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Parenting Resources for COVID-19

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Midtown parents, how do you lead your family when things are changing so rapidly that the announcements that came out yesterday from the White House or Centers for Disease Control are obsolete today? We all know that children thrive on structure, but how do you give that to them when it feels like chaos all around you?

We’ve pulled together resources that we think are helpful, along with a summary of each. They range from the exclusively spiritual to emotional to practical. As usual, stay in touch with your LifeGroup and let us know if you have any needs by submitting them here. As well, consider single people in your life who may count it a blessing to come help you out!

With all resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful truth and prayerfully apply it in a way that is most fruitful for you.

Overall Tips

  • Maintain as much of a normal routine as possible

  • Limit how much you and your children look at the news and social media

  • Your kids will mirror how you react

  • Refocus the attention on God’s power and love

  • Pray with your kids

  • Encourage them to talk to you about their worries and fears

Christian Resources

  • How to Talk to Children About the Coronavirus, The Gospel Coalition

    • Three questions to ask kids:

      • 1. Why do Christians not have to fear death? 

      • 2. Why should Christians still be safe, responsible, and wise about the Coronavirus? 

      • 3. Why can Christians live in this dangerous world without fear? 

    • The author walks through the answers to these questions and finishes the article with this:

“Whether through the closing of their school or information they’ve heard in the media, your child will learn of the coronavirus’s dangers. Proactively point them to the Lord’s good and gracious character, along with the gospel’s sweet and sure promises, and you will comfort them amid this present crisis. And it can prepare them for life’s afflictions down the road.”

  • Talking with Kids About the CoronaVirus, Focus on the Family

    • Keep calm and communicate

    • Provide reassurance

    • Stick to the facts (e.g. Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health)

    • Use this time for family fun

    • God is still in control

  1. Get the facts

  2. Validate your child’s fears

  3. Limit media coverage

  4. Discuss disruptions

  5. Maintain perspective

  1. Create a schedule...but hang on to it loosely

  2. Set up your classroom

  3. Use your kids’ currency (referring to consequences/rewards)

  4. Be aware of your kids’ learning style

  5. Don’t be afraid to fail

  6. Be there for your kids

  • Parenting Well in the Midst of a Pandemic, Crossroads Church, Cincinnati, OH

    • Take a deep breath

    • Their concerns are real

    • Be a detective

    • Talk with them about specifics as they’re ready

    • Be developmentally appropriate

    • Turn off the news

    • Hold onto routines as much as possible

    • Don’t play the blame game

    • Fill their minds with God’s truth

    • Share with friends in need

    • Be Jesus to your friends, neighbors, and family

  • How to Support Kids With Anxiety During the Coronavirus, Key Ministry

    • Model the response you would desire from your child

    • Consider involving your kids in your family’s preparations and response to the virus

    • Monitor exposure to attention-grabbing stories in the media

    • Plan ahead by identifying lots of books and activities that can occupy an anxious child’s mind

    • Use videoconferencing technology to connect with relatives and friends

    • Have a 90-day supply of prescription medication on hand

    • Model faith in action

Additional Resources

  • Talking to Children about COVID-19: A Parent Resource, National Association of School Psychologists

    • Model good health practices to them

    • Assure them that adults are working hard to make sure that everyone is safe

    • Maintain a normal routine as much as possible

    • Monitor television and social media use

    • Know that your children might be in need of extra care and attention at this time

Activity Resources

35 Activity Ideas for Kids Stuck at Home, Pop Sugar

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Shepherding Your Family Through COVID-19

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Dear Midtown Parents, 

As you know, our vision for Kidtown is to partner with and equip parents as the primary disciplers of their kids. Now, as we find ourselves unable to gather on Sundays and with our LifeGroups, the importance of you discipling your children is more apparent than ever. 

For families who already have built-in rhythms of discipling your kids, great! Keep doing what you’re doing and tweak your rhythms as you need to. We hope the resources included are helpful as you navigate this time.

