Children in Worship
By Kyle Pope

Agreat challenge for young parents is how to train small children to participate in worship without being disruptive to others. Many in the religious world in the face of this challenge have chosen to remove all small children from their assemblies in order to offer them “children’s services.” These usually involve puppet shows or children’s entertainment offered on the child’s level. Aside from scriptural problems this approach presents, it is now clear that this ultimately doesn’t produce the desired results. There are now churches with teenagers who have grown up in these “children’s services” who are so unprepared to know how to behave and participate in adult worship services that they are disruptive and disrespectful. At an age when these young men should start leading singing, waiting on the Lord’s table, and leading prayers these adolescents behave worse than toddlers.

As one who has experienced this struggle myself when my three children were young, I offer two suggestions that worked well for my wife and me.

1. Do not bring toys or food to services. A family rule we implemented very early in our children’s lives was not to allow our children to take anything to services we would eventually have to take away as they grew older. This meant no toys or food. Since we would teach them to bring a Bible, as toddlers we bought them a children’s Bible with pictures. They could bring it and look through it during the lesson (just as the adults looked through their Bibles) but we worked to teach them to sit still and quiet as they did so. Many adults take notes in services. In the same way, we let our children bring a pad and pencil. That didn’t mean that they were free to draw or make notes about anything. It was time to worship God, so anything they put on paper was to reflect something about God, the Bible, worship or the things associated with it. Even before they could read and write we often asked them to tell us one thing the preacher said. As they grew older we urged them to take notes or tell us more about the lesson.

2. Don’t let the kids take control of you as a parent. We noticed very early as parents, how smart children can be about getting their way. Very small children figure out quickly that if they misbehave they will be taken out of the assembly ( a place where they have to be quiet and can’t play) and be taken to the “cry room.” Even though the goal of the “cry room” is to provide a place for parents to calm crying babies without disturbing others, that’s not always the way it works. Some parents took their toddlers there, put them down on the floor, and let them play. By doing that, the children had actually manipulated their parents into letting them do exactly what they had wanted to do all along—play, and not have to sit still and quiet. A better alternative is to make it clear to these little ones (whom we hope to motivate to love and worship God by their own choice) that there is a time to play and a time to worship. Consistent rules allow children to see that misbehavior will never allow them to get their way. We need to help them see that worshipping God is special, important, and a time to show God that we love Him and want to honor Him. Long before children can understand this intellectually they can see it in our own attitude toward worship and reflect it in their own behavior.

“As He Walked...”—Love For Children
By Kyle Pope

“He who says he abides in Him ought himself also
to walk just as He walked” (1 John 2:6)

Jesus loved children. He took the time for them and gave His affection to them. This is easy to understand when we consider how He viewed them. In Mark 10:14 Jesus said – “...Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God” (NKJV). This “man of sorrows” (Isa. 53:3), who so often found Himself ridiculed, persecuted, and rejected by ungodly, wicked, and unbelieving adults, loved children and found in them a spirit that was heavenly.

     On another occasion when asked who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Scripture tells us that Jesus “...called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven’” (Matt. 18:1-3). With these words Jesus demonstrated clearly the type of spirit that must fill the hearts of those who would serve Him—a spirit of humble acceptance (Matt. 18:4) and a spirit of innocence toward sin (Matt. 18:6).

     The apostle Paul put this in perspective when he taught those in Corinth, “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature” (1 Cor. 14:20). When Jesus tells us to be converted and be like children He isn’t telling us to be na•ve like children. Instead He is teaching us to be humble, gentle and innocent like little children.

     To be a disciple of Jesus means more that just doing what Jesus said. It involves acting as He acted. As adults we often view children much different than the Lord did. We are impatient and short with them. We find them to be interruptions or distractions to our affairs. The gospel of Mark tells us that Jesus, “...Took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them” (Mark 10:16). Jesus said, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me...” (Mark 9:37). As disciples of Christ let us heed Jesus’ words and His example as we love and accept little children in our lives.  May we seek to influence them toward faith and service to God as they grow, and become more like them in humble acceptance of God and innocence toward sin.

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