This coming week is our church's VBS (prayers would be appreciated). While thinking about the upcoming VBS, I thought about my role to these kids.
My wife and I have been given the task of being teachers for the 2- to 3-year age range. While most people don't think about this when they talk or teach this age group, my thought is "What if one of them decided to accept Jesus as their savior?"
I don't even know if it is possible for a child the age of 2-3 to understand what it means to accept Jesus as their savior. I mean I even found it hard to believe that my daughter had at the age of 7 had decided to, but after some time I could see the fruit of her acceptance. To this day, she has proven to me that she has accepted Jesus as her savior.
While I know that it is not my quite job to try to convert these children, I just want to be ready in case one of them wants to. As I said before, it just has got me thinking about whether or not one of these "little ones" could.
This has been a debate among people. On one side we have The "Jesus Camp" Type. This type believes that one can accept Jesus as an extremely young child (like 2 or 3) if God has called you. They also believe that everything must be done to facilitate that acceptance and to become a part of our church family. A lot of people view this type as extreme and have viewed them as a form of brainwashing.
On the other side we have The "As An Adult" type. This type believes that the earliest you can accept Jesus is as an adult. For some, it is 13; others go as late as 21. They believe this because that is the age where you can fully understand what you are asking from God and can fully form complex beliefs. People generally view this group as closed-minded and think that these people are hindering a child.
How old do you think a child must be to understand the decision to follow Jesus?
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Comments (54)
I believe it is different for every child, and they should do it as early as they show any interest. I did it at 3. Of course I didn't understand in the same way, but I sure did love Jesus. I have dedicated myself to Him hundreds of times since then, and it gets better every year.
People who don't want kids accepting Jesus until they are much older better watch it. I'm sorry, but I firmly believe it's possible to die unsaved before the age of 13 or 21. It just depends on the kid and their mental maturity. I think most people are there by the beginning of the teenage years.
Although I'm inclined to side with the "As an Adult" camp as you put it, I feel like this is a little bit like asking "when is someone mature enough to drink alcohol and not be stupid about it?" The US Government has arbitrarily said age 21. Other governments have said different ages...In reality it depends on the person and how mature they are. Since everyone matures at a different rate (either due to life experiences, natural propensities, or the interaction of the two) I don't think it's terribly profitable to draw an arbitrary line in the sand using age as a proxy for maturity to say, "at this age you're too immature to believe in Christ, but since tomorrow is your birthday, the wealth of experience you gain in the next 24 hours will make you ready." That just seems silly to me in this situation.
I realize that isn't particularly constructive...so If I had to provide some sort of "This is when you're ready" metric, I'd say that if the individual is beginning to bear fruit and provide solid reason for why they believe Jesus is his/her savior, then s/he is ready. It doesn't necessarily have to be a full, comprehensive logical proof, just something more than "My parents/friends believe it" (i.e. the person hasn't made it his/her own) or "I don't want to go to Hell" (Yay fire insurance!).
The key isn't about accepting Jesus, but rather keeping Him in your hearts. A child does not need to be of reasonable age to have saving grace infused in him/her. (Eg: infant baptism)
Sad, really.
This question assumes a gospel of the church is true and does not accept the Jesus who is, was, and will be.
Jesus came bearing a message
Matthew 4:17 (New King James Version)17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This message was the beginning of what he had to say, He said that his followers would become brothers to him equals in a sense (john 17:11, John 5:19) except for authority.
Jesus would lead his followers to his Father. Jesus is allowed to choose who followed him.
John the baptist was chosen before birth, and some as aged people, so the question does not make sense, the question is better, when does the Lord Jesus reveal himself to you personally?
That's a tough one. I've always wrestled with that question, along with whether or not unborn babies or infants who die are "saved" by default. Spending a lot of time honestly examining those questions can really shake up your understanding of salvation and the gospel.
I do think the age depends on the individual. The risk of converting super young children, especially if they are from a Christian family, is that they may carry out the actions of Christianity just because its what everyone does... and even if they had a true conversion they may never grow deep in their faith and understanding of how their faith relates to the non-Christian world. I think of children who were raised in other religions, and although I do believe Christ is the true way, I still think to myself "who can blame them for following their family's faith"? It seems like the natural thing to do, but doing so blindly isn't always a good thing.
Although its great to start sharing the gospel with children from the beginning, I don't think children should ever be pressured or coaxed into accepting Jesus.If a child expresses a desire to accept Christ, by all means go with it... but don't just say the prayer and leave it be. Make sure the child is exposed to a fair amount of challenges to his/her faith rather than sheltering the child in a Christian bubble. I think this would eventually show whether or not the conversion was authentic and offer more opportunities to accept Christ if it wasn't, and it will eventually give them the chance to consider the important questions they may have been too immature or naive to ask when they first accepted Christ.
@BiblicalTruth2@xanga - Although I think you over reacted a bit, I mostly agree with you. Christ calls us to preach the Gospel to ALL, and make disciples. He didn't ask us to try to figure out who was genuinely ready or "chosen" if you prefer....that's HIS job! Even one of Jesus' followers didn't experience authentic conversion.