For those who don’t have healthy discipleship rhythms built yet, the present situation is actually a great opportunity to begin. All of your normal rhythms are being restructured. While this chaos can lead us to feel frozen and not want to do anything extra, the truth is it’s a perfect time to add in new rhythms while everything feels new to your kids anyway. 

What we aren’t asking you to do:

  • … magically transform into a seminary professor

  • … have answers to all the questions your kids might ask

  • … suddenly have kids who want to focus and pay attention for a 3-hour inductive Bible study

What we are asking you to do:

  1.  Maintain your own spiritual health - Spend time abiding in God’s Word and in prayer. Use the Lent Guide. Fight to stay connected with your LifeGroup in every way you can. Your spiritual health is vital as you shepherd your family.

  2. Spend time together with your kids in God’s Word and in prayer - This should have some formal weekly and/or daily rhythms as well as some informal, “as you go about your day” rhythms.

  • You can listen to Pastor Jon Ludovina teaching on all of this during the main session of Milestones Weekend 2019. (That link will take you to 21:22 when he teaches on Deuteronomy 6 and family discipleship rhythms specifically.)

RESOURCING YOU TO SHEPHERD YOUR FAMILY:

Weekly Family Worship:

We will be putting out weekly Family Worship Guides for you to be able to host a version of Kidtown at home for your family. These will follow what your children would be learning in Kidtown normally on Sundays and can be found on the weekly teaching page for adults. There will be versions available for Toddlers/Preschoolers and for Elementary-aged children. 

Daily Family Devotions:

If you don’t have something you’re doing already, try these simple daily family devotions based on the Lent Guide. (get the e-version of the Lent Guide here)

Morning:

In the morning, read a kid-friendly version of the Scripture reading (try the International Children’s Bible). Ask your children if anything stood out to them, share something that stood out to you, and then pray together, thanking God for what He showed you and asking Him to help you apply it today.

Evening:

In the evening, walk through the Evening Prayer prompts together. This is a great opportunity for you to share first and then allow each child to share.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Parenting Resources for Covid-19

Midtown’s Parenting Resources page

Music for Family Worship

Books for Family Worship

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Early Christians and the Plague

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If you take a quick scroll through Twitter or turn on the news for all of two minutes during this time, you might hear something like the phrase, “This is an unprecedented time in human history.” And in many ways what’s going on right now in our city, our country, and our world, does feel that way. None of us have faced a global pandemic like this in our lifetime. The effects on our work, our kids’ schools, our livelihood, the economy, our healthcare, and so on and so forth feels like unchartered territory. For us here and now this is unprecedented, but in the grand scheme of the history of the world, we are not the first Christians to face a global pandemic like this one.In 165 AD, a plague known as the Antonine Plague, spread from the Huns, to the Germans, and then throughout the Roman Empire, killing a quarter to one-third of the population. A little less than a century later, in 250 AD, the Cyprian Plague hit Rome, and it was believed that at its peak, almost 5,000 people a day were dying from the disease.

During these and many other times throughout human history, the Church was faced with a decision that we as Christians face every day - How do we love God and love our neighbor in the place, time, and circumstance where we find ourselves?

During the Antonine Plague, Christians stepped in to serve those in need at great risk to themselves. When the Cyprian Plague hit Rome most of the population fled in an effort to distance themselves from the disease in self-preservation, Christians stepped out in faith to care for those in distress.

Instead of fear and despondency, the earliest Christians would stay and tend to the sick and dying, knowing full well that it would likely result in their own deaths. They showed works of unreasonable, sacrificial mercy that simply dumbfounded the pagans. In Rome, the Christians buried not just their own, but pagans who had died without funds for a proper burial. They also supplied food for thousands of people on a daily basis.

During the Plague in Alexandria in the 1300s, when nearly everyone else fled the city to escape the disease, the early Christians risked their lives for one another by simple deeds of washing the sick, offering water and food, and consoling the dying. At the risk of their own lives, they saved an immense number of lives. Their even basic amounts of nursing and care greatly reduced mortality. Simple provisions of food and water allowed the sick that were temporarily too weak to cope for themselves to recover instead of dying miserably.

