“Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children you will never enter the kingdom of God.” – Matt 18:3. This is the often quoted verse when we talk about child-like faith. But this verse really isn’t about faith. Taken in context it’s actually about humility. It’s Jesus’s answer to the disciple’s question of who is the greatest. There are similar references in Mark 9:36 and Luke 9:47, both of which are also in the context of humility. Two other references, in Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17 allow for the inference of faith as the object lesson. But let’s pull this idea of being child-like out of the text and zoom in on what child-like Christianity might entail in its fullness.
Zeal: I’ve had three kids and I am always amazed at their determination. As soon as an infant learns that they can interact with their environment they are absolutely bound and determined to do so. I remember my middle son getting frustrated because he couldn’t crawl. He could get himself up on all fours but couldn’t quite get his legs and arms to move the way they needed to. His little face would get red and he’d fuss and fuss. Before long he could crawl fine, and then stand and then walk and run. My first child was even better. She could make her legs work right, but not her arms. So for awhile she would push herself across the floor on her face! Both of them saw something they wanted and were determined to do what they had to do, to learn what they had to learn to get where they wanted to go. Christ says we should approach God with this same zeal. Spend the time learning the Scriptures, in prayer, working with zeal to learn more about Him and grow closer to Him.
Perseverance: This is really an extension of zeal. But when a child is learning to walk or even ride a bike they fall down. A lot. But they stand back up, they get back on the bike, and try again. We don’t do this as much when we’re adults. When things get too hard we eventually give up. We’re not cut out for that, is what we think. Our faith life is like that, too. We walk in faith and we believe in God and then something goes wrong and we get discouraged. That’s understandable. But Christ tells us to pick ourselves back up, dust ourselves off, and get back on the bike.
Faith: Even though faith is not the specific context of our chosen verse, it is still a part of child-like Christianity. I remember two instances when I really saw what child-like faith was. My daughter had prayed to God for it to snow over night. When she woke up she immediately ran to the window to see the snow. Not to see ‘IF’ it snowed, but to see the snow she took for granted would be there. Another time her mother was making her a superhero costume with a cape. She climbed on a chair to try it on and jumped of the chair. She started to cry because she couldn’t understand why she was still on the ground. You see, she thought that if she had a cape she could fly. It never even crossed her mind that, if she raised her arms to the sky and jumped, it might not really work. It was actually kind of touching.
These are just a few examples of what it really means to live a child-like Christian life. Can you share some others from your own observations?
tveministries 