Trevin Wax arbeitet bei “The Gospel Project”, die u. a. biblische Geschichten für Kinder im Vorschulalter erarbeiten. Er stand vor der Frage, die ich mir oft auch schon stellte: Darf man Drei- bis Vierjährigen die Hiobsgeschichte erzählen? Oder besser gesagt: Wie kann ich eine solche Erzählung einem Kind in diesem Alter nahe bringen? Und wie stelle ich den Bezug zu Jesus her? Trevin berichtet von der Herausforderung, das Wort “Vermittler” (mediator) den Kleinen anschaulich zu erklären:
Here’s what we wanted to tell kids: Job’s suffering and his request for a mediator give us a glimpse of our Savior, Jesus. Neither Job nor Jesus experienced suffering because they sinned. Unlike Job, Jesus never questioned why He had to suffer. Jesus understood that we needed Him to pay the price for our sin and be our mediator before God.
I remember thinking about my daughter, Julia, as we had this conversation. She was three at the time. My wife and I were frequent fill-in teachers for Julia’s preschool group in our church. I saw those cute, rambunctious kids in my mind as we discussed how to present the story of Job and the Christ connection.
The question came up, “Will a preschooler have a clue what we’re talking about? How much of the story will they get?” After some good discussion, we decided they probably wouldn’t understand it all.After some good discussion, we decided they probably wouldn’t understand it all.
So did we ditch the idea? No. Instead, we decided to introduce the word “mediator” to preschoolers. We would simplify the Christ-connections for preschoolers, and we’d make sure we explain what big words mean, but we would not shy away from a four-syllable word that helped point them to Christ.
So did we ditch the idea? No. Instead, we decided to introduce the word “mediator” to preschoolers. We would simplify the Christ-connections for preschoolers, and we’d make sure we explain what big words mean, but we would not shy away from a four-syllable word that helped point them to Christ.
