Like a Child

Last updated on: October 16, 2012 at 10:52 pm by Erin Wathen

Like a Child 2012-10-16T22:52:34-07:00 Erin Wathen

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We are celebrating Children’s Sabbath at church this week. As i think through what that service should look like, I am mindful that it should not just be a service for children. It should be one that honors the spiritual gifts that children possess, and recognizes them not as the ‘future church,’ but as fully active and vital parts of the body, right now.

Scripture refers to God as “father” so often, that many people hold a firm image of God as not only parental, but fully male. Even those of us who try to envision a more inclusive entity, revert often to ‘mother’ language, just to balance the scales a bit. We talk about God as Creator, Sustainer, etc…images of the Holy that still paint God as fully adult and in-charge.

For all the spiritual value of understanding God as a parent, holding too tightly to those images can limit the ways we experience God–and, accordingly, the ways that we engage the world.

For instance– people who cannot fathom or accept God as partly feminine, also find it impossible to welcome women to the table of leadership. So it stands that–if you can never let yourself imagine God as a poor person, you might not be able to witness the holy in the face of the poor. If you cannot envision God as a person of color, then will people of color look just a liiiiittle less human to you?

And if God is always and only a parent, then how can we fully witness the divine in the being of our children? Well, except maybe at Christmas. (You know, Baby Jesus…he’s still our favorite Jesus, like Ricky Bobby said).

When the kids hit that tiny carpet square in Worship and Wonder, they say some of the most profound, prophetic and challenging things you’ll ever hear. I’m grateful for adult leaders who know how to hear their words as what they are–gospel–and not as just the cute stuff that kids say. If you ask me, children have a far greater range of spiritual motion than adults do. Again, not because they are ‘good,’ or pure, but because it is simply a gift of childhood to live with and accept that which is too great for reason, logic, or a business plan. How much the ‘seen and not heard’ generations must have missed, in their children’s formative years. If the post-post-modern church wants to truly emerge, maybe we need to put our children in charge of the vision teams.

Children can love and accept others, far beyond the sometimes narrow and self-serving ways that adults tend to move through the world. For as often as we talk about God loving us ‘like a father,’ or ‘as a mother,’ we miss entirely the good news that God loves us like our children love us: with no concern for how much money we make, or what label is on our clothes; with no notice of whether or not we’ve fixed our hair, or brushed our teeth; with no reserve about telling us when we’re being mean, and with little memory of the way we yelled at them an hour ago; with great forgiveness for every slight, and with tremendous grace for all the ways we’ll screw up tomorrow. Children love us in a way that is complete; they greet us at the door with a joy that is unfettered, and spend time in our presence with no other wish than to be with us. Children don’t care if you burn the toast, or lose the farm, or run over their trike with the car.

The love of a child is a precious and fragile ecology. In the wrong hands, that love can be manipulated, abused, and taken advantage of. But with care and compassion, it is the gift of a lifetime. Even if it is not Christmas (and it is NOT; whatever Wal-mart would have you believe to the contrary) I can believe, on any given day, that God is at least partly childlike in his/her joyful, unwavering love for us all.

So this Sunday, we will have communion with goldfish crackers. We will sing ‘Deep and Wide.’ We will make animal noises and be squirmy. There might be crayons. We will collect peanut butter and jelly for our valley food banks, to feed children in need. We will say prayers of blessing over the smallest ministers of the gospel. And we will remember that there is nothing small about ‘childlike faith.’ It is, in fact, the greatest love we can know.

like a child we receive all that love can conceive, like a child we believe Jesus comes… ~Dan Damon

Being a Person

faith and community

Marriage and Family

Spirituality in Culture

children's ministry

children's sabbath

parenting

progressive christianity

spirituality

Previous Post

October 9, 2012

In the End, There's Cake

Next Post

October 17, 2012 Primetime Throwdown (yes, Brian Williams just said 'throwdown...')

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category a good week for progress Advent and Christmas Being a Person desert life faith and community Good News for Progressives Lent and Easter Marriage and Family S*^! Jesus Says sabbatical road tripping Spirituality in Culture Talking to Strangers the "Best Stuff I Ever Ate" diet travel Uncategorized writing Writing Prompt Wednesday

Select a Month January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 February 2011 July 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to Jesus, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for." what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Popularity Power Righteousness Money