The Future Of the Church
If you are a church goer, have you heard the term “future of the church” used to refer to those sweet little ones in the pews between mom & dad? Maybe your local fellowship has spent resources making sure you have kids’ programming and events to help train them for the day they take your place as the church. Maybe Vacation Bible School? Or Sunday School/Kids Church? Those can be amazing tools.
But I’m wondering, are we training children to be the church someday when we should be training them to be the church now? Someday, the kiddos in the pews will be the future of the church. They will be her attendees, leaders and teachers. But as they believe, our children are also the present of the church.
God gives each of us a personality, skills as well as spiritual gifts to edify and grow his body. The Bible doesn’t have an age at which believers graduate to getting those things. See what I’m saying? There are children running around our halls that have purpose now. God has prepared good works for them to walk in now.
I trusted Jesus as my savior just before I turned five years old. I still remember it. About a year later, I got baptized. Friends, my little Kindergarten-self was changed forever. As I gave my testimony a few times lately for Warrior Hearted Mom, there was one thing that stuck out and people commented on. They said they could tell how real and present God was to me even at a very young age. (I’d love to tell you that story some day!)
By this age I was pretty well (proudly) labeled as a Jesus freak.
Until they mentioned it, I hadn’t thought about it that way. It was just normal to me. But yes, there were very difficult things going on in my home and I had nightmares that were so very dark. I remember times when I just begged God to make them go away and other times when I prayed VERY specific prayers. He always answered me and comforted me. It was so clear. And I didn’t expect otherwise.
That is childlike faith. I had decided to follow the God they preached in church. They told me God is stronger than anything, cares for the hurting and answers prayer. So I didn’t expect anything less.
Not all of the kids sitting in church will get saved at a young age. Some of them might sow some wild oats some day. Others will walk the straight and narrow. But right now, they have children’s hearts. And they are an asset to the body of Christ!
Some grownups are actually just big kids and should by no means be excluded from this questioning.
If you are wondering how to spend God’s money, ask children how they think he would. Want to know if your church is “on mission”? Ask your kids’ classes if they think you are. I dare you to ask them what they think Jesus would do with the building, the money, the time, the resources. Prepare yourself, and then ask your children what Jesus would have you do (specifically you in your time & place).
Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to hand the elder board positions over to the Sunday School attendees. But I am asking you to consider how your family and your local fellowship can include the children, not just in receiving instruction, but in actually living out the identity of members of the body of Christ? Because of their childlike faith and boundless energy and ideas, I believe their inclusion can make us abundantly more fruitful!
