The Secret to Improving Your Child’s Biblical Literacy

1. Talk about God regularly. This means sprinkling references to him into everyday conversations. In early years, it may sound like, “What a pretty flower! God is so creative.” Or, “The sunset is amazing. It’s like God is painting the sky.” The more they hear his name in regular life, the more normal he seems to them. Not average, of course, but real, active, expected.
2. Incorporate Bible learning at home. Our kids attend public schools, so we must rely on ourselves and our church for teaching the Bible to them. We’ve made children’s Bibles available, read to and with them, and explained stories, people, and behaviors. Some of our kids have tried online Bible classes. They are building their knowledge base. Barna reports in their 2017 “State of the Bible” Annual report that biblical literacy among U.S. residents continues to decrease steadily. Only 37% consider themselves moderately or highly knowledgeable of the Bible, down from 44% just five years ago. Even Bible college professors have bemoaned the rising rate of biblical illiteracy in students who enroll in Bible college. Really? We must do better.
3. Encourage their questions. You don’t have to know all the answers. These carpool conversations reveal both their inner curiosity as well as their comfort with our responses. No question is dumb, no question is off limits, but no question is guaranteed an immediate answer. Sometimes we say, “What a great question. I don’t know the answer. Let’s look it up when we get home.”
4. Ask application questions. When I’m getting grilled by the second-grader, often I will ask questions back to him. “Why do you think God did it that way?” Or, “Why does this matter in your life?” Or “What are some ways you can make this happen?” With the older kids, we discuss their youth group lessons. Are they thinking through the topic or just filing it way in the “knowledge bucket” without intending to apply what they’ve learned? Have they prayed about their latest struggle? How real is God in their lives?
5. Find opportunities for them to serve. Get it out of their heads and into their hands and feet: help your brother with his chores, share your candy, go preach the gospel in Nicaragua, go work in our elderly neighbor’s yard, hold your sharp tongue, invite the new girl to your lunch table . . . do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (Mic. 6:8).

So, back to the original conversation. How does God win over Satan? I decided to answer that in light of now instead of the not yet. “Because God’s Spirit lives in everyone who believes in Jesus. When we choose to love, God is using us to fight Satan.”

He responded, “Soooo, every time we obey God and love people, it makes Satan weaker?”