Avoiding moralistic therapeutic deism in children's ministry

Sadly, our well-intentioned ministry to children can fall prey to moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD), where instead of the gospel of grace, the focus is on helping kids lead moral, happy lives (John Ortberg calls MTD America's most popular religion!). A common way this occurs is in using Old Testament stories to illustrate lessons about building moral character. What's wrong with that? Two things: It overlooks the immediate context of the story, then fails to teach its Christ-centered, gospel-focused meaning and application.

I saw this happen at a childrens ministry conference a few years ago. The featured speaker described the five stones that David picked up to use in defeating Goliath (1Sam 17:40-50) as representing five aspects of Godly character (implying that David defeated Goliath because of his moral strength). I was saddened, not because I think it's wrong to teach children positive character traits, but because the speaker failed to use the story in a way that points people to Jesus, who is represented by David. It is Jesus (not our personal moral character) who defeats our Goliath's. Kid's need to be encouraged to trust Jesus, not their own strength.

For more on this topic, check out a recent blog post from Matt Rawlings. In his post he recommends The Jesus Storybook Bible as a good resource for reading all the Bible (Old Testament stories included) in ways that are fully Christ-centered. I also recommend this beautifully illustrated book.