So basically everyone who could was running from the plague. Except for one group. Instead of running from the plague, they ran to it: the Christians who were moved by death defying compassion. 

Bishop and historian of the early church, Eusebius, recorded that during the plague, “All day long some of them [the Christians] tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them. Others gathered together from all parts of the city, a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all.”

But what encouragement does that give us as the people of God in a time where we are told what might be most loving is actually staying away? Where being most helpful is actually to not step towards those who are sick?

Theologian Martin Luther provides some insight here. When the Bubonic Plague came back to Germany in 1527, Luther’s hometown of Wittenberg was greatly affected. In response, he wrote a letter to his friend and fellow pastor Dr. John Hess. In the letter, entitled “Whether One Should Flee From A Deadly Plague”, Luther writes:

I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance inflict and pollute others and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me however I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely as stated above. See this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.

What was happening in 165 AD, 250 AD, the 1300s and in 1527 was that people were fleeing from one another, not because that was most loving, but because they desired self-protection and self-preservation. They weren’t social distancing out of love and sacrifice, they were doing so out of fear and selfishness. 

Luther’s encouragement to us as Christians is to consider, as the early church did, what is the most loving response? We learn in these moments to move towards those in need, not away from them. Even if we socially distance, we still consider how to love and care for those in the pandemic of our day, as we learn from the example of Christ-followers who have come before us.

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History of the House Church

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From Acts 2 and onward, the early church was seen as a people who follow Jesus together through regularly gathering to read Scripture, pray, sing, and share meals. Due to intense persecution in the first few hundred years, the church would often worship in homes and risking their lives to be the hands and feet of Jesus to one another and to their city. 

It was out of these circumstances that the house church movement was born.

In fact, it was this subversive way of living that drew so many people into the family of God. Where the Roman government drew up divisions between race, social class, and gender, the early church opened up their doors and called each other family. When the government preyed on the marginalized and vulnerable, the church gave them a literal house and home. Within a couple of hundred years, followers of “the Way” went from a small, fledgling movement to the dominant religion of the West. [1]

Jump ahead a couple of thousand years, and for many Americans living in the 21st century, we’ve been blessed with religious freedom and the physical means to gather in larger spaces.  This is something that is easily taken for granted but is a rare phenomenon both historically and globally in Christendom. [2]

For most of the global church, house churches are still the norm either due to a lack of physical space and/or due to religious persecution - (it’s worth noting the global church experiences more religious persecution now more than ever. [3]) It’s also no coincidence that many of these modern house churches modeling themselves after Acts 2 are quickly becoming the next great epicenters of Christianity.

So, while this pandemic feels like an interruption for many, we see this as an opportunity to be the church all the more. By worshipping from home for a season, we step into an ancient practice brought down by our spiritual ancestors and we stand in solidarity with the global church.

 [1] From a sociological perspective, see Rodney Stark’s The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries

 [2] For a visual breakdown of the global church, see “The World as 100 Christians” https://www.gordonconwell.edu/blog/100christians/

[3] In just the last year there have been “over 260 million Christians living in places where they experience high levels of persecution, 2,983 Christians killed for their faith, 9,488 churches and other Christian buildings attacked, 3,711 believers detained without trial, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned” https://www.opendoorsusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/2020_World_Watch_List.pdf

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Missional Life in the Time of the Coronavirus

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With the new guidelines of no gatherings of more than ten people until the end of the month, the question we’re all wondering is, “What now?”

From your church’s leadership, we will continue to provide the most up-to-date information regarding what this means for you, your LifeGroup, and our church through our social media (DT, LX, 2N) and newsletters (DT, LX, 2N). We will also be working to provide helpful resources to continue equipping you to think through this pandemic in a biblical worldview.

We also know that in light of COVID-19, our aim to be a Jesus-centered family on mission has not wavered. It certainly looks different than it did a week ago, and things may change again at any moment, but let’s see this as a time to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this season.

So, while we adhere to the White House’s recommendations and keep in line with the most recent CDC guidelines, let’s seek out ways we might still be on mission in our city. [1]

Below are some ideas, some of which are pulled from a recent article by Ed Stetzer in Christianity Today. Also, feel free to email us other ways you’ve been able to be on mission and we will add on to the list.

