
In my role as the preschool Bible Story Lady at my church, I found myself presented with the daunting task of explaining the Trinity to 4-year-olds.
Now, many adults – make that most adults – find the concept of the three-in-one nature of the Almighty Creator of the Universe difficult to grasp. So imagine trying to bring it down to the level of a little person who can’t yet blow her own nose.
I thought and prayed and thought and prayed during the week prior to the lesson … what on EARTH could I possibly use to convey this basic but super important Truth about the essence of God?
The answer hit me like a bolt of lightning. In fact, I was holding it in my hand (more like dangling it by one leg) when I was cleaning up after a visit by my sweet grand. This is it!
Buster. The doll.
Am I a genius or what?
So the following Sunday, I first showed the tykes Buster as you see him in the above picture. I asked, “What do you see?”
They replied astutely, “A doll.”
“Oh,” I said, “you think you only see one thing? Nope – you’re really seeing three things rolled into one.” And I proceeded to remove Buster’s overalls and shirt.
Holding up Buster au natural, I taught with all the spiritual depth of Martin Luther, “God is three in one too – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Nakey Buster here is like God the Father.” Displaying the other two items in turn, I added, “The shirt is like God the Son (Jesus), and the pants are like God the Holy Spirit.” I paused momentarily to dress Buster – a dramatic cliff-hanger, if you will, to heighten the audience’s anticipation, for they were indeed waiting with bated breath …
“When you put them all together, they’re no longer three separate things, but now they’re one. Three-in-one. A Trinity. Like our Creator.”
A dozen confused little faces stared up at me.
Umm. Okay. Apparently my brilliant sermon didn’t take. So I undressed and redressed Buster again, reiterating the same three-in-one message with gusto.
Then, when my audience of miniature Bible scholars finally looked a wee bit less puzzled, I decided to make sure the take-away was taken away.
“So who can tell me one of the three parts of God?” I asked expectantly.
A hand shot up. I smiled. With all the confidence in the world, the tiny freckled boy with a huge cowlick answered, “God the shirt.”
Okay, BFF … stop snickering and tell me what you would’ve done.