No More List of Sins To Avoid

I was flying back from a meeting one night, changing planes in Chicago. Waiting at the gate for my plane, I soon realized that the Vikings had just played the Chicago Bears in Chicago. The plane that I was on had all the Vikings fans on it. I like football, I watch football, but I’m not “in love” with football.

Even though I was a Vikings fan, I was feeling a little uncomfortable around these people. They all had their purple jerseys on, those Vikings hats with the horns and long blond braids, and face paint. They were sitting around in the gate area, almost lying on the chairs, just exhausted. I could hear them talking about all the time, money and plain hard work it required to be a Vikings fan.

I thought about these Vikings fans, and how they’ve given their lives to this team who has never won a Super Bowl. The Lord has done much more than win a Super Bowl!

What if we could raise up a generation of children that knew how to connect to God at a very young age?

I think we’d have a different generation. When you look at Judges 2:7, there seems to be a connection between seeing God do things and serving God. The generation that saw the works of God; that experienced God for themselves, not just in preaching but by experience; served God.

The generation that did not have those experiences, that only heard about them, did not continue to serve Him. We’ve told Bible stories for centuries and it hasn’t worked with our children. We can get all the props ready and the puppet skits; do everything we’re supposed to do. Good preaching, by itself, will not get the job done. Our kids need to connect with God in our classrooms.

I have seen parents want to protect their kids from the world. Our primary goal should be to connect our kids with God. If we can do that, then the other stuff isn’t going to be appealing. They’re going to be too busy following after Him.

As leaders, we have to do more than make a list of sins to avoid. We’ve got to do more than preach against the latest fad. Don’t misunderstand me – the media is going to continue to pump out things that are competing for our kids attention. We have to get to the point where our children can make their own decisions on what is right; what is God and what isn’t. If we connect our kids with God, the Holy Spirit can lead them to make the right choices. But we have to create those environments where kids can know Him and experience Him not just read about Him.

That is why I have written God Chasers. These curriculums will help you connect your kids with God.