Theology for Your Progeny

The kids and I are studying the theory of evolution this week in science. We spent some time discussing what a theory is, why some people believe in evolution and some people don't, where science leaves off and speculation begins. You know, easy concepts that most six to eight year olds can grasp without any trouble.

Anyway, through the course of our discussion, I explained (once again) what the Man and I believe. The kids have heard the gospel more times than I can count. Sometimes daily. But each time the Man and I are careful to explain that our beliefs don't carry over onto them. As I said today, "Your dad and I want to share about Jesus with you because we love him and because that's what we believe to be true, but you have to make up your mind for yourself. And we're not going to shove Christianity down your throat." Because that just doesn't work very well (note multiple historical examples--I picked the Crusades).

I share this because we recognize that there is a fine line between sharing our love for Jesus and the truth of the gospel with our children and refraining from beating them over the head with our Bibles. With that said, I wanted to give you a few resources that do a good job of presenting Christ to our kids. Please note that The Jesus Storybook Bible (still the twins' favorite) isn't on the list simply because I already wrote about it on here several years ago and because it's been getting a lot of attention lately (I had a friend receive three copies when she had her first son last year).

First on the list is one that I've only read snippets of but has come highly recommended by many friends, The Big Picture Story Bible by David R. Helm. I heard it described as a step before The Jesus Storybook Bible, if you have slightly younger kids who can't hang in there for all of Sally Lloyd-Jones' poetic language. The pictures are on more of the cartoony side and there's less type per page, but it shows the whole arch of the gospel from Creation to Christ in easy to understand terms.

Then if you want to take a step back even farther, there's the board book The Biggest Story ABC by Kevin DeYoung. The illustrations are beautiful, and it does well for your littles who just can't sit still for very long. I liked that it didn't dumb down the theology even though it was written for smaller children, but it gives just enough to introduce the big ideas of Christianity to a young kid.

Once your children are getting older (and tired of being subjected to The Jesus Storybook Bible every night by their routine loving little brother), you might want to give The Ology: Ancient Truths, Ever New by Marty Machowski a try. My mom gifted me this one for my birthday this year, and it's really a beautiful book. Andy McGuire's illustrations are a perfect companion to the systematic breakdown of theology through story and instruction. I also appreciated the inclusion of more scripture (because we don't want to just read storybook Bibles to our kids...we actually want to read them the Bible).

The Man and I have also started working through a few catechism questions with the kids a night, just so they understand what we believe and why. I had a friend suggest My 1st Book of Questions and Answers, and it has been a perfect fit for even the twins. It gives verses that inform each of the answers as well, which has been really helpful.

The Man's parents gifted the kids Trillia Newbell's God's Very Good Idea (with super fun illustrations by Catalina Echeverri) for Christmas this year. I loved this unique way of presenting the gospel that included snippets of history, a lot of diversity, an excellent explanation of sin (that went past "stop doing bad things--shame on you!"), and a beautiful introduction to Jesus' love, forgiveness, and plan for all of us.

I included this picture just in case we were all taking ourselves a little too seriously.

Finally, at Christmas, my sister sent us Everyone A Child Should Know by Clare Heath-Whyte. It took me until late January before I managed to pry it out of Tiny's grasp (he likes to hoard books under his bed), but now it's one of the kids' favorite parts of family devotions. Each spread shares a brief story of a Christian who influenced history (think: Rosa Parks, Augustine, Eric Liddell). Honestly, I wish this book were longer, mostly because my only complaint is that they could have included more examples from non-white believers--of which there are so many. Still, I love that the kids are a) learning history and b) learning about heroes of the faith and c) seeing what the Christian faith should actually look like when it's worked out in the day to day. Side note, Bruiser told me today that his heroes are God...and the Flash, so I think we're going to keep reading this book and hope that one day he will include Hudson Taylor or George Müller.

These are just a few examples of tools you can use with your children, but they will never be a substitute for reading the Bible with your kids and, possibly more importantly, them actually seeing you walk with Christ day to day. My hope is that I can enjoy Christ with my children, learn alongside them, and one day joyously see them walk closely with him.