February 17, 2015March 15, 2015 Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Helping Kids Use Technology At Church

The rapid growth of technology is leaving no cultural stone unturned including our families and kid’s ministries. When asked to look up a verse, kids today can quickly pull out a Kindle Fire, IPad, or smartphone. Middle schoolers are taking selfies on hayrides, grade schoolers want pictures of the slimy goo game to be posted on Facebook, and preschoolers are navigating smart phones with more comfort than their parents. Technology has reached the little people. As church leaders, Sunday school teachers, and parents, we must decide how to handle this increasing influx of gismos. Below are five principles that will help us determine when to allow kids to use that:

Remember technology is not inherently bad or good. Smart phones, tablets, and social media are all avenues of communication. And our God is all about communication. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Our concern is the content streaming through the technology. IPads can be a sinful distraction when our kids are posting selfies or playing Hay Day during the middle of a sermon. But, smartphones can also be a huge blessing when our kids use them to access scripture or to skype with a missionary a thousand miles away.
Don’t be afraid of what we don’t know. We all naturally drift to what we know and like, becoming products of our age or decade. Having crossed the 30 year threshold, I too am quickly calcifying. As I drive around, I’m increasingly playing the “Cool Kids” radio. Translation: I am no longer cool or in touch. But I don’t have to be scared of every new app or tablet. Even if I don’t fully understand the technology, I can still discern the content being used and its timing by asking thoughtful and non-accusing questions. I need to fight the sinful urge to judge that which is different from me. After all the church is not about our preferences. The church is God’s and is all about our Lord. Even when dealing with technology, we must fight against the desire to place our comfort above God’s glory.
Ask questions. Ask your kids to explain how such and such works. Ask them why they use it, and ask them to tell you who they are communicating with. Once we know what content is being accessed at what time, and for what purpose, we will be able to guide your kids in their use of technology. “No, Johnny you don’t need to Snapchat because you are selfishly disrupting the class to brag about how you destroyed your Twinkie.” “That’s great Susan, I had no idea you could highlight and save the verses we looked up today on your IPhone.”
Welcome good technology. God has used the printing press, radio, and the internet to spread his kingdom. It’s quite possible the next newfangled device our kid is using will further expand the kingdom of God. By embracing technology, we avoid offending kids (Telling kids to, “Put down your smart phone and read from the KJV” will cause them to be frustrated) and from making our immensely creative God appear to be dull and boring. God’s not opposed to new technology and the advance of science. And, we shouldn’t be either.
Place a premium on the Bible. Regardless of what our kids use on Sunday morning, I believe it’s important for us to use a good paper translation of the Bible when teaching. By touching the Bible pages, we clearly show our kids that the Bible is real and that the words we are speaking carry an authority far greater than Facebook.

I’m curious to hear how your church and/or class handle kids using technology. What is working for you? What has been problematic?

January 19, 2015January 19, 2015 Peter Witkowski Babies and Birth, Children's Ministry

The Amazing Benefits of Adoption

Adoption perhaps stands second only to marriage as a physical, earthly actualization of the gospel. The whole process from the parents’ selection of the child to that family’s struggles (i.e. paperwork, financial cost, corrupt legal systems, and time away from loved ones) to securing a precious child from a rough situation displays how Christ graciously chose us and also suffered for us so that we might have eternal bless. And for this reason alone, the church should be excited and supportive of adoption. Moreover as James writes, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the father is this: to visit the orphan and widows in their affliction” (1:27). But, the benefits of adoption as an expression of true faith do not stop here.

Community Benefits

The arrival of adopted children also brings the Great Commission zooming into in our towns and communities. When our children’s ministries are filled with Asians, Africans, Hispanics, Caucasians, and every other race, our churches can no longer make missions something that happens out there (oh say, in Africa somewhere). It’s happening here and now on the playground. When we teach Sunday school, we are reaching the nations. With the entrance of each adopted child into our kids’ zone, our churches begin to resemble heaven more and more!

Are you excited? I hope you are! Adoption when done through the love of Christ is amazing.

The Community Challenge

Now, it will challenge our application of the gospel. If we think that church should be a nice social club for this ethnicity or for that culture, we will be troubled. Likewise, those who love the idea of their child marrying someone just like them will probably be put out by the possibility of their child marrying someone with different skin tones. But those who think this way don’t ultimately have an issue with adoption.

The One Way Forward

Their problem is with Jesus. Our Savior teaches that “Here there is not Greek, Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). If this is true, then the color; culture; and; ethnicity of our kids or of our kids’ friends don’t matter. Now, putting off sin and embracing Christ is a big deal. But all the other discriminating ideas we embrace are superficial and can be outright sinful. Notice that James 2:9 says, “But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.” To be a loving follower of Jesus, we must joyfully embrace adoption and all its ramifications for our local church. There is no other biblical option.

