The emerging Church…. 500 years from now…. The children….
My son is at a local vacation bible school this morning. It’s being held in a quaint, beautiful sanctuary, where on the platform is placed a painted mural of the Serengeti plain.
A team of young girls are doing humorous dramatic skits on all manner of moral themes. My little guy smiles, claps and sings when his social guard is down. He admires these young heroes in front of him, leading songs and innocently guiding he and his friends through what may be the best week of their summer.
I hope they’ll teach him that the Church should be leading the way in decreasing world debt, ending the AIDs crisis in Africa, and caring for our neighbour who’s fighting for their marriage.
My other two girls, a pre-teen and a teen, are at a charismatic inter-denominational camp in the beautiful Great Smokey Mountains of western North Carolina. We usually theologically debrief a bit when they return, not because what they’ve learned is wrong, but just because it’s good to reflect on our experience in light of the whole of culture, sub-cultures, and the Kingdom of God.
St. Stephen’s Universty students and leaders we love are also constantly in our home. My kids are starting to sound like them – which is both good and bad according to the moment.
Emerging Church influencers are working to shape the Kingdom thinking of their peers. Welcome to the late 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond. Yet, it is in engaging the youngest among us that we may find to be our most fruitful community of attention. Granted, an influenced pastor or 20-something will create atmospheres for kids and kids workers to grow in their sense of place in an historic Church. And yet….
And yet, when a teen is learning to authentically love the people in the world around them, learning to pray for the sick, widen their world concerns beyond the next “fun” activity they’re looking forward to, dig the stories of Francis of Assisi’s choice of friends, worship with contemporary and ancient songs, care for the poor globally, love real community, consider the lessons of history, read more than just “bible books” and consider the historic riches of the Eucharist, lectio divina and a variety of other worship expressions as relevant and valuable, we may be doing the most good.
Even my son understands the communion elements at the age of 9, and realizes that eating the cracker and drinking the cup is a way of remembering what Jesus has done. I tell him that in the early Church and even Orthodox view, communion is more a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection than it is of simply His death. I tell him that resurrection means that dead things can come alive.
I tell him that to be a Christian means that we join God in helping dead things in the world come alive again.
If character and personality are foundationally formed by the age of 3, and most decisions to follow the way of Jesus are made in the pre-teen and teen years, then we should consider a re-weighting of our influence with the younger set — though aged children are we all.
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Amen to that last paragraph! Did you know that Barna, in his book “Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions” has found in his research that if people don’t embrace Christ before they reach their teen years, the chance of doing so at all is slim? And, he says, “we find an astounishing level of consistency between the religious beliefs of adults and children…..whatever beliefs a person embraces when he or she is young are not likely to change as the individual ages.”
I’ve long found it frustrating how we underestimate a child’s ability to believe and live a life of faith. We underestimate the contribution that they can make in the body of Christ. I believe that we miss out on some incredible opportunities to learn, grow, experience Christ and be blessed when we don’t allow the kids to participate and encourage them in their faith.
I wish that I could possess the incredible faith of a child. May I always strive to nurture instead of diminish that in my own son’s life.
How many churches are focused on reaching adults, instead of seeing reaching children as the point of the spearhead?
To “story” someone’s life with the riches of the scripture through music, arts, etc. can move them on a path that heals the world.
We should start, as parents and the Church, with them at the earliest stages. The world will be better for it, all round.
fantastic – this is totally where my thinking is – and we have tried hard to be an apostolic family, allowing the kids to design and lead worship inside the emerging church for many years . . . still so much more we can do . . .
I love that term, Andrew — an apostolic family. When I leave for a trip, my wife and children often gather around me and “send me out.”
In their perspective, I am simply a forward extension of our family in the world for that period of time.
That’s an enriching word. Thanks for diving into the pond.
I received the saving knowledge of the Kingdom from atop the crest of the Jesus Movement wave back in 1974. I was 20 years old…
Was raised Roman Catholic when Jesus illuminated, or more accurately interrupted my thoughts—my very consciousness—with His revelation. Quite the divine disruption having one’s thoughts suspended by the encroachment of the Holy…
There is a divine contradiction associated with God’s people: we are always His ‘children’ irregardless of age progression & yet we are all expected to become mature. Dan, you hinted at this at the end of your post.
