Jesus Likes Kids!
Matthew 19:13-15
January 27, 2008
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE."
Me: You know, I kinda like kids. In fact, I love kids – at least certain ones.
I think kids are a good idea – especially since I used to be one.
I think God thinks kids are a good idea – after all, He invented them, right? It was His idea in the first place – way back in the garden, He told them to be fruitful and multiply. And I don’t think He was saying, “grow apples and do math.” He was saying, “have kids.”
By the way, just before I get any farther – I say, “kids,” not “children.” I know that some people don’t like that.
“They’re not baby goats!” they say. And I understand that. I’m not calling them goats. I’m simply using the term that I grew up using and grew up hearing, and is a generally accepted term for those young offspring you call children.
To me, “children” just seems too academic and stuffy when I say it. So I’ll stick with “kids” most of the time.
But anyway – I like kids.
We: I think all of us would say we like kids. Maybe they’re our own kids, or maybe they belong to the neighbors or to some relative or friend.
It could be that some of you like kids only for making you thankful that you don’t have any of your own!
Others would like kids but are unable to. And it breaks their hearts.
Children can bring a smile to people in a hurry – they can liven up a room just by walking in.
They’re funny just because they’re so ignorant of everyone’s expectations of them.
If kids weren’t so enjoyable and lovable, then why are they used so much in TV commercials?
There’s nothing like watching a serious TV show and then a commercial comes on with some kid singing, “I wish I were an Oscar Meyer weiner…” Right? Right!
Most people like kids. Most people aren’t like Dennis the Menace’s neighbor, Mr. Wilson, who just can’t seem to see anything likeable in little Dennis.
Most people like kids.
God: The Bible tells us that Jesus likes kids.
Matthew 19:13-15 –
13 Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." 15 When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.
I want to give you the point of this passage right up front, because I want to spend the majority of our time showing how it works out in our lives.
So here’s the key idea of these three verses:
We are the gateway to Jesus for our children.
And I’m not just talking about those children in our household.
I’m talking about all the children we have the chance to influence, whether you’re a mom or dad, aunt or uncle, teacher, family friend, or whatever.
Grown-ups have the power to either bring children to Jesus or keep them from Him.
We are the gateway to Jesus for our children.
This is an extremely important concept for you and me to grasp. The power we have to influence the young’uns around us is tremendous.
Next week we’re going to look at some specific ways from this passage that will help us be like Jesus to kids, but today I want us to look at this hugely important idea of how we influence our kids for Christ.
Two commands here: “Let them come to Me,” and “Don’t get in their way.
Let’s look at these a little bit and see just how these play out in our day and age.
The first command is…
1. “Let them come to Me.”
How do we do that?
> Bring them to church and Wednesday night activities.
Notice I didn’t say, “Take them to church and drop them off.”
I said “bring them.” This means that you come with them.
On Sundays this doesn’t seem to be much of a problem with those who attend here.
But on Wednesday nights, we have a number of kiddos who show up, but mom and dad won’t bring them to church on Sundays.
It could be that they’re exhausted after a long week at work, or because Sunday may be the only day they get to sleep in, or maybe they work on Sundays.
There are lots of reasons people will bring their kids to church activities but won’t come here as a family.
It’s sad, but true. And believe me, I rack my brain trying to think of ways to help families come here as a unit on Sundays.
We’re also open to having activities or Bible studies that would allow these parents to be here at the church so they can be here and not drop them off to attend something else somewhere else and cause them to have to run all over town.
If you’ve got ideas, your leadership and I would truly love to hear them!
Anyway, you here have the opportunity to influence your children to find Christ by being here with your kiddos.
> Be intentional about teaching about Jesus during regular “life moments.”
What I mean is that as things come along in life, you can use those as opportunities to point your kids to Jesus.
Things like how the seasons change but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Or how Jesus knows how we feel when we’re rejected by someone we thought was a friend.
Now I want to be careful here. I think that sometimes we can over-spiritualize things if we’re not careful.
