Christian Characteristic ABC's

Yesterday we wrapped up the first quarter of the new Children’s Church curriculum that I have been writing.  Over the last twelve weeks the kids have been learning the Christian Characteristic ABC’s, with each letter of the alphabet representing an important trait that we as Christians should possess.  In Sunday’s concluding lesson I shared about “Why We Do What We Do.”  We participated in many fun activities and then finished the class by handing out official “Christians In Action” (CIA) hats to all the kids who had been learning and memorizing the 26 characteristics.

I always strive to keep things exciting and fun throughout the 1 ½ hour class.  My training and experience have taught me to keep things moving and never to allow for a dull moment.  I don’t know if most people really understand how much energy goes into the leading of an elementary age Children’s Church program.  Many look at me like I am a little crazy when I get home on Sunday’s and collapse for the rest of the day!  But you know what?  It is worth all the effort!  I have just as much fun (probably more!) as the kids have on Sunday mornings!  Our program is just beginning to click and it is exciting to see the new leadership team develop and flow with each other and with the kids.

One of the activities yesterday consisted of the kids answering a set of questions according to how they thought Jesus would answer them and then how they would personally answer them.  One young man responded to the inquiry of “If someone said something nasty to me, I would…” by stating that he would punch him!  We had a good laugh as he told the class and then demonstrated his answer.  This of course, led us right into the crux of the lesson where we discussed why Christian Characteristics are so important to the modern day ministry of Jesus Christ as lived and demonstrated through us.

As I reminisced about yesterday’s class, including the young man’s funny response in my study time this morning, I thought about Eugene Peterson’s explanation of God’s grace in The Message Bible found in Romans 5:20-21.  It says “sin didn’t and doesn’t have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace.” 

I have heard it said that we are to be living epistles of God’s ways to the world.  If this is true, then we too should be demonstrating “aggressive forgiveness” in the form of grace to those who do not speak or act kindly toward us.  Our actions should stand apart from those of the world.  Our actions should make an impact, not because of the stinging words and/or motions we might retaliate with, but because of the love that sooths instead of inciting the situation.  (See Proverbs 15:1)

The thought of “aggressive forgiveness” makes me think of going above and beyond the call of duty in order to present the Gospel message to the hurting world all around us.  It means that I must let go and move on from the pain that I have experienced from those close to me by their reactions to my wife’s health concerns.  What might it mean for you?  It could be time for a personal inventory of the things that you have been carrying around with you.  Are you ready to “aggressively forgive?”  Are you living your ABC’s?

Have a good week, stay in tune to His word and keep asking yourself… “What am I expecting today?”