Are You Qualified To Teach Children About Baptism?

The only qualification for teaching the process of baptism to someone is to be a baptized believer yourself. The additional necessity for teaching children about the Plan of Salvation is to use illustrations, object lessons, visuals and scenarios that a child can comprehend. When trying to child-proof a home, experts tell parents to get down on their knees to see the room from a child’s perspective. The same is true when teaching children. We need to get into their world so-to-speak and relate to them with examples in which they are familiar.

When trying to explain the Trinity to a child, use the concept of H2O being able to take on three forms (liquid, solid, gas). An apple or an egg also works to illustrate how God is one but has three parts. I understand that God is much greater than an egg or an apple and cannot be compared to anything on this earth, but these object lessons are useful in helping a child understand this difficult concept about God. When teaching children the method of immersion rather than sprinkling, use an action figure or Barbie and illustrate immersion into water. When helping a child understand what temptation is give them a Blow-Pop but tell them they can only suck on it but not chew. Tell them that temptation is what they are experiencing when they want to chew the gum inside but know they are not supposed to. If we put a plate of spinach in front of them and told them not to eat it, that probably wouldn’t be tempting for them.

The amazing thing is that God’s message is relevant to ALL people regardless of age, race, culture, economics, etc. We just need to present the message to children in such a way that relates to them. The greatest thing we can do when teaching someone about God is to involve the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you know what to say and how to say it. In Luke 12 and Mark 13 Jesus informed the disciples that the Spirit would teach them what to say and He will do the same for us today.