Children-at-Risk and the Whole Gospel: Integral Mission ‘To,For,and With’ Vulnerable Agents of God

Abstract

The author encourages the Church to conceptualize children-at-risk as whole, complex humans, who actively participate in their own development and experience multi-directional influences within the contexts of families, communities, cultures, and histories. This view of children requires an expanded understanding of the whole gospel moving past children-at-risk as subjects of evangelism and advocacy. Children are seen as vulnerable agents of God, participants in their own development, and co-participants with the Church in the missio Dei. Using a hermeneutic of inclusion, a model of integral mission ‘to, for, and with’ children-at-risk is offered.

Keywords

Advocacy children-at-risk co-participation culture integral mission whole gospel

Introduction

A hungry stomach has no ears.¹

Recently, a student quoted this proverb and then went on to ask: So, when do you stop feeding the child so that you can share the gospel?

Many thoughts raced through my mind after hearing that question. I thought of the inclination to label our ministries as ‘whole gospel’ as long as at least one other sector of development is added to evangelism. At times we use these outreach efforts as a means to an evangelistic end or to gain an opportunity for other mission work, such as accessing a closed country, reaching parents, or church planting. The student’s question revealed many underlying assumptions about conceptualization of the whole gospel and the place of children-at-risk (CAR) in the mission of God. Is the child-at-risk merely pitiable and passive, in need of enough nutrition to adequately respond to a salvation message? I would suggest that few of us find this assumption tolerable.

I propose that the Church should conceive of CAR as whole, complex human beings who actively participate in their own development, who grow in context, and who, although vulnerable, possess the capacity to be agents of God, regardless of age, status, or gender. Supporting this claim requires a more nuanced understanding of the whole gospel as it pertains to CAR. As in any mission enterprise, how can the Church respond if it has little understanding of the human beings it is engaging? Rather than beginning with the definition of the whole gospel and attempting to insert CAR into the missio Dei, I choose to begin with CAR, placing the child in the midst (Matt 18:2, Mark 9:36), just as Jesus did when teaching about kingdom reality (Matt 18:1–1; Mark 9:33–37). In doing so, a compelling rationale for a whole person, whole gospel understanding of mission ‘to, for, and with’ CAR emerges as a more robust and biblical representation of children as vulnerable agents of God.

The Whole Child and the Whole Gospel

When developing interventions for CAR in global settings, it is critical to place the child in the programmatic midst and consider what children need to thrive, incorporating theological grounding and human development research on the well-being of children who are nested among families and communities. This step has been an important one in refusing to separate the child from context or the child’s humanity from societal brokenness and sinful systems.

We can start with the concept of wholeness, reflecting upon the Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement, 2010) and the conviction that “holistic ministry to and through each next generation of children and young people is a vital component of world mission” viewing children as fully human, whole, and complex.

And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

(1 Samuel 2:26)

Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)

These passages referring to Jesus and Samuel recognize the importance of growth in all areas of development and that nurture of the whole child is necessary for children’s well-being. The intellectual, physical, spiritual, and socio-emotional aspects of the human experience are interdependent and essential to wholeness and reflect the integrated way that children engage with life.

Extending the whole gospel to the whole child is grounded in the foundational truth of the incarnation as proclaimed in the ancient creeds of the Church.² Most theological statements tend to concentrate on the incarnation of Jesus as an adult man, but are less likely to explore the implications of Jesus’ development through all human life stages. The relationship between the divinity and humanity of Jesus has been the focus of ongoing tension in theological circles (Vanhoozer, 2014), although contemporary Christology affirms the genuine humanity of Christ and Majority World theologians, who are surrounded with the evidence of oppression of the poor and marginalized, push for contextualization of Jesus’ significance for contemporary peoples and situations (Moreau, 2011; Vanhoozer, 2014). Given the tangible reminders of the abhorrent situations of CAR, these contextual questions lead us to ask: Who is Jesus Christ for CAR today? This question may be partially answered by acknowledging the developmental phases and trajectory of the infant, child, and adolescent Jesus. Exploring this question recognizes the importance of the divinity of Christ, while pushing past the typical Western response to Jesus’ question of “Who do you say that I am” and the typical answers of describing ‘what’ he is and what he ‘does’ (Vanhoozer, 2014). Pushing past the philosophical requires embracing the developmental nature of human beings, including the child Jesus.

