Like a Child

One day Jesus was teaching the crowds and some children were being brought to him. His disciples rebuked the parents, thinking that this was no place for children because they were distracting Jesus from his message. They tried to push the children away, and it is at this point that Jesus rebuked his disciples:

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.

¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”¹

What exactly did Jesus mean by this?

Skeptics Argument

Skeptics like to use this verse as an ad hominem attack against Christians, saying you have to be simple-minded and just blindly follow religion without rationalizing or thinking about it. Just a little bit of thought, they say, and you would understand religion is trying to control you and there is no higher power.

There is some truth to us needing childlike faith, this is why it is called faith. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.² But we understand that while we cannot see God, we can see God.³

The Definition of Childlike

Like most ad hominem attacks, this is a surface attack with no depth. Their argument does not look deep enough into what Jesus was saying. We are going to dig into this a little deeper, but first we have to define the term “childlike.”

What does it mean to be childlike?

Children have several attributes that many adults either no longer have, or have in diminishing quantities after having been hardened by the world and their experiences. While many adults become more cynical over time, children are trusting, innocent, joyful, simple, loving, and dependent. There are probably more attributes I could list, but this should suffice.

It is in looking at these traits more closely that I believe we can get a better understanding about what Jesus was talking about.

A Closer Look

Trusting:

An adult who has been through many struggles during their life, and has been hurt by trusting others, can find it tough to be trusting of others again. If you have ever been hurt by a close friend or a loved one you will be hesitant to put your trust in another, and this is very understandable. The scars are deep and the wounds heal slowly.

But, here’s the thing: Jesus was also hurt and betrayed by a loved one he trusted. On top of that, his own family didn’t believe him, and he was let down by his friends in his hour of need. When Jesus needed people the most, almost everybody let him down.

Jesus has been through desertion and betrayal and he will not let you down, he will not forsake you. He understands what you are going through and you can trust him.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.⁴

Innocence:

The loss of innocence begins for many people while they are still in their teenage years. The temptations of the teenager make it easy for a young person to be drawn away from the path of righteousness and set on the path to destruction. Peer pressure is too much for many teenagers to resist and they give in to it.

Eventually the temptations of the teenager turn to cynicism as an adult. We start to realize that many people in this fallen world are only out for themselves. Our innocence is lost when we begin to live for this world by making sure we “get what we have coming to us.”

But Jesus is not self-centered, he is not out only for himself. In fact he sacrificed his life for all of us so that we could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

We may become as wise as serpents by our experiences in life, but Jesus wants us all to be as innocent as doves in our actions.⁵

Joyful:

Isn’t it wonderful to see the joyful laughing of children as they play together? Unfortunately, many adults get caught up in the day to day rat race of just trying to make ends meet and they lose the joy that is in life itself.

Because of this, many people try to find that joy in earthy distractions; money, sex, drugs, alcohol, and the list goes on. But God is all that we need, we can find joy in the Lord.

We must be joyful and come to God with a heart full of praise. We must make a joyful noise to the Lord, and serve him with gladness and with singing.⁶

Simple:

It would be an understatement to say that life is complicated but…life is complicated. The simple life probably begins to dissipate in late middle school and into high school when suddenly everybody wants to fit in with one another, and it doesn’t get any easier when you enter the workforce and start competing for position.

But there is no competition with God. We don’t have to worry about who is getting the best place at the dinner table⁷ because we have all been invited to dinner. Our place is already set.

Life is complicated, God is simple. All he wants is your heart.

Loving:

We must love God unconditionally, like a child loves, because God loves us unconditionally like a father loves. We must love him in the good times and praise him even in the bad times. We must love the Lord with our heart, soul, and mind.⁸

Dependent:

Children are dependent on their parents, and other adults, for their very survival. They cannot make it on their own. We also depend on God for our survival. He provides for us all that we have, from food and water, to shelter, to even the world we live in and our very lives.

We rely on God and he knows what we need before we ask for it, and he will provide for us. We should not be focused on these worldly concerns because God will take care of us, but we should be seeking the Kingdom instead.⁹

Conclusion

While entering the Kingdom of Heaven does require childlike belief, I think Jesus was talking about much more than just this. Adults can actually learn quite a bit from children by observing in them these traits we have been discussing.

We must have blind faith and trust in Jesus’ work on the cross. I’ve written in the past that true belief in Christ is accompanied by a change in our hearts. That means we must lead innocent lives, be joyful for what we have and for Jesus’ saving grace, remember that God’s simple request is our hearts, be loving toward others, and dependent on God for our survival.

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1. Mark 10:14,15 ESV ↩︎
2. Hebrews 11:1 ESV ↩︎
3. See Romans 1:20 ↩︎
4. Proverbs 3:5 ↩︎
5. See Matthew 10:16 ↩︎
6. Psalm 100 ↩︎
7. See Luke 14:7-11 ↩︎
8. See Matthew 22:37 ↩︎
9. See Matthew 6:32,33 ↩︎