Should We Talk To Kids About Hell?

How important is it that we preach the gospel to kids?

“And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.  But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”                           Mark 10:13- 15 NASB

The other day I was talking to a missionary friend of mine and he mentioned to me that most of what he heard growing up in church was, “If you don’t accept Christ, you will go to Hell.”

As I thought about it I realized that I did not hear a lot about hell in my church.

I gave my life to Christ when I was a senior in High School and I was not thinking about avoiding hell at all.

I just knew that my life was messed up and came to a conclusion that God was real and that He could help me. 

Yes, we should talk to kids about Hell, but primarily from the standpoint that Jesus went to hell so we could go to Heaven.

If I stand up any classroom and say to a group of kids, “If you don’t receive Christ you will miss Heaven and go to hell,”  I am confident that I can get every child in the room to pray the sinner’s prayer.

But is the fear of going to hell the right basis for bringing kids to Christ? I don’t think so.

Yes, it’s a true statement, but it comes across as legalism not grace.

Remember, we are saved by grace through faith.

Legalism says, “Obey the Law or you suffer the punishment.”

The Gospel says, “We are all sinners. We deserve to be punished but Christ took the punishment for us.”

• Legalism places the emphasis on what you did.
• The Gospel places the emphasis on what Christ did.

This is how I make sure I preach the Gospel to kids:

• Boldly present the Gospel on a regular basis.
• Don’t hold anything back.
• Leverage Bible stories to point kids to Christ. Not to teach moral lessons.
• Obedience comes from love. Our job is to teach kids to love Christ and let their obedience flow out of love.
• Give them confidence in their ability to hear from God.

Are you looking for curriculum that teaches kids about the Gospel?

I wrote a curriculum that does just this called, Kids Need The Gospel.

Kids Need The Gospel will guide you through the Gospels and help lead your children to Jesus Christ.

This is also a great Easter curriculum and only $49 (plus we have added a couple of bonuses).

Click here for more information about Kids Need The Gospel.