{"id":30759,"date":"2022-09-10T15:03:27","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-does-the-embodied-church-mean-for-kids\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:03:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:03:27","slug":"what-does-the-embodied-church-mean-for-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/what-does-the-embodied-church-mean-for-kids\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does the Embodied Church Mean for Kids?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Erika Giraud photo – Unsplash <\/p>\n

This is a unique moment for you to walk alongside parents as they disciple their kids to know and love the Lord and His church.<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Marissa Postell<\/em> <\/p>\n

We all know what happened in spring 2020 when COVID-19 made its debut in the United States, causing schools and offices to suddenly pivot to virtual environments, anxieties to rise, and words like \u201cquarantine,\u201d \u201csocial distancing,\u201d and \u201cmask mandate,\u201d to enter our vocabularies in full force. While responses to the pandemic have varied since those early days, people\u2019s lives were undeniably affected by COVID, and the long-term effects of that may still take time to reveal themselves.<\/p>\n

As people began to realize COVID was going to impact more than just those initial two weeks of quarantines to \u201cslow the spread,\u201d they began to talk about a \u201cnew normal.\u201d But while most of us have an understanding of what \u201cnormal\u201d was before COVID, there are some who may not\u2014our children.<\/p>\n

Whether they were born after the pandemic began or were young when shutdowns were put in place, our children have spent formative years in our homes, and now they have to learn what a \u201cnew normal\u201d is without first having a solid understanding of an \u201cold normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is true in many aspects of their lives, but it\u2019s particularly true when it comes to understanding church\u2014the embodied gathering of believers. In this moment, pastors and church leaders have a unique opportunity to walk alongside parents as they disciple their kids to know and love the Lord and His church.<\/p>\n

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The embodied church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The church is the body of Christ, and we see that most clearly when the church gathers in its embodied form. When we gather as brothers and sisters in Christ, we see the body of Christ is made up of many parts designed for many purposes, united under one head\u2014the Lord Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 12). And in the practice of gathering every week, we better understand what the church is\u2014what it was created to be. According to Lifeway\u2019s Levels of Biblical Learning\u00ae, \u201cthe church is more than a building; it is Christians who gather to worship and serve God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and I are the first representations of Jesus and the Bible that kids experience,\u201d says Landry Holmes, manager of Lifeway Kids ministry publishing. \u201cWe represent an unseen Jesus to literal-minded children and the Bible to kids who can\u2019t read.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe represent an unseen Jesus to literal-minded children and the Bible to kids who can\u2019t read.\u201d \u2014 @lrholmes Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

But when the practice of gathering screeched to a halt, children missed formative days for solidifying their understanding of what the church truly is.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe younger the child, the less he or she understands the abstract idea of the church as a group of people rather than a particular place,\u201d Holmes says. \u201cIf we don\u2019t meet physically, kids will have a more difficult time understanding that the church is a group of believers who physically gather for worship and Christian service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jason Thacker, chair of research in technology ethics at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, says he has been intentional about telling his children they\u2019re going to \u201cwatch church\u201d because he doesn\u2019t want them to assume being the church simply means watching what\u2019s happening on the TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want them to know about the body of Christ and the embodiment of humanity and the importance of that\u2014physically being with one another to be able to actually bear one another\u2019s burdens,\u201d Thacker says.<\/p>\n

He says the way we talk about and engage with the church shapes our understanding of the church. What might our habits subtly or unintentionally communicate about the church to our children?<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we want to communicate that church is just another video to watch in the age of unlimited YouTube videos?\u201d Thacker asks. \u201cDo we want to communicate to our children that\u2019s what the church really is or even give the impression that may be all it is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jared Kennedy, editor for The Gospel Coalition and author of several resources for church leaders, parents, and children, says kids look to screens for two things: performance and entertainment. But Jesus offers the opposite of these things, and the church isn\u2019t about performance or entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, [Christianity] confronts our performance mentality. Communion with God is not something we earn or perform for. But because of Christ\u2019s perfect obedience and substitutionary death, we\u2019re offered peace with God as a gift of grace,\u201d Kennedy says. \u201cSecond, when we believe, we\u2019re placed into a new family that doesn\u2019t revolve around us\u2014our performance or our entertainment. Instead, we\u2019re called to love God and follow Christ\u2019s example by sacrificially serving His people (Romans 12:1\u20132).\u201d<\/p>\n