Jesus not only came in human form, but in the same manner and sequence of all of humanity. He, too, was conceived (albeit uniquely), born as an infant, grew throughout childhood and adolescence into adulthood. The incarnation is far reaching, even to the redemption of all of creation, including the whole of human development through the lifespan. We do not know a great deal about Jesus’ childhood, yet we do know that he developed through the normative stages of life and that he developed holistically in all facets of humanness (Luke 2:52). Jesus lived as a body (he grew in stature) and a mind (he grew in wisdom) and a spirit (he grew in favor with God) and as an emotional and social being (he grew in favor with those around him).

The early Church grasped this importance, because it was instrumental in changing how the world viewed children, acknowledging them as persons, even prior to birth and speaking out against infanticide, abortion, and other social evils (Bakke, 2005). The early church fathers recognized the importance of Jesus’ childhood and that his developing humanity sanctified us all through developmental time. As stated by Irenaeus in the early second century, “He was made an infant for infants, sanctifying infancy; a child among children, sanctifying childhood … a young man among young men, becoming an example to them, and sanctifying them to the Lord” (Bettenson, 1978: 80).

Yet, children, especially CAR, remain marginalized in society. Mission with CAR must be engaged with understanding of their respective contexts, developmental concerns, and human agency (e.g. they are actors in their own development). As Gutiérrez (1999) notes, the poor and marginalized are not preoccupied with questions about the logic and propositional truth of Christianity; CAR wonder why they are abused, exploited, and demeaned. Announcing God as Father in a non-human world and elevating the child-at-risk as a child of God imparts dignity and humanity to every person, no matter what age or developmental stage (Gutiérrez, 1999). A God who cares and ultimately frees and restores the child-at-risk, through individual salvation, and also from oppressive systems (e.g. enslavement, trafficking, endorsed abuse, inadequate educational opportunity, gender and other discrimination, etc.), invites that child into the abundant life of communion and full participation (Martínez-Olivieri, 2014) in community and in the family of God. Jesus Christ, by adopting a preferential stance toward the weakest, such as CAR, conveys that when the basic human needs of CAR are met, these offerings are unto Christ, and if these children’s needs are ignored, eschatological judgment will come upon the negligent (Matt 25:35–46) (Martínez-Olivieri, 2014).

The desire of those who work with CAR is to minister biblically, theologically, and effectively. Developing a solid theological foundation is needful, yet it is insufficient for effective holistic engagement with children. How do we understand children’s development in various contexts, such as historical situations, families, communities, and cultures? How do we understand the impact of risk and resilience factors upon children’s well-being? What difference does it make if children encounter risky situations, abuse, or trauma in infancy, toddlerhood, childhood, or adolescence?

A systematic understanding of human development research deepens our understanding of the most effective ways to realize holistic transformation in children’s lives by revealing the whole child and the types of nurture, supports, environments and opportunities that allow children to thrive. Human development research and theory suggests that four developmental categories best capture holistic child development: spiritual, socio-emotional, cognitive, and physical.³ The items in each of these four categories seek to answer the following question: What are children’s needs for human flourishing?

Spiritual Development

Spiritual development includes changes in one’s awareness of and relationship with God (Hay and Nye, 2006) and is typically concerned with existential questions about identity, meaning, and life after death. Christian spirituality asserts that the child’s relationship with God “is initiated by God in Jesus Christ through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the context of a community of believers that fosters that relationship.”⁴ For Christians, spiritual development is unique, providing an anchor for all human development.

Physical Development

Physical development includes changes in body size and proportion, brain development, perceptual and motor capacities, and physical health (Berk, 2007). Health, growth, neuro-muscular coordination, and motor skills vital for performing day-to-day tasks are included in this domain.

Socio-Emotional Development

Socio-emotional processes involve changes in an individual’s relationships with other people, in emotions, and in personality (Santrock, 2013). Social and emotional areas are often unified, recognizing that children grow in relationship with others in order to fulfill emotional needs and that socialization is accomplished through the communication of emotion-laden messages. Emotional competence is especially important because it predicts well-being in life across relationships, academics, and livelihoods (Saarni, 1995).

