My buddy Chad and I were discussing his recent speaking engagement with the 5-year-olds at his church. I told him that the thought of doing that was scarier to me than standing in front of 5,000 adults.
But I was reminded that the great German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, required all of his PhD students in theology to teach children’s Sunday School.
The reasoning was simple: If you can’t articulate it in a way a child can understand it, you don’t really understand it yourself. All of us who think of ourselves as people who “know God” should be having more conversations with kids.
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True that. Remind me to tell you about the time Alfie turned to me and asked, “where’s the Holy Spirit?” Followed up immediately with, “who is he,” and “what does he do?” But he did use a personal pronoun, which in and of itself, sets him further ahead than many other people I know.
Alfie. Money.
It’s hard to break the habit of calling the Holy Spirit “it.”
You have a point there; after all, what good is a theological discussion if no one except you can understand what you’re saying? Isn’t the whole idea of theology to make the picture of God clearer and more accurate, rather than more jumbled and confusing? Fine thoughts, and I will definitely consider this as I begin going into greater depth in my theological studies.
Thanks for reading, Keith – I believe that is alot of what theologians are supposed to. If we can’t explain it, do we really understand it?