What Do We Do With The Children?

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One of the biggest questions for many in the Western Church is "What do we do with the children?" Most of those believe that shipping them off to Sunday School to hear Jonah and the Whale 2000 times before they're 18 years old isn't the answer. Most of those also know that it's wrong at its core that they're trying to determine how to best "incorporate children into church," when Jesus simply said "Let them come to Me." What Do We Do With The Children, then?

The Eastern and Third World Church, by and large, practice the simplicity in this matter that Jesus commanded. The Eastern and Third World Church generally don't separate the concept of church and life, and they approach raising children in the faith in the same manner. Just as parents do not abdicate responsibility for their children's education when they send them to school, neither does "the church" bear the primary responsibility for our children's spiritual upbringing. That rests with the parents. Daunting as that challenge may sometimes be, it holds the promise of a shared journey in which child and parent alike become a mutual blessing in truly learning from God through one another.

Our friend Hamo from Perth, Australia, vividly shares this simplicity in a recent post, telling about a revelatory experience with his daughter, Ellie. Hamo writes:

"It was a short time ago that it dawned on me just how vital our input and role modeling is to the children we raise. On a Monday morning after making the kids breakfast I let them know I was going to spend some time in my study ‘talking to Jesus’. They have seen me do this each day and it is just part our routine now.

My 6 year old daughter Ellie, asked ‘Daddy can I talk to Jesus with you some day?’

‘Sure honey’ I answered. ‘Finish your breakfast, grab your Bible and come in!’

I began wondering what to do and how to teach my 6 year old daughter to speak to Jesus..."

A quiet smile and a nod of the head to Hamo for this post and to Terry for making us aware of the beautiful song in the video below, entitled My Father's Chair by David Meece.

Read the rest of Hamo's wonderful post.







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