A Five-year Old’s Dilemma: Jesus

Got to admit . . . the kid was thinking. 

My wife shared a story about a friend’s grandson.  Her friend explained that her grandson attends a Catholic preschool.  When the boy got in the car he was greeted by his mother’s usual questions-and-answers talk.

 

“What did you learn in school today?” quizzed the mother.  The child proceeded to tell his mother all about the day’s lesson on Jesus.  When he got to the end, he said, “And the teacher said she had Jesus in her heart.”

 

Then there was a moment of silence before the boy—wide-eyed—asked, “Mom, what is Jesus doing in her heart?”

 

We adults probably do not take the time to filter our responses when speaking to the preschool generation . . . especially when it comes to theological and religious topics.  We forget how literal and concrete five-year-olds can be in their thinking.  Jesus in her heart . . . seems a little crowded to a five-year-old and quite logical to want to know what he is doing in there.  Probably no wonder little children are apprehensive about things like theology and religion . . . why so much of it does not make sense to their little minds and common sense.

 

If I was a five-year-old I sure the heck would want to know how some adult, let alone Jesus, got into someone’s heart.  I’d like to know what he was doing there.  Granted, five-year-olds are more knowledgeable and sophisticated than previous generations thanks to television, movies, and videos on You Tube.  Jesus probably found some shrinking ray machine, shrank, and climbed down the teacher’s throat while she was sleeping into her heart, and set-up camp.  Still . . . why?

 

Think about it . . . think about it like a five-year-old.

 

Try this snappy pronouncement that gets thrown around by the adult faithful: Jesus is the answer.  Answer to what?  That is what every preschooler who hears that phrase wants to know—answer to what?  The quick answer is—everything.  Jesus is the answer.  This could be dangerous in the hands of a five-year-old.

 

Parents ask questions and expect answers.  “Junior, who hit your sister?”  Jesus.

 

Teachers expect answers to their questions.  “Amelia, what is four plus four?”  Jesus.

 

Who can blame a kid?  If Jesus is the answer . . . then Jesus is the answer to all questions.  It is that simple.  That is what they are told.

 

One little boy went into the store, grabbed a candy bar, and started eating it.  Shocked, the kid’s mother asked what he was doing . . . “Eating a candy bar.”

 

“Who paid for the candy bar?” demanded the mother.

 

“Jesus!”

 

What?

 

“Jesus paid for it all!”

 

The faithful have said that . . . Jesus paid for it all.  Of course, as a faithful adult, we understand that to mean that Jesus—through his life. Death, and resurrection—paid for the sins of their lives.  Grace.  To a five-year-old it simply means that Jesus has an unlimited line of credit to pay for anything . . . even a candy bar.  That’s what the children are told.  Jesus paid for it all. You name it, Jesus paid.  I wonder how those I pay my bills to would handle it if I stuck a note in the payment envelope declaring, “Jesus paid it all.”

 

Jesus saves.  Probably why he can pay for it all.  As a five-year-old I’d want to know what he saves.  Does he save rocks? Baseball cards? Comic books? Money?  Butterflies?  Convenient store bags?  There is a joke about Satan and Jesus arguing about who had the best computer skills.  they had been arguing for days, and God was getting tired of it.  To settle the argument God would test them and their skills.  The test would run for two hours and at the end God would declare a winner.

 

God set up two computers.  Jesus and Satan sat at their respective computers.  Then it began . . . the two of them did everything imaginable with a computer.  Spreadsheets.  Reports.  Faxes.  Emails.  Attachments.  PowerPoints.  They downloaded and uploaded.  Anything and everything a computer could do, they did it.

 

Then, ten minutes before the contest was over, lightning flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and of course, the electricity went off.  The computers crashed . . . they were off.

 

Satan stared at the blank screen and screamed every curse word imaginable.  Jesus just sighed.  Finally, the electricity flickered on.  They restarted their computers.

 

Satan searched frantically, screaming, “It’s gone!  It’s all gone!  Everything lost when the power went off!”

 

Jesus quietly started printing everything he had done in the last two hours.  This made Satan mad.

 

“Wait!  He cheated; how did he do that?”

 

God shrugged and said, “Jesus saves.”

 

What does Jesus save?  Inquiring five-year-olds want to know.

 

What about, “Jesus is with me” and “Jesus shows the way”?  Kind of creepy if you are a five-year-old in this day and age of “stranger danger”.  True, children do have active imaginations, but what parent doesn’t get a little concern when their kids start having imaginary friends/companions?  Think about it.

 

Parent to child: “Who you talking to?”

 

“Jesus.”  Right!  Because he is the answer to all questions.

 

“Jesus?”

 

“Yeah . . . Jesus.  He’s with me.”

 

“Really, Jesus?”

 

“Yup.  He’s in my heart.”

 

“What’s he doing in your heart?”

 

“Well, he shows me the way.  Besides, he is paying for it all.”

 

Makes sense to me, but I am often accused ot acting like a five-year-old.  Some of the best and deepest theological conversations I have ever had were with children.  They see the world . . . and Jesus . . . differently than we adults.  They take it to heart and mind what we tell them—literally and concretely.  They keep it simple.

 

Jesus is in my heart—a little crowded, but there is room for one more person or thing that is loved.

 

Jesus is the answer—it works for all questions.  Give it a try.  It might not make sense, but it sure saves a lot of brain power.  Besides, who is going to disagree?  Come on, we’re talking Jesus here.  He is the answer.

 

Jesus paid it all—this is tougher to embrace, but wouldn’t it be great?  No care, no worries.  Like reaching into one’s pocket and always having enough money.  Jesus is the bank.

 

Jesus saves—that is why he can pay for it all.  That or he is some sort of IT savant.  Either way, he saves because I (or we) can’t.  Someone has to pay the bills.

