Training: How to Have A Gospel Conversation

Ever been in a position to share the gospel with a kiddo, but have no idea what to say? This training exists to help you think through the gospel and how to assess a child's understanding!

Transcript

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Hey team, welcome back to the Crossroads Kids Training Podcast, where we equip you to do the work of the ministry. Okay, guys, in this week's episode, we will be discussing gospel conversations with kids. We're going to break this into two parts. In the first part, I'm going to give you some general principles for when you have a gospel conversation. And in the second part, I'm going to give you the six-step walkthrough that I use when I am speaking to a kid one-on-one about the gospel. And a quick disclaimer before we start. As we go through the process, just keep in mind that the six steps that you're going to hear are not a one-size fits-all. They're not the only way to share the gospel. But I think that they are six really clear ways or clear things to think about as you do share the gospel. And I also want you to just keep in mind that a gospel conversation with a six-year-old is different than a gospel conversation with a nine-year-old. So how those uh six things are going to kind of work together are going to be a little different depending on the age and the maturity level of the kid, whether or not they're from a Christian home or a non-Christian home. Just know that there's a lot of discernment that goes into a gospel conversation and that everything we're going to discuss today is a general principle and not a hard and fast rule. Okay? All right. So let's jump in with some general principles. Number one is every time you make a big clear point or a big cleared statement, it needs to be backed up with scripture. Don't just tell a kid that we're sinners. Show them where God says that we're sinners. Don't just tell a kid that God sent Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. Show them how in God's authoritative text in the Bible, it is revealed through the Holy Spirit and the authors writing the Bible, the Bible tells us that. That way it's not just coming from you, it is coming from God Himself. Number two, be clear. It's really important that when you talk about sin or you talk about salvation, that you use similar words. As adults, we are typically used to using different words, synonyms for the same thing. Think about this. When you were in college, you probably wrote a lot of papers, and instead of saying the word knowledge 10 billion times, you used a bunch of synonyms. And so it's become a part of our cultural language. We use a lot of synonyms. But when you're talking to a kid, sin is sin is sin is sin. You need to say the same words so that they know you're talking about the same thing. If you use words like sin, and then you use a word like punishment, and then you use a word like bad thing, they might not always connect that those things are all tied together. So be really clear and consistent in your wording. Number three, use words that they understand. Now, if you've got a 10-year-old with you, you can probably use the word propitiation and explain it. But if you've got a six-year-old, they don't know what propitiation means. And we want to make sure that we are making the gospel understandable to their young minds. Very, very important thing to do. Number four, you want to actually lead them and prompt them to make a decision. Um, not every kid's going to be ready to make a decision, but we need to get them to a decision moment at some point in the conversation. Don't just tell them the good news of Jesus. Ask them really clearly. Would you like to accept Jesus as your savior? Would you like to become a Christian? It's very important. Kids work really well with questions, that's how they learn and develop. And we want to make sure we ask those questions. That brings us to our next point on our general principles, which is ask good questions. Guys, I know that we think a yes or no question is beneficial and loving, but it is actually extremely frustrating for a kid when you ask consistent yes or no questions. And it doesn't actually help you out very much because when you ask a yes or no question, they can say yes or no, but you don't actually get to the heart of what they understand. And that brings us to our last general principle, which is what is your job in a gospel conversation? Your job is not to save the child, and your job is not to do everything 100% right. Your job is to assess the child's understanding with the knowledge that the Holy Spirit is working in their heart during that conversation. The Holy Spirit is helping them understand and make sense of all of this stuff. It's not your job to provide clarity and conviction that only the Holy Spirit can provide. But it is your job to assess whether or not the kid is actually comprehending what you're saying. So every time they give you an answer, you're thinking, okay, what does this kid actually think about sin? And is it accurate and is it biblical? That's what you're assessing while you have these conversations. So with those general principles kind of in mind, I'm gonna give you my six-step process that I use on a one-on-one conversation. This is not the same thing that I do on the stage because we simply don't have the time. But when a kid has a one-on-one with me, this is typically the order that I'm gonna go in. Number one, I'm going to tell them that every human being is a sinner. Romans 3.23 tells us, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Typically, I'll ask the kid, hey, have you ever done something wrong? Have you disobeyed a parent? Have you disobeyed a teacher? Have you hit somebody? Have you lied? Have you stolen something? And when you run through those, a kid can say, Yeah, I've done at least one of those things. And they can understand that it was wrong. Even here, when they when they comprehend whether or not they've done something wrong, you can typically start to get an idea on what they think about sin and if they think they're actually a sinner. And I typically will even go to Matthew 5, verses 21 and 22, where we learn that sin is not just about what you physically do, but it's also about the condition of your heart and your mind, right? Jesus taught us that hating our brother is the same as murdering him. And I typically use that one because most kids understand what murder is and it's very drastic in their minds, and so they're able to comprehend, like, wow, that is a really big claim that Jesus is making. And I want them to understand that. So we look at Matthew 5, and then I circle back. Every person on earth has this problem. Every single person on sin has said, done, or thought something that dishonors and disobeys God. And when we sin, it's not just a sin against the person here on earth, but it's actually a sin against God Himself. You can point to the first couple of verses in Psalm 51 where David literally says, God, against you alone have I sinned. We want the kids to know that sin is about damaging the relationship with God. There's consequences here in the world, there's people that it affects, but sin is about you and God and the relationship being broken because you've chosen to separate yourself, Isaiah 59, 2, from God through your sin. And when we get to that point, I normally say, and you know what, when we do sin, we know we all do it, but when we do it, it's not free. There is a cost for our sin, and there is a judgment for our sin. And that leads us to our second point, which is sin has a cost. Romans 6 23 says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Now, here I do a little call and response. I say to a kid, so this means that if you sin, you have to what? And they say, Oh, die. They can comprehend that, right? If you sin, you have to die. That's 100% biblically accurate. They need to understand the gravity of the consequences of sin. And as soon as they get that, they get this despondent, kind of sad, almost crushed look on their face. And you say, wait, but let's read the rest of the verse. