I recently (re)heard the story of Jesus’ response to his disciples after they rebuked the parents who brought their children to Him. Jesus, upon seeing the rebuke, is indignant (ESV) and says:

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.  Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

As I heard that moment again I couldn’t help but have an anachronistic thought.  I imagined a scene played over and over in pop culture: a kid going door to door asking variations of “Can Johnny come out and play?”  Because play is what kids do.  And it is often a play that is rooted in the real world, big day-to-day things made small for little people pleased to try.

In the moments when I most feel like what I am doing is a part of the kingdom of God, I often find myself meeting with a brother or sister in Christ taking ourselves seriously and yet being utterly aware of our lack of competence for the task at hand.  We are, in a real sense, amateurs (and probably more often than not barely more than imitators) at something very big.  I think, though, that the One we emulate, the Father and Son and Holy Spirit, are aware of our weakness in this, and we are truly (and often inadvertently) childlike when we assume this posture.  Too often we treat the work of the kingdom like something we either have complete control of or as a game of Calvinball, where you get to make things up as you go.  I’m not sure the kingdom necessarily works that way, not when we have a Brother who has gone before us and shown us what real abiding and fruit-bearing looks like.  We follow His lead.

I cannot help but think that those parents all those hundreds of years ago were pleased to bring their children to Jesus.  And I am certain that He was pleased with the moment, as “he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.”

May the same be true for us all.