We take a break from the heavy understanding of the creed to using stories to teach the greatest story.
We take a break from the heavy understanding of the creed to using stories to teach the greatest story.
Raising joyful children in an angry world, a podcast dedicated to faithful parents navigating their families through a stormy culture.
A few weekends ago, I met one of my grandson's birthday parties and he receives, this Spider Man gift. It's a sleeve with a glove and then attached to the sleeve is this plastic device and you insert an aerosol can that shoots out this yellow. like silly string and it is meant to invite him to experience the power of Spider Man shooting out a web we get it going and it's all over the car and me and the driveway and we're about halfway out of the can and I'm trying to convince him, Hey, you know, let's save this for another day.
Paul (2):I mean, you've already used half the can. And he just can't resist what it's like to imagine being Spider Man. This is Raising Joyful Children in an Angry World. I'm your host, Paul Osborne. We've been in the creeds, the Apostles Creed and trying to talk about their significance as we teach our children to trust and believe in God and believe in Jesus. And sometimes that conversation can get a little heavy theologically. So today I want to try and bring in this superhero angle. I think we have to teach our children that the characters or people in the story do not have to be real in order to teach us what is real. When we were playing with the Spider Man, we finally ran out of yellow silly string. My grandson who was turning five says, you know, Spider Man is not real. No, he's not real. But each time a story shares a piece of truth and points us to a greater truth, until we actually understand the greatest story and the most important truth, there is something real about the story. Understanding Ninja Turtles and Marvel and DC and all sorts of superheroes is important and I believe it can help in trying to explain There's a reason I believe that children love superheroes, because one, they are bigger than life, but I suggest that the tenderness of their heart sees the world in need of being saved. See, for the heart of the child has not been filled with years of human achievement. Their souls have not lived long enough in this world of pride, fuel humanity. Their minds aren't saturated with political and philosophical arguments that say that everything that's wrong in the world is because of human beings. And then of course, this conflicted solution that humanity is going to solve all the problems that human beings have caused The pride that humanity is the answer, all that kind of stuff. It hasn't been drilled into their heads, but the heart of the child, I think, sees the world as it is. No veneer, no varnish, no polish. They think about it and most kids, even though they have probably never been a victim of a crime, or lived in a war torn society, But they have no trouble grasping the concept of good and evil. They recognize their limitations and our limitations and it makes sense to them. The world needs something bigger than ourselves. The Lord, he tells us that we must come to him like a child. He also explains when we talk about pride, that it's difficult for a rich man to come, all things are possible, he says, but rich men, like a camel going through the eye of a needle, our children haven't been baked into that kind of thing. And so these. These stories I believe can point us to the truth about God and what is real. I believe what convinces us to ignore God sends us to what is false. And, you know, we've talked about Augustine's, there's two kingdoms. One is real. And that is the kingdom of heaven. The other is false. That's the kingdom of man. That's led by the devil. And if God created the world and me and loves me, then God creates reality. And anything that points to God's reality. Has an element and a substance of being real I think when you look at superheroes stories You're going to find At least five. Maybe more themes or components to these stories. First, you're going to find that evil exists. That there's good and evil in the world. Secondly, that humanity lacks the power to stop the evil. The superhero has both a dual nature often is somewhat human, but also has superhero powers. The superhero is often humiliated in some sort of initial defeat and then is exalted in the final victory. Humanity is saved by the superhero. And then the hero takes his rightful place. These fictional stories, I believe are given by God to provide our kids with pieces of the puzzle, glimpses of truth that point them to the greatest story ever told. Now, we certainly got to, you know, watch and some of these things get a little too out of hand and they're maybe not age appropriate. But the superhero themes that I've described point them to a greater reality. They point them to the only true God man that had both the nature of man and the nature of God. The creed takes us from a cartoon or a fictional character to a historical reality and an explanation of how God came to earth, of evil, the humiliation, the exaltation, and what it all means for us. For the creed goes on on to say he was conceived by the Holy Spirit Born of the Virgin Mary. There we see he's both God and