I found the narrative to be very close to the narrative in Scripture, with some obvious artistic licence. At the same time, it seems to me like it was purposely crafted to appeal to as many different faith groups as possible. It does mention the fall of Adam and Eve and the results of sin. It talks a lot about faith in general and our need for Jesus to save us. Those are powerful truths from Scripture.

One of the most emotional moments is towards the end when the movie changes perspective from Charles Dickens and his son, and shifts to the perspective of all those whom Jesus healed or rescued. You see Jesus through the eyes of those individuals as he reaches out to heal them. It is extremely moving as it reminds us that Jesus didn’t just come for a nebulous mass of people, He came to rescue YOU.

Theologically, I did find a few things to be missing. One of the biggest theological ideas missing is the call that Jesus Himself gives in Scripture to “repent and believe in the gospel.” The movie does talk about belief or faith, but there is no clear call to repent of sin, or at the very least, I missed it. Sin and the truth that sin makes God sad are mentioned. The movie also states that Jesus came to pay for our sin, but that’s pretty much where it stops. As Christian parents, don’t let your gospel witness to your children stop there. All of us are called to repent/turn from our sin and put our faith in Jesus.

I don’t feel it is my place to tell you to go see any specific movie with your family, but if you do go see it, I think it is helpful to keep some of these ideas in mind as you talk to your children about what you see. At the end of the day, God has commanded parents to teach His commands to their children “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” If The King of Kings movie is part of the way you walk, then use it to point your children to Jesus as He is clearly taught in Scripture.

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“In matters of doctrine, you will find orthodox congregations frequently change to heterodoxy in the course of thirty or forty years, and that is because too often there has been no catechizing of the children in the essential doctrines of the Gospel.”

– C.H. Spurgeon

Right away, teaching theology to anyone sounds like a big task, let alone teaching theology to kids. That can be a scary undertaking. After all, there is so much at stake. Parents and teachers, don’t be afraid. As we see in C.H. Spurgeon’s quote above there is too much at stake NOT to teach theology to kids. It only takes one generation for a church to leave orthodoxy. That’s why we must be teaching theology to kids.

One way that we have strategically programed the teaching of theology to kids is through Elementary Children’s Church on Sunday mornings and Preschool Kids4Truth on Sunday evenings. During these times we use a curriculum called Kids4Truth. This curriculum systematically walks children through 12 major theological doctrines over the course of a year. Each year we cover all 12 themes, and the following year we cover the same themes but with different lessons. The lessons take 2-3 years to cycle through everything. Below is the basic layout we use.

How have you as a family strategically programed the teaching of theology to kids? It’s easy to think of that as the church’s job, but our job as a church is to come alongside and partner with parents in this task. That means that you need to be doing this at home. So how do you do that? Not everyone has a degree in theology, but every parent is called to teach their children about God. That is the very essence of theology. 

Al Mohler gives this glowing review “Few tasks are of greater importance than the discipling of children. Christian parents, and Sunday School teachers, committed to biblical fidelity, cannot neglect the tremendous task of teaching children the great truths of Scripture. Marty Machowski’s The Ology: Ancient Truths Ever New is a wonderful new book that will equip parents for the task of discipleship and also help children immerse themselves in the Christian worldview.”

Let’s continue to use tools like Kids4Truth and The Ology to show our children how great and good our God truly is.

“Dad, there’s no hope!” I’ve heard those words come from the backseat a few times this school year as I drive my 8-year-old to school. We’ve been listening to the Green Ember Series by S.D Smith on Hoopla for the last several months on our daily trips to and from school. The Green Ember is an adventure series for kids that focuses on the epic adventures of two young rabbits, Heather, and her brother, Picket. It’s full of ups and downs and great life lessons from a Christian worldview, but at times it’s left my son wondering if there is any hope. 

These moments have provided opportunities to talk about hope and courage with him. I encourage him to be brave and trust that I wouldn’t pick a hopeless story. I love him too much to leave him without hope. I also remind him that I know the end of the story, and it is good. Evil loses, good wins, and the world is mended!

Teaching my son to trust me is important, but I am ultimately incapable of guarding my son’s heart against hopelessness. Our world is full of seemingly hopeless situations. Danger and troubles surround us every day, just like the enemies surrounding King David in the Psalms. While our troubles are not in the form of a jealous king trying to kill us, they are still real troubles. That’s the nature of the fallen world in which we live. 

As parents, we do our best to shield our children from danger and troubles as much as possible, but we cannot win that battle forever. Your child will face danger and trouble and feel hopeless at some point. We will not always be with our children; they cannot find life-giving hope in us. 

What do we do then? How can we teach our children to have hope? Point them to a hope that never dies, a hope that will be with them at all times and in all places. Point them to hope in the one who defeated our ultimate enemies, sin and death. Point them to Christ! 

The Apostle Paul does precisely that in his letter to followers of Christ in Ephesus. Paul prays that believers will grow in understanding “the hope to which he has called you.” He reminds them that, at one time, they had no hope because they were “without God in the world.” Paul then explodes into a Christ-exalting refrain “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” That is life-giving hope! That is a hope worth teaching to your children. 

“I know how the story ends. We will be with you again!” 
                           – “You’ve Already Won” by Shane & Shane