Show Them Jesus: Teaching the Gospel to Kids

by Jack Klumpenhower

The first point of studying the person of Jesus must always be to wonder at him, not to copy him.

My method is first to read the Bible story and its context. Then, with my Bible still open, I set aside thirty minutes and grab a notebook. I pick out a few key verses, or a central incident involving Jesus. Focused on just those few verses, I start making a list, writing down everything I notice that those verses reveal about the person of Jesus.

A good-news environment is sin-aware. We don’t pretend that kids are basically good and just need a little direction. Instead, we expect absolutely everyone (including ourselves) to arrive with big problems only Jesus can fix.

A good-news environment is grace-aware. We celebrate and model the work of Christ for us and in us, and give God the credit for every good change that happens in a kid’s life. We expect God to bring growth.

A good-news environment focuses on the heart. We’re never satisfied with manipulating outward behavior, but instead recognize that kids who look obedient still need Jesus—maybe more than kids who aren’t obedient.

A good-news environment helps kids to find Jesus delightful. We won’t let kids use Jesus to get something else they want more. We don’t approach teaching, prayer, and worship as things to be done because they’re important and necessary—after which we turn to more “fun” activities when it’s time to enjoy oneself. Rather, we communicate that nothing is more enjoyable than Jesus.

A good-news environment requires the teacher to model repentance. Not every sin is appropriate to share with students, but they need to know some real and ugly sins I struggle with. They need to see how, in Jesus, I find forgiveness and the power to repent. This helps the naughty kids deal with their misbehavior—but it’s even more important for the teacher-pleasing kids who arrive trying to show how good they are. It tells them not to be proud or put their hope in their own goodness. It points all kinds of kids to the Savior.

The best opportunities often come when we might be thinking least about teaching the good news, such as during games or when we’re serving food. Sin tends to show up during these activities, so for years I always passed out snacks with the instruction, “Remember to share.” More recently I’ve changed that to, “Be careful; greed is dangerous.” I think my new line sets a better tone. It’s aware of the heart, not mere behavior. It fits people who know that sin runs deep but that God’s people can resist it—even at the heart level.

We shouldn’t build self-esteem. We should build Christ-esteem. We must give kids the best kind of encouragement of all—the kind that comes from knowing that Jesus is in you and for you. When I see growth in a kid, I try to remember to tell him how much I see God at work in his life. Those little encouragements add up.

• What did we learn about Jesus that makes us thankful to him? • What opportunities will you have to show your thankfulness this week? How can you remember Jesus at those times?

• What did we learn about how God empowers his people, making them able to serve and obey him? • What helps from the Spirit shall we use to become better servants of God?

• What did we learn about why following Jesus is exciting and worth it? • What sometimes feels better than Jesus? Tell about times when putting him first seems to cost you too much. How can you believe Jesus is better at those times?

• What did we learn that might make you scared you aren’t good enough? Be glad you’re forgiven in Jesus! • Which things do you avoid doing for God because you might fail? How might you be brave because you know God accepts you even when you fail?

Sin-aware ☐ I acknowledged our struggle with sin (including my own). ☐ I built up kids’ confidence in Christ, not in themselves.

Grace-aware ☐ I celebrated and modeled the freeness of all God gives. ☐ I gave credit to God (not to the kid) for growth I noticed in kids’ lives.

Heart-focused ☐ I addressed heart attitudes rather than coercing outward behavior. ☐ I urged both rule-breakers and rule-keepers to t...

Delighted with Jesus ☐ I treated nothing as more enjoyable than Jesus. ☐ I valued connecting to Jesus through...

whatever else you might say when talking with kids about their sin, don’t leave out the good news. Never assume a kid already has it as his foundation.

Being close to your Father brings true sorrow for sin and helps you fight sin better next time. But even if you don’t do better next time (and becoming more holy never seems to happen fast enough!), keep going back to him. Keep trusting Jesus. That’s the main thing God’s children do all the time—and the best thing we do.