  • Providing childcare for healthcare workers whose kids are out of school

  • Preparing meals for children and families in need

  • Walking a dog for elderly neighbors

  • Offering to pick up food and supplies for those most at risk

  • Regularly calling and texting those in your neighborhood to check in

  • Offering biblical encouragement for those dealing with anxiety and depression

  • Support local businesses through ordering out as you are able

  • With LifeGroup Leader’s approval, inviting someone local you’re building with into your weekly virtual LifeGroup time 

  • When you have to go shopping, inquire with workers as to how they are and tell them you will be praying for their safety

 [1] For a brief history on the historical church’s response during pandemics, see “The Early Church and the Plague”

Developing a Rule of Life

Download/Copy Rule of Life template - (Google Drive | PDF)

Rule of Life is a helpful guide for followers of Jesus to help get their lives and schedules revolving around the teachings and practices of Jesus. The word rule in Latin can also be translated rhythm; in Greek, the word rule is the same word for trellis. And like a trellis, a rule of life creates a framework to build spiritual practices and creates rhythms for you to grow.

Note, these are not “rules for life,” with an emphasis on “if I don’t do this Jesus will love me less.” Rather, a rule of life is grounded in the reality that you are already loved and accepted by the God of the universe, and this tool simply creates a framework to build those spiritual practices into your life so you can experience His love in your life all the more.

While this tool slightly varies from tradition to tradition, developing a rule of life typically includes three main things to anchor your day:

  • Abiding: how you will spend time with Jesus (Bible reading, prayer, confession, singing)

  • Resting: how you will rest (sleep, Sabbath, exercise)

  • Community: how you will spend time with others (family, LifeGroup, missional friendships)

It’s also important to note that a rule of life is meant to work for you, with lots of flexibility to accommodate your season of life. So for example, if you’re single and live alone, your rule of life will look different than a young parent with multiple children, or an empty nester. Likewise, if you’re wired to think more big picture, this will reflect itself in your rule of life. If you’re more detail-oriented, it will be more helpful for you to get very practical as you write your rule of life, like creating S.M.A.R.T. goals for each practice (small, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely).

A final word on rule of life, try not to introduce too many new practices at once. Instead, create small “wins” that are attainable, to create both momentum and sustainability in your spiritual formation. After writing your rule of life, consult with others to get feedback. After a season of working through your rule of life (1-3 months), look back at it and adjust accordingly. Do you need to do more or less? Do you need to get more specific or more big picture?


Below are categories and a template to help you get started. (For help on getting started with spiritual disciplines, check out FollowingJesusTogether.com)

Download/Copy Rule of Life template - (Google Drive | PDF)

Abiding - How can I connect with Jesus?

  • Bible

  • Prayer

  • Confession and Repentance

  • Sabbath

  • Retreat

Rest - How can I detach from busyness and distraction?

  • Phone usage, social media

  • Screen time

  • Fasting

  • Silence 

  • Sabbath

Community and Relationship - How can I connect with others?

  • LifeGroup - LG night, rhythms

  • Marriage - calendar/budget/relationship sync ups, intimacy

  • Children

Generosity - How am I managing my money and giving it away?

  • Budget

  • Giving

Mission - How am I building with others? (To simplify, you can include this in Community - whatever works for you.)

  • Serving

  • Praying

  • Hospitality

Health - How can I operate in a physically sustainable way? (To simplify, you can include this in Rest - whatever works for you.)

  • Sleep

  • Exercise

  • Diet

Milestones Resources | Marriage Books & Resources

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In the midst of the chaos of parenting, many married couples forget to fight to stay connected and growing in all types of intimacy. The following marriage books and resources are helpful tools to recapture God’s vision for your marriage and stay connected while you disciple your kids. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful truth about marriage and prayerfully apply it to your marriage in a way that is most fruitful for you.

