Simply put, gospel-centered curriculum is material which demonstrates how the entire Scripture ultimately highlights the beauty, worth, centrality and supremacy of God's saving action in Jesus' Person and Work. It reveals how Jesus is the ultimate end of every story, every book and every letter of Scripture. Gospel-centered curriculum takes seriously the approach Jesus took to the Bible when he demonstrated to his disciples in Luke 24:14, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” In Jesus' mind, the Bible was about him. Gospel-centered curriculum capitalizes on this idea by responsibly demonstrating how everything in the Scriptures points to Jesus, promises Jesus, parallels Jesus, prefigures Jesus, proclaims Jesus, etc. Hopefully, as the listener/ learner witnesses the glory of the gospel, his affections will be deeply and profoundly moved for Christ. Put another way, the individual's heart will grow for Jesus!
Unfortunately, this gospel-centered emphasis appears to be a rare commodity in children's curriculum which far too often devolves into mere moralism – Sesame Street with a little Jesus sprinkled on top. Every Sunday in churches all across America kids are given the impression by children's ministries that the main reason God gave the Bible is to teach them “how to” live – how to tell the truth, how to obey mommy and daddy, how to work hard and make good grades, how to develop the right friends – instead of it being the story of how God has come in Jesus to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves (i.e., the gospel).
... the children's lesson usually is a biblical story that has been ripped from its redemptive historical context. This isolated story is then boiled down into a morality tale – a biblical Aesop's Fables, if you will – where children are called to do the right things.
... Could it be that the things we often focus on in teaching children Bible stories are secondary truths, supporting details instead of the main idea? Could it be that instead of giving our kids the life-giving truth of Jesus each week, we have mistakenly given them moralism; something that never grows a heart for Christ but does quite the opposite. Are we giving kids the good news or just good advice?
... a gospel-centered Bible story will seek to demonstrate how it ties into the bigger story of Redemption in Jesus. This means the teacher seeks to go “up” from the smaller, individual Bible story into the “Big Story”. Discontent with giving another moral lesson for children, gospel-centered curriculum understands the Bible ultimately reveals one story – the story of redemption in Jesus. It seeks to help the learner understand how the specific Bible story contributes to God's plan of salvation through Christ. How does this story “move the ball down the field” for the gospel? Do we see any types or prefigures of Jesus in this story? Does this story set up a scenario that Christ fulfills to a greater degree? Etc. A question I like to ask myself before I preach would also help here: Why did Jesus have to die for today's message?
... we should always attempt to put that exhortation within the frame of the gospel. For example, how does the gospel inform my seeking to be truthful? Well, for starters, people often lie because they want others to accept them. But, through the work of the cross, I should realize that I have been made acceptable to God. Thus, in continuing to trust the gospel, I can be freed from the desire to find acceptance in human approval. As a result, my desire to lie to others weakens. Therefore, gospel-centered curriculum isn't anti-moral exhortation, it is anti-moralism.
We cannot simply tell children (or adults for that matter) to simply stop worshipping whatever idol to which their heart is given. The idol is too powerful. To remove it we must replace it with something greater. We need the expulsive power of a new affection. The gospel, not mere moral exhortations, is that power
... When the gospel becomes secondary and treated like it's only the front door for the faith instead of being the room we live in, we are placing our children on the fast track for either being very religious (read: rule keeper) or rebellious (read: rule breaker). Both of those groups will be far from God.
(Read the full article at Gospel-Centered Children's Curriculum by Yancey Arrington)
No comments:
Post a Comment