How do you measure faith?
Is it Bible knowledge? Church attendance? Prayer?
Or maybe true faith is measured by radical obedience? After all, Abraham obeyed God’s call to leave his homeland. Moses rescued God’s people. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego walked into the blazing furnace.
But maybe Jesus forgot to read his Old Testament, because he doesn’t mention any of these stories when he tells his disciples how to measure their faith:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 18:1-4
The disciples want to know what true faith looks like. They want a role model—someone they can mimic on their path to a prestigious heavenly office. But when they ask Jesus what true faith looks like, he gives them a surprising spiritual role model: a child.
Jesus wanted his disciples to know that a person’s faith is only as great as their dependence. After all, who is more dependent than a child?
Children are needy. I’m speaking from personal experience. I was a needy child, and, so far as I can tell, I wasn’t the only one. I needed someone to clean my diapers. I needed someone to provide my shelter. I needed someone to make my food, pour my water, drive me to school, drive me to practice, and much more besides.
In God’s wisdom, he created a world where human beings spend their early years as needy, dependent children. But as I grew up, I became more independent, stronger, and more self-reliant. Of course, these aren’t bad things—they’re part of being an adult. But they become bad things when they infect my faith. When I say before God, “I’m independent. I’m strong. I can provide for myself. I’m in control of my life.”
Unfortunately, these lies keep me from living out true faith. Instead of depending on God’s love, I depend on self-love. Instead of depending on God’s power, I depend on my power. Instead of depending on God’s grace, I depend on self-control.
Like the disciples, I want my faith to be defined by my own effort. Yet all my striving leaves me burnt out, angry, and ashamed. Perhaps you’ve experienced the same struggle.
Luckily for us, Jesus offers a better way.
Children of God
According to Jesus, spiritual maturity is a paradox: as we grow up in our faith, we become more like little children. But there’s an important secret about becoming a little child: you already are one. Notice what the Apostle John says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)
John reminds us that we are already sons and daughters of our Father in heaven. When the Father looks at us, he doesn’t see our mistakes. Instead, he sees us through the lens of his perfect Son who died in our place. Jesus is God’s child, so we are God’s children.
Though this is true, the guilt of our sin often leads us to question our Father’s love for us. Does he still love me despite my mistakes? Will he forgive me yet again? Am I still his child?
A few months ago, while serving in Crossing Kids, I asked a kid to sit out because he was struggling to listen. The class resumed, his parents picked him up, and life went on. The following week, his father ran into me and handed me a note from his son:
I’m not sure if it was the spelling errors or the dragon that did it, but I immediately forgave him. I also had another thought: what if this is how our Father in heaven views our pleas for forgiveness? I don’t mean to minimize our sin, but, if Christ’s death is enough, maybe this is a better picture of how God sees his sinful children. Maybe our confessions come with a dragon.
Becoming Like Little Children
Since we are already God’s children, following Jesus’s command to become like children means simply living out the identity we already possess.
Practically speaking, this looks like any healthy parent-child relationship.
We tell God about our day, ask for his advice, and run to him when life is hard. We trust that he will comfort us, provide for us, and keep us safe. Ultimately, we express our gratitude for his steadfast love and forgiveness.
In short, our self-dependence is replaced with child-like dependence. Thus, instead of living burnt out, angry, and ashamed, we’re able to live joyful, grateful, and free. If this sounds oversimplified, that’s because it is—even us kids can understand it!
In 1962, the world-renowned theologian, Karl Barth, spoke at an event at the University of Chicago. During a Q+A session, a college student asked Barth if he could summarize his entire theology in a single sentence.
Barth, accepting the challenge, responded, “In the words of a song I learned at my mother’s knee: ‘Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.’”
To Barth, the beauty of the gospel can be grasped from your mother’s knee. That’s because true faith is not measured by your love for Jesus, it’s measured by your dependence on his love for you. Jesus’s kingdom is for children, and it spreads through nursery rhymes. You are a child of God—now live like it!
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