Show Them Jesus
Jack Klumpenhower (New Growth Press, 2014)
Japanese Title: 見せようイエスさまを 福音に生きる子どもたちを育む
Translated by Nozomu Kusunoki (いのちのことば社、 2024)
“I read a lot of great books at Bible college, but this is the only one that ever made me cry,” said the lady who began the book launch of the Japanese translation of Show Them Jesus. At the launch we heard many more testimonies of tears, repentance, and change, not only in how we teach children, but also in how we approach God our Father.
In Show Them Jesus, Jack Klumpenhower vividly and humbly illustrates his own journey from teaching kids moral lessons to understanding the need to show kids Jesus every week from every part of Scripture. In this powerfully raw testimony, the author shares his mistakes and his pride to highlight the change that God wrought in him.
The book reinforces the idea that, rather than merely assenting to the formula “Jesus died for my sins,” we want kids to know and love the person of Jesus more and more. In chapter 7, Klumpenhower shares a story of a group of kids to whom he asked, “Why is Jesus better than anything else?” All they could answer was “Because he forgives our sins and takes us to heaven.” In response, he began a year-long project to write a list of all the reasons why Jesus is better than anything else and keep it on the wall. Together, they discovered more than 70 reasons from all over the Bible. I wonder, if we all began such a list, how would God grow in us a greater love and appreciation of Jesus.
How to show kids Jesus
This book is not a curriculum book and is also not just another gospel-centred-life book. It seeks to show the reader what it’s like to become a person who marvels at Jesus from all of Scripture, then learns to teach children to do the same. This is something that is already happening in Japan with those who translated the book and with those who are reading it and talking to one another about how they’re growing and changing.
As well as sharing moving stories, the author takes his readers through many examples of how to show kids Jesus from the Bible, and he addresses practical issues and challenges common objections.
Avoiding content overload
While this is an immensely helpful book, the author briefly points out his own tendency to overload kids with too much content. Teachers who love the Bible will always have a lot they want to share with the kids. A child overwhelmed by information is likely to assume that they aren’t good enough to comprehend what is being said. However, overloading kids is not loving, and it does not model grace to kids in the way that Klumpenhower advocates throughout the book. It is a minor point, but I would have liked him to take this concern more seriously.
A great book
This would be a great book for pastors, who could then guide their ministry team through it. Anyone teaching kids, including parents, will benefit from reading it.
It is exciting to anticipate the effect this book might have on children’s ministries in Japan. It’s available in print and audio book in English and in print in Japanese. Praise God for this useful book!
Book covers from Amazon