by Rachel Veal

Sometimes with kids, we make sharing Jesus too complicated. Sure they like things to be spectacular--they like lights, noise, and glitz. But after the smoke has faded they are left, like the rest of us, wanting to know the man behind the curtain. They are no longer enthused with the holographic image he (or she) is controlling from behind it.

So how do we reach children with the Good News if we do not present it elaborately? It’s easy--keep it simple. We do not have to entirely throw away the resources that assist us in drawing them in, but ultimately we are in children’s ministry to give them Jesus, the truth, and ourselves. Really, when we strip the church down, when we peer past the preachers and the pews, we are left looking at its heart--Jesus.

He’s the reason we have a church. He is the One we are trying to share, and those of us who work with children have the most receptive hearts available with whom to share Him. We do not have to be Bible scholars or even hold a degree in education. All we need is our story of meeting Him. That is all anyone really needs. Sometimes we try to add all kinds of attractive things around Jesus to make Him more appealing, but He does not need the extra “stuff”--He draws people, especially children, because of who He is. Remember how Matthew tells us the children “flocked” to Him. No wonder. He welcomed them and set them at ease. Children like Jesus. They will respond because He offers them the truth. This truth, not the thousand ways we try to explain it, will give them something to hold onto when they test the waters of adolescence and journey on through those waters into adulthood. If their foundation is strong, their faith will be strong.

Often we feel that children cannot handle the truth so we water it down. But we take the grace out of Christ’s story when we paint a teddy bear picture of it. I wouldn’t suggest delving into Sodom and Gomorrah with a child, but being able to share the truth about salvation, including the consequences of sin and how Jesus took the punishment for it, is what makes His life miraculous—it is also what makes our lives miraculous. It is the grace found in that truth that sets lives free, even young lives. God’s word is more than “Jesus loves me”; it is promises, warnings, a way to live and die--and, as Deuteronomy emphasizes, kids need to begin knowing that word as well as they know the gates of their own homes.

This foundational truth is easier to lay, when it comes from an adult whom children can trust, someone they know as a real person and not a Sunday morning Bible verse and snack. Kids need you to share your life, to lead and care about them, and to build a relationship with them. They want to know who you are—do not be afraid to tell them. Whenever I am around children they are constantly asking about me—from my family tree to my eating habits. To children, we who work with them are as good as a celebrity. Why not invest in them while they are receptive instead of waiting to try and reach them later when they would rather tune you out? If we open up to them in a language they can understand about our prayer requests, ways we need God’s help to be better people, and how God has answered our prayers, they will see who we are (e.g., Sometimes I get so upset when I have to wait in line a long time, and I want to tell the people in front of me to hurry. But God says that He wants us to be patient and kind to others, so I have to pray and ask Him to help me with these things.). Kids will respond to the Jesus in you because it is true.

The events and props that are often found in children’s ministry are not bad in and of themselves, but they are not what life, especially eternal life, is about. When we let Jesus become the guide and driving force of our children’s ministries, rather than becoming entangled in the “stuff” of ministry, we will become firsthand witnesses of children “flocking” to meet Him.