A few weeks back, our family opened the doors of an old church and sat down. I was invited to share with the congregation about my work and told that my family was more than welcome. From the moment we walked in, the sneering glances and pursed lips informed us that this congregation was most interested in robotic children who don’t make a peep before they dutifully file out after the children’s sermon. Our children are not like that.
For clarity sake, let me break it down for you. We have 5 very rowdy kids under the age of 3.5 years old. Our oldest children are a set of incredibly rambunctious twins. Our only single is a very demanding 2 year old. Our youngest set of twins are 7 months old and do what babies do. My kids tell me everything that I need to know about the churches we visit by the way they are treated.
The realm of God is made for the shrieks, howls and wild audacity of children. We must learn to join them. In Matthew 19:14, Jesus rebuked the child despising disciples with the following words, “Let the children come to me…” This don’t sound like the believe and behave method of most of our churches. How you treat children in your church tells me everything that I need to know about what you believe about Jesus. If you think that Jesus is most concerned with the uninterrupted ordering of your service…I encourage you to reread the Gospels. Jesus was always interrupting and on the move. So why do we expect our children to function differently?
Amen.
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