A week ago I started a series on the Parent Driven Church. Our society is moving more and more towards being dependent on ministers and forgetting the groundwork that should be laid in the home so the Youth Minister can supplement that teaching. We need to get back to having a Parent Driven Church and I hope this blog will help you find ways to do exactly that.
Do you remember the first bible you ever received? Maybe it was a New Testament + Psalms bible, maybe you was handed a bible by the Gideons, maybe it was an illustrated bible; however, the one that sticks out in my mind is the bible that had an illustrated cover with a picture of Jesus surrounded by smiling children of all different colors. "Jesus loves the little children... red, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight...." It was a very comforting and calming picture seeing all the children sitting at Jesus' feet, maybe there were even some sheep in the background, a very cute portrayal.
In reality, Jesus' version of relationship, especially inter-generational, was anything but cute. Radical and Revolutionary are the words that come to mind.
Let's look at Luke 9:28-36. Here we see Jesus going up on the mountain and taking Peter, James, and John with Him to pray. Can you imagine what the other 9 who were left behind must have been feeling? I would imagine there might have been some jealousy and insecurity that they felt from being excluded. It wasn't too long after this that an argument breaks out between the twelve disciples about who is the greatest. If you read Luke 9:47, it seems that Jesus doesn't actually hear the argument "knowing their thoughts, He took a little child and had him stand beside Him." Jesus continues in verse 48, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the on who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest."
Within these two verses, Jesus places two figures before His disciples: himself, whom they respect, and a child, who in that culture held little intrinsic value. The good news: greatness can be pursued and possessed. The bad news: greatness comes from doing something counter-intuitive: welcoming a child.
It's important that we know and understand that Greek phrasing that Jesus uses in this well-known statement about inter-generational relationships. The Greek verb Jesus uses here for welcome is dechomai (deck-oh-my), which often meant showing hospitality to the guests, carrying with it the idea of servant hood. In the first century, the ones who generally took care of guests and children were women and slaves. These people were viewed different from, and even inferior, to male disciples.
In short, Jesus was asking the disciples to show utmost humility by embracing the kids in their midst, instead of arguing about their individual greatness. According to this principle, greatness - and great parenting and great Christian living - comes to light as we welcome children.
Next Blog: Parent Driven Church: Part 3 "Family Relationships"
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