| This interview is part of a two week blog tour on Gum, Geckos and God by James Spiegel. You can find out more about the tour on the book's website. OVERTON: In your preface you explain that, "Without realizing it, my kids have tutored me on how to integrate faith and learning in ways I could never have imagined." What are some of the things your children have taught you? |
SPIEGEL: In relating to my kids, I have learned that parenting demands a deeper level of wisdom than anything else I have ever done. The situations and conflicts one has to deal with force a parent to draw upon every resource one has. This has taught me to be more intentional about doing so. Children assume their parents are experts on anything, so they pose questions about every conceivable subject. This boundless curiosity has renewed my own curiosity about the world. My kids have also taught me to pay more attention to the details of the natural world and to appreciate its wonders. I have long understood that God is a cosmic artist, and my kids have only reinforced this perspective.
OVERTON: You claim that "great ideas should not just inhabit classrooms; they should permeate our lives." Can you give us an example of how you've demonstrated this to your children?
SPIEGEL: One of the "great ideas" is the sovereignty of God, and this is something we stress to our kids, both in good and bad times. We remind our kids of the ways God has blessed us and thank Him together for his grace to us. We also acknowledge to our kids that God is in control when painful events happen in our lives, and we stress to them the truth of Romans 8:28-that God will use even these things to bring about greater good and glorify himself. Another great idea is the concept of the world as a work of divine art, and my wife, Amy, and I constantly teach our kids to see the world as such when we discuss lots of different subjects, especially history and science. Thirdly, the concept of moral goodness is one of the great ideas. As applied to people, this can be analyzed in terms of different virtues (e.g., self-control, patience, kindness, generosity, justice, courage, humility, etc.) Amy and I frequently describe people in such terms for our children in order to help build their moral awareness and the richness of their moral vocabulary.
OVERTON: Throughout the book you recount some excellent examples of turning seemingly ordinary events into teaching opportunities for your children, but it seems like this approach would also be useful beyond parenting. How might we translate your examples into our interactions with family and friends?
SPIEGEL: In Gum, Geckos, and God I draw moral lessons from everything from pearl formation to gecko molting. These are not only examples of divine creativity but they also have secondary moral meanings which we can apply to our lives. (Jesus' agricultural metaphors and parables are, of course, the best examples of this method.) Pointing out such things to fellow adults can be very edifying, because it reinforces the importance of godly living while reminding us of God's artistic brilliance.
OVERTON: While discussing "Who Gets to Go to Heaven?" you talk about implicit faith: "the disposition to trust God, as demonstrated in one's earnestly following God as much as one can, relative to one's understanding of him." You go to explain that some who have never heard the Gospel preached have this sort of faith and, "While it may typically be such that those who are saved by God do come to have explicit faith, it doesn't follow that it always works this way." How do you understand Romans 10:14-17, which seems to indicate hearing the Gospel preached is a necessary component of being saved?
SPIEGEL: I made this point in order to avoid the implication that, say, all infants who die go to hell. Also, the saints in the O.T. never heard of Jesus but they had implicit faith in him in the sense that if they had heard the gospel, they would have embraced Christ. I am open to the possibility that today there are some who have never heard of Christ whom God could nonetheless save in spite of this. However, I do think that they would need some sort of special revelation-a communiqué from God of some kind, such as through a vision, miracle, or spiritual illumination. As for the Romans 10:14-17 passage, this certainly underscores the need for proclaiming the gospel message to people. I affirm this mandate wholeheartedly, but our efforts here as fallen people are always flawed and limited, and today millions still have not heard the message. It is inconceivable to me that God would restrict his own efforts to save the lost to what human beings can accomplish. In biblical history, God's calling on people has often transcended human preaching, from Moses and the burning bush to Paul on the road to Damascus. Those were very dramatic divine revelations, of course. But I think God may sometimes use more subtle means to bring to himself people who have never heard the gospel.
OVERTON: Perhaps one of the more controversial points in your book is when you explain that you and your wife, Amy, openly discuss "mature" topics with your children, such as death and sexuality. You proposed that "If a kid is mature enough to ask as substantive question, we figure they are mature enough to handle a truthful response." Understanding your children are still young, how have you noticed this approach affecting your children?
SPIEGEL: So far the effect has been very positive. As is documented in Gum, Geckos, and God, we have had many conversations about death with our kids, and in nearly every case we use this as a context to reinforce our belief in Christ and our hope for heaven. Consequently, our kids are more inclined to think of this world in light of the next world, which is the proper biblical perspective. As for sex, we haven't discussed this beyond the basic issue of where babies come from, which is a question that our sons Bailey (8) and Sam (5) have both asked. So we've explained this to them, and their curiosity has been satisfied. However, we have avoided any discussion of sinful sexual behavior. Thankfully, they haven't had any questions pertaining to this, so we see no reason to pollute their minds with any of that. Of course, they'll eventually hear about such things-perhaps earlier rather than later, given our culture-and then we'll discuss this with them, noting how people rebel against God's plan in the area of sexuality as well. But, of course, the most important way to teach one's kids about God's design in this area is to model faithfulness with one's spouse.
