Kids say the darndest things...

Some of you may be familiar with the popular television program “Kids Say the Darndest Things."  This past week I was reminded of this television program.  This program was funny and emphasized the fact that you never know what children will say.  It was comical and enjoyable for all watching, but this past week I felt like I was a part of a different show entitled “Kids Ask the Hardest Questions.”

This past Friday I went into Ali’s Year 6 class at St. Thomas Primary School.  Ali is starting a new topic in her RE (Religious Education) lesson.  They are starting to talk about being a follower of Jesus.  I have been able to interact with Ali’s Year 6 class a good bit.  I coach the Year 6 football team, and I also help on Tuesdays with their Math lesson.   I have really enjoyed getting to know the students in her class, and being able to come in a help with this lesson was just another way I could get to know them. 

When Ali asked me to come into her class for this lesson, I was excited as well as nervous.  Articulating my faith is not something that I am skilled at, and articulating it in a way that 10 year olds would find interesting and applicable to their life made it that much more difficult.

On Thursday, Ali gave me the plan for the lesson with the list of questions she would ask me.

“What does it mean to you to have faith in something?”

“What does it mean to you to have faith in Jesus Christ?”

“How do you, as a follower of Jesus, put your faith into practice?”

“What difficulties do you face in following Jesus?”

Now, from the start these aren’t easy questions to answer, but then underneath these questions was written “Open up [the discussion] to the class – ask Sarah anything linked to faith and following Jesus.”

Excuse me?  I don’t know how much work those of you reading this have done with youth, but children can ask some really hard questions, especially about faith.  They are just so curious and can ask these HUGE questions that just really catch you off guard, and this was no different.

I made it through the questions from Ali, and then she told her class they could ask me any questions regarding faith.

Well, here it goes – bring it on.

“Is it ever hard for you to tell people that you’re a Christian?”

“Do you ever hear people talking about Jesus and want to interrupt and tell them more?”

“If you had all the resources in the world, and money was no issue, would you build a church?”

“Have you ever been mad at God?”

“When your Grandmother died, did you ever get mad enough to think about stop being a Christian?”

“Are you happy that you follow Jesus?”

“Have you ever let Jesus down?”

“Have you ever not wanted to go to church?”

And the last question for the lesson was, “Have you ever daydreamed about what God looks like?”

After the lesson, while the students were changing for PE, I told Ali I totally respected the fact that she was going to be talking to her students about this topic for the next few lessons.  I am a math person.  I like having concrete answers, but I do realize that when it comes to faith sometimes concrete answers don’t exist, but how do you help a class of thirty 10 year olds realize that?  These students may go to a Church of England school, and have RE as part of their curriculum, but the majority of them do not come from Christian backgrounds.  This is a great opportunity for them to see what it means to be a Christian and live a Christian life.

I realize I didn’t share my answers to the questions with you.  I want you to ponder them.  How would you have responded?  It’s hard isn’t it?  Maybe we should open ourselves up to more situations like this.  I'm starting to believe that the biggest test of your faith can be some of the questions you might receive from children.

(Just for fun, here is a link to a clip from an old episode of "Kids Say the Darndest Things" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDI6GuAyo94)