Some things aren’t necessarily meant to be tied in with the Bible lesson in Sunday School.
There are some people who try to tie absolutely everything to a spiritual lesson, and you know what? It drives people bonkers.
I remember one time in college when a bunch of us got together to watch a movie.
At the end of the movie, one of the guys said, “So who do you think was the ‘Christ figure’ in the movie?”
And I’m like, “Can’t you just watch a movie just to enjoy it? It’s a DISNEY movie for crying out loud!”
I can just imagine some parents driving through Texas or Florida and saying, “See that dead armadillo, kids? Even with all its outward protection, it was still no match for the pick-up that just ran over it. In the same way, we might think we’ve got things together outwardly, but you never know when the 4x4 of life will knock you dead and if you don’t have Jesus, then you’re just spiritual roadkill…”
Feel free to use real-life situations to point kids to Jesus, but think while you’re doing it, okay?
Here’s another way to help your child come to Jesus:
> Speak of your faith in Christ often.
I’m of the opinion that a person who is committed to following Jesus will have opportunities to speak of Him on a regular basis.
It might be in prayer at the dinner table, or it might be in a conversation about how your day went as you came across something that made you thankful for what Jesus did for you.
Or maybe you had an opportunity to put into practice something Jesus said and you saw God do something huge in someone’s life.
Jesus doesn’t have to be in every sentence or even every conversation. But your children need to know that Jesus influences and impacts every part of your life, and you’re willing to let them know that.
One of the biggest opportunities you will have to do this is when the hard times come.
What will they hear in your voice? Will it be panic, or a faith that Jesus is there for you, even if things don’t pan out the way you hope?
Another way to help your kiddos find Jesus is to…
> Model a lifestyle of love and submission to Christ.
There is no “Do as I say, not as I do” in Christianity. That’s dangerous in any setting, but especially when it comes to our kids.
It teaches that lip-service Christianity is just fine, and that Jesus is only interested in our words, not our attitudes and actions.
The world has a word for those who say one thing and do another: hypocrite. And you’d better believe that recognize it in a hurry.
Show your children that you’re serious about following Jesus in every area of life, even when it’s not convenient, because you know that God’s ways are best, even when we don’t understand why.
So those are some ways you can obey Jesus’ words to “let them come to Me.” But let’s look at the second part of that sentence:
2. “Don’t get in their way.”
I’m not going to spend a lot of time on these, because I prefer to emphasize what you should do rather than what you shouldn’t. But these are important enough that I think you should know them.
> Being casual in church attendance and fellowship.
We’re telling our kids that church is great if it’s convenient, but disposable when it’s not.
And it says that worshiping God Almighty is optional for someone who claims to love God and follow Jesus.
Another way we can get in the way of our kiddos finding Jesus is by…
> Discouraging questions and discussions about Jesus, the Bible, faith, etc.
I’m of the opinion that kids would rather ask questions of mom and dad than their Sunday School teacher, because it’s usually safer, and mom and dad probably won’t laugh at them like some of the kids in their class might.
But if you’re not willing to let your kids ask, then you’re shutting them off to Christ.
Some people discourage these kinds of questions because they don’t know the answers and don’t want to look stupid to their kids – and I understand that.
So let me make a suggestion: next time your kiddo asks you a question about Jesus or the Bible or whatever, and you don’t know the answer, here’s what you say:
“I don’t know. Let me see if I can find an answer for you.” Then make a note to call someone who might know the answer.
It’s okay to admit you don’t know. But if you’re willing to help them find an answer, their respect for you will climb.
A third way we can hinder children from finding Jesus is to…
> Live a life showing that Jesus is not a priority for you.
For too many people, Jesus is a nice convenience when they’re in trouble, and they’re great about talking about Him at Christmas, Easter, weddings, funerals, and baptisms.
But ask them to order their life around Christ and His priorities, and you’ll get a look like a deer in headlights.
Or worse, a speech about how “Jesus loves me for who I am and we get along just fine without me being a ‘holy-roller’ like you.”
