Children and The Kingdom

This morning I opened my Bible to these verses out of Matthew 19:13-15 NIV:
[13] "Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. [14] Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” [15] When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there."

I have always liked the fact that Jesus loved children, and took time to interact with them personally. I was interested in verse 14 this morning, as the Kingdom of Heaven was the main focus of Jesus' ministry and message. The NIV translation takes a slightly different track than the literal translation of the Greek - here quoted from Greens Literal Translation: "But Jesus said, Allow the little children and do not prevent them to come to Me, for of such is the kingdom of Heaven."

Without getting all theological, the differences between "the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these", and "of such is the kingdom of Heaven" appears to be an issue of timing and ownership. When I read the NIV translation I get the feeling that Jesus is referring to their future inheritance, although its not explicit. When I read the original Greek, and Green's translation, it seems like Jesus says the Kingdom already includes these children. This present versus future participation is significant, especially in the eyes of the church.

Jesus says they are part of the Kingdom of Heaven already, so why do we treat children as Christians in training, but not full members of the church? At the time Jesus lived, children really were the lowest level socially, and I have heard many say that Jesus was addressing this issue here. In some ways many of our churches do the same very same thing, in separating the children out, not allowing them to experience the fullness of life of the church. Of course the fact that for many the life of the church consists of lengthy sermons, or worship that is lifeless, certainly doesn't make it attractive to children. However, I think that part of the message we send the children, when we separate them from the adults is that they aren't really a part of what God is doing, but some day they will be. I think we are too worried about the messiness and noise that occurs when the children are present, but Jesus didn't seem to mind.

I think we should take Jesus words seriously - "do not prevent them to come to Me". Let us work to include all, and encourage all to fully experience the fullness of our life as members of the Kingdom of God. Let us welcome the children and encourage the children, and see them as members. I go back in my mind to the daughters of Philip - Acts 21:8-9: "Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied." The actual word, here translated unmarried, means virgin - of marriageable age. I understand that marriageable age could mean very early teens, and here were four, all separated by at least a year in age, so doing basic math, the youngest could have been younger then 12. They were all recognized within the church as prophets, and as such must have had time to develop their gift, meaning the church recognized them, recognized their gifts at an early age and encouraged them as full members. I say Amen - let the church do the same, for the church is supposed to represent the Kingdom of Heaven.