How do we answer children's questions about the Trinity?
God, the Three in One...
My Search for the Perfect Object Lesson
Where did I go wrong? I thought my plan for the children's mid-March club time was perfect. St. Patrick's Day offered a unique opportunity to teach the children the importance of missions and the impact our testimony can have on the world. I planned games that combined thoughts of Ireland with prayers for the lost... Pass the potato to Irish jig music. Pray for someone who doesn't know Jesus if you're holding the potato when the music stops. Green grapes, green apple slices, and perhaps a sprinkle of potato sticks on green plates for snacks. And then we would circle back up for an awesome object lesson that would help children understand the mystery of the Trinity.
And that, my friends, was where I went wrong.
The object? You guessed it... That beautiful pot of bright green shamrocks that called out to me every time I pushed my buggy through the floral aisle at Publix. The children seemed to admire it as much as I did while gathering around for a closer look. They listened intently as I told the story of how some think Patrick used the shamrock to explain the Trinity to the people who didn't know God. I pointed to its three heart-shaped portions and explained that we can understand the Trinity better by labeling each with one name of the Godhead. Just like the shamrock leaf is made of three parts, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all parts of one God.
I don't know how many times I used that lesson plan before doing extra research on the subject. I don't even remember what caused me to search for more information. I do remember the sinking feeling I had when I realized my teaching had strayed from my firm commitment to use only solid blocks when contributing to the children's spiritual foundations. Some of my most admired spiritual leaders cautioned against using analogies that could lead to erroneous conclusions when explaining the Trinity. On top of the list... the shamrock. Ugh.
It wasn't easy for me to let go of something I believed to be such an effective teaching tool for so many years. But the more I studied, the more I understood.
The three leaves that come together on the shamrock are three separate parts. The unity of those three parts makes up the shamrock. If we were to pluck one section from the shamrock, we wouldn't call that portion a shamrock. It's simply a part of the shamrock. The Father is not a part of God. The Son is not a part of God. Neither is the Holy Spirit simply one of God's parts. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are each fully God. God is one in essence, three in persons.
The more I studied, the more my tower of Trinity lessons began to crumble.
Headache alert. Feel free to take a break and down a couple of Tylenol before reading further. I've summarized the shortcomings of other popular analogies below.
How about the Triangle?
The triangle analogy presents the same problems as the shamrock. Each of the three sides that make up the triangle is simply a part of the triangle. One side of the triangle is not a triangle.
God is not made up of parts.
The Father is fully God. The Spirit is fully God. The Son is fully God.
Eggshell, egg yoke, egg white?
Ummmm... No.
There are three components that make up an egg. Each part of the egg contributes one portion to the whole. We know the eggshell by itself is not the egg. The egg yolk by itself is not the egg. The egg white by itself is not the egg. Using the egg analogy to explain the Trinity infers the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit must be combined to make one God.
In reality, the fullness of God is in each Person of the Trinity.
Apple flesh, apple peel, and apple core?
Same problem.
Just as the shell, white, and yolk are parts of the egg, the peeling, flesh, and core are parts of an apple. This analogy also falls short as an accurate picture of the Trinity.
Water, ice, vapor?
Won't work.
Water can exist as liquid, ice, or steam, but it can't be all of these at the same time. God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit co-exist. When God the Son walked on earth, God the Father did not cease to exist in heaven.
One man is a father, a husband, and a carpenter? Nope....
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct persons. All three exist at the same time. All three are equally God. They do not take on different roles, at different times, for different circumstances.
This diagram may come closest to illustrating an accurate depiction of the Trinity. Discussing it with older students would be helpful. Leaders at my church came up with a craft that includes supplying colored craft sticks for students to create their own Trinity models.
Even with a model that more accurately describes the Trinity, adults and children alike are often left scratching their heads. How do we answer when our children ask questions about our Triune God?
Point them to scripture!
"Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens—what can you do?” Job 11:7-8
"For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. ”Isaiah 55:9
Let's remind children that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It's incredible to think that the God of the universe would see fit to make us in His own image. Our creative God gave us the ability to be creative, to love, and to enjoy relationships with each other, but our likeness to Him is extremely limited in other ways.
God created each of us to be one person. To understand what it means to be three in persons and one in essence is something that is beyond our experience. While we enjoy having relationships with those around us, can never know what it is like to be in relationship with other persons in our being.
The words of Vern Poythress, author and professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, say it well :
One of the things that we can say to our children is just this. There is no one like God. Nothing in creation gives us a complete picture of who God is. ... though we can know him truly, we do not know him completely. He is God and is infinitely deep.
So let's park on that.
Rather than try to explain something beyond the limits of our understanding, let’s invite children to stand with us in awe of a God whose being is so grand there are no words to adequately describe Him. This magnificent God who is Three in One, took the punishment we deserve so He could also have a relationship with us! The mere thought of this should humble us and bring us to His throne with a deeper level of gratitude and a heightened sense of worship.
So what should you do with that lovely pot of shamrocks you hoped would be the perfect St. Patrick's Day object lesson? By all means... Put it on the table and gather the children around! Encourage them to take a moment to soak in its beauty. Point to the three sections of the shamrock leaf and explain how some use it to teach people about God. Open the door to discuss the limitations of the analogy and use this opportunity to show your children how we can rejoice in knowing we are in the hands of a mighty God who is too magnificent for earthly words to describe.
Awesome! Totally awesome!!
I loved your video! This is great info and a wonderful way to share with children. Thank you for doing this.
This is so well done! I love it! Thanks for taking the time to better explain this. It is a difficult subject, but I loved your examples!