This post isn’t about what you think it might be … 😉 The other day my husband shared with me the following excerpt from a post from a blog we like to read, “Free-Range Kids” authored by Lenore Skenazy,
Dear Free-Range Kids: My kids have a children’s bible which says “and Jesus went away.” Kind of destroys one of the central tenets of Christianity.
Yikes! For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son a long vacation? “Judas! What is this ticket to Bermuda for?” The possibilities are pretty endless. — L.
I find Lenore’s response to be funny and accurate. More importantly, the one sending the comment to Lenore makes an important point: we destroy one of the primary tenets of the Gospel if we rephrase it. Jesus didn’t just ‘go away’, He died.
But, obviously, someone had some concern about how we should talk about the event of the cross with our children; otherwise, the particular author and publishing company that authored and published such a version of a Children’s bible wouldn’t have used different language then what we are typically familiar with about the event of the cross.
Still, the post made me wonder: how should we talk about the Cross with our children? Do we need to watch our language and rephrase parts? Or, should we just go ahead and tell them the story? Now, I have no idea how to accurately answer that question; my boys are 4 and 2, and we are just breaking the ice into the deeper things of God, Jesus, and humanity. We have yet to talk about Jesus’ death on the cross and what that means. I am not a child psychologist, I couldn’t come up with an answer, thus, I turned to the one source I knew would tell me what language I should use about the event of the Cross: The Jesus Storybook Bible, AKA the best Children’s Bible out there, by far. (For another post about this bible, check out Justin Holcomb’s post here). Anyway, I thought I’d share how The Jesus Storybook Bible tells the story of Jesus’ death (taken from the chapter titled, “The sun stops shining”):
Even though it was midday, a dreadful darkness covered the face of the world. The sun could not shine. The earth trembled and quaked. The great mountains shook. Rocks split in two. Until it seemed that the whole world would break. That creation itself would tear apart.
The full force of the storm of God’s fierce anger at sin was coming down. On his own Son. Instead of his people. It was the only way God could destroy sin, and not destroy his children whose hearts were filled with sin.
Then Jesus shouted out in a loud voice, “It is finished!”
And it was. He had done it. Jesus had rescued the whole world.
“Father!” Jesus cried. “I give you my life.” And with a great sign he let himself die.
Strange clouds and shadows filled the sky. Purple, orange, black. Like a bruise.
While I believe that there are plenty of words and sights that I should do my best to keep away from my children; the truth of and in the Gospel is not one of them. The author of the Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones, writes in her acknowledgments, “To my parents who first told me The Story, as a four year old…” I want to be that type of parent; the one who tells The Story.
When we tell the Gospel Story to our children, we should stop watching our language, precisely because they ARE listening.
COMMENTS
10 responses to “Watch Your Language, The Children Are Listening: The Sun Stops Shining in The Jesus Storybook Bible”
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I LOVE that Bible.
I tear up almost every time I read the Abraham and Isaac story in that children's Bible. The combination of the artwork and her storytelling is just like a ton of bricks.
I have that children's Bible too; it's very well done. I work as an editor on children's Bible curricula, and age-appropriateness is a real challenge. We went through several drafts of written and illustrated descriptions of the Crucifixion before we were able to strike the right (we hope!) notes.
The binding on our copy of the Jesus Storybook Bible is taped and re-taped. It is a wonderful resource – I've heard that she is working on a Sunday School curriculum, which will be a refreshing change from moralism.
I'm an avid reader of Mockingbird, but never post. Yet my friend LRE raises such an important question, that I just feel compelled. It is tempting to water it down, and on every other book besides the Bible, we do. If two kids say mean things to each other in a story we're reading, we edit as we go. But with the Bible, we just think the Lord will handle it. When she was younger our oldest cried and said "I don't want to go to heaven because I don't want to die on a cross!" And yet, that same child, reading the same JSB story sometime later, reverently put one hand over her heart and one hand on that picture of Jesus carrying the cross up the hill under a purple sky, and couldn't get another word out. Jesus really did die, David really did kill Goliath, Nebuchadnezzer (sp) really threw David to the lions, Herod really wanted to kill babies. Somewhere in the mess, God will handle it in their little hearts. I do realize and respect that this is an individual decision for individual families, but that's where we've come down on it and we're just praying that the Lord fills in the gaps.
When children grew up on the farm, as many still do in places like India and upstate New York (organic), this "concern" for children that would limit them to a Dora the Explorer Bible universe would have been seen as ridiculous, because children on the farm get exposed to the reality of death and suffering at a very early age. As a four year old child I remember my grandfather butchering hogs. Lots of blood and guts. I also remember walking from the sanctuary through the old graveyard to my Sunday school class. That walk among those old grave stones made church and the gospel a little less abstract.
Joe, beautiful comment. I LOVE this Bible.
John: I cannot get through the creation account without crying…and, not ashamedly so, i was (once again) choked up when I was typing out the words for the crucifixion. And you are right, it is JUST like a ton of bricks, you feel your heart break and you feel the love of God. amazing.
Justin: thanks so much for sharing about your own experience. I would love to know when your curricula is released.
Joe: great to see you here! And, as AZ said, beautiful comments! I'm so glad this drew you out of the woodwork to comment. I'm super glad you shared (what encouragement for me (and others) as I walk along side my children and tell them the story).
MC: as always, thanks for commenting and sharing. your comment does make me think that you and my husband, Daniel, would get along just fine! D and I were JUST talking about that very thing last night. the closest thing my boys have come to dealing with real death is losing a fish a few weeks ago. D and I decided just to be honest and talk about death. Our oldest is still processing it and he's even been able to go back and relate this recent fish's passing with the first fish we lost. (we said at the time: "Richard fell asleep"; after burying Richard, i wouldn't blame our oldest if he slept with one eye open.) This processing has made for some pretty interesting lunch time discussions.
L.R.E., thanks for another great post. Having recently "become" a godfather I have been wondering about how to share the gospel with my goddaughter. Your reflection is helpful for us singles too.
All I know of JSB is what you just quoted, and my problem with that is that any such paraphrase is inevitably an interpretation, and should be called such rather than being called a "Bible." The gospels narrate the death of Jesus with a remarkable absence of interpretation. The passage you quoted interprets Jesus' death as being a result of the power of God's anger at sin, or something like that. You can support that from the history of theology, but it is by no means the only way to interpret the moment, and I for one would not want a child to have it be the first interpretation they encounter. Just as plausible to apply Girard's suggestion that the death of Jesus is in no direct way in harmony with God's will.
I agree with the others. We LOVE the Jesus Storybook Bible! And Sally Lloyd-Jones’ other bible for kids, “Hug-A-Bible” – though it’s not nearly as deep or indepth, it’s a good intro for babies/young-toddlers to the Jesus Storybook Bible. I ALSO have started reading Free-Range Kids and find freedom in the Grace she offers there… I have been struck as my toddler grows (she’s almost 2, and we’re expecting our second) by how so much of American parenting is rooted in a combination of fear and the need to do the right thing for our children, lest we mess them up. In fact, a friend of mine (in a discussion of whether or not we are called to have kids as Christians) even said “Well, what if I do have kids and they just turn out to be sinners?” I responded saying that it’s more than a chance – it’s a guarantee that we’ll have sinners for kids! And that we cannot MAKE “good kids”. I’m just struck by the fact that ultimately, we can only trust God to guide our kids and give them meaningful lives and faith – and acting on that faith ourselves, strive to be loving parents who share “the Story” 🙂 Great post!
Just read this again, and yes, still feel a resounding AMEN! 🙂