Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian
The Childlikeness of God

The Childlikeness of God

Last updated on: October 16, 2018 at 12:36 am by Keith Giles

The Childlikeness of God 2018-10-16T00:36:56+00:00 Keith Giles

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.

“And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken the child in his arms, he said, “Whoever receives a child like this in my name, receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not only me, but also the Father who sent me.” [Mark 9:33-37]

Such a simple, yet profound illustration here by Jesus. I fear it is often overlooked for its simplicity, sadly. So, I’d like to take a moment to examine it a bit closer.

This object lesson comes immediately after Jesus realizes that the disciples had been arguing with one another about which of them was the greatest. Not their finest moment. But, in response, Jesus takes a small child and holds her in his arms and after telling them that the greatest in the Kingdom is the servant, or slave, of all, he then makes this astounding statement: To receive a child is to receive Christ, and to receive Christ is to also receive the Father.

The late, great theologian George MacDonald deduced from this the following:

“Then to receive a child in the name of Jesus is to receive Jesus; to receive Jesus is to receive God; therefore, to receive the child is to receive God.”

“What is the Kingdom of Christ? A rule of love, of truth – a rule of service. The King is the chief servant in it….If then, to enter this Kingdom, we must become children, the spirit of children must be its pervading spirit throughout, from lowly subject to lowliest King….’Whosoever shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.’”

“…To receive the child because God receives it…is one thing; to receive it because it is like God…is another.

“…But to advance now to the highest point of this teaching of our Lord: ‘He that receives me receives Him who sent me.” To receive a child in the name of God is to receive God himself…

“…God is represented in Jesus, for that God is like Jesus: Jesus is represented in the child, for that Jesus is like the child. Therefore, God is represented in the child, for that he is like the child. God is child-like.”

– [Unpoken Sermons, George MacDonald, pgs. 10-12]

Are we so scandalized by this notion that God is child-like? If so, why?

Is it because we still prefer a God who is too Holy to be near us? Do we have trouble imagining a God who is closer to us than our own heartbeat? Or as near to us as our own breath?

Jesus is “God with us” or “Emmanuel”. He promised never to leave us – ever. He is here now and so is the Father. Together, they both have come to make their home in us.

This means that Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit are living and breathing in me – and in you – right now.

God is not far away. God is not “out there” or “up there”. God is not high and exalted in the sense that God is not right here, right now; inhabiting this very moment.

This means that every moment is a Holy Moment. All ground is Holy Ground. All experiences are Spiritual experiences.

And, more than this, it means that God is humble and loving, and giving, and yes, even childlike.

Say it out loud: God is childlike.

As MacDonald sums it up:

“How terribly, then, have the theologians misrepresented God in the measures of the low and showy, not the lofty and simple humanities! Nearly all of them represent him as a great King on a grand throne, thinking how grand he is, and making it the business of his being and the end of the universe to keep up his glory, wielding the bolts of Jupiter [or Zeus] against them that take his name in vain….Brothers, have you found our King? There he is, kissing little children and saying they are like God…the simplest peasant who loves his children and his sheep were – no, not a truer, for the is false, but – a true type of our God beside that monstrosity of a monarch.”

To be like God, then, is to be like a child: Full of innocence, wonder, humility, playfulness, and generosity.

The essential essence of mankind is childhood. Every adult is just an overgrown child who has forgotten their childlikeness. Jesus wants us to remember who we were – who we really are. And when we do, we realize that God is also childlike and we are like God when we are like the inner child who remains hidden within us.

Now, this doesn’t mean that God is “childish” – those are two different things, aren’t they? God is not childish, and we are not encouraged to be childish – impatient, impudent, stubborn, willful, demanding, etc.

We ARE encouraged to become like little children in order to see the Kingdom, enter the Kingdom, and receive Christ – and therefore the Father also.

Try to imagine God as a childlike being who is kind, gentle, humble, loving, compassionate, generous and accepting. This is what it means to see God as God truly is. It’s also what it means to see a picture of we are also called to be as image-bearers of the Divine.

I am encouraged by this upside-down view of God as a childlike soul who holds the universe in his hands, and yet does so without any guile, or malice, or anger, or wrath.

This is the picture of God we see embodied in Christ. This is who God is, and this is who we are called to become.

This is how we descend into the greatness described by Jesus where the greatest is the servant, the most humble, of all.

Keith Giles is a former pastor who left the pulpit 11 years ago to start a church that gives away 100% of the offering to the poor in their community.

His new book “Jesus Unbound: Liberating the Word of God from the Bible”, is available now on Amazon and features a Foreword by author Brian Zahnd.

He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller, “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb”.

Keith also co-hosts the Heretic Happy Hour Podcast on iTunes and Podbean. He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho.

BONUS: Want to unlock exclusive content including blog articles, short stories, music, podcasts, videos and more? Visit my Patreon page.

Previous Post

October 13, 2018

Why I Hate Going To Church

Next Post

October 18, 2018 Concentric Circles of Love

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Biblicism Christian Politics Cosmic Christ Deconstruction Discipleship Dispensationalism Divine Unity Ekklesia End Time Stuff Eschatology Evergreen Following Jesus Gender General Christian Topics Gnostics God's Love Gospel of Judas Gospel of Mary Gospel of Philip Gospel of the Kingdom Gospel of Thomas Gospel of Truth Hell Historical Jesus Inner Circle Investigative Reporting Islam LGBTQ Issues Marriage Mental/Emotional Health Mystery Non-Duality Philosophy Podcast Poetry Politics Poverty Preemptive Love Prophecy Psychology Quantum Theology Racism Reconstruction Satire Sex Technology Theology Uncategorized Universalism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 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

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did the Israelites grumble about after crossing the Red Sea?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Too much sun Wild animals Boredom Lack of water

Books by This Author Books by Keith Giles

See All Titles »