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development includes changes in thinking, intelligence, and language. Intelligence is broadly defined as: verbal ability, problem-solving skills, and the ability to learn from and adapt to daily life experiences (Santrock, 2013). Nurture shifts to teaching children how to learn, supporting confidence to try new activities, imparting skills for making good choices and encouraging use of giftedness to fulfill economic needs.

Importance of Integration, Synergy, and Responsible Caregiving

Because children do not neatly divide into categories for the convenience of intervention design, the concept of the whole child is fundamental. If viewed as biblically and theologically essential, a whole gospel for children will favor combining interventions to address children’s needs holistically as more effective than programs addressing an isolated area of development, such as health, evangelism, or formal education. A key principle of positive child development requires synergistic relationship among developmental areas. Health status, nutritional status, physical and brain growth, spiritual well-being, and psycho-social well-being of children all work together to enhance the effectiveness of each category (Myers, 1995, 2006), particularly from ages 0 to 5 when a multitude of problems can be prevented through holistic care, and particularly for children living in poverty and deprivation (Myers, 1995, 2006).

Admittedly, it is easier to engage in separate programmatic interventions by sector. No one person, church, or program can accomplish everything that children, particularly CAR, need holistically. Nevertheless, a mindset of holism must pervade our thinking. At a foundational level, a responsible adult must care enough to ensure that integration is taking place and that the holistic needs of a specific child are truly being met (Gen 21:8–20; 1 Sam 1:1–2:11; 1 Kings 17:7–24; 2 Kings 4:1–36; Matt 5:21–24,35–43⁵).

In addition, it is important to recognize that human development research affirms children as active participants in their own development and their interactions with environmental influences are multi-directional. To put it more succinctly, children are not simply passive recipients of others’ influence (Bronfenbrenner, 1989); they are dancers with God (May et al., 2005). In addition to holism, child flourishing is best supported by starting as early as possible and continuing for as long as possible.⁶

The Importance of Context: Broken Systems as Barriers to Holistic Child Flourishing

In describing whole children, we must also place them in their proper context. Every child is born into and grows in a particular place with specific caregivers, in a specific community, within a culture and at a specific historical time.

When household, community, and cultural contexts are added to our conversation, the implementation of holistic care for children becomes far more complicated. Yet, attending to this complexity opens necessary avenues for integral mission, particularly in supporting vulnerable, oppressed, and marginalized children as evidence of true religion (James 1:23–27), giving dignity to the down-trodden, and caring for those whose basic needs are unmet (James 2) (Tamez, 1990). Otherwise we run the risk of presenting a whole gospel that is the “white child’s religion,” to paraphrase Padilla (1985: 102), not only isolating evangelism from the context, but ignoring the whole humanity and dignity of CAR (Matt 25:31–46).

The Whole Gospel: The Whole Child in Context

We cannot separate children from context by focusing on personal salvation apart from addressing sinful systems that oppress children. We are to remove obstacles and reduce risk by bringing justice to broken contexts while simultaneously caring for the whole child, building resilience to meet challenges and empowering children to join the Church in bringing forth kingdom realities until Jesus Christ returns.

Without the proclamation of Jesus Christ as Lord of all, in the light of whose universal authority all values of the present age become relative, there is no true evangelism. To evangelize is to proclaim Jesus Christ as the one who is reigning today and who will continue to reign “until he has put all enemies under his feet” (I Cor 15:25). (Padilla, 1985: 11)

Thus, ministering ‘to, for, and with’ CAR entails salvation as liberation from personal sin, but also freedom from risky contexts that are embedded in historical, economic, social, political and cultural systems or “social sin” (Martínez-Olivieri, 2014: 83), acknowledging the power of the reign of Christ to overcome the injustices faced by CAR. Although the fulfillment of kingdom restoration culminates in eschatological salvation of all of humanity and creation, the Church is called to commit to the work of Jesus Christ in the “here and now” in hope of the “not yet” (Matt 25:35–46).

