The Wonderful World of Children
--What the church of Jesus Christ can learn from Disney
“Dad can I have a glass of water please?” the little boy called...
“No, go to sleep.”
“Dad, I’m thirsty, can I have a glass of water please?”
“NO, go to sleep.”
“Daaaad, I’m really thirsty. Can you get me a glass of water please?”
“No, and if you ask once more I’ll spank you”
(Silence)
“Dad, when you come into spank me can you bring a glass of water please?”
Ps 127:3 “Children are a gift from the Lord”---even though, at times, they can be exasperating, annoying, even irritating. They are a still a gift.
My family and I recently visited Disney World-- our first experience. Now, we know that Disney World is not the epitome of Christian values, but I couldn’t help but find lessons during our time there...lessons that can help challenge the church in its mission to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ...
Today, I want to focus only on one major principal...a principal that was part of the earliest core mission of Walt Disney himself...
Walt’s dream was to create an unforgettable experience for children…a place where kids could be with their parents/grandparents and be totally amazed. Not just amused, but amazed. Where Children mattered. They were valued.
1. Children Matter…They are central to the mission…
Walt Disney wrote "Both my study of Scripture and my career in entertaining children have taught me to cherish them."
2. Disney built its empire around how to entertain children. Kids Love Disney World. They talk about it for weeks afterwards. It seems to be a safe place to have fun. It brings the families together, even for a short while.
--on the other hand, I’ve heard it for years, especially from pre-teen or middle school aged kids…Church is boring. There’s not much there for me. Yawn.
--Today we have incredible Sunday school and VBS materials…songs, skits, crafts, lessons. It is much harder today for kids to say that, but if you grew up in church you might identify somewhat with the “church is boring’ sentiment.
--it was for me when I was a youth…get dressed up on church day in an uncomfortable polyester suit…and go to Bible class and maybe color a page, and hear a mission story, and listen to reading from a King James bible, which I didn’t quite understand. Then we’d go into big people church and were supposed to sit still and quiet for an hour with no talking or fidgeting. That was tough…for some kids, that’s a weekly arm wrestle, maybe a full nelson. I’ve seen parents take their children out of the sanctuary kicking and screaming...but this is all part of teaching children to be quiet, respectful, and devoted...
ILLUS: People from a popular Children’s Ministry group gathered dozens of children for a focus group. They gave them a big sheet of white paper, magic markers of every color, and snacks…"If you could create your dream church the best church ever what would that be like?"
1. “Kids would have their very own church building, with many different playrooms. And cakes would be baking! There would be big trees outside to play in and on." Brittney G., age 7
2. "Learning Bible stories would involve playing sports. We would have lots of show and share times."
David S., age 8
3. "Kids get to be outside and explore and play lots of games. Kids get to do more crafts and listen to fast music. And we’d get to bring our pets to class." Cassidy W., age 9
4. "Church would be held outdoors with the birds and clouds.., and a ladder to climb on whenever we wanted." Dean W., age 6
5. "Church would be inside a tree, carved out of the trunk not inside a boring building."
Bret C., age 11
6. "There would be lots of outdoor activities, like scavenger hunts. We’d play lots of games and sports. We’d do lots of skits and sing only upbeat songs. We’d also do lots of crafts and watch some movies. And we’d only say short prayers!"
Karina S., age 10
Wait a minute, we say, the church isn’t supposed to entertain. Entertain literally means to “hold one’s attention.” Amusement is different…from muse-think, and a-not…not thinking. No…church should not simply amuse, but it should hold our attention.
--Jesus was anything but boring. Crowds flocked around Jesus to hear his compelling stories, to watch his amazing miracles, to have him bless them and teach them. Parents and Kids loved to be around Jesus.
Turn in your bibles to Mark 10:13-16
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 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. 15 I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." 16 And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.
The disciples were well-meaning. They knew Jesus was heading now toward Jerusalem, talking about ominous, serious things ahead, busy teaching important lessons to the disciples—he didn’t have time for such things as blessing children. Or so they thought! Jesus actually becomes “indignant” with them. Jesus becomes “indignant” only twice in the Bible: here, and when the teachers of the law object to his healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. He makes it clear that children are very important…
Keep in mind that children had zero status in that society. One Roman official of that time once wrote a letter to his pregnant wife and said: “When the child is born, if it is a boy keep it, if it is a girl, drown it!” One Bible Commentary said that the unscrupulous would collect exposed children and raise them to be gladiators or prostitutes and even disfigure them to enhance their value as beggars.
