The Reluctant Teacher

I have been in Children's ministry since I became a Christian.  But I have never been all that happy about it.  I often compared it to the mafia.  Once you get in, you never get out.  It's not a bad comparison really. 

Nonetheless, I just always thought I was called to bigger things.  Surely God had called me to Adult ministry?  Wasn't I supposed to bring my delightful self to women's conferences and be an awesome little ambassador for Jesus.  (I didn't dwell too much on the fact that I have a debilitating fear of public speaking.  I figured God could work that out, right?)

But no matter how hard I tried to extricate myself from the nursery, I could never break free.  I even changed churches two times.  (Not to get out of nursery work but I hoped that would be a unintended consequence.)  I never got more than one month into a new church without being roped back into diaper duty.

And understand me here.  I love toddlers...big time.  I just never thought 18 month old ministry was all that important.  I wanted to change the world for Christ, set the captives free, etc.  Handing out goldfish crackers and wiping noses was not the glamorous adventure I thought God had intended for me.  But I just kept finding myself doing just that. 

What kept me going for a long time was the idea that I was helping, in some small way, people meet Jesus.  When I started going to church, I had two toddlers.  Had they not been well cared for and entertained by some hardworking children's ministry workers, I may not have continued to attend church.  And had that happened, I would not have given my life to Christ.  So I reasoned that that role was important and that idea kept me going back week after week.

But I was wrong about that. 

Somewhere along the way, I learned that children's ministry is a much bigger deal than just glorified babysitting.  I realized what an awesome responsibility and honor it was to be the first person to introduce a child to Jesus.  Why did it take so long for me to figure that out?

There's no deep theology in the preschool department.  We don't talk about Greek and Hebrew.  We don't debate predestination or eschatology.  (And don't misunderstand me, I LOVE all that stuff.)  We sing songs about thanking God for goldfish.  We sing "Jesus Loves Me".  And, at the end of it all, if the only gospel you ever know is the words to that song, you are probably in good shape.

^"Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin..."
Zechariah 4:10