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Too often, churches send the unspoken message that children are distractions rather than disciples in the making. But in Mark 10, Jesus makes it clear—children belong in His presence. In this episode, we dive into what it truly means to welcome children in our churches and in our hearts. From personal experiences with resistance to creating spaces of belonging, we’ll explore how embracing the voices of children reflects the very heart of God.
What if, instead of seeing children as interruptions, we saw them as invitations to encounter Christ? What if we truly lived out Jesus’ words: Let the little children come to Me—do not hinder them?
Join us as we challenge ourselves to make room, to listen, and to love the way Jesus does.
Linkoln shares his story on why he started coming to Ravenna Church of the Nazarene and shares why you should consider doing the same.
Ravenna Church of the Nazarene
530 Main Street, Ravenna, KY 40472
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Consider visiting Ravenna Church of the Nazarene where Pastor Jason is the Senior Pastor.
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If you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Mark chapter 10
Now, we are in the Lenten season and our series for Lent is called “Hearing Voices”—the idea behind it was being receptive to the voices that God has both given us personally as well as placed in our lives. And as I was praying about the direction of today’s sermon, I was reminded of something that happened a couple of years ago.
We were at our previous church and Jason was preaching.
Now, to fully understand this story, you need to understand the layout of the sanctuary. The sanctuary was set up to be wide but not very deep—there were only about five rows between the platform and the back wall, but there were five columns of pews going across the width of the room. The sanctuary was big enough for to accommodate the current attendees, but it was designed to grow. At the back of the sanctuary, there were two rooms that were set up with accordion doors to be opened should additional seating be needed—one was set up with our sound system, and the other was an empty space when we first arrived. However, that quickly changed.
When we first moved, it became quite apparent that there was a need for a Children’s department—however, we did not have the willingness of volunteers to help establish it. The first few times families attended with their children, they would not return due to the lack of anything available for their children outside of sitting quietly in the sanctuary. But we had that empty room at the back of the sanctuary.
We cleaned the space up, set up some adult seating and a child-sized table and chairs, and then placed several soft toys, puzzles, and art supplies in the room to be available for the children who attended the church. We called it a Busy Room. The space allowed parents with little children to be a part of the service while their children were able to play or color quietly on the floor or table with them.
It was very unpopular with a few people, but little by little, families with young children started to attend. We would get passive aggressive letters left in the pews in front of the space saying that the children should not be welcome in the sanctuary because they were too distracting, but we kept the room open.
Now, in Mark 10, starting in verse 13, it says,
13 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 I tell you the truth whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.
*THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD*
I think the first thing to note here isn’t the fact that the disciples scolded the people who brought the children—but rather, the fact that the people brought the children in the first place.
This was not a culture that treated children well. Children were to be used, not cherished. Boys were viewed as higher in value than a girl only due to the fact that a boy could carry on his family’s legacy as opposed to a girl who would be sold off at marriage age to create a familial alliance of some kind. Yet, something about Jesus had these parents and guardians bringing their children to Jesus—not for healing, not for teaching, but for blessing—Something about Jesus had these people convinced enough to take the trip out with their children to see Jesus in hopes that Jesus would care enough to bless them.
Something about Jesus had the people convinced, but the disciples did all they could to convince them otherwise. They did their best to drive these people away. Why? Well, the Bible does not say.
Now, we can speculate—
There is no Biblical statement that any of the disciples had children yet—therefore, there’s a chance that their lack of patience for these families “bothering” Jesus was simply due to the fact that they are childless men who have no patience or care for children at all.
But they might have been irritated that anyone would have the audacity to approach Jesus without an actual need of healing or theological direction. It’s one thing if people are approaching Jesus for a crisis whether physical or spiritual, but anything else might have simply been seen as a waste of Jesus’ time.
Regardless of their reasoning, verse 14 tells us that they were wrong!
Jesus was displeased
Jesus was angry
Jesus was indignant
Jesus was irate
And yet, none of these really capture the original language of the text. The word used to express the emotion Jesus held in that moment : ”A-genk-teo” actually suggests an anger so intense it causes physical pain. He wasn’t just angry, he was about to have a conniption.
And in his anger, he was emphatic—Let the children come to me!
Don’t you DARE try to stop them from coming to me!
They belong in my kingdom—not only that, my kingdom BELONGS TO THEM!
Not even that, if YOU can’t receive the kingdom of God like these children, YOU CAN JUST FORGET IT!
Okay, yes, I am totally paraphrasing, but you get it right? He was fuming!
How dare they block these babies from his embrace?
So, he took those children into his arms and, in front of the very disciples who were trying to chase the children away, HE DID EXACTLY THE THING THEY WERE ATTEMPTING TO PREVENT. He “wasted his time” on blessing the “non-persons.” He allowed himself to be “distracted” by the babies.
Now, one thing we need to understand about this passage is that it is very important to not attempt to read our culture and view of children into this text.
