Jesus and the Bible are Not Boring; Why do Children Think They Are?

Jesus was not boring. While there is no verse in the Bible which says, "And He was not boring." I believe we can see from Scripture how He was not boring because adults and children wanted to be around Him! We all know children do not want to be around people who are boring; and they do not want to listen to boring people either. 

The Bible is also not boring. Think about it! In the Bible we have true accounts of real people; real people just like us, who either made the choice to know and walk with God, or not. These real people; real people just like us, actually talked with God . . . and had Him talk to them! These real people; real people just like us, watched as God did miracles . . . such as parting the Red Sea! Can you imagine what it was like to walk through the Red Sea on dry ground!!!! 

These real people; real people just like us, fought real giants, believed God when He told them not to be concerned about an army significantly larger than their own which was on it's way to fight them and then led their people to "battle" singing all the way, did not burn up in a fiery furnace, spent a night with hungry lions, walked on the water with Jesus, saw Jesus raise dead people, give sight to the blind, and on and on the true and exciting accounts go! The Bible is absolutely NOT boring! 

So, since Jesus is not boring and the Bible is not boring, why do so many children think they are? Why do so many children think the Bible is just a book they take to church with them and then leave in their van all week until they are on their way back to their Sunday School class? Why do so many adults think these things, too? 

There are probably several reasons for this, but I think some of them are . . . 

• Because we teach God's Word in a boring way. We tend to lecture and do all the talking and children tune us out.
• We have failed to communicate how exciting the Bible is and to encourage a desire in children to discover for themselves Who Jesus is and what the Bible says.
• We do not really know and walk with Jesus ourselves and do not really hunger for God's Word.

We must take seriously how essential it is for us to know and walk with Jesus and for us to hunger for God's Word if we want children to do these things. We must stop boring children and commit to engage them in God's Word so they will come to know and love Jesus and God's Word. And, while we want children to learn character development, the most important thing is for them to love God's Word and love Jesus. We need to be on guard so we do not become distracted by other things; even other things which are good and important, and are focused on keeping the focus on knowing and walking with Jesus and hungering for God's Word. 

We pay a huge price if we do not engage children in God's Word in interesting ways. I know a little boy who when he was three he said when he grew up he was going to be a pastor (and drive an orange motorcycle, and orange car, and have a paint-gun - maybe he was going to be a youth pastor?!) At any rate, when asked why he thought he was going to be a pastor, he said because Jesus told him he was. When he turned four he continued to talk about being a pastor when he grew up - he said he thought this because "Jesus called him". His answers were amazing because no adults ever talked with him about Jesus calling him to be a pastor. When he turned five he moved to the Children's Department at his church and after one visit he said he never wanted to go back because it was boring and no longer wanted to be a pastor because why would he want to do something so boring? 

This little boy is one example of the high price we pay when we let our Children's Ministries become boring. While not many children say they are called by Jesus to be a pastor, many children go through our Children's Ministries and end up wanting nothing to do with church, God, the Bible, or Jesus because they think they are all boring.

Jesus and the Bible are not boring . . . let's focus on believing and living this ourselves and on helping children discover this truth, too! (Deeper In for Children is a curriculum which will absolutely NOT bore children - get it and use it in your ministry!)