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Thoughts on a theology of children

For Hannelore Zimmerman

By Dr. Steve Hardy

Is it too radical to suggest that all children are actually human beings - people created inGods image, for His glory and pleasure? Admittedly, they can be noisy and irritating (along

with a fair number of adults), but they are not to be ignored or chased away, as esus disciples

tried to do! esus warned" #$ee that you do not despise one of these little ones! %or I tell youthat their angels in hea&en always see the face of my %ather in hea&en' (t *"+-)!

It is true that children dont ha&e much of a biblical data base to build on! hey can be easily

distracted from ust about anything, including learning .ible &erses and stories! .ut it isnt truethat the young ha&e no need to be taught because they are too simple or na/&e to understand

spiritual things! here is no biblical ustification for a so-called #age of accountability!' As we

watch a two-year-old say #no' to e&erything and as they do precisely what they were told not to

do, we 0uite correctly conclude that children are aware of right and wrong! 1hildren need graceand children can administer grace! hey can e2perience the comfort and wonder of Gods

presence with them! It is an incorrect 3nlightenment assumption to conclude that spiritualrealities happen only to those who can critically and &erbally reflect on those e2periences, or to

those who 4now enough to place them into some sort of theological grid! he God who is aware

of sparrows falling (atthew 5) also is present daily in the life of e&ery child, re&ealing Himselfwhile offering protection and guidance! 6hy else does esus refer to #their' angels, as he did in

the atthew * passage cited abo&e? 7salm 89 says that God 4nows e&erything about us from

the womb onward!

he &ast maority of adults who ma4e a decision to follow esus do so before the age of :!

Gi&en increasing resistance to the gospel as children (and adults) grow older, it is appropriateand strategic for a greater percentage of mission money and effort to be in&ested in ministry tochildren! esus certainly encouraged sending and bringing our children to Him! As he said to his

disciples" #;et the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the 4ingdom of God belongs

to such as these' (ar4 +"

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this" #esus preference wasB for those who were poor, outsiders, downtrodden and despised! C

In the 4ingdom of God, the least are the greatest and the greatest are the least! 1hildren illustrate

this perfectly!'

inistry to children is not something that re0uires a separate #4ids' uni&erse with

specialiDed wor4ers and space, etc! 1hildren (li4e e&eryone else) are to be e0uipped for life andministry within and through the community of faith! 6hile a childs primary #community' is his

or her immediate family, that community also in&ol&es the church as the family of God! It is by

obser&ing day-to-day models of life that children learn to pray and worship, to lo&e God, to lo&eothers and to li&e to Gods glory! It is through relationships (especially with godly parents), that

children learn to appreciate God as our Abba %ather and as the one who cares for us so much that

He ga&e His $on to die on our behalf!

Appreciating the &alue of children re0uires that both pastors and parents come to understand

who children are in Gods eyes! 1hurch leaders should #let the children come' to them and to

create time to enoy them as children, ust as each parent should enoy their own children! 6hile

pastors and church leaders need to be aware of their impact as role models and parents, each ande&ery pastor doesnt need to become a #childrens wor4er!' Howe&er, they do need to ma4e sure

that children are recogniDed, nurtured, e0uipped and used in the life and ministry of their church!An essential part of that is to e0uip parents so that they will ha&e the s4ills and the understanding

needed to raise up their children in the fear of the ;ord!

6ithin the conte2t of the community of faith, there is &alue in ha&ing people who are called

to build relationships with and gifted to dedicate themsel&es with passion to ministry with

children! .ut while childrens church with teaching and worship designed for 4ids is fine, it is

e&en better when 4ids are also able to be a part of worship with e&eryone else, too, at leastoccasionally!

esus noted that one of the most powerful apologetics of the 1hristian faith was in the lo&ethat his people would ha&e for one another! 1hildren and young people are part of that

community! ay we enoy building lo&ing relationships with them, and may we delight in the

relationships that children build with us! >nless we all become li4e childrenC