Biblical Perspectives On Children In The Worshiping Community

The Bible presents to us as Christians a multifaceted view of children that helps us understand our relationship with God and challenges many common assumptions about the role of children in the community of faith. Children are a gracious gift from God, images of trusting faith and witnesses to God's love and hospitality in Christ. Patterning our view of children after these images helps the church become the body of Christ. The role of children in Scripture is a theme that has all the richness and variety of an oriental tapestry with its contrasting colors, moods, and patterns. If this variety of perspective is not taken into account, the result could easily be a modest essay on the virtue of childlikeness. But the Word of God is far richer than this single perspective. The biblical vision of children carries us into the mystery of the human condition itself-its tensions, its beauty, and its paradox. In essence, the biblical evidence tells us that the experience of being a child i…