So the embodied church helps kids know and love Christ and His bride and the character of God in a particular and unique way.<\/p>\n

Challenges of the digital church experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Digital ministry was challenging enough for adults in the initial days of COVID as they tried to figure out Zoom and other technologies. But it was also challenging for kids. What if they didn\u2019t have a device from which they could join a Zoom call at the same time as Mom and Dad? How difficult is it for a child to sit in front of a screen and stay engaged with a teacher when there are other distractions happening all around the house\u2014not to mention the fact many of them had been looking at screens all week for school and entertainment? And what about the need for kids to have both a teacher on the screen and parental supervision in the home? Despite the challenges, digital ministry for kids throughout COVID wasn\u2019t all bad.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat marked success for churches teaching kids the gospel online were not leaders who are good on screen or the use of professional video equipment, but rather the continued interactions with familiar faces, followed up with family Bible time suggestions,” Holmes says. \u201cIt goes back to the concept of relationships\u2014teachers with a vibrant relationship with Jesus developing relationships with kids in order to introduce them to their own relationship with Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kids who engaged with the church digitally still learned about the Bible, even if in their pajamas. They still learned about Jesus, even if Mom was yelling in the background asking what they wanted for breakfast. And the deeper the relationships that could be formed in this creative environment, the greater the discipleship impact.<\/p>\n

Challenges of the embodied church experience<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For some families, the online format worked well and relieved them of many challenges that accompany physically attending church. Going to church is hard. Getting yourself out the door on a Sunday morning can be challenging enough, but getting your whole slew of kids out the door can seem like an insurmountable task some days. Going to church is hard for parents, but it\u2019s also hard for kids. Meal times. Nap schedule. Social interactions. It\u2019s all just a little bit \u2026 off \u2026 on Sundays.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s no denying COVID brought with it a new set of challenges for kids when it comes to the embodied church experience. Now, as COVID fades on the horizon, many families have established new routines\u2014either of watching or engaging with church digitally or doing something entirely different on Sunday mornings.<\/p>\n

Kids ministry is lagging behind other ministries\u2019 return in this late-COVID world. Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

According to a spring 2022 study from Lifeway Research, churches remain more hesitant to resume all activities for children compared to programming for teenagers or adults. Although 86% of churches who had kids ministry activities before the pandemic say they\u2019ve restarted at least some activities in person, 22% still say they\u2019re only doing some of their kids\u2019 activities in person. And the average U.S. Protestant church is seeing 64% of kids participating compared to pre-pandemic attendance. Kids ministry is lagging behind other ministries\u2019 return in this late-COVID world.<\/p>\n

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See also  The Power of the Ordinary Moments<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Affected by disabilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Perhaps some families haven\u2019t returned to church since COVID because they have a family member who is considered \u201chigh-risk\u201d or is affected by a disability. For those who were fully engaged in the church prior to COVID but still haven\u2019t returned to church, Tiffany McCullough, special needs minister at Brentwood Baptist Church, says digital ministry isn\u2019t what has been most meaningful to them. It\u2019s the embodied church\u2014even from a distance\u2014that has meant the most to them.<\/p>\n

McCullough says it\u2019s the tangible, personal acts that matter most to these families. Children with special needs often have a difficult time engaging with digital ministries. And it\u2019s challenging for parents with kids affected by disabilities to be a part of digital ministry themselves without the childcare that would normally be provided in an in-person experience. So McCullough and her team have found ways to build and maintain relationships with kids and families throughout the pandemic\u2014gifting them a Publix gift card, leaving poinsettias on the porch at Christmas and waving to the family, tying balloons on the mailbox on the child\u2019s birthday and waving through the window.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don’t need a seven-point Bible lesson with take-home questions, because they don’t even have time to do that,\u201d McCullough said. \u201cWhat they value is respite and care for their child. They could care less about what you’re offering them online. For special needs families, the way to their heart is caring for their child or adult child that has been impacted by a disability so they can be refreshed, so they can go and worship together, so they can go be in a life group, so they can go serve.”<\/p>\n

