Sometimes I get bothered by kids’ questions. As a children’s pastor I hate this about myself but every once-in-a-while, it’s true. I feel like I get questions from children at the worst times. Like when I’m on stage in the middle of my lesson, or right before I get a call and have to race across campus, or when I’m already in the middle of answering another child’s question. I get why doctors’ offices make you take a number. It’s never fun, but I get it.
Recently though, I’ve been looking at kids’ questions in a different way. I’m starting to see them as less of an interruption and more as a mentoring moment. Less of “that’s just how kids are” and more of how the church should be. Less of a distraction and more of why I’m even in children’s ministry to begin with.
Last week I came across a post on Thom Schultz’s blog that talked about how we as leaders respond to (or ignore) kids’ questions can impact their lives:
At a recent Lifetree Cafe event a woman named Ruth told the group about her childhood experience with Sunday School. When she was nine years old she had lots of questions about God and the Bible.
Her questions reflected a sincere search for truth. At her young age she had doubts about some of the things she heard from her teacher. “I’m afraid I had too many questions,” she said. “They asked me to leave.”
She never went back. Now in her 60′s, Ruth doesn’t feel welcome in the Christian church. “They don’t want my questions or my thoughts.”
Reading this post made me glad that the church I grew-up in had leaders that were patient with all my questions (because I asked a lot). What I respect most about them, in hind-sight, is that they didn’t just give me patent God, Jesus, or the Bible answers. If they didn’t know something they promised to find out and get back to me. Sometimes they didn’t, but most of the time they did. I hope that I can be like them when I grow up.
How does your ministry make space to dialogue with kids about their questions?
–Jeff
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