Lenten Reflections: Telling Friends about Jesus

Last updated on: March 6, 2012 at 8:22 am by Amy Julia Becker

Lenten Reflections: Telling Friends about Jesus 2012-03-06T08:22:43-05:00 Amy Julia Becker

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

As those of you with young children already know, last week was Dr. Seuss’ birthday. Penny’s teachers celebrated by inviting all the parents in her class to sign up to read. I was slated for Thursday and Horton Hatches an Egg.

William soon picked up on this development, so he asked if I could come to his class the same day. I arranged it with his teacher. On the designated morning, I asked William to select a book. He raced into the playroom. When he returned, he lay a book on the table and said, “Mom. I picked the Jesus book. Because I don’t think my friends have learned about Jesus yet.”

It was such a simple statement. He wasn’t talking about wanting his friends to convert to Christianity. He certainly wasn’t thinking about evangelism or sin and salvation. He just wanted to share some stories about this person named Jesus who he is getting to know.

I told him we couldn’t bring the book about Jesus. I didn’t want to put his teachers in an awkward position. I didn’t know how to explain why. He decided on The Cranky Sun without much protest.

But I walked away with hope that he will hold on to that sincere and unadulterated desire that his friends learn about Jesus. Just like he wants to tell them about getting a mini trampoline for Christmas and how he got to visit his Nana and Pop Pop for the weekend and how he likes to eat mini carrots for a snack in the morning. I hope he’ll hold on to it, and I hope I’ll hold on to it too. And I hope I will tell my friends about Jesus not because I’m trying to change them or fulfill some sense of Christian responsibility. I hope I will tell them because maybe they haven’t learned about him yet. Maybe they don’t know him. And maybe if I do tell, they will feel the way I feel, the way I think William feels, that the stories about Jesus are mysterious and powerful. That Jesus is a person worth getting to know.

Faith

family

Previous Post

March 5, 2012

Maybe Parenting Really is all about Money

Next Post

March 7, 2012 The R-Word and the Courage to Say I'm Sorry

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Articles Books Disability Down Syndrome Faith family Perfectly Human Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 September 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz