Just kids eh?

I had my two sons read 1 Peter 1 today. Just so you don't get the wrong idea about the spirituality of my parenting, it was in part a punitive measure for the hours of PS3 that they played this afternoon in our living room - I was feeling guilty.

To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood

At any rate, it lead to a brief but interesting theological discussion, when I asked what the bible meant by "elect exiles" which read "elect strangers" in my 8 yr old's Boys Adventure Bible (I'm still looking for the Adult Adventure Bible - maybe the market is too small for that particular version) (Sorry John Piper for the parentheses)(I'm also in the process of getting my kids an ESV)(If none of this is making you laugh then you need to go here)

So here is a paraphrase of the discussion:
Dad: What are elect exiles or strangers
Son 1 (age 13): ...foreigners, displaced people...you know ... this is not our home and all that ... you know
Dad: Why didn't they just write exiles or strangers then? What about the 'elect' part - what does that mean?
Son 1: It means elected or chosen.
My wife peaks over the top of Mark Buchanan's most recent book knowing where this is going
Son 1: But who does the choosing then?
I thought that was a pretty good question, so I let it hang out there.
Son 2 (age 8): ... we choose Jesus...God wants us to love him...He needs people to love him...that's why he made us ...
Buchanan's book gets closed
Dad: Some people believe that and some people believe that God chooses you! What do you mean that God 'needs' or 'wants' people to love him?
Son 2: ... He made us so we can choose him or not but He wants us all to choose him. He wants people to love Him but he didn't want to make us robots so we would just do whatever he said.
Son 1: (boxing ring announcer voice)FFFrrrrreeeee wwwwiiiiiillll baby!!!
Wife shakes head and smiles.

We went on to further discuss foreknowledge and sanctification. I took a few things out of this encounter:
1. Go ahead and punish your kids by making them read the Bible - it's good for them.
2. My children know a lot about theology, they just haven't told me ...and yes you can talk about theology with an 8 and 13 year old.
3. If you think your kids aren't already developing a world view - you're wrong.
4. The best classroom I have is my own living room.