Casa Jonsson

I love the deep questions kids ask. Maybe it’s just our kids—although that would surprise me—but in our house when it rains theology, it’s a flash-flood. The imponderable questions start with no warning whatsoever and come spilling out one after another, rapid-fire. One hardly gets a chance to attempt an answer before another two or three conundrums gush out in a deluge.

Tonight at tuck-in time our six-year-old asked me, “Have you ever told a lie?”¹

“Why do you ask?,” I said, frantically buying time.

“It’s just that it seems as though you never sin.”

Gulp. No gold star in the Christian parenting column for you, Dad. Another ten years of that and you might have alienated him completely. As it happens, I zoned out on Friday night and forgot to play Tooth Fairy for his first loose baby tooth, but absentmindedness is nothing compared to projecting hypocrisy.

After the probing personal question I was towed into deep theological waters. Will we ever sin when we’re in heaven?² Will the angels ever sin?³ Is it possible for anyone in heaven to sin?⁴ What if we try really hard to sin when we’re in heaven?⁵ Why did Adam and Eve sin in the garden of Eden if they didn’t have to?⁶ Can Satan ever become good again?⁷ Does Satan like living in hell?⁸

That’s only a sampling, but you get the idea. I love this stuff. You don’t understand your faith—or almost anything at all—until you can explain it to a child.

For the sake of completeness, what follows is a paraphrase of the answers I gave to the above questions. Your reading beyond this point is entirely optional and it isn’t worth any extra-credit points.

¹ Probably most of the sins people commit happen in our hearts and minds and are not observable. Of course I sin; I do it all the time! This is why we need to ask all day long for God’s forgiveness and help to change, because we are all constantly sinning in what we think and feel, as well as in what we do or say, or fail to do or say. An example of a lie I’ve told is when you want to show or tell me something and I tell you I’m paying attention but I’m really not. It makes God very sad when I don’t listen carefully to things you have to say, especially when I lie and say I’m listening.
² No one who is in heaven sins. Satan sinned long ago while he was serving God as an angel in heaven, but people who go to heaven will never sin again when they get there.
³ One third of the angels sided with Satan when he rebelled against God. They became demons. All the angels who did not rebel will never do so.
⁴ No one who is in heaven is even able to sin. They have become like Jesus, wanting to do only what pleases God the Father all the time.
⁵ When we get to heaven we won’t even want to try to sin. Even the wanting to sin goes away when we get to heaven.
⁶ Good question. Look at the time! Get under the covers and go to sleep.
⁷ Satan is God’s sworn enemy. Unlike people, he will never change.
⁸ Satan doesn’t live in hell—you know that! He spends all his time trying to destroy the lives of people here on earth. Nighty-night! Sleep tight and pleasant dreams!