 

Jesus is with me . . Jesus is the way.  Sure, I talk to myself.  Jesus is a good listener. Jesus is a good way to pass this strange habit off of . . . I’m talking to Jesus.  Since he is the answer to all questions, why not this one too?  Jesus is showing me the way.  Not sure what the way is, but he’s got the directions.  I’m just tagging along for the ride.

I like it.  I like how a preschooler thinks.  Simple.  literal.  Concrete.  In my older age I have been accused of regressing . . . of going back to a second childhood.  That may be true, but if you really listen to children when they talk about God and Jesus . . . well, we adults get a good laugh, but they make a lot of sense.  So, I smile, chuckle, and glean the wisdom.  Wisdom from a five-year-old.

 

When I ask children about God . . . about Jesus . . . about who or what they are, I’m always given a one-word answer.  No, not Jesus!  Love.  Love that comes in a bear hug . . . a sloppy kiss on the cheek . . . and holding hands.  Love that comes in shared laughter . . . shed tears . . . and acting goofy.  Love comes in the acknowledgement and excitement of one another’s presence.  If five-year-olds can get it, then so can I.

 

We ought to stop and listen to the children.  They may not understand, but they know.  Oh, do they know. It’s that simple.

 

Someone Knocking on the Door

My understanding of the church was that it was the physical manifestation of Jesus in the world.  With that understanding . . . what I see scares me.  I am not seeing a whole lot of Jesus in what I see in the church . . . and, that scares me.  It should scare you too.

The numbers don’t lie . . . the church, especially the mainline denominations, are dying.  They are dying faster than we can resuscitate them.  More people are leaving through the back door than are coming in the front door.  At this rate, it has been predicted, most mainline denominations will be gone in a couple of decades.  Polls show that there are now more “spiritual” people than there are “religious”—meaning church people . . . and, those people do not care for the church as they see it manifested today.  People vote with their inaction . . . church as we have known it is dying.

There is an old joke about a guy who attempts to go to his local church, but each time he is turned away at the door because he just does not fit the “image” of Christianity that the church is attempting to sell.  After his latest rejection, he is walking home, crying.  Suddenly a booming voice (doesn’t God have a booming voice?) speaks to him . . . demands to know what is wrong.  The man tells him that the church won’t let him in.  God laughs and says, “Oh, don’t worry about it.  I have been trying since the day they became a church to get in, and they still won’t let me in either!”

There lies the complaint against the church today . . . where is Jesus . . . where are Jesus’ teachings and actions . . . where is God’s will?  For many, many years it seems that the church has been focusing on the comfort and needs of those who belong . . . worship to equip the saints . . . Sunday school for those who are saved . . . everything pointed inward to meet the needs of those who belonged.  The result?  The church is imploding . . . blowing up from within.  This is not what people want . . . because they don’t want this they either walk out the back door or they just don’t come.

I think the church is beginning to get it.  There is someone knocking at the door . . . and, the church hasn’t quite decided whether or not it is going to open the door.  Knocking on the door is Jesus . . . and, if the church lets him in . . . well, things are going to change.  No one enjoys change.  But it is getting to be a “do or die” situation . . . hopefully it is not too late.

To let Jesus in the door means that things are going to change . . . change to the way that Jesus would do them.  This is not a real popular notion because that means giving up control, and the church has been about control pretty much since its inception.  At some point (and it would be interesting if someone would study the scriptures and determine at what point that those who were a part of “the Way” transformed into the “church”) the church took over and Jesus was shown out the back door.  That is the complaint, people are having a difficult time finding Jesus and his ministry within the church.  Where did Jesus go?  For a while now, the church has been playing its own version of “Where’s Waldo” as it searches for Jesus. 

I don’t think that the church can stop what is happening today . . . it is too late.  It is like trying to plug a crack in the Hoover Dam with a Bandaid—it won’t work.  The church needs to open the door . . . let Jesus in . . . and then begin to listen, discern, and do.  That is what people are looking for . . . a Jesus that makes a difference beyond the individual . . . makes a difference for the world in which we all live.  It is not the music . . . it is not the sermon . . . it is not the Sunday school class . . . it is not the potluck dinners . . . bible studies . . . it is none of that.  It is about Jesus and what he said and did.

Jesus loved God.  Jesus loved people.  Jesus cared.  Jesus did not speak, but acted out of his love for God and others.  Jesus did.  In the beginning there was no church, there was only “the Way” . . . Jesus’ way.  People did not declare themselves to be Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Baptists, or even Holy Rollers . . . they declared themselves to be followers of “the Way”.  Jesus’ way . . . in the words that he spoke and the actions that he took.  They followed Jesus . . . not the church.

Somewhere along the way, if ever, the church lost sight of that.  Today we are paying for it.

For several years now, though I serve as an ordained minister in a mainline denomination, I have quit saying that I am a Christian . . . that is a church term, a church description.  Instead I have begun to tell people that I am a follower of Jesus.  There is a huge difference.  Primarily, once Jesus is allowed in the door, things are going to change . . . change towards actually living God’s will.  God’s will is simple enough, love the Lord completely and love your neighbor.  That was what Jesus was about.

Someone is knocking at the door . . . thankfully, I can just about ride out the demise of the mainline denominations before retiring.  But, I say open the door.  Open the door and let Jesus in . . .

These are scary times for the church.  Phillip Yancy writes: “As I look around on Sunday morning at the people populating the pews, I see the risk that God has assumed. For whatever reason, God now reveals himself in the world not through a pillar of smoke and fire, not even through the physical body of his Son in Galilee, but through the mongrel collection that comprises my local church and every other such gathering in God’s name.”  I say, open the door!  Let’s get back to “the Way”.