Let the Children Come to Me

Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Yesterday, we had a couple visit our church, with a baby. He was fifteen months old. They sat on the very back row. The baby made some noise from time-to-time and I could hear the parents trying to quiet him with gentle hushing. Personally, the baby sounds made me smile.

Is there anything much closer to the heart of Jesus than a very young child? Children weren’t very well thought of back in Jesus’s day. Yet, three out of the four Gospels record the incident of parents trying to bring their children to Jesus to be blessed. The disciples tried to stop the parents, but Jesus intervened on their behalf.

He said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14 It then goes on to say he placed his hand on them.

Many churches now have the much sought after children’s church. Parents want to worship in peace and quiet and not be bothered by squirmy, noisy children. There are also people within many congregations who have little tolerance for noisy children. They want their worship experience to be completely without the distractions that young children can cause.

The result is some churches have no children at all in their worship service. I find myself asking once again who worship has become about. Is it about our comforts and preferences or is it about glorifying God?

Young children can certainly be noisy, but is excluding them from worship the right thing to do? They usually love children’s church where they often color and sometimes get a snack, but isn’t there something sacred about a family sitting on a pew and worshiping together?

How will they learn hymns? How will they learn that they are part of a family, part of the Body of Christ, if they are always whisked away, right after the singing? Isn’t there something to be learned from seeing everyone around them quietly listen to the pastor reading the scripture, or better yet, see the people around them pulling out their own Bibles?

There are times when a child is screaming, that certainly calls for removing them. But, in a society where we watch television, listen to music and play on our smart phones all at the same time, can the little sounds that a child makes be that distracting?

I went and introduced myself to the parents and the precious little boy after service. They were a little apologetic. I told them not to be. I found others in my church family, saying the same. They made me proud.

A church with children present, whether noisy or not, is a church where parents are trying to introduce their offspring to Jesus. They are trying to teach them about the importance of worship. These parents know that children always learn best by example.

A church who welcomes children in their midst has their eyes on Christ. As followers of the One who said “let the children come to me,” who are we to get in the way?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