I'm just a kid....

I typed last week that I would blog about kids and worship- because kids are people too. They have minds, they have emotions, they have wills, they have spirits- they have a need for Jesus just like you and I do. Sure they don't have bills to pay, a family to raise- their "crisis" for the day may be getting grounded from the TV or their stuffed animal getting ripped apart by a sibling. BUT STILL- that is their world- and it matters.

It irks me to NO end when people make excuses for kids using the "They're just kids" because kids hear their parents/ teachers/ etc using that phrase and they adopt it as their catch-all "get out of a tough spot quick" card.
Now, before you go all "Justin-doesn't-like-children-and-is-trying-to-zap-all-of-the-fun-out-of-their-little-lives"- NOT TRUE. Nothing makes me happier than to see/hear a kid truly worshiping God- but what I have witnessed over 10 years of ministry is that kids grow up into teenagers and teenagers grow up into adults and adults make more kids...and the cycle goes on and on and on and then you've got kids who would rather sleep during worship than sing praises to God, teenagers texting and (i've seen it) punching each other in the pews, and adults who don't know the first thing about getting into God's presence.

and we all can spend hours and hours talking about what's wrong with the church- what's wrong with the generation X- what's wrong with the kids that come in and sleep on the back pew- what's wrong with the kids that walk into church disinterested- and that's the problem....all we do is talk. But if we catch these kids in their formative years- when they are most apt to form their outlooks on life- and we teach them WHY we worship and we teach them HOW to worship and we teach them that it's not OK to talk during a sermon and we teach them that when it's time to worship- we focus on Jesus, how good He is and all the good things He's done (not negating the difference between kids and adults and their short attention spans, need for play, need for movement- that's all good and should be considered- but too many times those reasons are used as excuses for not teaching our kids HOW to be Christians)- then we just MAY change the culture of our families and our communities. But if we just keep saying "oh they're just a kid" at age 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, etc then you will have 18 year old church attenders (not Christians because their lives won't reflect any kind of Christianity- except church attendance which is hardly a tag of a "Christianity") who answer every question with "I'm JUST A KID".

I think that kids can participate in every way that adults participate in worship- they can sing, they can clap, they can lift their hands- coloring Elmo and Mickey Mouse is not an act of corporate worship; sitting their longingly looking at the door waiting for children's church dismissal is not an act of corporate worship. .

Let's create an environment where if we raise our kids in a Christian home then we teach them and expect them to do Christian things: like participate in worship, understand WHY they worship, develop a relationship with Jesus. Wouldn't it be amazing if the kids that we had right now- began to seek God- began to be held to a standard- a Godly standard- a fun standard- NOT rules and regulations; but standards that pave the way for a relationship with Christ-  what kind of people will they be when they turn 18? Think about it!