Mecklenburg Community Church

Every parent has been asked a question about faith or God. "Who made God?" "Why do bad things happen to good people?" "How do I hear God's voice?" And sometimes it stumps you. What if you don't know the answer? What do you do?

Four Tips When Faced With Tough Questions From Your Kids

First, relax!

A huge study about how parents successfully hand down faith to their children discovered that what you say matters LESS than how you say it. (Handing Down the Faith: How Parent Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk)

In other words, you don't need the perfect answer! When a kid asks a tough question about God, they don't want a deep, theological, perfectly thought out and reasoned answer. They want to know two emotionally based things:

Will you take my question seriously?
Am I the only person who has thought about this?

Second, praise them for asking!

Kids asking questions about faith, Jesus, the Bible and/or God is AMAZING! God wants them to think deeply about their faith. Use phrases like:

"That is a FANTASTIC question!"
"Wow! That's a big question! You are very smart for asking that!"
"I am so proud of you for thinking so deeply!"

Third, admit when you don't know the answer.

Kids crave authenticity. If they ask a question that you have no idea how to answer, tell them! Don't make something up. Instead promise to find an answer to their question. This does three things:

It protects your credibility. If you lie, and they discover the truth, that will raise doubts about other things you told them about faith.
It models true faith. We will never have all the answers to all the questions. Show by example that you believe even though you don't know everything about God that there is to know.
It shows you take their faith seriously. When you promise to find the answer, you show that their question matters and therefore their faith matters.

Finally, ask for help when you need it.

DId you know that you can submit any question about faith that your child asks and a pastor from MecKidz will send you an answer? Take us up on it! Here is the link.

More Resources for Parents

This digital booklet answering top questions kids ask about faith.
The book “If I Could Ask God Anything” from the Grounds Bookstore and Café. (A great book for kids!)
This video of Pastor Jonathan answering Evelyn's question, "How do you hear God's voice?"

We hope these tips and resources will not only help you but also help your child the next time they ask you tough questions about faith!