Post by: Jed Chun
“When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."" — Mark 10:14-15 (NIV)
A few weeks ago, I posted a personal reflection stating that I had gained a little more insight regarding child-like faith from a retreat that I attended. It may seem a little cliché that I’m referencing Mark 10:14-15, but I think that there is something in this verse that is often overlooked when the topic of child-like faith is discussed. Many times it is the innocence and humility of children that ends up being the main point of discussion, but after having spent the entire previous weekend with youth, I found there is a little more to it than just that. After observing the youth and reflecting on their behavior and attitudes, I saw something in them that many older folk typically lack: excitement and enthusiasm. Notice that above I said “many,” and not “all.” This is because I’m more than aware that there are enthusiastic and excited individuals in our lives, and especially in the church.
Take a moment to think about the person that you want to see the least making announcements or speaking on stage. My guess is that it’s probably the youth pastor, the missions chair/deacon/person-that’s-in-charge-of-missions at your church, the head of the small group development, or the person who’s in charge of asking for volunteers at the church. In my experience, these people are normally the ones who are most excited to advertise church events and push people to come help out and volunteer. Yet it’s precisely because of their excitement that we dread them. Why is that? It’s because these people are the ones who always remind us to serve, to get excited, to be active; the exact opposite of what most people want to do.
I admit that I have gone so far as to try and leave the room when these people made announcements. My reason for going to such great lengths was to escape the guilt that I would feel for constantly ducking away and not responding to their overly enthusiastic demeanor. For some though, it might be because it reminds them of the responsibilities they should be picking up at the church and convicts them of their laziness. Others might think such things are unnecessary or just plain stupid since no one in their right mind should be excited about picking up trash after church. The conviction makes us uncomfortable, these bubbly people make us uncomfortable, the sense of responsibility makes us uncomfortable - especially when all we want to do is just follow along and enjoy the programming.
“We get it, thanks for making us feel bad. But what does this have to do with enthusiastic kids, Jed?” Calm down. I’m getting to it. It has everything to do with enthusiastic kids because enthusiasm is a child’s default setting. Yet as we get older, our default setting shifts from enthusiasm to apathy. Nothing excites us anymore and we feel so busy trying to find a break that we look forward to just being able to sit back and do nothing. As Christians, we need to be like enthusiastic children when it comes to Jesus and especially when it comes to things that we see as chores.
Let’s take a look at the verse again, Jesus says “Let the children come to me.” There is a subtle implication here that rests on the very first word, “let.” This implies that the children actually want to come to Jesus. You LET children do something when they want to do it. Something that you yourself might not want to do, let alone have the children do. Clearly the disciples were thinking along the lines of, “Go bother someone else, kids this guy is very important.” Although the adults didn’t want them there, the children themselves wanted to approach Jesus. Sure, if you look at the verse right before, which says that their parents had brought them, you might think, “Jed, they didn’t want to be there; they were forced to be there!” But hold on a second. Think about what happens when you take kids to somewhere that they don’t want to be. Just picture it. There would be tears, screaming, crying and frustrated faces. That doesn’t describe how the children were being depicted here. The disciples were stopping these children from going to Jesus, despite the fact that these kids wanted to see Jesus. They were curious, excited - entranced even. They wanted to meet this person that the adults had been chatting and murmuring to each other about. What’s the big deal about this guy they call Jesus?
Now, see how children, who have not yet understood the amazing love of Christ, are so excited about this mysterious man? How much more then, should we be excited about being a part of the kingdom of Heaven? Have we lost sight of just how amazing our God is, that He isn’t worth our excitement and enthusiasm anymore? Have we lost sight of how thrilled we should be that that we are even afforded the opportunity to come before Him and participate in the work that He is doing? Sure cleaning the sanctuary and stacking chairs are not the most fun of jobs. And yet when we look at the youth, they are able to find excitement in doing these menial tasks and still wait eagerly for what else is to come. We should share in having this attitude. If not in the upkeep of the house of the Lord, then absolutely in expanding his Kingdom and sharing His love. If such things do not excite you, perhaps it is time to re-examine how you see Jesus. What does He even mean to you? Why do you keep coming to church? I’m not trying to condemn anyone here. I just want people to seriously reconsider what their priorities are. I know for me personally, when I forget what Christ has done for me, even sitting alone and speaking with Him becomes a chore. When I forget who He is, His presence in my life is no longer significant, let alone exciting.
We need to be like the children. We need to have the passion, excitement, and enthusiasm that comes with the celebration of our salvation and the absolute awe of our relationships with the Creator of the universe.
Grace and Peace,
Jed Chun
Jed Chun is a registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern and is actively involved at a Chinese American church in the San Gabriel Valley. He is passionate about bringing the concepts of healthy family development and relationships into the context of Asian immigrant and Asian American communities. He hopes that through his words, his experiences in his faith, and his journey with God can be an encouragement to others to love God and love one another.