The vulnerability and dependency of children increases the urgency for a whole gospel response, especially in situations where parents and families cannot or will not nurture children holistically. Because childhood is a stage of life with critical periods for the establishment of developmental milestones, children cannot wait for caregivers to be healed, for systems to become just, and for contexts to be made suitable for children. Valuable developmental time slips away while societal ills and caregivers’ needs are addressed; the latter is also important and needs to happen in conjunction with direct interventions for children that are culturally and developmentally appropriate. Where brokenness exists, the Church must be present with a whole gospel response that engages and affects change of sinful systems, societal brokenness, and our inherent bias, in order to demonstrate that God is sovereign over all creation (Mott, 2011), bringing hope, healing and reconciliation to all areas of children’s being through Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Thus, strong collaboration is necessary amongst caregivers; those who support children and caregivers; those who speak on behalf of children’s well-being in the arenas of policies and systems; the Church as the family of God; and of course, the children themselves.

Multi-Directionality of the Whole Gospel: ‘To, For, and With’ CAR

Yes, children are vulnerable because of their smaller physical size, dependence upon broken adults for care and nurture, and disproportionate impact of broken and sinful systems. But they are active in the development process, not passive victims in their respective journeys. And they bring that same agency to the Church and mission. All too often the Church has viewed children as empty vessels waiting to be filled with teaching until they are intellectually able to discern doctrine, to be ‘saved’ and then to contribute as adults through financial support, spiritual gifts, and leadership. In a sense, they are viewed as ‘human becomings’ rather than as fully human and indispensable to the household of Christ.

A Hermeneutic of Restriction Over-Simplifies Our View of Children

Because of children’s vulnerability and need for instruction in the ways of the Christian faith, the temptation is to overemphasize scriptures that speak about teaching children (Deut 1:39, 6:1–3, 11:18–21; 31:12–13), obedience (Ephesians 6:1–4), or disciplining children (Prov 13:24). By emphasizing teaching and discipline or even placing a child in the midst, the takeaway message can become: ministry is something adults do to children. And if we focus on CAR, we might think only of scriptures that mention orphans and widows or Old Testament passages that demand Israel to care for them lest they reap the dire consequences meant for those that exploit the poor (Is 3:14–15; Is 10:1–2; Ezek 16:49; Amos 5:12; James 1:26–27).

We may overlook Scriptures where children or childhood is specifically mentioned, such as Galatians 1:15 where Paul indicates that he was set apart from birth and called by God’s grace, as was Jeremiah (Jer 1:4–10); that children are made holy by the believing spouse (1 Cor 7:14); that truth is revealed to little children (Matt. 11:25–26); and that the gift of the Holy Spirit is promised to the children of those who repent and are baptized – all who are called by the Lord (Acts 2:38–39).⁷ White (2001) lists the children who were gifted and chosen by God as essential actors in the covenant story, both boys and girls from all social classes. However, I would like to suggest that the biblical door be opened even wider.

I propose that we truly consider children as full members of the household of Christ and Church (Rom 12:5) and open up scripture to include children wherever we see relevance to ourselves as the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:27) and the children of God (1 John, Matt 25:40, Acts 11:29, Heb 2:11, 13:1). As can be the case for more marginalized people, the Church can be prone to a hermeneutic of restriction. By that I mean that when we consider a segment of labeled humanity, such as ‘child’ or ‘child-at-risk’, we can fail to notice children as fully a part of the household of Christ and, thus, rely on scriptures where they are explicitly mentioned, which marginalizes, over-simplifies, and minimizes their full humanity. If we remove the restriction of limiting ourselves to scriptures where children are specifically mentioned, we move toward a posture of consulting all of scripture and looking to those specific scriptures for clarification within the entire biblical context.

Where might our nearsightedness come from? It is likely the influence of some of the early theologians who held pessimistic views of human nature, interpreting young children’s normal, child-like behavior as evidence of original sin (Berryman, 2009), supporting a low view of children.⁸ Preoccupation with children’s sinful nature leads to a one-dimensional view of children, failing to recognize that they, like persons of all ages, share human complexity, reflecting the image of God and sinful brokenness (Bunge, 2006). Such over-simplification ignores the parts of Scripture that affirm children’s relationship with God and his presence in their lives, such as: infants giving praise (Matt 21:16); Jesus gathering small children and placing a child in the midst as an exemplar of the Kingdom (Matt 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16); Jesus thanking his Father for hiding eternal truths from the wise and learned and revealing them to little children (Matt 17:25; Luke 10:21); and Paul saying that he was called from his mother’s womb (Gal 1:5).

