Evangelism Starts at Home

No doubt about it, the boy's life had been rough. In his ten years, he had known more suffering than the camp counselor had seen in her whole life. He was unable to live at home because of the regular abuse he suffered there. No wonder, then, that the counselor was looking for reasons to hope wherever she could find them. With relief, the young woman shared with the rest of us the conversation she had had with this child. When she had asked him if he had ever "asked Jesus into his heart," he had replied that, yes, he had done that when he was six. Then, as they had flipped through the pages of the boy's Bible, they had come upon a picture of the crucifixion. The boy had paused to look. "What's that story about?" he had wanted to know. He evidently did not know that Christ had died on a cross. I found myself wondering how this boy could have any idea of how the death of Christ applied to him if he did not even know the basics of the crucifixion story. The counselor's confidence, however, was unshaken. The child had asked Jesus into his heart when he was six, so he certainly must be saved. 

This child had not been raised in a Christian home with the benefit of Christian instruction. However, children growing up in our churches often reveal a similar lack of understanding regarding the biblical gospel. 

Certainly our church children know the crucifixion story. But could they give any kind of clear (even if simple) explanation of what it has to do with them? I have worked with children of elementary and junior high age for many years, almost all of them from Christian homes. It might surprise you to listen in when I ask these children about the gospel. The conversation usually goes something like this.

Me: "What do we need to do to be right with God?"
Child: "Ask/accept Jesus into our hearts."
Me: "What does that mean? How does that help?" The child often falls silent at this point and cannot go on.
Or, I might ask: "Why did Jesus come to earth?"
"To save us from our sins."
"How did he do that?"
"He died on the cross to save us from our sins."

"How does that help? What does Jesus dying on the cross have to do with your sins?" That is often as far as the conversation can go. From this point on, the child will usually keep repeating that Jesus saves us from our sins and we need to accept him into our hearts. Very rarely can an elementary or junior high student explain to me that Jesus died in our place, to take the judgment of God our sins deserved. Almost never do I find a child who understands that Jesus also lived in our place, fulfilling God's commands since we could not. My consistent experience has been that children raised in Christian homes and Christian churches do not clearly understand the gospel. Yet it is the gospel God uses to save people of whatever age. Our church children, like everyone else, must understand the gospel.   Continue at Starr Meade