CHILD-LIKE, TRUSTING FAITH

“People were bringing little children to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, He was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.’ And He took the children in His arms, placed His hands on them and blessed them.”  (Mark 10:13-16 NIV)

Faith is sometimes equated with credulity, but it can be so equated only when the profound mistake is made of thinking of faith as primarily a matter of intellectual assent.  As the New Testament uses the word, faith is trust, acceptance, commitment, vision.  It is not a belief in this or that creed, it is a quality which lies rather in the realm of intuition than the intellect.  Faith has indeed an element of true simplicity; it is one of the qualities -- perhaps the fundamental quality -- of the child-like spirit without which no one can enter the Kingdom of God. 

-- Author Unknown

#6178

CHILDLIKE FAITH: RECKLESS JOY

So, exactly what is a “childlike faith?” For starters, it’s something not to be taken lightly. In Matthew 19:14, when the disciples rebuke those who have brought little children to Jesus, what does Jesus say? “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Clearly, Jesus is big on children. He sees something special in them. He defends them… But what is it about children’s approach to faith that’s so engaging? Though Jesus doesn’t get specific about that, the answer is in their approach to life. As children, we are not jaded by the sophistication of the world. We’re real. We’re humble. We’re willing to admit our needs and trust that others can help us. We’re unpretentious and adventurous. We’re lighthearted and imaginative. And we’re fearless, willing to take a risk -- a juvenile version of what the early twentieth-century Bible teacher Oswald Chambers calls “reckless joy.”

And then, of course, we grow up. And what happens? In many cases, we get jaded by the world. Instead of being real, we rationalize behaviors. We learn to put our personal spin on our shortcomings rather than deal with them. We become pretentious. We throw ourselves into all sorts of physical adventure but are cowardly regarding relationships, flitting from one person to the next, lacking the courage to commit.

We hide our needs from others. From God. From ourselves. We play it safe, settling for too little in life. Rather than live by faith, we embrace one of the many forms of legalism, be it a secular or religious version. Rather than try to please God with simple faith, we complicate things by trying to prove to Him how worthy we are by our works. We’re full of fear, but we mask it with everything from busyness to addictions to rationalization, as we desperately seek to convince ourselves that we’re content. In reality, we know little of Chamber’s “reckless joy.” 

-- Bob Welch in “52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life”

#6022

OUR FATHER

In prayer, as in many areas of life, we tend to begin with a “should” rather than an “is.” Often we cannot begin to pray because we feel we ought to say certain words, or place our body in a certain position, or show God a certain face. But prayer… involves a “[child-like] mind.” On a psychological level, this involves letting go of self-judgement and self-consciousness. On the level of faith, it means trusting -- or learning to trust -- that God [the Father] wants us to come truthfully, without masks, “just as I am,” as the old evangelical hymn puts it. 

-- Jane Redmont in “When in Doubt, Sing: Prayer in Daily Life”

#5446

RESTORING LIFE

“While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is dead,’ they said. ‘Why bother the teacher anymore?’ Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’… He took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with Him, and went in where the child was.  He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha koum!’ (which means ‘Little girl, I say to you, get up!’). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished.”  (Mark 5:35, 40-42 NIV)

A business executive became depressed. Things were not going well at work, and he was bringing his problems home with him at night. Every evening he would eat his dinner in silence, shutting out his wife and five-year-old daughter. Then he would go into the den and read the paper, using the newspaper to wall his family out of his life.

After several nights of this, one evening his daughter took her little hand and pushed the newspaper down. She then jumped into her father’s lap, wrapped her arms around his neck, and hugged him strongly. The father said abruptly, “Honey, you are hugging me to death!” “No, Daddy,” the little girl said, “I’m hugging you to life!”

This was the greatness of Jesus. He took people where they were and hugged them to life. 

-- James W. Moore and Bob J. Moore in “Lord, Give Me Patience!... And Give It to Me Right Now!”


#4420

MUSINGS ON A MIRACLE – Part 4:

Christmas is A CHILD

“The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.”  (Isaiah 11:6)

No king upon a majestic throne!  No supernatural phenomenon!  No mighty fanfare piercing the airwaves!  The gurgling and quiet cooing of an innocent baby!  What a peculiar way for God to meet us at the intersection of the human and the divine.  How unsophisticated of God!  Christmas is a child and a time for children and a time for the child-like qualities which lie there deep beneath the surface of our adult competence and coolness. Today we continue the sad saga of the slaughter of innocents by our deliberate intent or willful neglect.  Unless we become as little children, even as this one unique child, can we really hope to inherit the Kingdom of God?  Of such is this Kingdom, so we are told.  How childish can we be to not see the love of God and the sweet mysteries of life in the face and form, the beautiful trust, of a baby?  “And a little child…..the Prince of Peace….shall lead them.”


-- Don G. Smith, Lorne Park Baptist Church, Mississauga, Ontario, December 7, 1985

#4001

THE IMPORTANCE OF PLAY

While not a word we might immediately associate with spiritual maturation, play is a powerful metaphor for a fully integrated life.  Few things frighten me more than persons who have become deadly serious about their religion.  Living in a flat world with limited dimensions, they have lost perspective.  They set no place at the table for the clown, the child, the muse.  They have lost the art of play.

Play is free-form spontaneous creativity.  It is the essence of improvisation, a state of intuitive receptivity to the God-given powers of the soul.  Play delights in the wonder of the moment, often finding joy and humor where they are least evident.  Like Jesus, the great saints of our tradition have been graced with joy and playful humor even in the midst of suffering.  If you doubt Jesus had a sense of humor, follow Elton Trueblood's suggestion: Imagine the Pharisee straining a gnat from his cup and instead swallowing a camel  -- yes, the whole huge mass of humps and hooves slides surreptitiously down his throat without his ever noticing!

Play involves befriending our "wild" side.  Some theologians have observed that God is "wild", undomesticated, free to play in sovereign creativity through time and eternity.  As beings made in the image and likeness of God, we reflect this creative potential.  The wild side of us is kin to the child side of us.  Children live in a world of improbable imagination.  Could this be one reason why Jesus said we must become "as little children" in order to enter the kingdom of God?  The picture Jesus paints of the kingdom is wildly improbable.  Things are truly upside-down from an "adult" point of view: the last are first, the great are small, the despised are blessed.

-- Marjorie Thomspson in Leading From the Center, Spring 2000


#3903

CHILD-LIKE FAITH

Jesus called over a child, whom He stood in the middle of the room, and said, "I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God's kingdom."  (Matthew 18:3, The Message)

It seems to me, as time goes on, that the only thing that is worth seeking for is to know and to be known by Christ -- a privilege open alone to the childlike, who, with receptivity, guilelessness, and humility, move Godward.

-- Charles H. Brent


#3469

"DO IT AGAIN"

A child kicks its legs rhythmically through excess, not absence, of life. Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, "Do it again"; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough... It is possible that God says every morning, "Do it again," to the sun; and every evening, "Do it again," to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike: it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we.

-- G. K. Chesterton in Orthodoxy

 
#1809