man, the dual nature. Matthew pulls this quote from Isaiah as he's back in the day trying to, calm the nerves of King Ahab in the middle of the battle. And he says, God will send you a sign. The Virgin will give. birth. There's lots of discussion around this from different theology perspectives, but Jesus is born of a virgin and is conceived by the Holy Spirit. And therefore he is the God man. There's much more to this, but this is a basic message that our kids need to grasp. And, and then he suffers. So our kids understand that this actually happened in history. We know Pontius Pilate existed. In fact, we know the crucifixion happened. It's a historical fact. And there we see the humiliation of Christ, humiliation that he surrendered. Not that someone overpowered him, but that he was willing to be humiliated. And, and then when it seems like all is lost, he has descended into hell. it seems like, Oh my, was this really this, God, man, and then Jesus in his plan with the father and the Holy spirit, he rises again from the dead, he descends into hell. And then the third day he rose again. And there you see the exaltation and in humanity is saved. And then he ascends into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father. Now this all, if you think about this is an historical reality that helps be explained there's good and evil. Yeah. Humanity can't stop evil. Yes. We need something bigger than humanity. And so the whole humiliation and exhaustation theme is in this, and these stories, I believe, help people. Children grasp this now, the interesting thing about this is, and this is the best part of the story that we have to help our kids see is that when we trust in the only God, man, Jesus, he gives us power. So we don't get a pretend plastic glove and sleeve and, and we're not some canister that we shoot. String out of, but God actually promises us, he promises us resurrection power. And it, and while it is fun to imagine what it would be like to shoot a web like Spider Man, but Jesus tells us that the the power that rose him from the dead, he gives to us as a gift. And he describes the power. In, words like dunamis, which is dynamite, and, he uses, a word for force. And then he has this other term that we, we get pneumatics from, like from an air tool or an air power tool, something that is extremely powerful. and then we, you know, can take our kids and say, look, you see that rocket with that explosive power or that building that was dynamited and it collapsed. We see the force of a strong wind or, or we go to a shop or just getting our tires done and we see the air tool. moving boulders by this pneumatic power, we can tell them that we are given a spiritual power that works spiritually, like those things that you are seeing. that are real. For the Holy Spirit breathes his air into our life, and we, like Jesus, will rise from the dead. And we have that power all we do is trust our King, who is on the throne and the promises that he offers. Here, I think we can take this creed and, and use stories to help explain it. there's a part, I think, of evangelical Christianity that sees this whole thing of faith, the whole death and resurrection as sort of having created. I don't know, an insurance pass to heaven when you die, or maybe it includes an operator's guide to live wisely. And too often it strips the mystery, the miraculous power that the creed is encouraging us to teach and for our kids to grasp. I mean, the sacraments are often misunderstood as some sort of monthly or quarterly memorial instead of an invitation to have union with the risen Christ. Postmodern Christianity has kind of poured the blood into pots of rational water. Boiling it down into a reduction sauce that meets our life and makes it more palatable. The apostles creed and what it really means and teaches should help us to see there is so much more to this story. Our faith is both rational and mystical that Jesus really is the God man. The father is almighty. We'll talk about the Holy spirit in our next episode and that as we trust that as we believe that. We receive eternal life, resurrection power, and all the promises of God, and it all comes from our Father in Heaven, and Jesus the Son, the only begotten Son, along with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Trinity. We're not given a toy that we can wear and pretend, we're given real power, communion with God, sacramental union with the risen Christ by his blood and his body, a mystery that is beyond our understanding, yet is framed in the rational understanding of our youngest days. Children get the world is evil, that evil seeks to harm us, and the only supernatural being is God, who is Jesus, who can save me. Children who see God is the Almighty, Jesus is the one and only begotten Son. The real story of salvation. That our fictional characters point us to are equipped to live in joy in a culture that has lost its way. Use stories to help them understand the greatest story ever told so that they can live the greatest life they ever could. The ultimate battle for the heart and soul is a fight for identity. Our king invites our kids to know who they are, what to believe, and where they belong. Until next time, let's remember the words for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.