In addition, if children are sidelined until they can cognitively comprehend salvation doctrine, we are apt to remove children from the space where corporate worship and teaching takes place, which may partially explain the removal of children from the sanctuary and the age segregation that would have been a foreign concept to the early Church’s concept of household⁹ and community, and is non-normative for much of the world. Our theologies of the child have implications and at times, unintended consequences.

To understand the whole gospel as it applies to the whole child demands exploration of all scriptures specifically pertaining to children, in addition to and in the context of scriptures that apply to the entire household of Christ with the understanding that children were included in households in New Testament culture (Osiek, 2006). If children are fully a part of us, then we need to consider all of Scripture as applying to CAR – that they, too, have spiritual gifts, that they are called by God and hear from Him, that they are to be treated with the same civility demanded by the epistle of James. For “God [has] chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom he promised those who love him” (2:5). Even the poorest of children are those whom God has chosen as Kingdom representatives and are part of God’s mission as actors, not merely recipients of others’ ministry efforts. They are included in the household of Christ and were converted and baptized into it throughout the book of Acts (Sandnes, 1997). They, too, are God’s children and participants in all that entails, not merely the biological children of men and women.

A Visual Metaphor for the Whole Gospel ‘To, For, and With’ Children

It may help us to think of ‘to, for, and with’ in this way: When we engage in holistic mission to children, we are turned toward them, offering what is needed for healthy and abundant living in all areas of human development in context. When we engage in holistic mission for children, we stand at attention, placing the children behind us to shield them from harm as we engage the abusers, exploiters and systems that do them harm, even unto death. And when we engage in holistic mission with children, we stand side-by-side, welcoming them as full members of the whole Church – we face into mission together.

Holistic Mission ‘To’ CAR

First of all, we as the Church turn toward children. Because children are experiencing significant development, as well as being instructed in the ways of their communities and families, they need people who are more experienced than they to invest in them through holistic nurture. Much of this investment falls to families and caregivers, yet also includes Christian educators, schoolteachers, and any other persons who have direct involvement in children’s day-to-day lives. Parents and caregivers likely resonate with the responsibility of ensuring that children grow and develop spiritually, intellectually, socially, emotionally, and physically. For those children who do not have dedicated parental care, others must step into that important role. In any situation, at least one concerned adult is ensuring that a child receives what is necessary to grow and flourish as a whole human being. In this type of mission, the child’s agency is secondary to the energies, resources, love, and instruction that are poured into the child by others.

Thus, we cycle back to Luke 2:52 and 1 Samuel 2:28, accepting the responsibility for adult roles in fostering favorable environments and opportunities, and providing what is required for children to grow in stature and in favor with God and others. And as Christians, we offer this to all children, not only our biological offspring.

Holistic Mission ‘For’ CAR

Now we turn to face the enemy and shield children from harm. The importance of advocacy for the vulnerable means that we must speak out; for the individual child, for children, for CAR, for contextual and systemic issues that negatively impact them.

A significant part of advocacy involves using adults’ power and status to address systemic issues that are devastating to children. The Cape Town Commitment (Lausanne Movement, 2010) to “expose, resist, and take action against all abuse of children, including violence, exploitation, slavery, trafficking, prostitution, gender and ethnic discrimination, commercial targeting, and willful neglect” addresses an advocacy mandate. Although this list seems long, it is not comprehensive and our responsibility is placing children’s needs before adult agendas by challenging any incidence of abuse or exploitation that we encounter, even as these issues change with context and over time.

Holistic Mission ‘With’ CAR

The Church now stands side-by-side with children. Taking into consideration the children active in the Covenant story, the verses that address children as part of the household of Christ (Acts 10, 16: 1 Cor 1) and not to despise the young (Matt 18:10; 1 Tim 4:12¹⁰), as well as the most important example of Jesus’ treatment of children, we must now embrace children as collaborators.

