Why did God make mosquitos? I’ll never forget receiving a video from a church member at my former church in which their 5-year-old son was asking the question. Did I have an answer? I didn’t. But I loved receiving the question because more than anything else, my hope is that the church will be a place where people bring their questions.
Curiosity and questioning are key to developing faith. This is particularly true in younger years, but it continues throughout our lives. One of the most common reasons people cite when walking away from the church is reaching the conclusion that Christianity, or at least the church, is not a place where they can be honest about their thoughts.
I remember seeing a license plate frame: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” I laughed, but then I realized that it captures well the culture that many churches created – a culture of absolutes and a culture that leads thinking people away from the church.
A friend of mine once told me that they asked a question about God in the car on the way to church. Their father was silent as they drove and clearly didn’t have the answer. They pulled into the parking lot and he finally spoke: “Whatever you do at church today, do not ask that question.” The questions didn’t go away, but the questions stopped coming to church, and so did the woman.
Part of the challenge is that for a long time the lessons we learned in the church were contradicted by lessons we learned in school. In particular, Sunday school lessons often focused on Old Testament stories, like Noah’s Ark, or Jonah, and they were taught in a way that left little room for interpretation or an understanding of the deeper, theological message behind the story. Noah is less about all animals being descended from two of each kind and Jonah is less about the question of whether a big fish could swallow a person.
And yet, if the facts of these stories are the focus, when a child later learns that it is impossible for all animals to be descended from pairs, then they begin to lose confidence in other things they’ve learned in the church context. These Old Testament stories, in particular, were intended as teaching tools to convey greater truths about God, humanity, and the interplay between the two.
If you find yourself struggling with this idea that the Old Testament stories need to be examined more closely to find “something more” than the facts of the story, you need only look at the first two chapters of Genesis (which are also the first two chapters of the Bible). The very first two stories in the Bible are two distinct and inconsistent stories of the creation of the world! Take a look at them and what you’ll see is that each creation story presents possibilities and even more so, presents a glimpse into the nature of God and God’s desire for humanity.
At Pinnacle, our Pinnacle Kids program takes a wonderful approach to the thoughtful teaching of lessons that seek to form faith in our youngest disciples. Equally so, our youth ministry seeks to engage the minds of our young people. So, programmatically, we’re covered! But the development of faith in the lives of children (and adults!) is not limited to curriculum and classes. Clearly, from the examples above, parents, grandparents, church leaders – we all have a role in fostering an environment that welcomes questions, encourages thoughtful examination of scripture, and is willing to acknowledge mystery.
A few weeks ago I shared with our children a new offering called “Ask Pastor Erik!” which is designed to provide the children of the church the opportunity to ask me questions which I’ll answer either individually, during church school, and sometimes during worship. I told them that I might not know the answers, but that I would try to find them. The key here is to send the clear message that questions are welcome here.
And while that’s the message I want to convey to our youngest disciples, it is a message for all of us. Feel free, dear ones, to “Ask Pastor Erik!”
Mosquitos are more than a pest! So much of our ecosystem depends on them for food and mosquitos are pollinators, feeding on nectar, and enabling plants to grow and flourish. What an amazing God we have who designed a world with such complexities. I’m so grateful that I was asked that question by the young man who expanded my understanding of God with his question and my pursuit of the answer.
“Ask Pastor Erik!” cards are available in the Pinnacle Kids wing and questions can also be sent directly to Pastor Erik.
