Family Ministry

Children Come.... Third?

Children cannot defend themselves.  At church, that is the purpose of the children's pastor.  Most boards are not made up of parents with young children.  If any money is allotted to the children it is usually half as much as is allotted to adults.  Some parents never step foot inside the church.  Only the Director of Children's Ministries fully understands what is going on with the children of the church.  Thus, without the children's pastor, young people have no defender.  If no one else is going to put the kids first, it has to be the children's pastor.  The problem is, this is not what the Bible teaches. 

Jesus First

The facts above are often true, but there is only one person who ought to come first.  No one should come before Jesus Christ in any relationship.  It can be very simple for children's pastors to think that children come first in their ministry.  We are a society that tries to honor and protect children.  Jesus valued children as did many of the patriarchs (Mk. 10:14, Gen. 33:13).  The Bible even says that one day a little child will lead us (Is. 11:6).  And of course there's the almost cliché statement of Jesus that only persons who become like a little child will enter the Kingdom of God (Mk. 10:14).

However, if children's directors are not putting Jesus first, they are elevating something or someone to the status of idol.  That is not the place for children.  They do not come first.  Jesus said "Let the little children come to me" (Mk. 10:14), not let the pastors come to the little children.

When I started out in ministry, I had this confused.  I kept thinking things like, "I'm working for the children!" and "children are most important in the church."  This made me think I was actually working for the children.  I would strive to make sure they felt safe.  I tried to give them everything they needed - love, compassion, clean spaces, good toys, deep Bible stories, happy friends, etc.  This was both impossible and sinful.  It was impossible because I am only one person.  It was sinful because it made me focus more on the children than on God.  I should have only been working for him and no one else (Lk. 16:13).

Children Third

In The Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert Coleman argued that the method Jesus used to evangelize and disciple the known world was to build a small group of twelve leaders - the apostles - who would then do the same with other people (pp. 89-96).  The apostles were Jesus' first string leaders.  In children's ministries, the first string team is the grownups, not the children.  If these leaders are not at their best, the proverbial game will likely be lost.

If children really are important, it follows that they deserve good leaders.  If it is impossible to serve more than a handful people at once, as Coleman suggests (pp. 29-31), there must be someone else who could help.  These are the volunteer leaders of the church.  It is these leaders, not the young people, who should come second in children's ministry.  This is why kids do not come first or second in ministry that is essentially for the young.  The leaders must be invested in so that they can invest in children.  The volunteers must be cared for so they can care for children.  They must be lead well so that they can truly lead.

Children ought to have good leaders.  If it is true that one children's pastor cannot disciple all of the children in the church, it makes sense that leaders should be developed.  Instead of leaders making disciples of children, children's pastors ought to be making disciples of adults.  These adults can then help the children continue to mature in their faith.  The children must come third.

Are children important?  Yes they are.  I am not saying that children do not need to grow in a relationship with Jesus.  I am not saying that children are not at an integral time in their lives to affect such an important relationship.  What I am saying is that children are important enough to be given the gift of good leadership.

Conclusion

If adult leaders are not well prepared to minister to the children, who will be able to do it?  If children do not have leaders who excel in godly character, deep Christian relationships and receptivity to the Holy Spirit, they will not be able to become strong Jesus followers.  Thus, by building and investing in adult leadership, children are free to grow as a part of the Body of Christ.  Children's ministers, in essence, are not the children's ministers - they are the leader's leaders. 

Work Cited

Coleman, Robert.  The Master Plan of Evangelism.  Grand Rapids: Revel, 2000. Print.