Children—A Gift And A ResponsibilityНамуна

Church’s Role in Children’s Spiritual Formation

The phrase, “more is caught than taught” is witnessed tangibly in the context of inspiring faith into children in our community. The famous Deuteronomy 6 passage that begins with the phrase “hear o Israel” is basically an address by Moses to the whole faith community and not just to the parents. It speaks of God’s heart on children’s discipleship in the community of faith. According to Matthew 18:5, when we receive children in the name of the Lord, as members of the Today’s Church, we are receiving the Lord Himself. There’s no better way the Lord could have communicated the need to keep our faith communities intentionally inclusive of children. 

Children, who are fully human and made in the image of God, are hungry for the ministry of God’s word and thirsty for His comforting presence (Lamentations 4:4). When children are denied of what they are in need of for their holistic growth, it could be the worst form of abuse. The children who are constantly being ignored by their parents or the church will have a hard time receiving anything from the Lord. From the words of our Lord in Matthew 18:10, we clearly understand that children have a special place in the heart of God. The Church on earth needs to open the same place to them, but certainly not in the sense of viewing them as passive learners, but as co-pilgrims and co-disciples in the Body of Christ. Like Samuel in the Bible, children have the potential to both listen to the voice of God, and communicate it to others. They need to be trained to recognise the voice of God. And they are looking for opportunities to bring to table what they are learning in their personal walk with God. When children are respected enough to be listened to, they will become good listeners to the stories of others, and engage them in genuine kingdom dialogues. The children who have the sense of being part of the very life of their church will be stronger than those who merely feel attached to the programs of their church. Children need to be part of our churches today, and not someday!

Written by Anand Jeyakumar for Movement Day Chennai