Why allowing children to eavesdrop is a good thing

When it comes to teaching our children about God we might think about more formal methods of teaching like Sunday school or youth groups. But I’ve been surprised just how much my daughter has picked up simply from listening to my conversations with other Christian parents.

Through my relationships with other Christian parents, she’s learnt in a relaxed way in the home environment where she’s free to come and go, to play with other children or pets, without the need to sit still or pay attention. As a believer living in Italy, going to the nearest evangelical church is a over a half day round trip, so I don’t attend weekly, and my daughter rarely comes.

One thing that’s helped me in my faith is meeting regularly with other Christians, for coffee, lunch or a chat. It’s been an added bonus to find friends with children my daughter’s own age. I’ve also found that it’s in these relaxed meetings with other Christian families that the conversation can flow in an informal way that facilitates learning.

These gatherings are not about having a formal conversation, or serious ‘faith-talk.’ What I’ve found works best, is just to meet up with other Christian friends, and let the conversation guide itself. If we put God at the centre of our life and connect with other families doing the same it would be impossible for him not to be part of the conversation!

Perhaps a friend is talking about a personal challenge, and there’s a scripture that springs to mind to share with them, or maybe we are talking about our thoughts on the theory of evolution, and what the Bible says about how the world was created.

What is wonderful about this ‘listening in’ approach, is it respects a child’s free will. Sometimes children’s experience of Sunday school may be that it resembles school, and that there isn’t much choice or individualised attention involved. When we think of how Jesus invited people to follow him, it was always a choice.