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verse4today: "I am sending an angel before you to protect you on your journey and lead you safely to the place I have prepared for you" (Exodus 23:20).
Posted on 2012-02-10 via Twitter
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Children & Adults in Worship
Sam Hamstra | Jun 3, 2008
Can't think of another time when I preached with a child in my arms, but it happened this past week when Olivia made her way to me during the weekly gathering of Living Hope Church. What else could I do? Send her away? And what message would that haven given? So, I picked her up, held her, and continued to speak. Now as I look back, with the benefit of a photo, something about that experience seems right. Didn't Jesus say something like "let the children come"? Didn't He dismiss the cries of the adults who didn't think children were worthy of His attention. And didn't I baptize Olivia into Christ and His Church and, at that time, promise to love her unconditionally. So I am wondering, did I have another option?
Or did I have another option? Recently a congregation in Minnesota obtained a restraining order to keep one of it children from worship. Church leaders, in defense of their action, stated that the child, named "Adam," a 13-year-old young man with autism, disrupts worship and threatens the safety of other parishioners with his erratic behavior. That didn't stop Adam and his mother from attending church last month. And nothing stopped the police for citing the mother for a violation of the restraining order. She now anticipates time in civil court.
No easy answers here. I am sure there is much more to the story of Adam and the congregation's efforts to love him in Christ. The reason why there are no easy answers is that, historically, the church has been defined as the gathering of the baptized for the purpose of praise, prayer and proclamation. So, those who baptize infants (like the church that barred Adam from worship and like Living Hope) believe that children are part of the church and typically include them in worship. Those who do not baptize infants tend to separate children from the baptized gathered for worship. There is some theological logic there.
But what if a baptized child or two act in such a way that they distract the rest of those gathered from worship? Should the children be sent away from the church to which they belong so that those who remain may worship the Lord without interuption? Or should the gathered community adjust its expectations, much like a family adjusts to the idiosyncrasies of its members? Or ... ?
Add to this discussion the conviction by many that corporate worship is the primary activity of the church, that which from all others flow. Can one, then, even be considered part of the church if that same person does not gather for worship or - worse yet - is not allowed to gather with those who name the name of Jesus?
More questions than answers here - but the answers to the questions bear upon how a congregation experiences the community created by the Holy Spirit. They shape how a congregation experiences the authentic community they enjoy as a family of God. As for me, I have always enjoyed having kids in the sanctuary, even if they acted up while I was preaching - except when they were my own kids!
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This is an excellent Internet resource for those of us who are attempting to establish “authentic community” within the body of Christ. This is one of the essential elements that helps a church accomplish its goals, but there is one more important element which you addressed somewhat in your earlier blog posts. It is that of the Great Commission. You addressed the need for a church to be salt and light to the world which, by my interpretation, is sharing the gospel and loving the world as Christ did. As I believe this is an imperative for modern Christianity, I would like to hear from you regarding this essential topic.
I’m a fan of having the kids in the worship service. It’s distracting at times, but pretty much everyone is distracting at one time or another.
I like the way you put it about adjusting to the idiosyncracies of a family. It’s just something to get used to. And from experience, it’s nice to be a kid with a family you can trust.