“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
Romans 10:14–15 is a spurring exhortation to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those who have yet to hear of Him. As parents, we know that we have an added responsibility to introduce the gospel to our children, so that they know the way to Him, and how to follow Him the rest of their lives.
But it is a big challenge. For many of us, it raises many questions, like: What is the gospel in a nutshell? How do we share it with our children? How can we be sure that they understand the gospel message?
For me, this last question is especially important. It is my deep conviction that we need to explain the gospel so that our children can get a fuller understanding of it and respond meaningfully. We want them to come to Jesus with a proper understanding of what it means to believe and trust in Him for themselves, and to follow Him and commit their lives to Him.
This means we need to think of ways to explain the gospel as simply as possible. Here are some general approaches, with ideas and examples for your consideration.
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1. Use Common Tools
There are many useful tools that can be used to share the good news for different age groups. Many of them do not involve lengthy explanations or complex words, and are therefore particularly useful for children. These are not exhaustive, of course, but they give you an idea of what’s available out there, and hopefully, can also spark ideas of your own:
a. Wordless Book
I have found the Wordless Book to be one of the most useful tools. Because it uses colours instead of words to explain concepts like our spiritual state and salvation, this tool can be adapted to suit children of different ages, depending on their maturity and level of understanding.
There are several versions of the Wordless Book available. For example, you could use this set of colours to represent the following concepts:
- Blue: the beautiful creation that God has created
- Black: darkness caused by sin entering the world
- Red: Jesus died for our sins, and His blood washes us
- White: we are forgiven, washed as clean as snow before God
- Green: our growth here on earth while we are journeying towards heaven
- Gold: heaven, where we will live in eternity with God
b. Five Finger Gospel Message
The Five Finger Gospel Message is another easy-to-use method that has worked well for pre-teens, and doesn’t require any “props” or resources.
- Thumb: God, who created us, is a good God
- Forefinger: an accusing finger that reminds us of how we stand before God accused because of our sin
- Middle finger: the tallest finger reminds us of Jesus, the greatest King, who came to save us and wash us clean of our sins
- Ring finger: often used for wedding rings, this finger represents relationships—because of Jesus, we now have a relationship with God
- Little finger: if we reject Jesus, then, like the little finger, we’d be very far away from the good God who has created us.
c. Bridge of Life
As children grow older—into pre-teens and teenhood—they may find the above presentations of the gospel too simple or story-like, and ask more complex questions. Here, we can start to show them the truths from Scripture.
There are a number of tools that combine Scripture with illustrations or diagrams that will help people understand the basis of the gospel. A popular one is Bridge to Life, which uses a chasm to represent sin between God and man. This gap is bridged by the cross of Jesus. You can draw this diagram as you go along, accompanying it with references from the Bible, which you can bookmark in your Bible or Bible app beforehand.
d. Two Ways to Live
This method presents the gospel as a decision between two life choices.
One is living by God’s way, which He gave us when He created the world. This way is presented as a good choice, for it means ruling over the world in a godly way, with the good God as the ultimate Ruler, and it comes with blessings, true joy, and satisfaction.
The other is our way, which represents rebellion, and comes with all the consequences of sin and the problems of trying to operate by our own selfish standards.
Like with the other tools, there are several versions of this presentation. But I have found this useful for older children and even teenagers, who can understand the consequences of choices and decisions.
2. Find Everyday Illustrations
Apart from using common tools, we can share and explain the gospel through modern, everyday illustrations that children can relate to. This not only makes it easier for them to understand the truth of the gospel, but also helps us drive home the point that the gospel is not a “church” thing—it is something that we live out in our daily lives.
There are many illustrations available that you can use to explain the gospel. Google to find one that suits your purpose or, if you can, think of one on your own! The process of thinking through illustrations can help both parent and child to think about what Jesus has done for us and what that means for us each day.
