Allow Children to Come to Him

We just wrapped up Vacation Bible School at VHC!  Let me rephrase that.  My awesome children’s pastor, Pastor Chris Varnell and her team of one hundred volunteers and our pastoral staff members, Dave Hutton and Aaron Begley – pulled off an amazing week.  Every night there was approximately 160 kids in attendance.  The place was rocking!  The reward for all the labor, preparation time by the prop crews (Merril and Kathy Sisco), Sandy O’Toole and her team of worship leaders, lead teachers, assistant volunteers, recreation teams, bus drivers,etc. – was the results in the altar.  It is absolutely an amazing sight to see children in the altar crying and praying.  This is the genesis of what will hopefully become a powerful experience with Christ in their lives that will last forever.

Kids are amazing!  At VHC we have engaged a vision the Holy Spirit gave to me last September (2010).  Out of this vision our church has aggressively pointed our future toward reaching, teaching and discipling succeeding generations for Christ.  This will be an expensive, testing, trying and pioneering effort for us.  I am convinced that there are young people out there who have a hunger for a real experience in Christ that exceeds an academic one.  They have heard all the stories, seen all the drama and they have grown up to seek out an experience that will get them through life.

I am reminded of Matthew 19.14 where Jesus says, “Let the children alone – don’t hinder them from coming to Me!”  This isn’t just one of those passages of scripture we ignore until we preach on a familial subject and merely reference it.  It should be a model passage for all of our churches.  Jesus pointedly says do not interfere with children coming to Him.  I can assure you of this – any church that doesn’t focus on children will be a dying church.  While reaching, teaching and discipling succeeding generations is expensive, demanding, and spiritually challenging – there is no alternative.  Anything short of focusing on reaching kids is simply interfering.

Jesus doesn’t tell us what are the results of hindering children coming to Him – He just tells us not too. Maybe there are some things better left unsaid.  I am confident I don’t want to find out so my goal is to focus on reaching our succeeding generations.  I watched our team this week as they worked together like a fine Swiss watch.  Every person accomplishing their assigned task.  Every person where they were supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to be doing, when they were supposed to do it.  It worked perfectly.  The kids were having an absolute riot.

Back to the command of Christ – “do not hinder children coming to Me”.  How do we hinder them?  Impeding a child coming to Christ can be seen in the slack concern of a so called parent who doesn’t have the energy to see their child either get on the van or bring them to church.  Impeding a child coming to Christ can be seen in living out hypocrisy at home while playing Joe and Sally Christian at church.  Impeding a child coming to Christ can be seen in not supporting the church with your financial contributions while whining about something not meeting your expectations of children’s ministry resources.  Impeding a child coming to Christ can be identified in your personal lack of involvement in any event the church sponsors for kids – even though you bring yours to church for the event.  I think impeding a child coming to Christ can manifest in a so many ways.  How do we not impede a child coming to Christ?

Simple.  There are two key elements to what was happening with Christ and children.  First of all, touch was involved.  Jesus wanted to lay hands on the children.  He was blessing them.  He was anointing them.  The disciples represent that part of the kingdom that impedes this process.  Children come into our churches dirty, from dysfunctional homes, whining, with dirt diapers and some show up deep emotional hurts. Jesus was working toward touching them.  Touch is intimate, personal and at times – critically dangerous to the religious people around us.  Jesus didn’t care.  He rebuked the “structured church” for not allowing children to come to Him.  Morons!  Stepping in the path of a child coming to Jesus!  No wonder He rebuked them!

Then there is the issue of “hindering” them.  The Greek word used for “hinder” here can also be translated as “taxing”.  In other words we can put more on a child through legalistic teaching than is necessary.  I like to think we’re beyond this in most cases but we are not.  Taxing children can be the legalism we robe our children with the points to all the “don’ts” in the kingdom.  Don’t do this and don’t do that.  Before long we have removed fun from the venue of worship and service to the Master.  Oh how I remember all the “do not’s” in the church. Few people sat me down and explained to me the “do’s”in the church.  Sanctification was not just purifying something from the world – it was purifying something unto Him.  I eventually grew out of the model of not being able to do anything and fell in love with spiritual liberty.

Our churches are full of adults who were hindered in coming to Christ as a young person or a child.  They are bound in their worship.  They are bound in their minds.  They are bound in their love.  They live for Christ out of obligation instead of intimate relation.  Remember, Jesus wanted to lay hands on the children.  He wanted them to experience Him.  He wanted them to go beyond the “roped off area” the disciples had established.  You can do this but you can’t do that.  You can go here but you can’t go there.  Here’s our legalistic rope.  Don’t go beyond it.  The problem with establishing ropes that keep young people away from Christ?  Eventually these kids move in reverse and go the opposite way.  They will chase genuine experience with something rather it is Jesus or not.

I say take the barriers down.  I say pull the ropes away.  Let’s create an atmosphere and a church campus where children and young people can experience Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let’s get out of the way.