Recommended Reading:

Meaning of Marriage 
By: Tim and Kathy Keller

When Sinners Say I Do 
By: Dave Harvey

A Marriage You’d Actually Want (Sermon series)
By: Midtown Fellowship

Christ-Centered Relationships (Sermon series)
By: Francis and Lisa Chan

This Momentary Marriage 
By: John Piper

What Did You Expect? 
By: Paul Tripp

$10 Great Dates 
By: Larson and Arp

Milestones Resources | Music for Family Worship

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Music may be the single greatest tool in all of creation that helps kids memorize words, concepts, and ideas. One-and-a-half-year-olds can memorize every single lyric of “Let it Go” from Frozen. While memorization without discussion and application can backfire, using music to help God’s Word soak deep into your child’s heart can lead to very fruitful conversations and discussions later on. 

With all resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Most of these songs and albums are chock-full of Scripture, but as always sing the ones that are most beneficial and enjoyed by your family.

Recommended Resources:

Milestones Resources | Books for Family Devotions

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Along with developmentally helpful Bible translations and story-books, many families find devotionals to be a helpful resource to help them study God’s Word and discuss together. These are especially helpful as your child begins to read and grasp more complex ideas about God. As well, many of these devotionals can be helpful as your child learns personal habits and rhythms of spending time with God on their own. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful observations and truth and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that is most beneficial for your family.

Recommended Reading:

Milestones Resources | Bibles for Different Stages

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Nothing is more important for stacking gospel kindling around a child’s heart than helping your child learn God’s Word. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul rejoices in the fact that Timothy has been familiar with the Bible from his infancy. And he says the reason why is that these “... sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Each of these translations and/or books based on narratives from the Bible help put the sacred writings in bite-sized chunks that kids at different stages can learn.

Baby and Preschool Stage

Preschool and Elementary Stage

Milestones Resources | Resources for Cultural Issues

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Teaching your child how to walk in the midst of our cultural moment is one of the most difficult tasks that parents face. The American narrative for reaching the good life is very different than Jesus’ narrative for abundant life. The type of person our culture is shaping us to be is very different than the type of person Jesus wants to shape us to be. The following books and resources are helpful in studying, thinking about and discussing cultural issues with your kids. 

With all book and resource recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful observations and truth and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that is most beneficial for your family.

Broad Cultural Issues:

Technology:

Diversity:

Sexuality:

Manhood/Womanhood:

Milestones Resources | Parenting Books

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Parenting is a marathon, not a sprint. As we run the race marked out for us, there are all kinds of distractions and obstacles to staying focused on discipleship as the heart of parenting. For some of us, we’ve never seen healthy gospel-centered parenting modeled. For others of us we know the picture we’re aiming for but we find ourselves drifting over time. We’ve found all of these books to be helpful tools whether you’re building a solid foundation for the first time, or just need an encouraging refresher as you continue to run faithfully.

With all book recommendations, remember to keep your discernment meter up. Eat the meat and spit out the bones. Take the helpful Biblical principles and prayerfully apply them to your family in a way that works best for you.

Recommended Reading:

Does God condone slavery? 

The following is from Midtown Fellowship: Two Notch’s Q+A sermon on 2/23/2020.

Because we see slavery throughout the Scripture - Old Testament and New Testament, does God condone it? Does he accept it or allow it or even as some try to twist the Bible and make it say - does he even endorse it?

Let’s start with big fat “No.” Now let me explain….

Three thoughts swirling around in my head on this one. Hopefully, as I give these three individual thoughts it’ll all make sense as an answer to this question:

Thought 1: The Bible, over and over and over and over again, condemns oppression. 

If you want to see it, Ant has a whole document he’d love to share with you that has like 60 passages about how much God hates oppression and how we as His people should respond to it. Let me give you three.

Exodus 22:21-24

“You shall not wrong a sojourner or oppress him, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child. 23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry, 24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.

Deuteronomy 24:14

“You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns.

Proverbs 14:31

Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.

The Bible and God Himself clearly and overwhelmingly condemns the actions of those in power using their power in cruel ways against those who have less power than them.

Thought 2: Slavery in the modern world (400+ years) is very different from slavery in the time of the Bible.

