Little Missionaries
In the fear of the LORD one has strong confidence, and his children will have a refuge. Proverbs 14:26
I don’t claim to understand missions in the Christian church. From my view it seems some are quite productive and others seem to bear little or no fruit. I have also learned that, though some appear “unsuccessful” from the human perspective, God brings a harvest after years of “seeding.”
The thing that consistently surprises me is how much preparation goes into getting onto the mission field. The “candidates” are screened and sent to special trainings. I understand some agencies require Bible school or the equivalent. If the missionary is going to a foreign mission field, they may go to language school and get some introduction to the new culture.
As this school year is ending I am wondering about a child who headed off to kindergarten in the Fall because his parents wanted him to go and have “an impact for Christ.” They were excited to send their little missionary into the public school so he could “make a difference.”
These parents love Jesus Christ and believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to use their little boy to evangelize. They truly have a heart for the lost and are willing to work to spread the gospel.
Five. Years. Old. Is he prepared? Does this little missionary/evangelist know his Bible and understand the faith? I have no doubt that he could communicate to other children that we are all sinners, God loves them, and that He is a forgiving God.
The problem is less with what will come out of his heart and mouth, as it is about what will go into his heart and mind. He is the oldest child in this family; these parents may not have enough recent experience with the public school to know what he will be taught. A lot has changed over the years since they were there.
As the other children hear and accept what is taught (all religions are good, it is ok for two women or two men to marry, abortion is a good option for some, that a boy in the girl’s bathroom is his choice, or that God doesn’t belong in science, math, or history) he will be confused about the truth. His parents, after all, have implicitly told him by sending him to school, that the teachers are trustworthy. Whom is he to believe: teachers or Mom and Dad?
The first time I heard teaching on this subject, the man speaking used these verses to make his case: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight in in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)
He compared this description to the anti-Christian leadership who are making the decisions about what will be taught, and how it will be taught, to our children. Very few, and none may publicly, “delight in the law of the Lord.” Instead, they walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, and sit in the seat of scoffers.
Seriously, are our own children so well trained by the age of five that they are ready to be witnesses to the world and stand against ungodly teaching? Or, like those who prepare adults to go the mission fields, do we need to provide a time of preparation so that their delight is in the Law of the Lord first?