Here are some ideas to get you going:
a. Wet Paint
One of my favourite is the Wet Paint Illustration, which goes like this:
Let’s say I have painted a wall, so I put up a sign that says: “Wet paint: do not touch”. Then you come along, and the sign tempts you to try your luck. Ironically, if you don’t see the sign, you might not bother. But now that you have, something makes you want to reach out and touch the wall. That’s human nature!
Two things happen when you touch the freshly-painted wall. One, you make me very upset—not only because I now have to paint it again, but also because you’ve disobeyed the very instruction that I’ve given. And that affects my relationship with you.
But that’s not the end of the story. The other thing that happens is that your hand is now tainted with paint. So, breaking the rule also affects you.
This story can help you explain sin, or what happens when we disobey the instructions that God gives us.
b. The torn $10 note
One time, my younger son came home and told me that he had accidentally torn into two a $10 bill that I had given to him for his meal allowance. I was tempted to retort, “That’s your problem—do you think I’m a magician who can repair your money?”
Thankfully, I was able to restrain myself, and spotted a teaching moment. Passing him a new $10 note, I told him: “Okay, tell you what, you give me your torn note, and here’s a new note that you can use.”
“Why would you do that?” he asked me. To which I replied, “Because you’re my son, and I love you.” Then I explained that this was like how our lives are without Jesus—broken. That is, until Jesus came to exchange them, make us whole, and give us something valuable—eternal life.
He then asked me, “What about you? Isn’t this note useless to you?” That in turn allowed me to compare the situation with Jesus’ exchange: it cost Him something—His life—to save us from our valueless life.
I’m thankful that God helped me not to reprimand my son, and instead gave me an opportunity to turn a small incident into an object lesson.
3. Relate to Their Feelings
For some children (and adults, too), what might resonate with them is the emotional impact of the gospel on their lives. That is, we can try to relate the truth of the gospel to how it can address their emotional burdens.
For example, we could talk about the guilt we struggle with when we have done something wrong. Or, we can talk about the sense of defeat and failure, or the constant struggle to live better or avoid temptation.
By relating the death and resurrection of Christ to these specific struggles, we can show that the gospel is relevant to their everyday lives—that when they turn to God, they can experience a new life and victory over the feelings of guilt and failure.
We can also try to connect gospel facts with our lives, so that they do not remain conceptual. For example, when talking about sin, I relate it to how man’s choice to live our way instead of God’s way has corrupted today’s world—such as by connecting it a news story or incident we might’ve come across.
4. Show Through Your Own Behaviour
In many of his letters, Paul repeatedly stresses the importance of modelling what godly Christian living looks like, by offering himself as an example. In Philippians 3:17, for instance, he urges the believers in Philippi: “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”
Nothing reinforces the gospel message more than our own behaviour. Nothing teaches more about love, goodness, and righteousness, than us displaying these very attributes in our words, actions, and attitudes.
I have found going on mission trips as a family to be a good opportunity to show children what godly love, patience, and resilience looks like. During a tough mission, they can see us in action—learning to rough it out and sharing the love of Jesus with others.
At the same time, we also need to show our children that we ourselves need Jesus in our own lives. That means recognising and acknowledging our flaws and our need for Jesus’ forgiveness. At times, we may need to ask our kids for forgiveness, too, so that they can see the gospel at work in our own lives.
Nothing reinforces the gospel message more than our own behaviour.
I’ve learnt, over time, to apologise to my children when I’ve sinned against them. I feel we need to be authentic to them and say things like “I don’t know”, “I’m sorry”, and “I’m also in the process of growing as a Christian”. By doing so, I hope to show them that God is at work in my life, just as He is in theirs.
At the end of the day, we parents are not really “grown-ups”. We are all growing up, and we need as much growing up as our children do.
As we use common tools and everyday illustrations to point our children to the gospel, connect the gospel message to our daily living, and live it ourselves, may our children come to grasp the beauty of the gospel for themselves, and accept our Lord and Saviour as their own.
This article was adapted from a teaching by Lim Chien Chong, given at Our Daily Bread Ministries’ Bible Conference 2024: The Daunting Privilege, in July 2024.
