute Friday has become part of the rhythm around here, and I’ve enjoyed the community involved there. This month I’m also participating in an online book club organized by Abi Bechtel. We’re reading Telling God’s Story by Peter Enns. Therefore, today’s post is based on the word prompt “Truth” and the first thing that came to mind was informed by book club, so I’m hybridizing the two.
Set the timer to five minutes.
Ready.
Set.
GO.
Two nights ago my son asked me about heaven.
He asked if it was really gold.
He said he used to feel scared of it, but now he feels better because he read in a kids booklet that there’s no crying or sickness there. This was a relief.
Then he did it. He asked what happens to the people who don’t have Jesus in their heart when they die. Do they go to heaven?
I want to be truthful, but I want to give him security. How can I do both when I feel like there is such a broad cannon of interpretation within Christendom? How can I tell him the questions in my own heart about the strict interpretation I was trained to accept? How do I tell him what is true?
The words of a former professor, Greg Boyd, popped into my head. I studied with him while at Bethel for more than one class, but his World Religions class was the scene of this truth bomb. I have come back to it again and again.
He said something similar to this, but this is not an exact quote…
Imagine you are a beggar with a loaf of bread. Another beggar comes to you holding a loaf of bread. It is moldy and dry. The beggar is breaking off bits and eating them. You say to him, “That bread may make you sick. It may not. But I can tell you for sure that the bread I have is good. It is life giving and you will not get sick from it.” And you share your bread with the man.
It goes along with the concept of there being a wideness in God’s mercy, which I love.
So what did I tell my son?
I told him that many many people who love the Lord have studied the Bible for years and years. These people have come up with different ideas about what it says. I gave him a couple short examples of what I meant.
I told him it is up to God to decide about who hangs out in heaven with Him, and He wants everyone, but that the simplest, most straightforward, reading exactly what the Bible says, is by asking Jesus into your heart…which he’s already done.
It’s not a fantastic answer.
Bread (Photo credit: CeresB)
Is it true?
Yes, sort of.
See what I mean?
STOP
*****
Sorry if this was hard to follow today. It was hard to corral my thoughts into a linear, succinct form.
May I ask how you interpret some of the hard, fast rules of entrance into the pearly gates? If you are a person of faith, how has your understanding changed from when you were a child? How do you handle the Big Questions of faith with your kids?
I think you did a great job Mama! Those can be some hard questions to answer. I’ve found with my kids that the truth, whether they understand completely or not, is the best way to go. Keep up the good work in teaching your kids about God and His truths!
~Blessings to your family!
(found you via 5 Min. Fri.)
Thank you for commenting. I agree that the truth is the best way to go, but it can be difficult to know how much to go into. Blessings to your family as well!
Thanks for posting this. By courageously talking about such a tricky topic and inviting his curiosity (and by admitting you don’t really know), you are giving him a gift that will last his entire life. Nice work. 🙂
Thank you — half the time I think that by being honest I’m going to leave them floundering. It’s hard to decide how much of the nuance would be too complex for their mostly concrete comprehension levels. Heck, it’s hard for me to admit to other adults that I’m willing to entertain different ideas, and they can handle the abstract. I hope that it will be freeing for them to hear different Biblical viewpoints.
Kids ask the most difficult questions without even meaning to! What I’m learning as I get older is that the world is far less black and white than most people want to make it. But that doesn’t mean that anything goes. We have to struggle with these issues by going to the source – asking God to reveal His truth. Arguing about it with others doesn’t get any of us closer to the truth, but sitting down to wrestle through things together does. Thanks for sharing this – good stuff to mull over.
Great insights here, and thank you for sharing your thoughts and time with us. You are awesome.
I’m living the hard questions with a science loving tween. recently I broke down and just gave him the truth straight from my heart. He loves the details and numbers of science and well, faith just doesn’t work that way. So the other day I took him to a park bench and told him a story – a true story about my life. I ended it with ” I learned to believe and trust the truth of God, you’ll have to do that too. while your’e making up your mind read my life, the lives of others …pay close attention to yours. Find the places where statistics won’t cut it. When you get to that – You’ve found God. It seemed to settle deep within but I know our talks aren’t over. This was a great post! Thanks.
This is beautiful. What a gift to give your scientist, and a great place to begin an authentic, honest conversation with your tween. I hope I’m able to have those same kinds of conversations with my kids when they are ready.
Even though my kids are in their 20’s I am not out of the tough question answering stage but I have learned the I just have to tell all I know. I have always try to share my heart with the disclaimer that there I no way for me to understand or relay God fully to them
“it is up to God to decide about who hangs out in heaven with Him” – I love this line!!
Thanks. It isn’t very eloquent but when you’re trying to pound out complete thoughts in five minutes, it ain’t always pretty. 🙂 Thanks for reading and taking time to comment. I really appreciate it.
I LOVE your honesty here! I’ve been thinkinga lot about heaven lately, in part because my closest friend has cancer. And I’ve overheard her kids ask her questions about heaven and I know someday soon my son will have his own questions. So appreciate your example.
I hurt for you and the diagnosis of your friend. My world would be reeling if I heard news like that. I’m sorry and hope all the best things for her.
There was a time when I felt I knew an exact answer to offer my son (and my two other kids) but I just don’t think it’s right to exclude historical, Biblically-based positions because they don’t give a tidy-enough answer. I also don’t want to burden my kids with more than they can carry. It’s a complicated balancing act, especially when they are all at different developmental stages. Parenting is no simple thing, is it??
I’m so glad you commented today. It’s very nice to meet you.