Slavery in the Greco-Roman world, the time of the New Testament, in particular, was very different than slavery in the 18th and 19th centuries and today in some pretty key ways:

1. Terms of slavery

Ancient World:

Economic agreement - often to pay back a debt or to be taken care of

Not perpetual - didn’t transcend generations. Had set times where slaves would be set free.

Modern World:

Slaves were forced into slavery by capture and sale

The whole industry of the West African slave trade was built off of stealing people against their will and treating them as if they aren’t people made in the image of God. Which the Bible condemns explicitly in Exodus 21:16 - “Whoever steals a man and sells him, and anyone found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”

  • 2. Treatment of slaves


    Ancient World:

    The whole system of laws in place for much of ancient time (goes badly later on in the Roman empire) to protect slaves from harsh treatment

    Clear example - slaves often were given an education (V Diff from 18th and 19th century)

    Wasn’t essentially oppressive

    Modern World:

    No rights, protections, freedoms

    3. Racial and Ethnic Component

Ancient World:

Almost never racialized. Someone was not made a slave or justified as a slave because of certain racial features or traits or characteristics

Modern World:

A whole system built off of racial differences and prejudice

In fact, we have a clear example of slavery in the Bible that looked more like our modern-day slavery - Israelites in Egypt in the narrative of Exodus:

  • Passed down over 400 years

  • Oppressive and harsh treatment

  • The whole slavery system of oppression was because they were a different people than the Egyptians and the Egyptians wanted to keep them down

And what does God do? Steps in and says, “No, this is off. This is wrong.” And He frees them from captivity.

Thought 3: Be careful with what you say God condones because of narrative accounts.

You have to distinguish in narratives - in these historical accounts - between what God explicitly commands - do and do not’s in the broader scope of Scripture - and how he relates to His people and how His people relate to Him.

There are things in Scripture, particularly in narrative accounts - where God allows people to do a certain thing or act a certain way, even though it was not how he intentionally designed things to work. And much of those instances being included in Scripture is to show - “hey, this is bad and it doesn’t work.”

And so you can’t make an argument from silence. You can’t simply say, “Well God doesn’t step in and say - no more slaves! This is bad!” 

But you can see what He does say:

First, He does explicitly condemn oppression. 

Slavery in the modern world is an entire system built on oppression. In the Bible, God hates oppression.

Second, throughout Scripture you see God’s heart that men would be free:

At the end of Philemon, Paul tells Philemon to welcome Onesimus, his runaway slave back not as a slave but as a brother in Christ.

In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, God establishes a whole system that includes regular periods of time when slaves would be set free from their commitments and their debts.

In Galatians 3, we are reminded that in Christ, there is neither slave nor free → All are set free by the blood of Jesus.

So what you have to do with good study of Scripture is to say - “Ok, in the narrative accounts it seems like God doesn’t outright condemn or punish this, but it also seems like 99% of the time it goes really poorly or causes problems. Maybe this is to show a bad example of why this is against God’s design.” God’s heart is clearly shown in that he desires all men to be free.

What About Those Who Have Never Heard of Jesus?

The following is from Midtown Fellowship: Lexington’s Q+A sermon on 2/23/2020.

The general flow of thought with this question goes something like this. It looks at passages like Romans 10 which says:

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? . . . So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Rom. 10:13–15, 17)

The chain of logic in Paul’s mind seems pretty straightforward:

  1. The only way to be saved is to call on Christ’s name.

  2. The only way to call on Christ’s name is to believe the gospel.

  3. The only way to believe the gospel is to hear the gospel.

  4. The only way to hear the gospel is to be told the gospel.

So, the person is asking, “If this is true, what about people who, for one reason or another, never have the opportunity to hear it? Perhaps, due how and when and where they were born or died? Is this fair?”

Personally, I think this is a really, really good question… and really difficult one - not just because of the intellectual and theological issues it raises, but because of the emotion behind it. These are questions rooted in love and care for the disadvantaged and a desire for fairness and understanding. 

