Children – Proverbs 20:11

Greg Baird, with ChurchLeaders.com has given children’s workers 5 Steps to Successfully Relate to Kids.  It’s common sense, but hey, that’s what we need.  His steps, from 5-1 (like it’s a top 5 list) are to be real (don’t pretend to be something you are not), think like a kid (you know, empathy), watch them (not in a creepy way, of course), talk to them (revolutionary!), and know what they know.  Actually, this is good advice for relating to anyone.

Even a child makes himself known by his acts, by whether his conduct is pure and upright. (Proverbs 20:11, ESV)

I must confess that I have often gotten to know a couple or individual without feeling any compulsion to know their children.  In fact, I usually didn’t get to know their children until they reached teen age.  I’m not proud of this but rather see it as a flaw.  I just didn’t have that much interaction with their children.

But this proverb is expressing God’s view and the view of the wisdom community that children are valuable in their own right and quite capable of learning wisdom themselves and displaying that wisdom in pure and upright conduct.  Paying attention to their spiritual development is a hallmark of Jewish and Christian faith.

This is why the vast majority of orphanages were developed by Christians.  This is why an organization like Child Evangelism Fellowship can even exist.  The spiritual nurture of our children is directly related to our view of their worth.  This is why I am part of an organization that rescues kids in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the streets and seeks not only to help them be restored to family and properly educated but also to teach them the gospel.

Jesus exemplified this truth when he became indignant with his disciples for trying to prevent parents from bringing their children to him to be blessed (Mark 10:13-16).  He taught us that whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child shall not enter it and that to them belongs the kingdom.  “Let the children come to me,” he said.  And we must do so.