A Response to “There Are No Unreached Children” #dmingml, #capetown2010

 

This advance paper for Cape Town 2010 is a stimulating and passionate plea to reflect deeply on how we the people of God can nurture, disciple and evangelize the children of the world. A fascinating statement is made about the current and future situation of children in our world: “Children are a suffering people group. Almost one third of the world’s population, approximately 2 billion people, are under the age of 15.3. Most of the world’s children will be born in the decade from 2003-2013 and over 90% of them to mothers and fathers earning less than $US1 a day.” Thus there is a need for the church to strategically reach out to those children. God’s heart towards the children is clear, he calls us the church to love them and to teach them about the Christian faith. However, as the presenters of this paper note, “the stark reality is that neither families or the church have done all they could or should to pass the torch of faith to the next generation. The church has not always supported families, nor properly appreciated the place and role of children.”  Thus, the presenters make a passionate plea for the church to make the discipling and evangelization of children one of the churches priorities.  Further, the presenters note that the task of passing on the faith to the children of our world is complicated through the complexity of the cultural changes of the 21^st century. Secularization, globalization, individualism, pluralism and consumerism are all new forces shaping the cultural landscape in which our children’s life’s take place. Based on these emerging trends, six key principles for action are outlined to help the body of Christ move towards reaching all children.

 

1.     Disciple for deep and long –lasting faith.

2.     Partner with others with in a Kingdom agenda

3.     Reflect on children from a biblical perspective? In churches, seminaries and bible schools.

4.     Recognize and encourage the potential of children.

5.     Share and contextualize resources.

6.     Adapt to the technological context of the children.

 

The paper is concluded by stating: “There are no unreached children. The issue is, “Who is reaching them?” They are being reached from every angle by political parties, other faith’s secularism, corporations and a myriad of other causes. Above all, the children of the world need to know and follow Jesus. He is their hope, their truth, their peace and their future. The body of Christ needs children with a deep, long-lasting faith as partners in mission today and leaders of the church and the world tomorrow.”

 

Here are some of my reflections in response to this paper. First of all what the presenters of this paper bemoan, namely the lack of attention of the church towards children, is reflected in the Lausanne conference where only one out of 36 papers that are presented addresses youth and children specifically.

 

Second, the most stimulating part of this paper is that it draws attention to how many children are in need of the churches care and outreach. Powerful statistics are presented.

 

Third, one of the most challenging key principles is principle number 3 – “Reflect on children from a biblical perspective in churches, seminaries and bible schools.” This deep reflection has been to the most part absent in most churches that I have attended. I am challenged myself to look at what God’s word says about children and what role God is calling the church (not just the youth pastor) to play in the children’s life. I am looking forward to what I will discover.

 

Fourth, is a question I would like to raise about “4/14 Window” The presenters argue that this is the critical age in which people come to trust in Jesus. I do believe that children have meaningful relationships with Jesus and important spiritual formation takes place during that time period. However, just in their development as people I wonder if we can speak of a conversion at the age of 4. I am not sure if “conversion” is meant when the presenters talk about trust in Jesus. To me it seems like the developmental stages in a child need to be taken seriously and looked at closer. Obviously it is not appropriate to limit God in how he works, but in Church history most denominations have an age of accountability that is seen as a time when a child can become a Christian.

 

Fifth, I agree with the statement “There are no unreached children” and that the issue is “Who is reaching them?” We all are shaped and formed by the influences in our lives. We often don’t reflect on who shapes our thinking and how we perceive the world and ourselves. As the church we need to reflect on how we can have programs of spiritual formation for the children in the church that teach them God’s love and God’s purposes and truths for their life. Most of the curriculum for children and youth seems to be random and not strategic. Thus, there is a need to develop a strategic curriculum for children for multiple different cultural contexts. (I know while I worked in Germany as a youth pastor there were hardly any appropriate youth resources. Most of the curriculum was translated from English authors and often did not fit the German cultural context).