Children very quickly pick up on the fact that Jesus isn’t really the boss in your life.
“If mom and dad don’t need Jesus, then maybe I don’t need Him, either.”
They’ll get the idea that Jesus is cool with them just shoehorning Him into their life when they need a touch of religion for these things like weddings and funerals and such.
But the fact of the matter is that Jesus isn’t happy with that. He wants to run the show – completely and totally.
Here’s the one that makes me the most uncomfortable of all:
> “Letting them decide when they’re older.”
On the surface this sounds good, because no one wants to be accused of shoving Jesus down their kids’ throats.
And if you’re serious about living out the first command in this verse in the way’s I’ve mentioned, or others that you can find, then I don’t think you’re going to run the risk of shoving Jesus down their throats.
But you have to understand the danger of the philosophy that you’ll just not point them to any religion in particular and let them decide when they’re older.
The danger is that you’re already making the decision for them by telling them that faith in Christ is a non-essential in life.
Or that Jesus is just one of a bunch of choices a person can make if the decide to “get religion.”
But you need to hear this: if they grow up without Christ and end up leaving this life without Him, they will pay for your decision for eternity.
Why is it your decision? Because you – the main influencers in your children’s life, modeled a life that said faith in Christ isn’t important.
Jesus isn’t just one option out of many. He’s the only option. That’s not me saying that – that’s Jesus saying that.
He said that the only way to heaven is by believing and following Him.
Don’t risk your child’s eternity with the faulty thought that you shouldn’t influence them one way or the other. Be intentional about influencing them for Christ.
By the way, that doesn’t mean you don’t answer their questions and doubts. You sit with them and work through those things with them, helping them find answers that satisfy their questions and doubts.
But help them find Jesus.
You: Don’t be like the disciples in this passage.
They meant well – they didn’t want Jesus to waste His time with children when He should be spending time with the important grown-ups.
I don’t think they hated kids – they just saw them as an inconvenience to Jesus, and Jesus told them that not only were they not an inconvenience to Him, He wanted to bless them.
What I want you to take away from here today is the idea that you need to be intentional about exposing Jesus to the kiddos in your circle of influence.
Let me suggest something that you can do today or this week that can have a huge impact on both you and the children around you:
Do it this afternoon – the Super Bowl isn’t until next Sunday, so you’ll have time, and it probably won’t take more than 15-30 minutes.
List out on paper those things that you are doing to bring your children to Jesus and what you are doing that is hindering them from coming to Jesus.
This can be a real eye-opening experience because you might find that you’ve been unconsciously doing things that help children find Christ, and that’s a great thing.
But it can be eye-opening for other reasons, because you may find that your attitudes, words, and actions are actually keeping the children around you from finding Christ.
And don’t stop at just listing this stuff. Take a hard look at the list and think of ways to do the good stuff even better and how you can get rid of those things that are standing in the way.
If you’re not sure how to do some of that, call or shoot me an e-mail by going to the website and clicking on the link. I’ve also got my e-mail address listed in your note-taking guide.
I’d be glad to do anything I can to help you. Your kids are worth it – to you, to me, and especially to Jesus.
We: Folks, this is so important. As I just mentioned a few moments ago, the eternal destiny of our kids – of your kids is a stake.
Please take this seriously.
Talk to just about any adult in their 40’s or above, and they’ll tell you that our society is going downhill in a hurry, and that our kids aren’t helping.
They’re obsessed with video games, myspace, internet chat rooms, and entertainment that mocks God.
And for a lot of kids, all this is true.
But I’m convinced that if we would be intentional about raising our kids to have access to Christ and helping them know Him so they can believe in Him, love Him, and serve Him, then not only can we rescue our own children from harmful affects of a world being manipulated by the devil, we can influence other families and other children to find Christ for themselves.
But rhetoric doesn’t cut it. It takes intentional, decisive action on our parts to be people who bring children to Christ and not hinder them.
Will you do it? For their sake? I hope so. Let’s pray.