After all, our Savior is not all about protecting our church’s music style or our family’s homogeneous Christmas pictures. His plans are way bigger than making sure we feel comfortable in our sanctuary. Jesus is about saving people from all over the globe. Notice, he commands us to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (Math 28:19). He wants his people to follow his example and love all people from all cultures and ethnicities as if they were our brothers, our family members. Adoption powerfully reminds all of us of God’s mission and also enables all of us to partake in God’s global kingdom plan.

September 4, 2014October 14, 2014 Peter Witkowski Parenting

Teach Jesus. Use Football?

College football is amazing. The sport has fanatical bands, big hits, and unfettered enthusiasm. Quite simply the sport is the perfect blend of World Cup craziness and rugged manliness. As we watch the college season unfold, we will being watched by our kids. Good or bad, our interactions with our favorite teams have a spiritual element. Let’s seize the day and use football as a tool to teach our kids about Jesus.

Don’t Be A Loser

When our team wins only two games (like my Air force Falcons did in 2013,) is our Fall ruined? Or if our team captures the National Championship like Florida State did, is our year made? If the status of our team is our spiritual identity, the answer will be a yes. Now I do not think expressing happiness or sadness about the outcome of your team’s last game is wrong. I was pretty excited to watch Texas win the national title in 2008! But living by the outcome of your team’s score is a problem. As Pastor Tim Keller rightfully warns,

sin is not just the doing of bad things, but the making of good things into ultimate things (168).

How do we know if the sport has become an ultimate thing in our life? College football is the ultimate thing if it determines our emotions and actions. For example if we are short with our kids all week or extremely generous with our money because of how our quarterback played, we are teaching our kids that joy is found in a leather ball. Our football identity is melting off our t-shirts and into our hearts. This is a huge problem. As Pastor Tim Keller explains, “Identity apart from God is inherently unstable. Without God, our sense of worth may seem solid on the surface, but it never is – it can destroy you in a moment” (170-71). Every team (even SEC teams) will lose eventually. And scandals hit even little schools like the Air Force Academy at some point. If we live for college football, we will be fragile, miserable people with really strong and yet very indefensible prejudices. And we will encourage our kids to create equally fragile lives founded upon stadiums, swag, and whatever other trinkets that promise happiness but deliver despair. If this is you, repent and make Jesus your identity!

Everybody has to live for something. Whatever that something is becomes “Lord of your life,” whether you think of it that way or not. Jesus is the only Lord who, if you receive him, will fulfill you completely, and, if you fail him, will forgive you eternally (p179).

Make Jesus Your Soul’s Captain

But if we flip the field, college football will be a great teaching tool. In a very real way, we can use football to show the sufficiency and power of Christ. When our team gets blown out (…Air Force…), we can still have a great Saturday because Jesus is king. And when our team collects the umpteenth championship, we can be humble and happy, because we base our identity on Christ’s free gift of salvation. As we flip between games on Saturday afternoon, let’s show our kids that every Saturday is a good day because we get to worship on Sunday. By teaching our kids that games are just that – games, we can point them to things above where Christ is!

Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Jer 9:24b

Get Back Up

If you are like me, you probably have had at least one sin fueled identity crisis during the college football season. A little ways back, I dug my way under a friend’s skin by chanting, “Cry, Tebow Cry” after the former quarterback got slammed hard to the turf. A few seconds later, I heard my Gator buddy say, “You need to leave my apartment, NOW!” Ultimately our issue was not a battle between the SEC and the Big 12. Our issue was a sin issue. I had missed the whole “love your neighbor as yourself and let you speech always be with grace (Matt. 22:36-40; Col 4:6)” We need to be gracious and loving even during sports. Eventually, I had to repent of being rude and unkind with my words. When we sin during college football, let’s be quick to repent and return to our Jesus identity.

Its Ok Leave The Team

Lastly, we can’t forget that sin is always displeasing to God. Boasting about Notre Dame until it’s our identity is never excusable in God’s eyes. And if we can’t watch football without sinning against God and hurting our friends, let’s embrace the Frozen mantra and “Let it go!” It’s better to cut out an eye and miss a little football than for us and our kids to suffer from the deadly effects of sin (Matt 5:29).

Closing Thoughts

I truly think college football is fantastically entertaining! And I have me some swag: t-shirts, mini football helmets, and banners. But it is just a sport, nothing more. Jesus is so much better. Will we embrace the Jesus identity this football season? Our kids are watching. More importantly God is watching!