The phrase ‘with children’ recognizes that the young can minister to each other and to people of any age; they can advocate for themselves and for others who are abused and exploited. Although they are vulnerable and dependent, they are neither powerless, nor passive. They are vulnerable agents of the Most High God and partners with the whole Church for and on mission.¹¹

CAR are likely in a better position to relate to mission in non-Western settings. Though they may lack the material resources of Westerners, CAR bring significant gifting to mission in their own environments: “in empathy, in lived experience of the power and relevance of the gospel, and in contextual awareness” and understanding.¹² There is no need to persuade CAR of the missional relevance of the whole child or the whole gospel. Children living in difficult circumstances innately comprehend that when Jesus proclaims good news to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, healing for the infirm, and the favor of God (Luke 4:18), He includes children as the least of these, who are welcomed and embraced with love and concern for their whole being.

An Expansion of the Child-in-the-Midst

A whole gospel embrace of CAR has likely been constrained in evangelical circles by the focus on world evangelization in terms of geography and quantity of souls saved in tension with the ecumenical focus on the mission of Christ and the Kingdom of God (Keum, 2014). Evangelicals can get stuck on choosing between or ranking evangelism and freedom from oppression (Luke 4:18) rather than embracing a unified vision of them as inextricably intertwined. Once again, children have been the losers in adult theological wranglings.

The kingdom of God has broken into history in Jesus Christ and continues to do so through power of the Holy Spirit; and the Church is the embodiment of God’s action through His Spirit (Padilla, 1985: 191). Thus, the kingdom is present and visible through the Church and in the love and service the Church does in the world (Padilla, 1985), bringing kingdom reality to bear as the goal of transformation (Padilla, 2011). For CAR, receiving the kingdom of God: (a) fulfills the words of the prophets who saw injustice against the poor, oppressed, fatherless, and marginalized as a violation of divine law (Gutiérrez, 1973: 170); (b) acts as invitation into the presence of Christ (Mark 10); (c) affirms that children are worthy to hear from God (Luke 10:21); and, (d) gives hope in the eschatological blessings regarding the fate of the poor (Martínez-Olivieri, 2014) (Matt 25:35–46).

In Mark 10, Jesus is modeling engagement with children that is perfectly aligned with the will of the Father, as he enacts a moral image that calls forth the kingdom of God (Ritschl, 1900, cited in Vanhoozer, 2014: 13). Mark 10:13–16 could be interpreted to remind us of our three-fold missional task. We bring children in all stages of development to be welcomed and blessed by Jesus. We stand with Jesus in indignant resistance through advocacy and action toward anything or anyone that keeps children from Him – be they haughty or ill-informed adults, broken and sinful systems, or cultural beliefs that devalue children. And we embrace children as kingdom representatives, who truly have something to teach and to offer to us.

This posture requires going beyond seeing children as merely humble or as sentimental additions to our worship. Instead, all persons should understand our rightful positions in the kingdom as children of God. As adults we may celebrate our educational attainment, relative maturity, power and position, or status. In this way, we differ little from the anti-kingdom that Jesus pushed against. Yet in kingdom reality, we are not better or higher than the child-at-risk. As human beings, we all carry a God-stamp upon us. In recognition of the Son-sacrifice that God bestowed upon us, we are impelled to respond in grateful joy, offering ourselves as co-laborers in God’s Kingdom. Mere humility in responding to Christ is insufficient; humility in allowing God to speak and act through children, even CAR, is demanded.

As a Kingdom Opportunity

The child in the midst may also represent a more vigorous future. Because the kingdom is now and not yet, holistic mission with children may usher in kingdom reality more quickly by preventing the maltreatment and exploitation that create the harmful baggage that humans carry into adulthood, causing us to continue wounding one another. The long-term effects of malnutrition, abuse, lack of education, lack of nurture and love, and seemingly infinite brokenness pile upon children and are carried forward into ministry, the church body, and communities, compromising effectiveness and gospel witness. By investing in children wholly, perhaps some of the harm could be prevented, breaking generational cycles of ill-treatment. By investing in holistic mission with children, we facilitate the flourishing of all God’s people and the effectiveness of transformational ministry.

