Kids Say the Bestest Things

11.25.11

Matthew 21.16 16 “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise’?” NIV

Think about the difference between children and adults. With children there is a certain honest naiveté accompanied by a level of innocence. Don’t get me wrong, children have the same sin issue the rest of humanity has, but children lack a certain sophistication that only comes with age and experience. I’ve always assumed the religious rulers accused the crowd of being children because to them, if the crowd only knew the truth, they would’ve rejected Jesus as a fraud. Children are sometimes easily fooled because they just don’t know any different.

But Jesus calls the rulers on their comment: He says, in essence, “Of course I hear them! They are saying what God called them to say!” And His implication was: you would be to if God had called you! Children often don’t even think about mistrust – sometimes it takes years of deceit to pound that into them… Adults are usually the ones who are such pros at deceit.

It’s also not to say that the crowd was simply stupid (although I’m sure that was in the minds of the Pharisees as well), they were simply responding out of genuine (albeit limited) worship… something else the Pharisees were foreign to…

Think about why we who believe are called God’s children. In a sense we are all God’s creatures and therefore His children. But think about what Jesus said about becoming a child in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. You see, there is something to this child thing.

Becoming a child is partly about learning how to deal with (or ignore) conventional wisdom maybe to live in spite of conventional wisdom. Kids to think freely and outside the proverbial box. Kids may be naïve but they still think freely and see much of life without the fetters of adulthood: making a living, paying the bills, etc. Conventional wisdom to a child is foreign because he hasn’t yet been fully mashed into life’s mold. From the lips of such God calls forth praise; kids can praise because they’re not yet afraid of God or of much of life either. And that is the calling of God’s children: freedom of fear and trusting God in a childlike manner.

Years ago was a show on CBS called House Party. It was hosted by a guy name of Art Linkletter, and at the end of each show was a segment called Kids Say the Darnedest Things. Linkletter would interview children on various life-topics and the appeal of the segment was the unfettered, unscripted, naïve, but deadly accurate comments that kids made in response to his questions. (His facial expressions were priceless as well.) From the lips of children come the darnedest things. God says, from the lips of children and infants He will receive His praise: honest, unscripted, somewhat naïve, but deadly in its accuracy and received in its sincerity. God knows where to get the good stuff.

Perhaps that is why God desires that we mature in child-like trust and praise. Jesus knew what was going on and what wonderful sounds were echoing in His Father’s ears: God’s kids saying the best-est things!