STUDENT MINISTRY: Too Young for the Game?

      Thanks to the generosity of one of my wife’s co-workers, I had the opportunity to attend the Arkansas/LSU game at Razorback Stadium. While the game’s outcome was less than we hoped for, watching the people around me got me thinking. Is there an age that is too young to bring your children to a game?

      As I watched the big screen and looked around me, I saw children of all ages. There were babies and toddlers. There were elementary and teenage students. It was about as multi-generational a gathering as you are going to find. And guess what? No one thought anything about it! There weren’t questions about whether the kids were bored because they didn’t understand the game or what was happening. In fact, parents were willing to spend extra money at an already expensive game to have their little ones with them. They wanted their children to know their traditions. They wanted them to know who to cheer for — Razorbacks… Yay! LSU… Boo! Refs… Boo! (Again, it was a hard game to watch.)

      In a sea of red shirts, sweatshirts, dresses and jackets, these children blended right in. They heard their parents cheer and yell. And for three hours, I watched these little ones be a part of the crowd without anyone looking for childcare.

      So, let me make a correlation with the church world. How many of us feel it is necessary to pull our children from the corporate worship service and place them in children’s worship? There is much our children can learn from worshipping with the adults of our church. Now, being transparent here, my church has children’s worship. We provide it but don’t require children to attend. We want our little ones to worship with us. We make it a part of our rhythm even as we provide children’s worship. Every fifth Sunday is Family Worship at Calvary. It provides a day off for our Children’s Worship workers, as well as our children and families, to spend time together on the same pew.

      Why do we think it is important? For many of the same reasons, some spend the money and endure the inconvenience of taking their children to a Razorback football game.

         • Young worshippers need to see our example. The old statement “Monkey see, Monkey do” says it all. Our children want to emulate what they see us doing. I remember coming back from one of the football games and hearing a six-year-old ranting and raving about the officiating. While you might occasionally run across a football prodigy, it is more likely that this child was simply mimicking what was coming from his father’s mouth. When we engage in worship through prayer, singing and even note-taking, our little ones will see what is important to us. While they may not understand what is being taught, they know their parents are listening.

         • Young worshippers need to see older worshippers. That goes beyond just an example. Children and young people need to see that faith is a lifelong endeavor. In our church, we have one family that worships together regularly. There are four generations. The youngest of them is Miles. Miles is in third grade and has the privilege of worshipping with his 93-year-old great-grandmother. As Miles and the other children of Calvary spend time worshipping with Grandma Pat, they see that she still trusts God after all these years. Church is important. Faith is important. And, even when it is hard to go to church, it is worth the effort.

         • Young worshippers can still learn. We might think our little ones aren’t listening, but they are. They are hearing God’s Word, and we know there is power found there. They may not be able to describe what redemption or justification means, but they see and hear that God’s Word is important. Young Razorback fans are learning as they attend games. They watch and learn when to cheer, how to call the Hogs and what to say when the football team gets a first down. With a clear mandate from Scripture to invest in the next generation, we must take every advantage to help pour God’s Word into their lives.

      Is it wrong to compare a worship service with a Razorback Football game? Maybe, but the similarities are there. I’m just glad I don’t have someone yelling at me to preach harder or “get it together” from the fourth pew. That might be a little hard to deal with. We must realize that children can learn and grow in the midst of our corporate worship services. There is great value in having them with us, for both them and us.

      What ages are in your children’s worship? Do you have the occasional “Family Sunday?” Join the conversation at Facebook.com/groups/StudentMinistryMattersCommunity.