Have you ever been told to stop acting like a child? Those words can sting, right? Generally, when someone tells us we are acting childish, it’s because they perceive something we are doing as being immature, we are overly emotional about something, or just naive. I know personally I’ve never heard someone say “You are acting childish.” and I felt better about the decision I was making. Being called childish carries this underlying tone of being out of place, annoying, and even in the way. However, when the disciples were arguing over who was the most important in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus changed their perspective as he invited a child to come over and told them unless they became like this child, they wouldn’t even get into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Today I want us to dig into this concept of what Jesus meant by “becoming like a little child” and how we as pastors and leaders can leverage this idea to better communicate with our community.
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Matthew 18:1-4
Let’s start this off by looking at the reason Jesus even brought this up. He has a group of disciples that in our common terms we would say were acting childish as they argued over who would be the “greatest” in the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus looks at these arguing disciples and maybe internally rolls his eyes because they just don’t get it. He sees a child close by, calls the kid over, and maybe even whispers to the kid “Watch this.” with a little smirk on his face. He then places this child “in the front of the line” in the Kingdom of Heaven. I assume when Jesus said this to them, his hope was that they recalled a recent discussion he had with them about little children:
Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked 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.” – (Matthew 18:13-14)
When we dig in a bit we can see what he was telling them was to adjust their perception of what’s important. Jesus wanted them to see that being great isn’t what’s important. Being humble is.
As pastors and leaders our job is to guide those we shepherd towards the Kingdom of Heaven. If we are going to do that well, we have to communicate to them what is important in the Kingdom of Heaven. Let’s look at 3 ways we can share with our communities how to be a bit more… childish.
- Humility as a First Response
When Jesus drew parallels between the child and the Kingdom of Heaven, he specified the child’s humility. Do you know what most kids don’t care about? What society thinks of them. Seriously, a child will do the most embarrassing thing without a care in the world. They are not chasing some social status. They simply want to show you how they can jump off the curb and do a cool spin.
It feels like now more than ever, people are striving for first, most important, and top of the board. There’s a “my team is better than yours” mentality that carries across all groups of politics, theologies, and everything in between. We have this desire to be right and prove that all others are wrong. I believe that we need to remind our communities that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are humble. Maybe our next sermon series can include a conversation about having that child-like humility that Jesus pointed his disciples toward when they were bickering about who should be first. I would challenge you to teach your church to care less about being right, first, or most important, and remind them that Jesus guarantees that the first shall be last, and the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to the humble.
2. Faith in the Big
A term we hear thrown around a lot in Christian circles is Faith like a Child. Technically, Jesus never instructed us to have a specific childlike faith, but if he directed us to be a bit more childlike, I think faith could be considered in this space. A child has faith in everything they trust. I could have told my son when he was 3 years old to jump off the house and I would catch him and he would have gone for it without question. Why? Because he had faith that his dad could do what he said. Well, that same son is now 14 and a only few inches shorter than me. If I told him to jump off the house today, he would stop and assess a few things first. Why? Did he lose faith in me? No. He just has a broader understanding of what is possible. He may end up jumping, but first, he’s going to consider things like “When was the last time I saw dad carry something that weighed the same as me?” or “What if dad can’t do what he says he can?”. The understanding of reality would cause him to second guess. As we grow older, our faith in something can get clouded by the reality that surrounds us. Luckily, God is capable of overcoming our reality, but sometimes we have a hard time believing that.
Our communities need a refresher of Faith. Life has been and continues to be hard. Realities of life seem to have gotten in the way of the belief that God can do anything or maybe that God will do anything. I believe we have a responsibility to remind our churches that Faith is not only essential but is the thing our hope is built on. Without faith, we crumble. Let’s take the opportunity laid out in front of us to renew faith within our communities. Remind them of God’s goodness, His authority over all things big and small, and his undying love for them.
3. Wonder in the Small
Do you remember the first time you saw something truly amazing? Perhaps it was a fireworks display that awed you. Maybe it was seeing a massive waterfall that had cut its way down a mountain. Whatever your moment, we’ve all experienced that “wow” moment. The one that drops your jaw, takes your breath away or quickens your pulse. That’s wonder. It’s our body’s response to the thing that seems greater than we imagined. You know what’s great about a child’s wonder? It doesn’t take a huge display for them to notice it. I’ve seen a child lean in close to a blade of grass with wonder in their eyes. It’s as if kids not only see wonder in everything, but it’s like they search it out. They are constantly on the lookout for what will surprise them next.
When was the last time you noticed the air you breathed and that it was created for you? What about the details in the veins of a leaf to give it the life support it needs? When did you last sit back and look at God’s creation, how He’s provided for you, the way He has loved you, and how your heart quickened a bit? Our churches need to feel this sense of wonder. They need to be reminded that God is still doing the miraculous, as badly as we do. A child can find wonder in what we consider the everyday. We should challenge our community to do the same.
When asked who was the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus could have reprimanded the disciples. Told them to stop bickering about pointless things. Rolled his eyes and ignored their petty dispute. Instead, he showed them a child and said be more like this. If we are going to disciple our church, we need to take a teaching point from the greatest Teacher of them all and remind our community that the humility, faith, and wonder of a child is more important than any status. Let’s all stop fighting for the front of the line, and instead, find the beauty in being a child of God.