confusedI’ve been in vocational ministry to students and kids for over 13 years. Over this time, I’ve made some observations. I’ve found that we as pastors and communicators often use confusing terminology with kids that may seem to pacify a short term goal of simplicity, but often create a long term problem of misunderstanding.

I totally get the reasoning. Spiritual concepts can be complicated and difficult to grasp. However, giving “not exactly true” explanations for the sake of simplicity isn’t the correct method in my personal opinion. I think that some of these confusing terms and explanations have “stuck” and we continue to teach them because it’s what we learned as well. This week I’m going to cover a few of these terms and concepts. Why? Because I think there are better ways to explain spiritual truths that lead a a greater understanding. Kids are smarter than we think, we just need to give them a chance to wrestle with significant concepts.

I came up with a handful of these and got a few ideas from other friends in ministry. Feel free to add terminology and concepts you’ve come across in the comments, I might make it a last minute add. Most importantly, I hope this series encourages all of us to consider what we’re communicating to kids. Although what we’re saying might make perfect sense, it doesn’t mean it’s accurate.