Why VBS Makes Me Smile and Squirm

Vacation Bible School has been something of a mainstay in American church life for nearly one hundred years.

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The son of a pastor (my dad) and a VBS leader/teacher (my mom), I grew up going to VBS every summer. As an adult I have volunteered, assisted, taught missions, taught Bible, led recreation, performed skits, organized, directed, and/or pastored VBS at various churches in Oklahoma, Kansas, and beyond.

Despite my many (mostly) good memories of VBS, I have some personal misgivings—and I’m not the only one.

Yet for all my concerns—I mainly worry that some churches seem more interested in helping kids make decisions than they are in making disciples—I still cannot help but smile, perhaps even rejoice, when I think of Vacation Bible School.

Here is why I feel a happy hope, despite some personal misgivings.

But first of all, let’s turn back the clock approximately two thousand years.

If we’re honest, we will admit that VBS was not exactly around in the first century. (Yes, I realize some well-meaning folks will quickly cite Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me,” but such a reference hardly captures the Scriptural context.)

Yet even still, let’s not miss the glory of God’s grand purposes these past two millennia.

Let me explain.

For a moment, let’s imagine you are one of Christ’s early followers, pre-Pentecost. You are sitting around chatting with friends in the days of Acts 1, unaware that Acts 2 is about to hit you. Now suppose one of your fellow Christian friends says:

“You know, Jesus said there will be a thirty, sixty, hundredfold return when his Word lands on good soil. Based on this prophetic word, I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future there comes a time when Christianity will spread like wildfire to the ends of the globe. In fact, I’ll bet you the family farm that Christ’s glorious gospel will make it to yet undiscovered lands and take root and grow still more."

Your friend continues:

“I have no doubt that in the future, nations will blossom and bloom with the truth of Jesus. Indeed, I can totally picture, within those nations, from sea to shining sea, the gospel making such inroads that believers in every town will do whatever they can to help propel the message of the cross, everywhere they go.”

“You really think so?” Your friend’s optimism feels a little naive, but his words thrill your heart nonetheless. You keep listening.

“These gospel efforts won’t always get it right,” your friend says. “They may at times miss the mark. They may fumble and bumble a bit. But praise God—the gospel is going to advance. I just know it.”

At this point, your heart soars with hope. You feel excited, even enchanted, at the prospect of such a successful, global movement.

And guess what?

Your friend wouldn’t be wrong. And you wouldn’t be crazy for wishing your friend’s words to come true.

Two thousand years have passed since Jesus issued his Great (and glorious) Commission. The gospel went from a small, relatively obscure area in the Near East to the far-flung corners of the earth, from 11 men to 120 to 3,000 to 8,000 to—now in the 21st century—hundreds of millions, even billions. And dotted all across our own nation (itself a direct product of kingdom advancement) are churches all around us that are seeking, even if imperfectly, to share the gospel and make Christ’s name known.

That, my friends, should make even the most squirmy among us simply smile.