One of my first girl crushes was Tinker Bell. Well, it was more than a crush. We had a relationship for a season. Somehow she must have found out that I liked her because she came to my house. She pursued me, though sometimes she’d play hard-to-get. She only appeared occasionally, and she’d only stay for short periods of time. Because she lived in a mystical world, I couldn’t see her form with detail, but just the light glowing around her. Just like in Peter Pan, Tink didn’t speak audibly, but boy did she know how to communicate. I’d ask her all sorts of questions—mostly yes and no type questions—and she would nod one way or the other. I vividly remember asking her where she lived, and she bid me to follow her down the long hallway and then pointed to the small door that led into our attic. She lives in our attic!
This went on for some time. I was 12. Just kidding. I must have been about five.
I always thought my dad was just as interested in Tinker Bell as I was, because he’d always be right there with me talking with her and suggesting questions to ask her. Little did I know Tinker Bell was nothing more than the light reflecting off of my dad’s watch, that he directed like a puppet on a string. Some kids might have felt duped, but not me. To this day, I’m grateful that my parents fostered imagination in me. Though I realized Tinker Bell wasn’t real, I wondered if there were otherworldly beings who could be known. It sparked curiosity in me.
Kids believe
It’s interesting how kids naturally believe things unseen like ghosts and fairies and monsters under the bed. They believe that thunder is an angelic bowling match in the heavens. We seem to come out of the womb ready to believe things adults apparently are too smart to believe. Like aliens, for example. Most adults don't give it much thought, but when you’ve seen E.T. as a child—you totally believe things are possible! You can feel it deep inside!
Okay, I admit I was a little more gullible than most kids. But the quality that all kids seem to be born with is a desire to believe the unbelievable. Kids ask tons of questions, but they aren’t being skeptical. Mom doesn’t tell them that the tooth fairy will be visiting in the night and the four year old says, “Yeah, I just don’t buy it.” And then goes on to lay out a 17 point refutation of the existence of the tooth fairy. No. They want to believe. And this is such a beautiful quality that we all need to recover.
Sad morph
Now, obviously, as we become adults, it’s important to develop critical thinking skills to help us distinguish between fantasy and reality. We learn to use reasoning to determine truth. But over time the heart begins to morph from wanting to believe to not wanting to believe. We become skeptical of everything, cynical. Anything that seems extraordinary, we shoot down as unrealistic. We can get to a place where the only thing we believe is what we see with our natural eyes. This dogged realism does not help us in our relationship with the invisible God who dwells in unapproachable light.
Let the children come
One of the most beloved stories of Jesus is when the little children came to Him. It’s found in several of the gospels. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus similar to the way they bring kids to see Santa at the mall. Even infants were brought to Christ that he might “touch them.” Parents saw how the touch of Jesus could heal people; they saw how the power of God would flow out of Him.
You get the idea that the kids were totally into it. They heard their parents around the dinner table talking about the love of Jesus and the miracles he was doing. The kids were tucked in at night hearing a few of the stories of what Jesus had done that day. The kids must have imitated Jesus and “played Jesus,” pretending to do the great miracles He did. To the children, it was perfectly clear that this man Jesus was wonderful and mighty, kind and beautiful, good and admirable. They worshipped Him! Here’s Mark’s recollection of what happened.
And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them (Mark 10:13-16).
Get these brats outta here!
Sometimes I feel bad for the disciples that they did so many dumb things. Can you picture the scene? All these sweet parents are bringing their children to see their childhood hero. Maybe they were crowding in to get to Jesus. The kids were ecstatic as they got closer. They watched Jesus interact with some of the kids that got to Him—and Jesus received them! Jesus was interested in them! And then, like listening to the most wonderful song on tape cassette when the tape suddenly gets violently tangled, causing the song to come to a halt, the disciples rebuke the parents and kids. Like, what did they say? “Hey, you, get that cute baby out of here! And you, with your 7 little wild boys, go home! Grandma, back away from the Master, go take the grand kiddos to the beach!”
To such belongs
I love that Jesus was indignant. That’s a strong word. It wasn’t a little light correction, saying, “Hey guys, c’mon, it’s okay, lighten up.” No, He was mad. He was mad because they were completely oblivious to the glory of the moment. These dear little children were interacting with the One who created the universe. This was the single greatest moment of their lives up to that point. And the disciples are trying to quench that?
Jesus tells the disciples not to hinder the little children from coming to Him. He says, “for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” He was saying, in essence, that we should not underestimate the ability of small children to open up their hearts and receive the kingdom of God. But then He goes even further and makes this stunning statement:
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
What? Become like a child? I thought we were supposed to put away childishness. I thought it wasn’t a good thing to act like a child. Children are foolish and immature. Why would I want to be like a child? Children whine. Actually, Scripture does teach that we shouldn’t be immature like children.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready (1 Corinthians 3:1-2).
Paradox
Another one for the paradox pile. We shouldn’t be like children. But we should. It’s not that difficult to grasp really. It’s obvious that there are certain qualities of children we should not imitate—like peeing on the rug because they’re too lazy to go down the hall to the bathroom, or eating chewed bubble gum they found stuck under a bench, or licking a metal pole when it’s 10 degrees out. But there are certain qualities of children that Jesus says are so important that, unless we imitate them, we will find that we cannot enter the kingdom, that we can not get close to God.
Receive
Now, the funny thing about this story is that He doesn’t tell us exactly what qualities about children we are to imitate. It’s a little vague. He just says we should “receive the kingdom of God like a child.”
Jesus didn’t forget to explain it. I’m certain he put it out there almost like a riddle to get people to think about it. To ask—“in what ways should we not be like children, and what ways should we be like children?” The only clue He really gives us is the word “receive”—we should receive like children.
Well, that doesn’t seem so hard, right? How hard can it be to receive? I think Jesus was bringing out this sweet quality in kids that just take hold of things. They are open. They believe. They come without inhibition to obtain. They don’t hesitate because they are undeserving. They don’t get caught up thinking how they don’t need any handouts from anybody. They aren’t embarrassed in any way to go get a blessing from the man giving out blessings. They aren’t too proud, too cool, too intelligent, too self-sufficient. They are humble.
He’s near
There’s so much we can learn from children in our pursuit of God. Adults have a way of complicating everything. We talk ourselves into a knot of doubt and unworthiness. We are skeptical of everything. We lose the wonder of believing that God is really as good as the Bible declares Him to be. We lose our ability to imagine the invisible. Oh that we’d be like children who are able to believe that the Lord God is all around us and in us.
Take a few moments today—maybe now—to see God as a child would. Scripture teaches the Lord is not far off but He is near. I’m talking about right now, this very second, as you read this. He’s near. He’s not out there beyond the clouds merely. He’s not only up there on the throne, or doing what God does in the far corners of the universe. He’s here with you now. The One who created you surrounds you. Believe it. And receive.