Preschool Theology: Lost in Translation

We often spend Sunday afternoons stifling laughter (ours) as we try to sort out  lessons the peapod squad learned at church that morning. Last week, we also had the added bonus of helping them sleep without nightmares of God telling someone to hurt them or turning them into salt and pepper (thanks, in part, to a video they saw about the story of Abraham and Isaac followed by a clip involving Lot’s wife being turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God…both pivotal stories in Biblical history that sailed right over the heads of a class full of  4- and 5-year-olds).

Yesterday I asked them what they learned about in Sunday School and questioned the purple stains on their clothes.

Snap: Oh, we drank blood.
Split: Yes, and we ate a body.
Sweet: The blood was because people used to have blood all over the doors.

So I’m assuming their lesson was about Passover/Communion. But I’m sure those aren’t the things the teachers had hoped would come out of their lovingly planned lesson.

Then they went to Kids Praise, after which I asked the same question.

Me: What did you learn about?
Split: That sometimes people have feet that stink.
Snap: Yes, and we can’t tell them that because it would make them sad.
Sweet: It might hurt their feelings if they have stinky feet.
Split: So we can wash their feet for them. Like Jesus.

Again. I highly doubt the lesson was about sparing the feelings of friends with hygiene issues. It was, more than likely, about Jesus washing his disciples’ feet as a sign of service and humility. But…

In trying to teach our kids about God’s love, we sometimes end up over-complicating the details and confusing the heck out of children. And I’m TOTALLY not blaming their teachers at church. I am so thankful for their willingness, patience and love. They are teaching our children beautiful things and are helping us to raise responsible, caring little people.

I completely understand how well-intended lessons can get lost in translation when young children are the audience. Oh gracious, I understand. It happens to me ALL THE TIME.

Take my brilliant resurrection rolls lesson of 2008, for example. That didn’t exactly go as I planned. Why? 3-year-olds probably didn’t need to know about ancient burial customs. Spices and wraps and preservation: oh my. They just needed to be told that Jesus loved them with his life.

Raising our children in church is important to us. Making sure they understand that God loves them and wants them to share that love with others is at the top of our list of priorities as parents. But the little details? They get some of them. They won’t get others. We’ll explain, re-explain, make mistakes in our presentation, confuse rather than clarify. But I pray we always model things like grace, compassion, humility and a love that knows no bounds.

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