"Let the Children Come to Me"

Hello again...it's good to be back.

Ever since I began writing this blog, life has taken on a new scope for me. At least, I think of life in terms of "between the blogs," if that makes any sense at all. Basically, I let a few days (or weeks, if I'm too busy or too lazy...they can be interchangeable at times, I'm sad to admit) go by to "refresh" my lens and get a grasp on something a bit different, or even updated from my last posting. Not that life revolves around the blog; no, it revolves around Christ, but He opens my eyes to different things all the time. So, without further ado...

I'm involved with a movement called KIDZ ROCK in my area. Actually, if you want to get right down to it, it's the brainchild of mine and my father's vision for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. Well, at least one leg of it, anyway. I cannot begin to describe how desperately excited I am about this move.

You see, the children are the Church of tomorrow. And as the Church of today, it's our job to get them involved in the Church of today so they can have an even greater and more Biblical Church of tomorrow. Following?

Often times, we see youth groups that are stagnant and dying, or we see them bursting at the seams with event after event and full schedules of great fun and outings, and even some outreach. However, the reason people say that youth leaders have it the hardest is sometimes because adolescence is a very difficult time for teenagers, what with hormonal changes, life readjustments, and the struggle to become someone who is NOT self-serving or egocentric. (Don't we all struggle with that on a day-to-day anyway?) And, many times, we can trace that back to a slightly faulty method of raising those kids in the admonition of the Lord.

Now, before you behead me mentally, hear me out. I am not a father, so I am NOT about to say the all-time favorite cliche of "I know how I'd raise my kid!" Nay, I don't want those words put in my mouth...rather, I'd like to speak on behalf of children and youth having recently (that is, in the last 15 years) been a product of either of those groups in the Church.

I remember having a lot of fun in "Children's Church." I remember hearing Bible stories. I remember snacks, glorious snacks. And that's about it. I remember singing, but not being LED. That's not to say that my teachers/guardians at the time were ungodly. They were some of the sweetest and loving people I've ever known. But I think, all too often, we undermine the imagination and mindset of a child.

Remember what Christ said about children? In Mark 10:13-16, we see that children were brought to Jesus (by a very wise parent, no doubt) and the disciples rebuked them and tried to turn them away. (hmmm, does this sound familiar?) But Jesus did something unprecedented, like He seemed to always be doing. He said:

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.

Now, to unpack that, we're not just talking about a child's ability to believe things that adults have a hard time believing. That's gullibility in many cases. That's not the business Christ was in. However, in the ancient Jewish lifestyle, children were at the bottom of the totem pole, often times viewed as lower than those who were sick with leprosy, which when you think about it, is pretty low.

Jesus turned the whole hierarchy on its head with those two statements. Children not only believe the "unbelievable;" they also see the invisible. That is, they see the plain truth when our older, wiser spiritual eyes get fogged up with the surrounding elements of that truth. If this is true, then why not challenge the young to become even wiser in the Word and the truth?

Back to KIDZ ROCK. It's our hope to raise a generation of children who become so enthralled with Christ, so in love with Him, and so uninhibited in their worship of Him, that it overtakes their being and allows them to walk with Him closer than any of us could at their age. And DO NOT think or say "that's impossible," for as we all know, "all things are possible with God."

This is why we choose songs that are a good mix between children's "party" songs, where Biblical principles are present, but they're mostly played to get the kids' attention, and those songs that even adults sing to entice the spiritual being of the child to come to foot of God's throne in a way that Christ described as the only way to "receive the kingdom of God." Sure, we sing "Undignified." But we also challenge the next generation with songs like "Sweetly Broken," which, until now, has been viewed as a song "too deep" for our children. I say let 'em try. They tend to believe Jesus better than us anyway. Why not let this time be one where we let THEM lead US in how to worship?

I've got no beef with anyone on this subject, by the way. I just love kids and want to see them stick with the move of God's kingdom through their adolescence and young adult years, all the way until they're seniors who are dancing, still uninhibited, in the aisles of church buildings, just to show their kids how to worship freely.

It's possible. And it's necessary. So, let's do it together.

By the way, if you're interested in KIDZ ROCK, just find the Organization page on Facebook. You really don't want to miss it. There's NOTHING like a couple hundred children singing/shouting/dancing/whooping/hollering their love of Christ.

And just in case you're a skeptic, re-read the Scriptures, come see what this whole thing is about, and be open to God's move through our future. You won't be disappointed.

We have one life to live. Everyone wants to leave a legacy. Let ours be through our children in a Biblical and Spirit-led way. I promise we'll see Christ glorified through it and because we allow His Spirit to build His kingdom through us and our kids, we'll be able "to enter it."

And as the kids say at KIDZ ROCK..."OH, YEAH!"