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Tell them that this means that Jesus Himself paid the cost. That's point three. And I go to Colossians 1:14, where it says, In him, that's Jesus, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Now, a lot of kids don't know what the word redemption means, so help them understand it. Tell them what it means to be redeemed. I typically use the analogy of a courtroom. I say, look, you know, if your mom or dad is driving and they get a speeding ticket and it costs two million dollars, they can never pay it. No matter what they do, they're never gonna be able to pay the cost of this fine. So they go to the court and the judge says, Look, you can't pay the fine, you gotta go to jail for the rest of your life. And then all of a sudden, somebody walks in and says, You know what? I'm gonna pay this in full for this person, and they're not gonna go to jail. I'm gonna take the total punishment for them, and they're gonna go free. They're gonna get a perfect driving record as if they never had done a thing. That's redemption. And normally the kids can understand that. And after I say that, I say, this is what Jesus did for you. And guess what? He didn't expect you to give anything back. It is a gift, it is a gift that he gave us, and that's point four. That Christ's payment was a gift. Here we're gonna go to Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9, where it says you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves. And if your kid that you're talking to is old enough, have them read this next part. It is God's gift. There's major power in having a kid read that and say, Wow, God says right here in his word that this is his gift to me. Now, at this point, the kid's gonna understand that God has done an incredible thing for them. He's gonna understand that God has provided this gift from sin to them. And you gotta give them the fifth point. They have the choice to accept or reject it. In John 3.36, it says that the one who believes in the Son has eternal life. That's good news. Here's the rest. But the one who rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him. The kids have to know that it's not enough to think Jesus is good. They have to know not only that they want Jesus, but that they need Jesus. And they have a choice. They have to choose to either accept this gift or reject it. I frequently go to Christmas when I have this conversation with kids, and I tell them, you know what, that gift sits under a tree for a month and you see it. And it's not your gift until the day you open it up and you get what's in that package. The day you accept that gift is the day that that gift is yours. It can't be yours until you get the gift and you unwrap it and it's your gift. And it's the same with the gospel of Jesus. It is a gift for all of us, but we can choose to accept or reject it. And the ones that reject it, they will not have eternal life, and they will have God's eternal wrath on them as they die in hell and as they spend an eternity in hell. And for your older kids, it's okay to explain that to them. To explain that this is a gift. It was given by God. And you know what? If you accept that you have eternal life, but if you choose to reject it, you will not see life. And here is where I I typically ask, would you like to accept this gift and become a Christian? Would you like to accept the gift of Jesus Christ? And if they say yes, you get to go to the fun part, which is the sixth point how to accept the gift that Christ gave. Romans 10, 9 and 10 says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now, at this point, if a kid is ready, then you need to get them to pray. They need to pray to God and they need to ask God to forgive them of their sins, radically change their life, make them a new creation, bring them into the family, make them a Christian, uh, be their savior and Lord, all that stuff that you guys know deep in your hearts. There's a couple ways you can do that for your older kids. They might be a really independent kid, they might want to say that prayer on their own. They might need you to just tell them, hey, here's some of the things that you probably want to say in your prayer. And it's not about the words I typically tell them that. It's not about the exact words you say, it's about the intention of your heart. It's about what your heart is saying to God in this conversation. So you can you can um either do it that way, or for some kids, especially the younger ones, giving them a prayer that they repeat after you is very helpful. The key things here is that they are understanding that they're sinners and they're understanding that they need Christ, not just one Him, and they're willing to make an actual decision for Christ. That decision is key. Now, as we wrap up, just a couple of things to think about. When you're doing this conversation, you're constantly trying to make sure they understand sin. They don't need to understand everything, they don't need to understand the implications of water baptism or the fullness of the Trinity. They don't have to understand all that stuff. And if you think back to the day you were saved, you probably didn't understand all that either. That's okay. The key thing that a kid needs to understand in this gospel conversation is you're a sinner, sin dishonors God, you can't help it. He gave us Jesus, Jesus died for you to cleanse you of your sin. It's a gift, will you accept it or not? And that's the general gist. Again, your job is to assess their understanding, and if they understand and they're ready to make a decision for Christ, then brother or sister, pray with that kid and then celebrate. Celebrate with your fellow teachers, celebrate with their class, celebrate with their parents, celebrate that somebody has joined the family of God and that the Holy Spirit used you to do it. What a great honor and privilege that is. All right, guys, that's all I had this week. If you have any questions, um, just reach out to me as normal. Um, again, this is not the only way to share the gospel, but this is a way that I have found to be helpful and efficient and easy to remember, frankly. Uh matter of fact, I have all these verses highlighted in my Bible so that I can literally hand my Bible to the kid and say, okay, now let's flip to this page and let's look at that. And that way they can just rock and roll easily and quickly, and they can see the glory of God through the gospel presentation. Thank you guys for all you do. So thankful that you are on this team, and we'll talk soon. Bye bye.