We are all ’sons’ but also the ‘bride’…
The Kingdom cannot be apprehended except we agressively take hold of it like little children. Go figure.
The Kingdom is all inclusive. Always was. Always will be. There are no statistical concessions made by the King. All men, women & children of every nation+tribe+tounge are of equal worth in the grand equation of reconciliation.
We observe certain demographic trends & draw educated conclusions about them. We are a species driven to identify, compartmentalize, define, calculate & quantify…
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Yes. It may be true that churches in general place an out-of-proportion emphasis on adult outreach+ministries. After all the Invitation is non-compulsory. It is given to those who have the capacity to make responsible choices. Children are under the care of older care-givers & are either brought along or sent to Sunday school or vacation Bible school by those adults who made the choice for them. The Kingdom is not being recruited by a divine version of the Pied Piper…
Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
For those care-givers who send young ones in their care to a church where Jesus is preached & glorified, I say Amen.
That’s the only way the little ones will be introduced to the Kingdom. They are ‘brought’ to Jesus. And once there no hindrance should be experienced. Greater attention, participation & resources can be allowed to promote a more inclusive experience for them. Children will always need to be taught by responsible adults. The best example of this is Jesus Himself. He submitted to adult supervision & teaching. He did not become a child-leader, but rather He, “…grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” He was not leading worship in His local synagogue before his bar-mitzvah…
God will not suddenly upend the natural progression of aging: baby/child/teen/young adult/adult in an attempt to do something ‘new’ upon the earth. He designed the age progression & the family unit. It was His idea. And I do believe it will remain so until the end. If there is a problem with churches neglecting their young attendees then proper attention should be refocused on those particular areas of ministry. But to expect children to spearhead, design or lead the church ‘family’ in worship is rather idealistic, is it not?
The worship expression can certainly be enriched by child-like elements infused under adult supervision. That is right & good. But the leadership of the church is best left to the ‘elders’, which by the very definition denotes wise, mature, responsible care & oversight.
Just a thought.
For the Kingdom
Just arrived here via a tip off from Jacob Murphy. Excellent stuff here… “to be a Christian means that we join God in helping dead things in the world come alive again.”
Wow! To grag a hold of that…
Welcome to the conversation, wilsonian.
I’m new at this…in fact this is my first “blog” and I’m 27 if you can believe it. I have a 5 day old son, Benjamin, and a daughter turning 4 in 4 days, Grace. And my 6th anniversay to Erin is in 2 days. These are awesome days. Being that I’m a new father all over again, I thought I’d briefly jump in.
God’s intention and design for the role of the family in His “church” cannot be overemphasized. The breakdown in our times and culture of marriage and of the blurring of biblical manhood and biblical womanhood, all feed into the challenges the church is seeking to tackle…
Are we leading, teaching and discipling in the transforming power of the Spirit in such a way that we’re raising up godly men and women who understand the spiritual significance of marriage and of the family??…who will in turn raise up godly children who will in turn raise godly children??…this would be success.
We can’t pass the responsibility off on the church. But as the church, and those in leadership, we equip and assist parents to their primary God-given responsibility of raising godly children and youth. Equipping dads and moms for the work of “children’s ministry”. Especially in their own home.
That said…as a father, I love finding eye-opening ways to discuss and discover the things of God and His ways with my daughter (and soon the “son of my right hand”).
I believe Jesus’ statements that direct attention onto children and require our observation and reflection were intended to do just that, among other things. Being in the kingdom and caring for and learning through children…has a lot to do with being willing to drop the sophistication and embrace the simple. To slow down long enough to observe and reflect. To receive revelation and insight into deeper spirituality through humility and meekness…patience and simplicity. Simple but profound. Child-like but mature. To enjoy the gift of life and be filled with expectation, anticipation, and adoration…especially when “Daddy” comes home.
The issue of “success” in reaching children…is an incomplete discussion unless we’re careful to include and uphold God’s Idea, Vision and Intent for the role of the family and the responsibility of parenting…good children’s ministry is more than catchy, cutting-edge characters, and colorful posters and multi-sensory learning devices and techniques…it’s strong discipleship of the whole family that over time influences your community and raises the bar of the God-centered family values that help restore broken people and families to wholeness in Jesus and build strong people and families for the glory of God…little ones brought up in this way become the spouses and parents that continue the heritage and extend the kingdom.
Thanks for letting me drop in…
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