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Jesus is our model for relating to children
It’s been almost two decades ago now, but I remember the incident as if it were yesterday. We were living in a missionary housing complex in Pasadena, Calif. The organization that owned the complex arranged for out-of-date bread to be delivered to the residents. My wife, Ursula, and I picked up a good-looking loaf of French bread. A day later when we were ready to eat it, we discovered that although it looked good, it was too stale to eat. So, we put it in the garbage can and didn’t think about it again. Not long afterward, however, we observed our oldest son, Lee, retrieve the loaf and rush into his bedroom. Over his troubled sobs, we saw him biting into the loaf and ruefully listened to his cry: "Children are hungry and dying in Africa, and they are throwing away bread.” We had taught him to care about the hurting and vulnerable in our world, and he took us seriously. He cared that children were dying. We, however, had learned to rationalize some of our actions. Jesus said, “Give the children access to me; don’t put obstacles in their way” (Mark 10:14, my translation). When even the disciples were ready to treat the children as a distraction, Jesus insisted on being distracted for the sake of the children. Jesus came to be renowned and sometimes maligned for always exhibiting care for the vulnerable and the weak in society. Just as he extended God’s grace and compassion to those who were marginalized, despised and oppressed (sinners, prostitutes, tax collectors, beggars and the diseased), Jesus demonstrated care and compassion for children. If Jesus is, indeed, our model for mission, then we need to learn from him and follow his example of embracing and caring for children. We need to learn from children. This Advent we will celebrate again the mystery and the miracle of Jesus crossing the boundaries of time and space to overcome the gulf of alienation and estrangement between us and God. When Jesus invites us to become as little children, he is inviting us to learn from their capacity to disregard those things we allow to become major obstacles to peace and harmony in the human family. Like Jesus, children disregard the barriers of race, status and culture. Like the enlightened people in the story by Douglas Wood, Old Turtle and the Broken Truth (Scholastic Press, 2003), children have an amazing capacity to meet “other[s] different from themselves, [and] … see themselves.” As adults, we often allow ourselves to be socialized into patterns that build up barriers and walls based on sectional or self-interest. Race, class and culture all become walls that divide people and fuel hostility and hatred. This propensity has led to wars, genocide and even physical walls. And because children are pliable and impressionable, they absorb very easily the prejudice, bigotry and intolerance of those they look up to. When taught otherwise, however, children also have the capacity to be moved by the truth. So, we need to learn from this characteristic of children rather than attempting to manipulate and massage truth to conform to our comfort level. We also need to teach children by our words — and especially by our actions — the reconciliation and transformation that is part of the newness of God’s reign. And, since they often bear the brunt of our refusal to be transformed, we are called to act compassionately on behalf of these most vulnerable victims of the world’s selfishness, greed, bigotry and violence. In many places around the world, Mission Network workers are seeking to teach, extend compassion to and learn from children. We thank you for your prayers and generosity, which enable us to reach out to the “little ones.” Your financial support of the projects identified on page 8 of this issue will help us continue to follow the example of Jesus’ care for the children. Also in this issue: Features Highlights Highlights |