But the issue still remains: are we to drag along everybody who agreed to repeat the sinner's prayer, even 3 year olds - or is there some sort of discretion we should be using?
i don't think most children under the age of 12 are capable of understanding the Christian religion-- it's not just Christmas pageants, the "Jesus Loves Me" song, and Bible stories, like i thought it was when i grew up. and because i thought it was that, my faith was shattered the second i encountered such mature subjects as the Crusades and killing in the name of God, Creationism vs Evolution, understanding that some of the best people in my life were apparently going to Hell, etc.
honestly, i don't think most Christian adults understand their religion fully. it's always come across to me as a very sugar-coated religion. you either have to keep yourself ignorant or apathetic.
At that time Jesus said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children." --Matthew 11:25
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these." -- Matthew 19:14
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." --Mark 10:14
Somehow I don't think being "old enough" is very high on Jesus' list of criteria for salvation.
There is no formula.
I love this scripture as well from Psalm 8.....
2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.
If the lips of children and infants can praise God, then that is saying something to me....
We are Spiritual beings, what our minds can not understand fully our spirit can grasp hold of as being from God.
My babies always responded in the womb to times of worship..... this has always amazed me.
@Pass_the_Aura@xanga's thought is pretty good.
Yeah, we get smarter as we grow but we trade certain things for "maturing."
Infant baptism doesn't hurt (unless you hurt the child). I'm not big on it but I'm not against it.
This is one of those questions that doesn't have just one answer. It has infinite answers. More than answers, this questions has conversations and stories. That's cool.
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I don't think that kid in the photo even knows the difference between Jesus and Elmo.
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If it were based upon my acceptance, there would always be uncertainty, and we'd all live in fear that we did not 'accept enough.' Instead, God grants faith to even children in the womb (see John the Baptizer for example). The Bible does not list an age, so we would never know if we depended upon ourselves. 'Lord, I believe, now help my unbelief.'
I don't know. My guess would be that they can accept Christ as soon as they are old enough to understand what Jesus did for them, whether that's in the 2-3 range, older kid, or an adult.
Personally I didn't accept Christ until I was 15.
I think it's different for everyone. My grandmother accepted Jesus at age 8 and (as far as I know) she's never deviated from that faith. I decided to get baptized at 11, and looking back, I really had no idea what I was doing. So yeah, I guess it depends on the person.
@Pickwick12@xanga - I agree completely
I was raised Jewish, then accepted Christ my sophomore year of college. So if someone like me, who grew up being taught that Jesus isn't the true messiah, can be saved...well, I'd say anything is possible!
It hasn't been a full year yet since I've become a Christian and even though I'm a full-fledged adult I'm STILL trying to understand it. I think it's definitely possible to accept Christ as a young child, in that warm fuzzy sort of way. It may take years before they can fully comprehend what Jesus did on the cross and how the world is full of sin and temptation, etc. The fact that Jesus suffered on the cross might even be too scary for some children to hear about, so I guess it's a matter of maturity, and there is no "right age" for that.
Which makes me wonder...for some, there is no "age of accountability." Think of those who are mentally handicapped and live their whole lives with the mental comprehension of a toddler. And what about young babies, even aborted or miscarried babies? I guess that's something only God would know.
I loved Jesus from a very early age. I didn't understand everything the same as I do now, but I talked to him in my bed at night on my own. I still remember parts of my Sunday School class from at least the age of 3.
It's probably not for us to question what happens in the child's heart, but to follow Jesus' words in Mark 10--"Let the little children come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." In fact, in light of those verses-- instead of questioning a little child's salvation, they could just as easily question ours!
Whenever they can understand it. I don't think God puts an age limit on those that truly accept Him into their hearts.
To Jeremiah He said:
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I made you a prophet to the nations."
Wait. Who made him a prophet to the nations? And who sanctified him? God. God did it.
Of John the Baptist the angel of the Lord declared to Zacharias, his father:
" He will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb." (Luke 1)
So much for "accepting Jesus into your heart"...
Remember that God's word will not return to Him void. For those children whom He has set apart for godliness (as per Psalm 4:3), the Word will convict, sanctify and feed. And for those who are not His, or not yet transformed by His Grace and mercy, the Word will convict and call to repentance. Just prepare yourself to preach the word, and let God's means work as God intends. Remember - it is not whether or not one of the kids "could" convert themselves. They can't!
Essentially what you are asking is whether or not God "could", or whether He's limited by their lack of development. Clearly, the answer is that He is limited by nothing.
Ppl learn things at different ages. Some 3 yr olds are smarter than others. Do I think a 2 or 3 year old can TRULY accept Jesus as their Savior? No, I dont. I wouldnt sit here and say "you cant actually accept Him as your Savior until you are 13." cause as I said, some kids know more than others in their age group. I think a child can TRULY accept Jesus as their Savior when they can understand all that He has done for them, when they understand what accepting Him as their Savior entails.
Honestly, my first memory I can recall clearly was when I was four. I started becoming more interested in God when I was about eight or nine.
When children are 2-3 years old, their brains and cognitive functions are still developing. I have only met one or two people who have a fuzzy memory around age three. So personally, I don't think a child that young has any concept of what Jesus is.
It probably is different for every child, but I believe children between the ages of 7-13 is a good age.
I don't think a commitment to Christ is one to be taken lightly. And I also don't think children are in a position to make a fully informed decision. I certainly wouldn't be pushing them to make decisions. However, if someone feels guilty and repentant, I don't see it as my place to stop them. The possibility of inoculating them is somewhat sobering, though.
My Nephew accepted God as a baby and used to try and teach me about Him.
@BelisaAmbrose@xanga - Yeah, and my niece thinks she's wonder woman.