Lessons Learned from a Four-year-old Atheist

“I don’t believe in God. My mommy told me I could decide for myself when I got older”.

I sat speechless in front of a semicircle of twelve criss-cross-applesauced four-year-olds. In an instant, the sharp prick of a little girl’s words spewed my bubble’s shimmering globe in a thousand directions. Teaching preschoolers about God was something I had done for years. Up until that moment, my greatest challenge was to help them realize “Jesus” was not the answer to every question I would ask. But this wasn’t one of my weekly gatherings of Sunday school children. It was a preschool program that included children from every environment, every faith. For most of the children in front of me, Bible story time was a part of their everyday world. But not Meredith’s.

Meredith was a spunky four-year-old. I still remember the dark curls that framed her round face. She was “that” child… The one you could be pretty certain would grow to be the CEO of her own company one day. She spoke with all the authority a four-year-old could muster. If Meredith said the tower should be constructed of only green blocks, the children scrambled to find enough green blocks to complete the project.  

Meredith was creative, fun, and inquisitive. She was interested in everything I brought to our circle time discussions. Until the day I opened the Bible for our first Bible story time. She came armed with permission from her parents to turn her ears away. She could decide about the existence of God when she got older. Apparently, Meredith felt she needed no more than the four years she had already spent on the earth to make that decision. There was no God.

This was not a defiant episode that required Meredith to sit in time out until she saw the error of her ways. She simply spoke her truth and then allowed me to speak mine. My Bible remained open as I reminded the class of God's wonderful creation and love for us all. The other children didn’t seem to be bothered by Meredith’s refusal to join the flock. While she maintained a certain amount of power when choosing the color of blocks for their towers, “Jesus” continued to be the most popular answer to questions arising from our group time discussions.

Even though the children were unaffected by Meredith's words, I was not.

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 “I don’t believe in God. My mommy told me I could decide for myself when I got older”

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This simple statement from a new little person challenged me to dig deeper into the roots of my faith than the greatest of theologians ever had. For a moment, I felt I needed to slip into Meredith’s mom’s shoes. Oddly enough, the rub wasn't as painful as I'd expected. I could see where she was coming from. Are we, who teach children about God, taking advantage of them in their early years? Should we wait until they are older and leave these important decisions for them to make on their own?

It was clear that Meredith's parents taught her lots of important things. She knew about germs that could make her sick if she didn't wash her hands. She knew to beware of strangers who might have bad purposes for offering her good things. Meredith could name stars and planets her eyes couldn't see, and even though she had never been to the Amazon, she could describe beautiful animals that lived in its rainforest.

Meredith's mom understood what research confirms. Information given to young children is quickly absorbed and retained. It's good to take advantage of these formative years to supply important information that will help our children grow to be healthy, well-educated, and successful adults. No one argues that immersing children in a foreign language while they are young is a good idea. We applaud parents who expose young children to music, art, and literature during their early years. Should we use every opportunity to teach children about God while they are young? Only if God is real.

If we as parents, grandparents, and teachers find ourselves getting comfortable in Meredith's mother's shoes, we need to examine our own hearts. Do we have faith in our Creator God who loved us so much that He sent His Son to take punishment for the sins of those who trust in Him? When we embrace this as truth, teaching our children about an all-powerful, all-loving, all-merciful God outshines our passion for supplying them with information that paves the way for earthly success.

A child's remarkable ability to learn and retain important information during his early years is not just a useful discovery by man. It was God's intentional design.

And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

Jesus told His disciples to be worthy of a place of honor in heaven, they needed to have the humility of a child. But there is more than a lesson of humility in Jesus' words. Jesus said the gates of the kingdom are only open to those who are like little children. It is our faith in Jesus that brings us into His kingdom, not our humility. Adults who miss embracing His truth as children must go back and regain their tender, childlike faith. It is easier to teach children while they are children than to require them to go back and become like children again.

Children were designed to be carriers of God's truth. When we teach our children the truths of God's Word, we aren't abusing their ability to learn. We're being obedient to God who created them to know and enjoy Him forever. Few years pass before the tender hearts of children become hearts of stone. God can, and does, replace stone-cold hearts of adults with new hearts. However, it seems He designed the family to be His "Plan A". God has given parents, grandparents, teachers, and ministry leaders the joy and privilege of joining Him in His work. I've heard it said that as we teach children the truths of God's love and grace, we are providing kindling. It is the Holy Spirit who ignites the fire.

I think of Meredith often. Thirty years have passed since that circle time experience. She is most likely married now, with children of her own. I wonder. Does Meredith's joy rely on the number of figures lined up on her paycheck? Does her knowledge of the periodic table bring comfort when unfavorable lab reports cause her to fear the worst? When the beauty of a blazing sunset stops them in their tracks, does Meredith tell her children to wait until they are older to decide whether or not it was God who put it there?

I pray for Meredith. I pray God replaced her heart of stone with a heart of flesh. I pray among all the lessons she teaches her children, she understands teaching them His truth is the most valuable.

I'm thankful for the lessons that I learned from my meditations on Meredith. God wants His children to know Him. For as long as I have breath, I'll continue on this mission to teach them while their hearts are tender.

My prayers are with you as you commit yourself to a new year of pointing children to Christ. May God bless you as you teach your children, your grandchildren, the children in your classrooms, and all the little Merediths God puts into your pathway!

Psalm 78:4  We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.