People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)
What makes Jesus indignant? In scripture it is usually revolves around issues of justice, barriers to community, and misplaced, misguided religiosity. These things really make Jesus show his human side!
I find the issue with children to be interesting, especially in light of our modern affection for children. How often do politicians, leaders, families say something along the lines of "its all about the kids."
In many ways, our day is totally foreign to Jesus' time, when children were truly marginalized. In our day, in many ways, children occupy a place of prominence in our society. This is a good thing of course. We've come a long way. Still, have we, perhaps, moved too far?
Hear me clearly, I am not advocating a return to where kids are best "seen and not heard" or anything of the like. But I do wonder if the child-centric focus in many families is for the best? To be sure, I'll go above and beyond for my kids. At times, however, that will mean that I must make certain decisions that will challenge their "wants" or even their "hopes."
One time, I had a pastor friend say to me, "I desire that my children are faithful, not necessarily happy." I asked him to unpack that a bit and he reflected that as he and his wife sought to raise their children toward faithfulness, i.e. helping them come to Jesus, there were times when this was at odds with what would have made them happy. And I get this.
Bringing my children to Jesus is something that I take seriously. This means that we often make decisions that they don't always enjoy, but have come to expect (i.e. almost daily Faith5, regular worship, giving away some of their birthday money, learning to forgive, support, and love others who hurt them, and making our life of a faith a priority). This has caused our children some pain at times.
While I desire my children to achieve their goals, pursue their passions, etc. what I desire more is that they will come to fully experience the blessing and goodness of Jesus, who calls them to Him. This will put us at odds with the culture and will put us at odds with them from time to time.
Bringing children to Jesus is not for the faint of heart. But since God gave these three beautiful souls to Heidi and me, and because we trust God, we will take up our call as parents with fear and trepidation and not a little prayer. For in the end, Jesus wants my children with Him. And that, to Heidi and I, is our main parental responsibility and, to be sure, our greatest blessing!
Loving Lord, help us bring the children to your gracious presence. Amen.
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