Principle #1: Focus on who you are in Jesus

When most people think of changing their behavior, they start with what they’re already doing and then consider what needs to improve. Christians ought to think differently. Jesus is our beginning point. We build on him, not on our own starting behavior.

Principle #2: Get beneath the surface

The sin you can see—lies, angry outbursts, acts of greed, and such—are only surface stuff. The true monster responsible for them is lurking lower. We must never be content merely to help kids make their surface sins less obvious or frequent.

Both selfish desires and selfish fears arise because we fail to fully believe the good news of what Jesus gives us.

Principle #3: Rely on the Spirit

Belief is critical in battling sin because no matter how hard a kid tries, he’ll get no further than as far as he trusts. It’s the Holy Spirit who changes kids. He brings rebirth at the start of the Christian life and then more and more holiness as that life goes on.

Even unbelievers can make themselves more moral. But they can’t make themselves holier. No one can.

So if a kid’s main job is to trust the Spirit, what can you urge him to do? What does trust look like, and how can a kid work hard at it? The answer is that he can seek God relentlessly. He can practice disciplines that connect him with the tools God typically uses in a believer’s life to beat back sin and produce growth. These ordinary tools of the Spirit are (1) the Word of God and (2) prayer.

Principle #4: Seek God himself

A life immersed in God’s Word and prayer brings closeness to God. That must be the ultimate issue. The only thing that can give any kid deep joy is the assurance that God knows him—including his struggles and ugly sins—and still loves him.

Since being a prayerless teacher is that bad, it’s easy to feel guilty about how poorly we pray. This means you and I need to remember—always, always when we pray—that God has set up prayer to do the opposite, to never make us feel guilty. Convicted? Yes. But guilty? No. Our prayer should never condemn us, no matter how bad we are at it.

Prayer gives us access only through Jesus. God doesn’t hear our prayers because we prayed well. We‘re only able to pray in the first place because we’re joined to Jesus.

Prayer involves the Spirit’s help. God doesn’t hang around to scold us for shabby or too-short prayers. He knows we’re weak, so he’s our partner in prayer:

work to shift the appreciation of prayer away from who said what and how it was said, and toward joy in being able to bring any praise or concern before our Father.

If the kids you pray with seem bored with the same old kinds of prayer requests, consider enlarging their vision for prayer by suggesting categories of things the Bible says we can pray for. Here’s the list again: help when there’s trouble daily care help to become more godly salvation for people who aren’t Christians the church’s work and mission leaders and people in charge

But growth as a Christian is not about getting to a point where we stop sinning so much and do better on our own. It’s more about learning to depend on Jesus constantly, increasing in faith, and trusting him in our weakness. We need to teach the good news not just to our students but first to our own hearts. For me, this has to happen again and again. Every day.

we of all people especially need to feed on the good news. Vowing to do better next week will do us no good unless we first learn to thank God that he even uses and loves failures like us.

when you feel your ministry or parenting twisting inward to be all about you, look outward to Jesus. Repent. Savor the approval he gives you. Trust him to fill you again with his Spirit and to revive both your life and your work with kids. He is more sure and lasting and faithful than anything or anyone else you know. Especially when you fail, run to Jesus.

1. Unless our hearts are in it, we haven’t fully obeyed God in the first place.

2. Obedience that’s grounded in love overcomes how we feel at the moment.

3. The suspicion that saved people use grace as an excuse to sin has too small a view of salvation and grace.

4. Knowing we’re surely saved can’t lead to lax behavior if we understand how grand our future happiness will be.

5. The idea that God’s grace might let us get away with sin is not how reborn people should think.

6. It’s not possible for us to do godly things consistently unless our hearts are captivated by God.

7. We can’t really obey God if we’re unsure of his pleasure toward us.

8. Knowing God’s grace lets us get serious about God’s law without falling into despair.

9. To become more effective at fighting sin and at obeying, we must focus on believing the good news.

10. Unless our good works spring from belief in Jesus, they aren’t even actually good.

11. God means for his kindness to motivate us to obey.

12. Our experience agrees with what the Bible teaches: people who love God’s grace also love to obey him.