Continued from yesterday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\nAt the time of our children\u2019s young-earth themed Vacation Bible School, I was in the midst of writing a poetry collection on Paul and his letters. While I\u2019m no theologian, I can discern one theme that permeates the epistles like nothing else: unity.<\/p>\n
Paul prays continually for his brothers and sisters, even the ones who drive him crazy. He tells the Corinthians to live without divisions, \u201cperfectly united in mind and thought.\u201d He exhorts the Ephesians to \u201ckeep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit\u2026one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike the creation account, this passage doesn\u2019t present too many differing interpretations. The bond of believers is vital to the health of the church.<\/p>\n
What message would we send to our children if we pulled them out of the program? That our family was somehow too good for these loving teachers who stood on stage first thing every morning singing songs with silly hand motions? Did we see ourselves as smarter, more sophisticated, more enlightened?<\/p>\n
That night I went online and discovered that the VBS curriculum was developed by the Answers in Genesis organization. According to the IndrediWorld page, the next morning our children would explore this central question: Can your view of creation affect your view of the gospel?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I did some more digging.<\/p>\n
According to an article linked to the Bible & Science FAQs page, \u201cScripture plainly teaches that salvation is conditioned upon faith in Christ, with no requirement for what one believes about the age of the earth or universe.\u201d I found this statement comforting. However, the article goes on to say there are \u201csevere consequences\u201d for adopting an old-earth view, such as \u201copening the door of compromise,\u201d questioning the authority of God and scripture, and essentially removing the idea of original sin and need for a savior.<\/p>\n
How would my children interpret this teaching? Is an old-earth Christian a second-class Christian, a compromising Christian, saved, as Paul writes, as though escaping through the flames?<\/p>\n
I have felt the twinge of raised eyebrows when sharing my stances on what I would call \u201csecondary issues\u201d\u2014creation, rapture, and predestination, for example.<\/p>\n
Because of his charismatic background, my husband has been warned about joining ministries that don\u2019t offer a \u201cfull Gospel\u201d experience with the Holy Spirit. Body language and passing comments begin to add up. When you believe that your gospel is somehow partial in value, you begin to believe something is wrong with your faith.<\/p>\n
Early church experiences influence our lives profoundly. It took me years to move past the legalism of hemlines, correct entertainment choices, and biblical literalism I learned at my first youth group.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, my husband and I have taught our children that scientists, professors, and public school teachers are not a bunch of bad guys out to get them, but people who love to explore and teach about the world God made.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve taught them that the Bible is not a science textbook but the love story of God and humanity\u2014a story rich in history, letters, and poetry. It doesn\u2019t give all the answers to the scientific and political past, present, and future. It was never meant to. And it is still every bit the truth. God\u2019s word.<\/p>\n
A large percentage of children, especially those taught the false dichotomy of science versus faith, leave Christianity in college because they\u2019ve never been taught they can stand on both sides of the room. So we decided to pull our kids out.<\/p>\n
At dinner that night, we tried our best to explain to our kids that as believers, we are united in Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really hard for us,\u201d I said. \u201cThis VBS is full of so many caring people. But they aren\u2019t really\u2026.\u201d I struggled to find the right words.<\/p>\n
\u201cTalking about Jesus?\u201d my husband offered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d I said. \u201cI know they love Jesus, but for this week they have decided to focus on other things more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike dinosaurs?\u201d Samuel piped in.<\/p>\n
I had noticed on the Answers in Genesis website that another day in the week was going to be dedicated entirely to proving that dinosaurs lived with people.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. Dinosaurs. We love dinosaurs! But they aren\u2019t an important part of being a Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kids looked at each other, shrugged, and continued to dig into their spaghetti. I was relieved, of course, that they weren\u2019t upset or begging to stay.<\/p>\n
I would continue to feel guilty throughout the summer for sending a negative message about the church. But I knew it was our job as parents to make sure our children received a solid foundation. Since every other VBS our kids had attended over the years focused on the gospel, we didn\u2019t want our kids to think that learning about young-earth theology and dinosaurs was on par with understanding the saving work of Christ.<\/p>\n
When it comes to parenting, how do we promote unity while teaching our children the values we want them to learn? How do we help them grow to be \u201cperfectly united in mind and thought\u201d while protecting them from well-intentioned teachings we find harmful?<\/p>\n
As I write this, a young-earth Christian is probably wondering how to shield his or her kids from the likes of me. And yes, that thought hurts. Both of us love God and our kids and believe we are doing our best. And in trying to avoid the ones we feel judged by, we judge in return.<\/p>\n
In the end, all I can do is take responsibility for how I love God and others. When I make a decision to love my child, I will often risk hurting someone else. Sometimes, the opposite will occur.<\/p>\n
Clearly, my husband and I failed both the VBS program and<\/em> our kids by not taking a few minutes to learn about the curriculum before registering. We just pawned our kids off at the first glimpse of a colorful sign at a church we knew nothing about.<\/p>\nI can also take responsibility by engaging in thoughtful discourse without ridiculing the \u201cother side.\u201d How many believers have shared\u2014or at least laughed at\u2014Internet memes poking fun at young-earthers, Kirk Cameron, and the like? We do so in the name of progress or plain old commiseration, but those images do nothing but deepen animosity.<\/p>\n
Even now, I worry about how to share this story in a way that unifies rather than divides. Have I shared the truth in love? How will my children view our decision ten, twenty years from now?<\/p>\n
We move along. We forbear. We agree to love and disagree. And the One who created us, over however many days or billions of years, forgives.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
This post was made possible through the support of a grant from The BioLogos Foundation\u2019s Evolution and Christian Faith program. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BioLogos.<\/em><\/p>\nTania Runyan<\/strong><\/a> is the author of the poetry collections\u00a0Second Sky (<\/em>Cascade Poiema Series), A Thousand Vessels, Simple Weight,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Delicious Air<\/em>, which was awarded Book of the Year by the Conference on Christianity and Literature in 2007. Her book\u00a0How to Read a Poem<\/em>, an instructional guide based on Billy Collins\u2019s \u201cIntroduction to Poetry,\u201d was recently released by T.S. Poetry Press. Her poems have appeared in many publications, including\u00a0Poetry<\/em>,\u00a0Image<\/em>,\u00a0Books & Culture<\/em>,\u00a0Harvard Divinity Bulletin<\/em>,\u00a0The Christian Century,\u00a0Atlanta Review, Indiana Review,\u00a0<\/em>and the anthology\u00a0In a\u00a0Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespear<\/em>e. Tania was awarded an NEA Literature Fellowship in 2011. She tutors high school students and edits for Every Day Poems and Relief<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Continued from yesterday.\u00a0 At the time of our children\u2019s young-earth themed Vacation Bible School, I was in the midst of writing a poetry collection on Paul and his letters. While I\u2019m no theologian, I can discern one theme that permeates the epistles like nothing else: unity. Paul prays continually for his brothers and sisters, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1732,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48,50,593],"tags":[1172,69,1170,44,1174,741,1171,1173],"class_list":["post-7029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-faith-topical-categories","category-relationships","category-tania-runyan","tag-bible","tag-children","tag-creation-vs-evolution","tag-faith","tag-old-earth","tag-the-biologos-foundation","tag-vacation-bible-school","tag-young-earth"],"yoast_head":"\n
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<\/a>Continued from yesterday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n