CHILDLIKE WORSHIP
By: Micaiah Wesler
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:2-4 NKJV
I always enjoy watching kids run around the sanctuary after church. They are doing exactly what they were created to do, being innocent, lighthearted, playful, and having fun with no fear of punishment hanging over their heads. They are operating in pure freedom to be who they are meant to be in that moment.
When many of us were growing up in church we knew there were rules in the sanctuary. No food or drink, no running, no yelling, no stage diving, no playing instruments that aren’t yours... etc. There was etiquette to the sanctuary. “Order.” “Structure.” “Reverence.” It wasn’t until later that I realized that our idea of rule-based reverence and God’s idea of true reverence might not be matching up. When Jesus teaches on the kingdom of God, He looks right past all of the adults there and uses a child as the example of how we should be.
Remember back when you first gave your life to the Lord and how exciting everything was? How on fire for God you were? What your worship looked like? It’s like the chorus in “The Whole Earth Sings:”
WE POUR OUT OUR BEST FOR YOU!
WE POUR OUT OUR BEST FOR YOU! *
You would jump, run, dance, sing loud, anything and everything to give Him your worship. Then eventually things changed. Life dealt it’s blows and you gained some scars. Now you’ve “moved past” the child stage and on into spiritual adulthood. You know how things work now. You’re more stoic and less easily excitable. All that excitement is for the youth. What if God’s intentions for you were never to “move past” the child stage in worship? What if we didn’t “move past” it but, in reality, we just LOST our childlikeness. Let that sink in.
When it comes to praise and worship, God is looking past the adult in us and trying to find the child we once were. If you find that you have become too serious in worship, it’s time to look to the children running around the sanctuary for advice. Those children have the foundation of worship He wants us to start with, build on, and never ever lose.
*Songwriters: Bryn Waddell, Tyler England, Tyler Richardson. "The Whole Earth Sings". The River is Rising, Awaken a Generation Music, 2011.
Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:2-4 NKJV
I always enjoy watching kids run around the sanctuary after church. They are doing exactly what they were created to do, being innocent, lighthearted, playful, and having fun with no fear of punishment hanging over their heads. They are operating in pure freedom to be who they are meant to be in that moment.
When many of us were growing up in church we knew there were rules in the sanctuary. No food or drink, no running, no yelling, no stage diving, no playing instruments that aren’t yours... etc. There was etiquette to the sanctuary. “Order.” “Structure.” “Reverence.” It wasn’t until later that I realized that our idea of rule-based reverence and God’s idea of true reverence might not be matching up. When Jesus teaches on the kingdom of God, He looks right past all of the adults there and uses a child as the example of how we should be.
Remember back when you first gave your life to the Lord and how exciting everything was? How on fire for God you were? What your worship looked like? It’s like the chorus in “The Whole Earth Sings:”
WE POUR OUT OUR BEST FOR YOU!
WE POUR OUT OUR BEST FOR YOU! *
You would jump, run, dance, sing loud, anything and everything to give Him your worship. Then eventually things changed. Life dealt it’s blows and you gained some scars. Now you’ve “moved past” the child stage and on into spiritual adulthood. You know how things work now. You’re more stoic and less easily excitable. All that excitement is for the youth. What if God’s intentions for you were never to “move past” the child stage in worship? What if we didn’t “move past” it but, in reality, we just LOST our childlikeness. Let that sink in.
When it comes to praise and worship, God is looking past the adult in us and trying to find the child we once were. If you find that you have become too serious in worship, it’s time to look to the children running around the sanctuary for advice. Those children have the foundation of worship He wants us to start with, build on, and never ever lose.
*Songwriters: Bryn Waddell, Tyler England, Tyler Richardson. "The Whole Earth Sings". The River is Rising, Awaken a Generation Music, 2011.