As much as you want families and kids to return to experience the embodied church, there are those who, for a variety of reasons, are unable to return to that in-person environment. While they may continue to engage digitally, it\u2019s the relationships within the body of Christ that most make them feel known, loved, and connected.<\/p>\n

Moving forward<\/strong><\/h3>\n

So, what do churches do moving forward? How do we serve families and kids\u2014whether they return in person or not?<\/p>\n

First, churches must recognize both the embodied church and the digital church meet some needs people face today. Although the two can be in tension at times, they can also work together for the betterment of the body of Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we need to move past the endless \u2018physical versus online\u2019 arguments and start advancing on both fronts to share the church with the world,\u201d said Phil Cooke, co-founder and president of Cooke Media Group.<\/p>\n

We need to move past the endless "physical versus online" arguments and start advancing on both fronts to share the church with the world. \u2014 @PhilCooke Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

There are people on your pews and on your livestream who need to hear the gospel. There are people in your classrooms and on your Zoom calls who are longing for community. And there are people online and in person who need to be counseled in the truth. People are present both online and in person. And where there are people, there\u2019s a mission field.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time the church realized it\u2019s not about how we <\/em>want to engage them<\/em>; it\u2019s about how they <\/em>want to engage us<\/em>,\u201d Cooke said. \u201cHowever people choose to engage with our worship, prayer, Bible reading, and teaching, I want it to be life-changing. We should strive to make [both] experiences powerful and meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean technology is a substitute for the gathering of the local church, and Thacker says he doesn\u2019t believe it should be.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Technology] can be a great teaching conduit. It can be a way that we can communicate, connect, and learn,\u201d Thacker said. \u201cBut I don’t think it’s a replacement or a substitute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hands and feet of Christ<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Thacker says technology can and should be used to augment or expand the reach of the church, especially in terms of missiological application. But not everything can be digitally replicated.<\/p>\n

McCullough says this is also true for families affected by disabilities. The \u201caccessible to everyone\u201d live stream of a church service isn\u2019t everything these families are looking for. They are looking to experience the hands and feet of Jesus showing up for them in their circumstances and in their needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHands down, we have to provide care and respite,” McCullough said. \u201cAnd through doing that, we are the hands and feet of Jesus to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when the church shows up\u2014even in small ways\u2014to live out their calling as the hands and feet of Jesus, you never know who\u2019s watching.<\/p>\n

The testimony of the embodied church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u201cLast year, my nine-year-old son went through a stage of questioning why he should put his faith in Christ,\u201d said Aaron Wilson, internal communications manager at Lifeway Research.<\/p>\n

Wilson welcomed his son Abel\u2019s questions and began reading some kid\u2019s apologetics books with him as well as having regular discussions around the topic. But seeing the church exist as the body of Christ was one of the greatest testimonies for Abel.<\/p>\n

For Abel, preference for the in-person church experience over watching online services isn\u2019t just about seeing his friends or being able to focus on what the teacher was saying\u2014although those are factors for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just shows how Christianity is important\u2014that hundreds of people in our church come every Sunday to be with other believers and worship and learn about Christ,\u201d Abel said. \u201cSeeing all the people participating and worshiping Jesus helped show me that Jesus is real and there is a purpose to following Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing all the people participating and worshiping Jesus helped show me that Jesus is real and there is a purpose to following Christ.\u201d \u2014 11-year-old Abel Click To Tweet <\/p>\n

As he stood with the embodied church, Abel was able to experience what it meant to be the body of Christ.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow obviously, truth isn\u2019t based on popularity or turn-out, but I found it interesting how the intentional gathering of Christians made an impression on him,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI\u2019m thankful for all those who, in simply \u2018showing up for church,\u2019 unknowingly served as a testimony for my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Demonstration of Christ<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Despite technological advances and all the ways technology can be used to expand the reach of the gospel, it is limited. Christians still need the embodied church. And yes, being the embodied church includes showing up on Sunday mornings for corporate worship, but it\u2019s not limited to that. You can be the embodied church even for those who have not returned to church services. And as kids grow in their understanding of what the church is, they will get a clearer picture of who Christ is and how He works.<\/p>\n

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Marissa Postell<\/h2>\n

@marissapostell<\/p>\n

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Marissa is the managing editor for LifewayResearch.com.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n