And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
Many times parents will apologize if their child makes any noise during a church service. Likewise, there are times when a child makes any noise during the service that someone will give the parents a look that says, why isn’t your child in children’s church or the nursery? When a parent apologizes for their child making any noise or if they ask if it is okay for their child to be in church I tell them that I am glad their child is in church. Unfortunately not everyone thinks that way.
I understand that some churches have separate services or rooms where children go until they reach a certain age. However, I will also tell you that I can’t count how many times parents have told me that their children will often make comments or ask questions about things later that they heard during the sermon. Likewise, some of my greatest memories with my youngest daughter was when she was little and I would hold her when we were singing in the service and follow my finger along in the songbook before she could even read. She developed a deep love for singing and music as she grew up and often surprised us by how much she heard during the service. On the other hand, I understand that if a child get disruptive and wants to “preach” during the service that a room that has speakers is a great way for parents and children to hear the service when they need to take their child there.
No matter how you cut it, each congregation is different when it comes to children in the service. But, there is something that we must consider. In today’s Scripture verses, we are told to diligently teach our children God’s Word from the moment they get up, throughout the day, and until they go to bed. In context, these verses are part of a larger passage where the Lord challenged the Israelites to hide His Word in their hearts and to make every effort to immerse their children God’s Word so that they too hide it in their hearts. Likewise, Jesus told the apostles not to prevent parents from bringing their children to Him because God highly regards children and is serious about protecting and teaching them about Him (Matthew 18:1-14; Mark 10:13-16).
Scripturally speaking, we do not see anywhere in Scripture that we are told to separate children from their parents when it comes to attending church or sending them to youth pastors who do not consider how important it is for children to worship with their parents from a young age. Likewise, some parents have the mistaken notion that it is not their job to train their children and that the church is responsible. As we see in our passage in Deuteronomy, the Lord considered it very important for parents to be directly involved in the nurture and admonition of their children. Some may say that Galatians 4:1-2, applies, but this passage is describing how parents may employ governors and tutors to take care of and educate their children, but in no way suggests separate worship. All these things being considered, we cannot find anywhere in Scripture where we should broadcast sermons over the internet either, but large numbers of people have been reached by our ministry with the Word of God over the Internet.
The Apostle Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 that he made himself a servant to all that he might gain more. He listed several groups of people, but he concluded by saying he was made all things to all men that he by all means might save some. Therefore, we can not deny that God has gifted some people that have given of themselves to provide pastoral care to children and minister to them in a way that speaks to their hearts at a young age. Therefore, on one hand, we must give careful consideration to giving parents the ability to include their children in worship so that they see and learn from moms and dads and others openly worshiping, praying, and singing. But, on the other hand, we should not reject the notion that God has inspired some people to help prepare the hearts of our children to receive the Lord. When we strike the right balance between parents and those gifted with working with children, we can expect that God will bring forth great things to His praise and glory.