The New Interpreter’s Commentary points out that “modern readers find it difficult to avoid romanticizing the ideal of children. They typically look at some characteristic of children, like innocence or dependence or acceptance, as the meaning of “become like a child.” However, ancient societies lacked such romantic notions of childhood”
Another commentary points out that this was more a statement warning the disciples that, like children are radically dependent on others for status, inheritance, and even life itself, we are radically dependent upon God’s grace and are unable to set conditions for entering the kingdom of Heaven.
And yet, conditions keep getting set by followers of Jesus—
About a year and a half after Jason and I were married, we were volunteering at a church out in Colorado. It was Easter Sunday and I was leading the children’s ministry. The pastor came into the Children’s ministry area and told me that there was a man who had walked in with his young daughter and that I should go and tell them that Children’s church was available. I did, but she did not want to leave her father’s side so I got her some crayons and coloring sheets so she could have something to do. Shortly into the service, the pastor happened to glance toward the back of the sanctuary and noticed she was still in the sanctuary and so he told the father to take her to children’s church. He did, but she wasn’t happy. She was scared to be away from her dad and wanted to be with him. She was so scared she became physically sick (she wasn’t crying, she was just that nervous), so I cleaned her up and brought her back to her dad. Again, the pastor told him to take her back to children’s church and so he stayed with her and missed the service. They never came back. Not that I blame them. The pastor had made it clear that the man’s daughter was not welcome.
But there is a massive difference between how the people in the interaction with the disciples would have responded and the people of today would have responded.
2000 years ago, society did not value children in the slightest and, therefore, the disciples’ response was likely expected even if disappointing. Jesus’ reaction to their dismissal of the children would have been an unexpected but welcome surprise.
However, modern society expresses value of children—even secular society. There’s free education, free meals, children’s health plans, and food assistance for families in need. If a child is found to be neglected or abused, there is a massive outcry and a call for vengeance against whoever would dare harm a child—so it is expected that Children be valued—especially in a place where Jesus’ values are supposed to be shared.
So, when that little family entered the church and the pastor expressed irritation at the child being present, it was painfully clear to the father that they were both unwelcome.
And without even intending to, the followers of Jesus scolded the one who brought a child to Jesus.
And too often, whether through words or attitudes, churches send the message that children don’t belong. Parents hear things like, ‘Maybe the nursery would be better,’ or ‘Children’s church is probably the best place for them so they can feel free to wiggle.’
But what if, instead of making them feel like a distraction, we made them feel like they were truly part of the body of Christ?
Maybe it’s time we embrace the truth that they can wiggle up here too—and that’s okay.
We get frustrated because a child isn’t paying attention, but the only reason we are noticing is because we aren’t paying attention ourselves. We are too focused on the speck in that child’s eye without realizing that there’s a massive plank of distraction in our own.
And we prevent the children from feeling welcome at the feet of Jesus—We prevent their families from feeling welcome at the feet of Jesus.
I cannot even begin to count the number of times I’ve interacted with families of children who are afraid to come to church with their children because their children wiggle or cry or babble.
They’ve tried to go to church before but someone gave them a dirty look because their child was a “distraction.”
Someone forced them to take their anxious child to a stranger down in the nursery so the baby would cry during the sermon.
Someone told them that their autistic child was “too much” for the Children’s church leaders, but made it clear that children don’t belong in “big church.”
But Jesus is crying out, “LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME!”
Let them come wild
Let them come loud
Let them come dirty and unkempt
Let them come rough and rowdy
Let them come AND DO NOT HINDER THEM!
Every peep, every wiggle, every cry—let them come and let them be a reminder that Jesus longs for these children to run into his arms. DO NOT HINDER THESE BABIES!
Because, you see, children grow—and they learn largely by watching.
They are driven to learn to walk by watching mom and dad and everyone else walking around them and with them.
They learn to speak by listening to us repeat words and phrases and they try to copy us with their own babbled coos.
They learn to read through watching and listening to us.
They learn to hold crayons and pencils through watching adults.
So, let them come rough around the edges—because, they will learn and grow by watching the people who love them.
They will learn “proper church behavior” by watching the people who love them.
They will learn “proper church attire” by watching the people who love them.
They will learn “proper church noise level” by watching the people around them.
That was our reasoning for the Busy Room in our previous church. It created a place for both child and parent to feel safe and have their needs met. The parent was able to participate in the service and their child was able to move around freely in the space while still being in their comfort zone of being with their parents. And the thing is, they listened too. They may have been wiggling, but they were learning.
But they won’t learn if we hinder them.
Imagine would it look like for our church to truly live out Jesus’ words? What would it look like if we actually let the children come?
Let the children wiggle?
Let the children speak?
Let the children learn?
Imagine what would it look like if we made absolutely sure that no child—or their family—ever felt unwelcome in His presence?
This Lenten season, let’s listen to the voices of children. Let’s hear them, honor them, and make room for them. Because when we welcome them, we welcome Christ Himself.
