What the Gospel Says About Your Child’s Learning Differences
My daughter’s Sunday School teacher asked her to read aloud in class. She looked at the tiny font in her Bible and said, “I can’t read.”
He said, “Of course you can read.”
She said, “No. I really cannot read.”
He moved on to the next little girl who read—according to my daughter—“so beautifully, even though the words were small!”
She asked me to email the Sunday School teacher and explain that she’s just not ready to read aloud in class, so could he please not call on her? He graciously understood, and we moved on.
This was the first time my daughter noticed that she is reading at a lower level than her peers. She and I sit down together every day and work at reading. Some things come easily to her—like running and laughing and defending the helpless—but some things are more challenging. Reading is one of them. She’s learning to read, but just at a different pace and in a different way than her siblings and peers.
This got me thinking about the type of message I want to communicate to her as she begins to see the variations of ability level in her Sunday School class. How do I want her to process this? What truths do I want to teach her? Here are three messages that I think will ground her in truth and love as she learns to read.
“You are not your reading group.”
As an English Literature major and English teacher, I’m well acquainted with the way our culture ranks kids according to their reading level. The reading groups may be called “Rabbits,” “Frogs,” and “Kangaroos,” but everyone knows that they really stand for “Gifted,” “Average,” and “Remedial.” The objective of academic levels is to serve students and meet them where they’re at, but they sure do come with a challenge.
They tempt us to see ourselves—and one another—as “better than” or “less than.” They tempt us to evaluate and rank one another based on ability and achievement. But our worth is found in Christ. He is the one who knit us together, who loves us, and who calls us by name.
Reading levels are just reading levels. They are temporary. Learning differences are just learning differences. They, too, are temporary. But our identity in Christ is eternal, and to this we must cling when we are tempted to believe that our academic accomplishments are all there is to life.
“In Jesus, you are a child of God.”
Galatians 3:26-29 is a helpful passage for our school-age children. Here we see Paul address the cultural groupings that were important to the Galatians. In fact, the Galatians would say that these groupings were their identity. Their worth. These groupings were an excuse to treat one another as “better than” or “less than.” They exalted some people and oppressed others.
Paul needed to address these groupings because they threatened to welcome some people “in” and keep other people “out” of the kingdom of God. He wanted to make one thing crystal clear: there are no levels, classes, or rankings for those who are in Christ Jesus. All who receive him through faith are his.
“In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise” (Galatians 3:26-29).
Jesus is the one place where our kids can rest assured that their performance—whether it be in the 99th percentile or not even on the chart—does not determine their value in God’s eyes. No matter what group they are in for reading, math, friends, sports, or hobbies, God’s love for them doesn’t depend upon that group—it depends on Christ alone. And nothing will separate them from his love.
With this truth in place, our children can see more clearly how to cultivate the gifts God has given to them, one day at a time.
“See people according to grace, not groups.”
I want my daughter to know that, although we may compare reading levels, rank students according to their abilities, and label one another, God does not. He creates and loves each person. He wants each person to repent of their sin and receive Jesus as their Savior. He wants us to rejoice with those who rejoice, perhaps by celebrating a friend’s success. And he wants us to weep with those who weep, perhaps by helping a friend who is struggling.
School is a great place for our kids to learn how to apply the gospel to everyday life. In this case, they can grow in seeing their peers through God’s eyes of grace. They can begin to recognize reading levels, athletic teams, and peer groups for what they are: often helpful ways to educate kids, compete efficiently, and make friends, but not the source of our identity or worth.
Wouldn’t it be awesome if our kids became students who believe what God says about them—and about each of their classmates? They’d be free to learn in peace. They’d be free to love!
I think I’ll tell my little girl this: That Jesus made the way for her to bring grace into her Sunday School class. If she’s the best reader, she can read aloud with love. And if she’s the only one who is still working at the fundamentals, she can listen with love. Because she—and her classmates—are loved.