So, I think it’s wisest to respond to this in a couple of different ways. So let’s start here: 

Why do people go to hell - or why do people receive God’s judgment - in the first place?

Romans 1:18–23 [18] For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19] For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20] For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21] For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. [22] Claiming to be wise, they became fools, [23] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. (ESV)

No one receives God’s judgment because they haven’t had the chance to hear about Jesus. And that’s important. Humans receive God’s judgment because they reject God. They choose to define right and wrong for themselves - or in the language of the Bible, they choose to do what is right in their own eyes. They choose to treat things that aren’t God as though they were God - whether that be idols crafted to resemble created things like animals or other humans like in non-Western portions of the world - or just how we do it by devoting our lives to the little gods of money, or success, or comfort or kids. This is what the Bible would call sin. 

And the Bible is clear - we’ve got enough evidence to know God is God by what’s around us. You can go back and check out week 1 of this series where we made that case. So, no one is without excuse. 

At this point, I think it’s important for us to recognize some assumptions that lie at the base at how this question is sometimes asked - especially when it’s posed about a tribesman in a far off land. There is a latent assumption built into it that perhaps someone might be inherently good and have a God-ward disposition but simply be ignorant… and the question becomes, “Well, obviously this tribesman means well - he just didn’t know! Will God hold him accountable for his ignorance?

The problem is that assumption violates the reality of the human condition and fails to see sin as God sees sin. It posits that humanity is basically good… that sin is more akin to little foolish mistakes than an affront to a holy King. It’s a very white, Western way of thinking about humanity… that humans are merely the victims of their own context and would make the right decisions if they had access to the right education. 

But, the Bible and really all of human history tell us that it is fantasy. Like Romans 3 (quoting the Psalms says) There is no one who does good. There is none who seeks after God.” Would God condemn an innocent tribesman? Absolutely not… there simply are no innocent tribesmen. 

Now there are some who will argue that if the tribesman knows he is unrighteous and trusts in God’s mercy over his own righteousness for salvation - even though he has no specific knowledge of Jesus - like the tax collector in Luke 18 or certain individuals from the Old Testament - then God will save them based on their faith via the limited revelation they’ve been given.

There’s an argument to be made there… but the Bible presents a lot of problems with that view. The least of which is not Romans 10 which we read earlier and the account of Cornelius in Acts 10 - who was as devout as a guy who didn’t specifically know Jesus could be… and yet to save him the Spirit had to come to him in a dream and tell him to be on the lookout for someone to come tell him about Jesus… 

But that begs the question: 

What about babies and the mentally-handicapped?
And it gets a bit trickier because unlike the tribesman, this category of person can’t consciously suppress the truth about anything - they don’t possess that ability… so what does God do in these circumstances? 

Now, Christian opinion varies depending on who you talk to - and the truth is - we don’t entirely know because the Bible doesn’t explicitly talk about this like it does those who choose sin consciously… but I’ll give you what I think the Scriptures most clearly teach and where I personally land… 

I think we can most likely infer from the Scriptures that God imparts the saving grace of Jesus to children who die young and the mentally-handicapped apart from their ability to have conscious faith. Here’s why:

We have ample evidence in the Scriptures that the Spirit can and does touch children in the womb - we have examples of this like David and John the Baptist and even Jesus himself. And that Jesus even teaches that the kingdom belongs to children (Mark 10:14). Which was actually a pretty radical thing to say in this society that valued children far less than we do now.  

And I know this opens up a whole other can of worms that we won’t go into, but there is evidence that children from believing households are conceptually in a different “position” than those outside the fold. According to Ephesians 6:1, they have access to covenant promises and, in 1 Corinthians 7:14, that they are made holy by a believing parent. 

And then there is 2 Samuel 12:23 - when David’s son dies he says “I will go to him”. This certainly could mean “I too will die.” But in the next verse we read, “Then, David comforted his wife” (2 Sam. 12:24). I think it more likely that v. 23 was a comfort to David and Bathsheba because David knew he would see his child again in the next life. The juxtaposition of comfort makes less sense if David is simply assured he will join his son in the ground someday.

