Childlike Faith

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

- Matthew 18:2-4

I've been thinking a lot about the phrase “childlike faith” lately. My 4 year old daughter, Evelyn, is old enough to remember when flowers bloomed at our house last spring. Before this she knew what flowers were, but didn’t remember the previous spring season and the exact flowers that bloomed in our yard. This year she remembers which bushes and trees had pink flowers and which ones will bloom white. Her excitement about all the flowers returning this spring is almost tangible. As adults, we’ve seen plenty of spring flowers bloom. It doesn’t surprise us anymore - it’s just something that happens at the same time each year. It’s a constant for us. Not something brand new and exciting. Children are so amazed at the seemingly small things around them. Young kids also get excited to do “boring” adult things all the time. Household chores certainly aren’t interesting to adults, but kids sure seem to think so.  They really just want to be included. Vacuuming or washing the dishes is seen as an opportunity to do “a grown-up thing” that they don’t usually get to do. They are being included in something they’re normally left out of. Kids long for community, just like we do. Almost like God made us all for community (spoiler alert, He did).

But what does a childlike faith actually mean? I think a small part of what Jesus meant was that we, as adults, shouldn’t look down on the way children approach new topics. Kids are so curious. I live and work with preschoolers, so I am in their world every day of the week right now. Preschoolers are SO curious. They ask questions without hesitation or fear of judgement. They haven’t entered a stage of life where they’re expected to know a lot of answers yet. They are constantly learning and as a result questions just flow out of them. Almost literally - the questions my girls ask are just like a stream of consciousness sometimes. Asking questions is an important form of communication. It's one way that kids develop critical thinking skills. 

As adults, there can be a lingering fear of judgement or embarrassment if we ask a question we think we should already know the answer to. It can be stressful to ask a question that shows we don’t know what others in the room know. So we tend to just not ask the questions. We should never feel those things when we bring a question to God though. Faith questions don’t mean you’re a bad Christian. They mean you are thinking and striving to understand what you’re hearing or reading. Questions are how many people process things. And that’s great! Just ask a preschooler.

In a healthy relationship, children trust their adults. Kids just accept what a trusted adult tells them, right? My mom had a friend growing up who had several older brothers. This little girl’s dad and brothers thought it would be funny to teach her animal sounds incorrectly. So they spent hours at home teaching her that a cow says “oink” and a horse says “meow”, etc. But then she went to preschool. A week or two after she started preschool, her parents got a call from the school that something seemed off. The daughter was excelling in every category but one. Somehow she knew none of her animal sounds at an age where all her classmates knew most/all of them. At that point the father had to admit to his wife and the school that it was just a joke and they had to re-teach the daughter her correct animal sounds. She’s now a lawyer or a vet - I can’t remember her exact job, but I know she’s incredibly smart. So no longterm damage was done! But it goes to show that children believe what their trusted adults tell them. While that’s a kind of ridiculous example, I believe that’s another aspect of childlike faith we should emulate in our relationship with Christ. If we trust Him, we should believe what He says. He will not lead us astray. He won’t teach us the wrong animal sounds because it’s funny. Now that’s not to say we should just blindly accept and never ask questions - kids definitely ask questions, we talked about that already. Questions can be good. They provide clarity. If there’s a level of trust there already, questions come from a place of wanting to understand. Not out of distrust or because we are cynical. 

So when Jesus says to become like children, these are the things I like to keep in mind. Be curious, ask questions, and trust. No matter what culture kids grow up in, they will ask questions. That's how they learn. And in healthy relationships they can trust what their people tell them and grow and develop from there. So be like the children. Be curious, wonder, ask questions, and trust what God says. 

This week embrace your inner child. Appreciate the little things. Ask questions. And know that God loves you.