Loving Our Children

Last week, the teachers had our bi-monthly meeting. In discussing our philosophy of ministry at Cross, we talked about how important it was that we treat the children and youth we teach as if they were our own. To accept them and love them deeply, but also to love them enough not to allow bad habits and false ideas about God to blossom. This is important because many times when we don't see things this way, it leaves room for bad habits to form. For instance, most parents know that when a child displays a bad attitude or throws a tantrum, the worst thing is to allow them to think that this is a good type of behavior. Why then would we allow them to do this at church? What are we really teaching them by letting them get their way?

In some ways, letting them get away with things at church might be more than just bad, it might be detrimental. When we allow children to put their needs before God's or when we let them think that they can disrupt worship, we are passively teaching them that church is not about God but about them.

In an article I recently read, Greg Stier writes about 5 Reasons Jesus Would Be Fired if He Was Your Youth Pastor. I think all five reasons (well really four) were helpful to think about, but his number 1 reason kept me thinking. Stiers says that Jesus would shrink the group before he grew it. I don't think Jesus (or Stier) would do this just to keep the numbers down. It's more about seeing value in the quality of the group over the quantity. In other words, if we really want to do ministry as Jesus does it, we might think less about what people want and more about what is good for people. This, of course, includes grace, love, peace, and acceptance. However, it also includes speaking truth, rebuking, and working through conflicts.

We know that when we love someone, we do more than just be nice. We get involved, things get messy, there's some conflict, but we love them enough to work through it. We are called to love our children and youth this way. We are also called to love one another this way.