What I noticed at Disney World is that children matter.
The same should be true for the church...children matter to God…In fact Jesus said if we don’t receive the kingdom like a child, we won’t enter it. We need to look through a child’s worldview more often in how we prepare our worship services...are we including children in the songs, sermons, ministries our churches provide?
Illus: do you remember your favorite birthday or Christmas gift???
Anyone…what do you remember as your favorite??
--One Christmas I got two full boxes of football cards, and an electronic football game…wow! Just like the pictures in the JC Penny’s catalog. Awesome. I unwrapped 20 packs of cards had a wad of gum in my jaw, barely breath, going through each player.
--One thing I didn’t do was make a list and say, ‘well I’m unworthy to receive this gift because I’m not good enough.” Or “I had better pay mom and dad for all this cool stuff, I’ll go check my piggy bank.”
--Why? Kid’s know how to simply receive without false alterior motives. When I bring something my sons or daughter, they say ‘Thank you Daddy.’ And it brings me pleasure.
In the same way, God wants to save you…he is making a home for you and I in heaven.
Jesus said in Luke 12:32 that it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Sometimes a few people talk as if God is mad at everyone and wants to keep people out of his Kingdom….but it is a gift through Jesus Christ, and we can’t earn it, don’t deserve it, but we can receive it as a little child…
And children receive gifts and trust the giver…Children are good at trust!!!
Illus; Men’s group led by Tim Hansel…good author/speaker. He wrote a book called “Holy Sweat” describing the time when he and his son Zac and were out in the country, climbing around in some cliffs. Then Hansel heard a voice from above him yell, "Hey Dad! Catch me!" He turned around to see Zac joyfully jumping off a rock straight at him. He had jumped and then yelled "Hey Dad!" He became an instant circus act, catching him until they both fell to the ground. For a moment after he caught him he could hardly talk. That could have been dangerous.
When he found my voice again he gasped in exasperation: "Zac! Can you give me one good reason why you did that???"
He responded with remarkable calmness: "Sure...because you’re my Dad." His whole assurance was based in the fact that his father was trustworthy. He could live life to the hilt because he could be trusted. Isn’t this even more true for a Christian?
ILLUS: I noticed with all three of my kids when they were learning to swim, that I would put them on the edge of the water and ask them to jump. At first they’d be a little nervous, but then they’d jump trusting daddy. And then they’d want to do it again and again and again. Children tend to trust adults. Most of the time they tend to believe that people are good and you can trust them. Children will make friends with total strangers if you let them.
But as we get older, we learn that not everyone has good intentions…Distrust takes over. We’re hurt, let down, we become jaded, cynical, distant…By the time we reach adulthood most people know that there are no free lunches and if a stranger pays attention to you … you better be careful.
Prov 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
ILLUS: I read about someone who took flying lessons…In his own words, “my instructor told me to put the plane into a steep and extended dive. I was totally unprepared for what was about to happen.
“After a brief time the engine stalled, and the plane began to plunge out-of-control. It soon became evident that the instructor was not going to help me at all. After a few seconds, which seemed like eternity, my mind began to function again. I quickly corrected the situation.
“Immediately I turned to the instructor and began to vent my fearful frustrations on him. He very calmly said to me, ‘There is no position you can get this airplane into that I cannot get you out of. If you want to learn to fly, go up there and do it again.’ At that moment God seemed to be saying to me, ‘Remember this. As you serve Me, there is no situation you can get yourself into that I cannot get you out of. If you trust me, you will be all right.’
--Children matter, and in the Kingdom of heaven, their perspective in receiving and trusting God is vitally important. If you’ve grown up too fast, if you’ve forgotten the simple trust in your heavenly father, if you’ve come up with every reason not to believe, you need to Jump into the Father’s arms as a child who know how to trust a loving parent.
No, Disney is not, as mentioned earlier, the best example of Christian morals in all that they do, but what they do well is reach children and families...and the church would do well to remember the primary place Jesus gave to little children...
