Our church had VBS last week and when I got home Friday night, my soon to be 5 year old daughter had a big blue pool noodle (the theme was "divin in with Jesus") and my wife asked her to explain to me why she received said noodle. She stood there looking confused and said I don't remember why... my wife tried to prod her a little more before she whispered in her ear and then my daughter said "because I asked Jesus into my heart" I asked her what she thought that meant and she responded, as I expected with an shrug of her shoulders and an "I don't know."
This prompted some further thinking into the issue of salvation, particularly of children as I have been doing some reading (
How to Bring Your Children to Christ ... and Keep Them There by Ray Comfort and Parents Concerns for their Unsaved Children by a Puritan author whose name escapes me at the moment) on the subject during the past couple of months and general thoughts over the past few years. I find myself having some very real questions about the "evangelizing" of children in particular the use of the term "ask Jesus into your heart" one of many terms that I refer to as "Christianese" or words/phrases that we hear thrown around a lot in Christian circles that I don't believe are biblical
First of all where do you find the phrase "ask Jesus into your heart" in the Bible, yet alone described or given as an answer for "how can I be saved or have eternal life."
Second of all, I know with all certainty that if given the opportunity and the gift to work with children that with the right words, music, dare I say 'bribes' (candy or pool noodles?) that I could get a whole roomful of 3,4,5,6,7 etc. etc. year olds to "ask Jesus into their hearts" I know this because I'm usually successful when working with groups of children this age to do what I want them to do including my own daughter. I can get her to agree to pretty much anything. Many people say, but the Bible says you have to have "faith like a child" but are children really capable of understanding and having the saving faith (along with the correct understanding of sin and the act of repentance the Bible talks about in regards to salvation) Or when the Bible says have "faith like a child" is it speaking in regards to having the unwavering trust and confidence a child places in their "father" to keep them safe from the monsters under the bed or the Tigers at the zoo. Read
http://www.jonsplace.org/rel/faith.htm to learn more about this concept.
Third, I have worked with many teenagers in the "church"who clearly have no "fruit" or love or affection for things of Christ who when I express a concern to them or their parents inquiring about the condition of their soul and heart will cling to the fact that 'when they were 4, or 3 or 7' take your pick they said a prayer during VBS or Sunday School and asked Jesus into their hearts.
This question goes right to the root of how we "do church" and raise our children and I believe is serious enough to truly wrestle with. What age can a child understand the true gospel. (does the old baptist 'age of accountability' vary from child to child') The more I read and study, I truly believe that it is my role as a parent to continue to speak and model the "biblical" gospel of repentance and placing faith in Christ for salvation and not focus on getting my child to "say a sinners prayer or ask Jesus into her heart and leave the salvation up to God because after all
Ephesians 2:8,9 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
Please post thoughts/comments. I would love to discuss with others. (note, I am not in any way trying to put down or knock our church's VBS program, just merely trying to promote discussion on what I believe is a serious topic)