Faith Of A Child

SAT., MAR. 12, 1994, 2:30 AM
FARM, STUDY

In this passage from Matthew’s Gospel I, as Jesus, am extolling the faith of a child to My disciples. Mostly we met and talked with adults, for My ministry was mainly for adults. Yet I recognized that children could have a rather simple faith, based on what had been told them by some loving adult. So here, in this passage, I am exaggerating the power and the value of such simple faith.

You’ve noticed that there are few instances when I spent time talking with rabbis and theologians… and there were many that I could have challenged. There were many theological questions that I did not address during My rather short ministry. Instead, theology had to be developed out of the accounts of what I said and did. Out of this one came the impetus for a simple life, with lots of uncritical worship. Or it would extol the naivete of a child in asking simple, but hard, questions, such as “What is sin, really?” “Should you really cut off your hand if it did some sinful thing?”

For the truth of this encounter you should focus on the inclusion, rather than the implied exclusion. I do include, in My Kingdom, some children with a faith, along with some adults whose faith is genuine, but simple and uncomplicated. I do include those who ask simple, child-like questions also. But I do not exclude those whose faith has gone beyond that of the child, perhaps even to dizzying heights and still genuine. Likewise I do not exclude those who have had their childish questions answered fully and who go on to deeper questions. My whole Kingdom is not made up of children and those who are like children. Note that there are only a few instances reported when I spent any great amount of time with children. My mission was not to be a pre-school or grade school teacher.

There is value in simplicity, and this is one instance, short in description, in which I needed to remind the disciples that the faith of a child was to be valued, even highly. Yet it shouldn’t be taken as a proclamation that you all should have only child-like faith… or pretend you do, to please Me.

I went on, according to Matthew, with more exaggeration, coming down hard against sin and apparently recommending that should your hand be involved in sinful action you should cut it off… and if you looked upon evil and didn’t shun what you saw you should pluck out this too-accepting a sense organ. This doesn’t mean that all Christians should be this penitent, walking around with one or no hands and one or no eyeballs.

In his letter to the Church-folks at Corinth Paul is saying, in relation to sinful behavior as a test of faith, that I will not tempt you beyond what you can bear. Again this is not an all-or-none pronouncement. I want each generation of Christians, in the myriad forms and backgrounds, to feel that they can resist evil with their own strength, augmented by Mine. Yet I knew, and so did Paul, that some number in each congregation… and in each era… would succumb to temptation and would, in many cases, be lost, at least for this lifetime. As I have told you often, failure can make for much progress, and it also can lead to a falling-away. Simple, child-like faith is not always the best of each situation… though it is for some.