Kids Say the Darndest Things
Evangelism is a scary word for many of us. We have faith and love God, but find it hard to share it with others. There are plenty of forces working against us, for sure. We have a hard time entering a conversation about faith for fear of rejection. We make the process way too complicated and over-think how to talk about our faith. We are trapped in a culture that generally has a bad opinion of Christians, making it nearly impossible to find a safe space. And, there are terrible things that happen in our world that we all struggle to understand through a Christian lens on our own, much less in a conversation with a non-believer.
Like so many of the things I talk about, I think we can learn a lot from observing how kids see and do evangelism. Here are a few simple observations.
- Kids don’t start with a judgment. How often do we look at someone and form an opinion of that person before we even realize what we are doing? I think this prevents us from doing much work for God. Children see all people as beautiful and unique creations. The “weirder” someone is, the more a child’s curiosity will draw him near.
- Kids seek common ground. Don’t you love how kids will walk right up to a stranger and ask “Who would win a fight between Iron Man and Spider Man?” Or “Why is the sky blue?” When kids make these overtures, they seek a common ground. This is the easiest way to begin a discipleship with another. Just find something you have in common; not necessarily a matter of theology or faith.
- Kids don’t make it overcomplicated. Kids welcome confusion as it leads to curiosity and discovery. And, they are willing to discover new things with someone, together, without worry of being wrong, not knowing the right answer or being rejected.
- Kids are capable of unconditional love. Kids don’t hold grudges or avoid someone after a bad experience. Adults, however, have a much harder time. And, if we try to talk with someone about our faith and get rejected, most of us crawl back under the rock we came from. We don’t let go and move forward…and we sure need to.
The Bible tells us to be more like kids in a lot of different ways and when we really think about the profile of a child, we see a striking number of similarities with the characteristics of Christ, himself. I guess to get others to understand the real meaning of being a Christ-follower, we just need to act a little more like Him. If that sounds like too lofty a goal, then we can always take the much easier path and act like children!