From The Mouths of Babes...Literally!

One of our college staff sent me the following link today, which I found interesting but disturbing:

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=3717627

While I am sure that I do not agree with all of the theology of the Episcopal priest cited in the article and on the video, I do agree with him that the idea of 7-year-old children preaching to a congregation of adults is inappropriate and offensive. Here are the problems with it:

1. Preaching is not merely about words emanating from one person's mouth to another person's ears. Instead, it is a form of spiritual leadership, ideally exercised by those who have the biblical qualifications to lead (see 1 Timothy 3). That is why most evangelicals agree that a person living in open sexual sin should not be allowed to take the pulpit; the maturity and faithfulness of the preacher matter. A child does not have the life experience or maturity to begin to shepherd a group of adults, facing temptations and difficulties that the child cannot possibly understand. How can a person preach on the value of purity without even understanding "how babies are made"? How can a person speak about faithful financial stewardship when the most he has managed is his weekly allowance of $5 from mom and dad? The concept is ridiculous, of course. To me this is further evidence that we live in a time in which entertainment value is more important than substance.

2. Proper theology is incredibly significant in the task of preaching. There are abstract concepts involved that most young children are unable to understand. It is not that a child is unable to grasp the basics of the Gospel; on the contrary, he or she can certainly understand salvation, even enough to share it with a close friend or relative. The problem is understanding enough of the intricacies of it to be the teacher of an entire congregation, some of whom have been studying the Scripture for years (hopefully). Heresy often creeps into a church via well-intended individuals who are simply ill-equipped to interpret the Scripture due to poor training, personal bias, fuzzy thinking, and a variety of other factors. All of these factors are greater risks for unproven children, who have not had the time and do not have the intellectual ability (yet) to coherently examine the issues.

There is certainly a fine line here between what is appropriate and what is absurd. Children can certainly share the Gospel, and I believe at times their experiences and insights can be extremely helpful in the local church. They are not worthless, nor are they less valuable in God's eyes than adults are.

The issue to me is primarily one of authority; when there is no mature authority responsible for testing, shaping, and controlling what they say in public under the guise of spiritual leadership, we have a major problem. When children are exalted to the place of congregational head, over the adults in the church, we have a major problem. When parents are willingly submitting to the authority of the child, rather than the other way around, we have a problem.

All of this begs the question for me: Was the child asked to preach because of his perceived maturity or because of the lack of mature leaders in the congregation? In other words, was there nobody else qualified and willing to wear the mantle of leadership?

Scary.

What are your thoughts? Feel free to post if you disagree with me, or even if you agree!