Lastly, the clear pattern of Scripture - over and over and over again - is that people are judged on the basis of sins committed voluntarily and consciously in the body (see 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Rev. 20:11–12). In other words, the pattern is that judgment is always based on a conscious rejection of divine revelation (whether in creation, conscience, or Christ) and willful disobedience. There is no explicit account in the Bible of judgment based on any other grounds. And simply, infants and the mentally disabled are not capable of either, so neither are they condemned. 

I think this is most reasonably what the Scriptures teach here. But, underneath all of this, we’re actually asking something else… 

Behind this question, we’re really asking: “Is God just? Can I actually trust that God will do the right thing?” 

And the answer to that is, “Yes.” Even if we can’t for certain know what happens to those who can’t hear the gospel, we can trust that God will do what is right. 

The cross is all the proof we need to discern this. Again, Romans tells us in Romans 3:26 - that the work of Jesus on the cross was to show God’s righteousness (or you could say his goodness and his trustworthiness to do the right thing) by being the “just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” 

Through Christ, God upholds his justice by giving sin what it deserves - condemnation - but also his goodness and compassion -  by extending grace to those who should be condemned. The cross tells us that ultimately there is no one more just and simultaneously more compassionate than God. No one who more stands up for what is right, and no one who more understands and cares about the plight of every single human more than God. And it tells that He is more than a God who knows these things… but is a God who has acted on them. 

So even if we don’t theoretically know for certain what may happen to those in question - we can trust Him. We can trust the wisdom of an unfathomably good and merciful God. 

And you may think that sounds like a cop-out, but it’s not. It’s the posture of humility. After all, it is not our place to subject the Creator to our finite and fallen notions of fairness - in fact, it could be argued that grace itself is not fair. But, our task is to take Him at His word and trust His heart. As Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “His ways are higher and different than ours.” Or Psalm 119:68, “He needs no counselor, for he is good and does good” because we know the cross is the summit of his wisdom and the intersection of His justice and love.

What to Expect From LifeGroup

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Life isn't meant to be done on our own, and LifeGroups are the main way we experience meaningful relationships with Jesus and one another - where we take what we learned on Sundays and put it into practice throughout the week.

WHAT IS A LIFEGROUP? A LifeGroup is more than a small group or a Bible study - it’s a group of people who desire to be a Jesus-centered family on mission. Our mission as a Jesus-centered family is to help everyone take the next steps toward Jesus. This means LifeGroups are always (1) inviting new people into their LifeGroup and (2) training up new leaders to launch new LifeGroups in our city.

WHO CAN BE IN A LIFEGROUP? LifeGroups are the best place to experience who Jesus is regardless of your age or religious background or lack thereof - there’s a place for everyone.

WHAT DO LIFEGROUPS DO? LifeGroups start with four regularly scheduled times with the aim of doing ordinary life together.

The four scheduled times for LifeGroups are:

1. GROUP TIMES: LifeGroups meet at someone’s home for about two hours each week with the goal of helping one another take the next steps toward Jesus. Group Time consists of four elements below (or watch this video):

  • Catch-Up on Life: Talking about our week and how we’ve seen Jesus at work through it

  • Sermon Discussion: Studying the Bible and applying it together

  • Review the Mission: Asking who we are trying to invite into our LG, creating a plan to invite them in, and praying for our efforts

  • Engage the Heart: Confessing sin and praying for one another

2. RHYTHMS: LifeGroups pick a place to spend time together in the city to hang out (i.e. park, restaurant, bar, etc). This gives LifeGroups the opportunity to build relationships with one another and invite non-Christians into a non-threatening environment.

3. GATHERINGS: Sunday Gatherings are more than an event or a service, it’s an opportunity to experience Jesus, connect with others, and be challenged to live on mission throughout the week.

4. MISSION: LifeGroups are sent out on mission by picking a neighborhood to reach and a Serve the City organization to partner with.

To get involved in a LifeGroup, sign up below:

Sign up for a Downtown LifeGroup | Sign up for a Lexington LifeGroup | Sign up for a Two Notch LifeGroup