Years ago, we worked in a bus program at our local congregation. I taught a first and second grade class on Sunday mornings. We had three buses of children that we brought in; and we had workers on every bus, teaching Bible lessons from the time the children got on the bus until they arrived at the church building. There were children from middle class families, poor families, but few from affluent families. Most of the children were excited to be there, but they were not always the best behaved.
We had a deacon that walked the halls during Bible class to take care of any discipline problems the teachers could not handle. We had at least three teachers in every class, and they had plenty to do to keep the children under control. Eventually, the children got used to the program; and they were not so difficult.
One little boy named Jason was nothing but difficult. He told us in many different ways that he was used to being in charge. To my dismay, he was in my class. When he was feeling especially mischievous, he would hold his breath and pretend to turn into The Hulk. His body would become rigid, and he would tell me that he wasn’t Jason; he was The Hulk.
On these occasions, I would try to calm him by talking to him. It didn’t work! One day, during Vacation Bible School, he was being “The Hulk” for longer than I could endure. I said to him, “Jesus loves you. He wants you to be good.” His reply shocked me so much that tears streamed down my cheeks. He said, “I don’t love Jesus. And I don’t love God.” It broke my heart to hear a little boy declare that he didn’t love the one who died to save us.
Upon some investigation, I discovered that Jason had almost died when he was a toddler. He had a brain tumor which they removed, but the doctors said he would not live to start school. The parents, thinking they would lose their precious little boy, gave him everything he wanted. They did not discipline him, so he had six or seven years with never being told “no.”
I noticed that when I would give the children a coloring sheet to work on, Jason would just scribble, and he could not write his name. I solicited the help of a teenage girl and asked her to sit with him and help him. It wasn’t long before he was printing his name and coloring his picture.
The big change in Jason came one Sunday morning when he bounded off the bus and ran up to me, grabbing me around the waist. He said, “I love Jesus. I love God, and I love you.” The tears came again but for a very different reason.
When I hear people talk about how difficult it is to take care of young children during the worship service, I think of Jason. I think of how difficult he was in the beginning but how he learned to love his Creator.
In Mark 10, people were bringing little children to Jesus so He could touch them. We don’t know what these people had in mind, but they wanted their children to see and hear this teacher. Perhaps they wanted Jesus to invoke a blessing that they would grow up to be wise and holy. The disciples didn’t like this, and they wanted to send the children away. Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14 ESV). Mark says Jesus gathered these children in His arms, blessed them, and laid His hands on them.
Taking children to worship may be a wearisome job. Some people just won’t make that effort. Taking children to worship is sometimes difficult, tiring, and may sometimes seem not worth the effort. Paul says, “Let us not grow weary of doing, good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9).
For those of you who struggle to take those precious children to worship and Bible study, know that your efforts are worth all that it takes to get them there. Though you may not hear much of the sermon, though you may not sing but half the songs, though you may not get to close your eyes during the prayer, our heavenly Father knows your heart; and He knows you understand that “to such belongs the kingdom of God.”
Sandra Oliver