Jesus emphasized the importance of children and their inherent qualities. Children serve as examples for adults. Jesus stated that, “to enter the Kingdom of heaven one must become like the little children,” as quoted at Matthew 18:3. Jesus is emphasizing the importance of being humble faithful and innocent like children. Reaching a child’s heart for Christ gives a child a new heart and a new mind and new desires to live for God and have a God centered life.
Adults are to emulate the faith and purity of children. Jesus said, “Let the Children Come To Me.”
Adults are responsible to nurture and teach children. Once they have, they let them free to nurture and teach other children. This is an assured way of teaching children how to teach and proclaim the “good news” from the onset of their lives. To begin the disciple making work as children. Who doesn’t enjoy listening to an innocent child talk about Jesus?
Some churches teach children more than learning to teach themselves and others as adults in the disciple making work. The church is solely focused on teaching children? Adult Christians must learn how to teach others how to begin and conduct Bible studies with unbelievers. It is vital that adults learn how to affectively spread the “good news,” but most never go beyond the doors of their churches in their disciple making work. The church elders and pastors are responsible for this lack of Christian education and as teachers are held to a higher standard and will be judged accordingly. You’ll not hear of one adult conducting a Bible study with one person outside their Christian church. Whose fault is that? At the Book of James 3:1 it warns that, “not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”
Throughout the scriptures misleading teachers faced severe consequences, underscoring the seriousness of their role. What about men in leadership positions in Christian churches who never teach the importance of the disciple making work in these ‘last days,’ and no one in their churches are conducting Bible studies outside of church? Only with children inside their churches? The male church leaders are responsible for the training of disciples.
The population of the church attendees begins to drastically dwindle as time passes. The elderly pass on to heaven, and the children grow up fast and inevitably move on to greener pastures and will probably leave the area. Most do especially if it is a small town. There continues to be no one in the local churches spreading the “good news,” outside the church and oftentimes, they have no idea how to do the disciple making work or have any concern of having to. They’re not equipped to teach.
This is exactly why Christians are to teach the children to teach children ensuring that they are able-bodied students of the Bible and will spread the “good news” of Jesus throughout their lives and wherever they go. Then let them go and make disciples.
Always Christian with love at Anne Fisher-of-men.