As I sit here on a Saturday night, I can’t help but think about what my next day entails: children and church. While there’s so much I want to say about what God has taught me in regards to kid’s ministry, there are a few things rattling through my brain as I prepare to greet and serve His kids tomorrow:
There is such humor in working with children in church. You can be in the depths of a Holy Spirit led moment when you get a tap on the shoulder or a tug on the shirt of a little one saying, “Miss Sarah, I have to go potty.” It doesn’t matter what kind of powerful moment might be occurring, to kids– momentary needs are momentary needs. I’m sure God smiles at this.
Every Sunday, we have kid after kid raise their hand to come up out of desire to pray boldly and courageously in front of the room. While hearing prayer after prayer of truly Holy Spirit led requests and massive belief proclaimed for things we somehow learn to doubt and ask less of as we grow older, the moment can turn from powerful to giggle fest in .02 seconds flat when a child suddenly begins praying aloud about cheetos. Yes, you read that right– cheetos. It can go from prayer requests about clean drinking water (seriously our kids pray these things unprompted!!), brand new church buildings, safety in Chicago, or comfort for people without homes to cheetos in .02 seconds. There’s no in between for kids. I’m certain God smiles at this.
Yes, God is serious and church is serious because salvation is serious… but when did we learn to be so serious all the time? Kids have something right. God created us in His image– humor and giggles and playfulness included. Working with His kids has taught me so much, but one thing is for sure: God has taught me to be less serious. In fact, just try to stick to your seriousness in a room full of children while trying to impact them for Kingdom, and you will fall flat on your face, I promise. To tap into the heart of a child, you must become childlike. The most beautiful thing about this, is that in Matthew 18, Jesus tells us we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. There is much to be learned from His kids.
Besides this, I’ve learned the ups and downs and ins and outs of trying to show children the power of the Holy Spirit– trying to help them learn about and encounter the deep things of God. I’ve learned that if I can talk and teach about God in front of a room of children, then I can surely talk and teach anywhere. I think they just might be the hardest audience imaginable. They can’t pretend to be interested. They speak truth boldly. Their body language shouts louder than any word ever could. They can decide in a matter of moments if you are worth paying attention to or not. It’s comical really. Kids tell it like it is. They aren’t afraid to say what they need. They aren’t afraid to say how they feel. There’s really no filter in children. To do church with kids is to be humbled again and again and again.
To teach children is to learn the power of pushing through mountains of distraction. Squirmy, antsy, legs-flailing, heads-turning, hands-fidgeting, innocently-snickering distraction. There will always be the kids who are sold out and attentive, but there will always be the children that are not. To approach the deep things of God with children is to armor up in PATIENCE and enthusiasm and zeal and persistence and not be afraid to look like a fool while doing so. The Greek word translated “patience” again and again in the New Testament is the word hupomeno. It’s a combination of the Greek words hupo, meaning under or by, and the word meno, meaning to stay, to abide, or to remain. Together, it really conveys a steadfast remaining or enduring. It conveys the power of staying somewhere that might not be the easiest. In teaching children, there is such a staying power that is required. There is such a push-through-it power that is needed. There is a need for minute-by-minute reevaluation of what you came prepared to teach because of the energy of the room– Every moment deciding and trusting the Holy Spirit to take you the way the kids need you to go in that particular moment of that particular day. To work with kids is to depend wholly and completely upon His Spirit. It’s to deny self and keep your eyes locked firmly and desperately on Him.
To work with kids is to understand that learning and growing closer to God can be really fun, too. It can be energizing and goofy and active. It can be momentary or it can take weeks. Sometimes you leave wondering if the kids got anything at all, but then you will later hear parents talk about the words their kids are repeating during bathtime or while getting ready for bed, and you realize the information stuck after all. **Insert deep sigh of relief** Kids keep you on your toes. To teach kids you cannot neglect the awe and wonder of your Savior. Kids thrive in awe and wonder. Their imaginations and dreams and hearts have yet to be fully tainted by a cruel world. They believe more boldly and have greater, more instantaneous faith than adults. They aren’t as critical. They rarely hold bitterness like adults do. You could have a rough day with a child and by the end of the service they are proclaiming loudly how much they love you. Kids are wildly forgiving. Kids are gracious. I will forever be grateful for the kids under my leadership at this point in my life because they are with me as I learn and grow into all God wants me to be! They don’t even know it, but they are truly growing with me.
In their presence I am a child, looking wide-eyed at my Savior, clinging to His Spirit for what He wants me to do and say. Little do they know it, but my kids are teaching me more than I am teaching them. Everytime I receive a new child into our space on a Sunday, I think of Jesus saying “whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me,” and when I welcome Jesus into the room, I learn a whole lot.
I know the things that God has taught me thus far in doing church with His kids is just the tip of the iceberg of all I have to learn. I believe He has shown me glimpses of vision He has for how activated this segment of the Body of Christ can truly become! I am believing BIG, GIGANTIC things for what God is going to do through this ministry– through His kids. It’s only the very beginning. I’m on the edge of my seat, and I say with complete, hope-filled expectancy, to stay tuned for what is to come– I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to fathom all that God does and continues to reveal to me in serving His kids.
To welcome God’s kids is to _____________________. I could insert any word (like grow, sacrifice, obey, learn, be humbled, find joy, hear God, etc.), and it would be accurate, but the thing I will forever cling to is that to welcome God’s kids is to welcome Him, and that’s enough every time.
Matthew 18:1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and place the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”
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