And Do Not Hinder Them??

Ohhh, my whole ministry could revolve around the following passage in Mark. And honestly, this is what we should mimic and enforce when we interact with our kids.

Basically, this is what happens, in a short synopsis:

People were bringing their children to have Jesus, (the scriptures simply say) touch them. (What faith of the parents that they believed they only needed to be touched by Jesus!! But, that's for another day.) The disciples who were following in the ways of Jesus,  the people religiously practicing Jesus' teachings, told them--Sorry, don't bother Jesus. He's busy- take the kids somewhere else.

In all of Jewish culture, this isn't a bizarre thing. Children were not counted in head counts and they are very rarely mentioned in scripture. They were only claimed by their family if the father of the household chose to hold the baby within the first ten days of life. If he didn't they were literally put in the streets and left on their own.  Children were just possessions.  Children had very little worth... until Jesus came along.

Jesus heard the disciples REBUKE those who were bringing their children to Jesus. And this is what He said : " Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these..." 

We look at Jesus telling the adults and the disciples the first command: to ALLOW the little children to come to him. That's easy, all it requires of us is allowing our children to begin walking towards and WITH Jesus. What a hopeful image that Jesus wants to have that relationship with our kids and He's just waiting for them to come!

 But often, we look over the second command- DO NOT hinder them.  Hinder means to create obstacles or to delay in progress. In Matthew 18, Jesus goes on to depict what what it would look like if we create obstacles for our kids. " But if anyone causes one of these little to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." 

Ouch!! Jesus is obviously very serious about our job about not hindering or causing obstacles for our kids. What a brutal image to be drowned just for not removing a stumbling block from a child's life. So what's the opposite? Removing them! If we could all learn from Jesus and be advocates for our  children, it would be SO easy for the little children to get to Him! If we see something really apparent that is causing the child to question the love of God or the sovereignty of God- let's help get rid of it!

Some things that cause children to stumble:

False teachings, abusive relationships, interactions with others in the church, when people in the church do not live out the gospel, negative relationships in the home, mixed messages from Sunday School teachers, questions about scripture or how children see us treat one another...

I'm praying this over our whole congregation that we would be a community that sprints and scurries to remove blockades out of our children's lives and that we would be so in-tune to their needs. They are a vibrant, growing and vital part of our community and it is our job to remove, dump, liberate, demolish, tear apart, break down and eliminate anything that keeps them from the truth of Jesus Christ! Let's join together as we become more aware of their needs and how we can best show the love of Jesus Christ to them!