To that end, it is important to cultivate and allow for the meaningful contribution of children’s Kingdom giftedness. Children are not only gifts (Gen 12:2, 28:11; 1 Sam 1:27; Prov 17:6; Isa 9:6, Luke 1:47), they are given gifts from the beginning (Jer 1:5; 1 Kings 13:2) and are to offer their gifts (1 Sam 1–3; John 6:1–14; I Cor 12). By naming, nurturing, and allowing for appropriate developmental expression that is consequential and not relegated to the sentimental, children are empowered to live in obedience to God’s call upon their lives (Judges 13:5; 1 Sam 2:11; Jer 1:5; Luke 2:43; John 6:9).

On multiple occasions I have conducted an informal research project by asking children what kinds of services they are able to offer during Sunday morning worship and they have replied: pray, sing and worship, take up the offering and give offerings, help people find a seat, welcome visitors, prepare bulletins, hand out bulletins, read scripture, talk to someone who is alone, help with younger children, clean up the sanctuary and fellowship hall after church, set up snacks, serve snacks, help with the babies, spread joy, share art, send people out with a blessing, and help older people. When I share this list with adults the typical response is surprise at the overlap with the services offered by the typical adult congregant. And that is the point. Children are quite capable of meaningful contribution if given the opportunity, mentoring, and support to engage.

Offering and engaging in the whole gospel with CAR is a means to usher forth the kingdom. If God does indeed act in and through and with children, we are prophetic and forward thinking when we embrace the young who are with us now and who will be leading the Church.

The Great Commandment Revisited

The whole gospel mandate is embodied in the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

Both arise out of love for our fellow human beings who are hurt, who need us, and whose need we feel within us … [John] Stott states that the Great Commission to make disciples does not supersede the Great Commandment of love for the neighbor; rather, it adds a new and urgent dimension to love. (Mott, 2011: 122)

The Great Commandment reads: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”; and, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). In the biblical context, Jesus is answering the query of an expert in the law, asking, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” In reply to Jesus’ question about what the law entails, the man replies with the Great Commandment. Seeking to justify himself, he asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Mark 10:29), as he attempts to limit the obligation of neighborly love. Jesus replies with the parable of the Good Samaritan.

In this parable and throughout the New Testament, themes of breaking down barriers in the Kingdom are reiterated. The gospel tent becomes wider – embracing Gentiles, slave and free, men and women, and child-including households, and echoing the angry Jesus who forbade the establishment of barriers between children and himself.

What if, as a reminder of Jesus’ passion for wholly embracing children, we added a prompt to the latter part of the Great Commandment? Love your neighbor child as you love yourself. Love your neighbors’ children as you love your own children.

And, who are my neighbor children? Remembering the context of the Great Commandment, the Good Samaritan can be a child, even a child-at-risk.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge and thank Scott Moreau, Gene Green, Desiree Segura-April, Scot McKnight, and Scottie May for reviewing this paper and offering valuable feedback.

Author Note

A more extensive version of this paper was first presented at the Lausanne Movement Consultation on Mission and Children-at-Risk, Quito, November 2014.

‘Whole gospel’ is the term used because the original paper was written to respond to the Cape Town Commitment of the Lausanne Movement and the term was part of the organization’s mission statement at that time. Other terms are frequently used as similar to ‘whole gospel’, including: integral mission, transformational development, holistic mission, and others. Sorting through the various terms and definitions is beyond the scope of this paper.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes

Author Biography

Susan Hayes Greener, PhD, currently serves as Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies and Mission at Wheaton College Graduate School, teaching courses on integral mission, gender, global families, children-at-risk, qualitative research, and intercultural communication. Previously, she served as Dean of Students and Adjunct Professor for Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. She has worked with children-at-risk for over 24 years in universities and NGOs, including: Director of Program Development for Mission of Mercy/One Child Matters; and Senior Human Development Specialist for Compassion International. In addition, she has served as an Assistant Professor at Berry College, Executive Director of Chattooga Early Head Start in the rural United States, and a researcher at Yale University. She holds graduate degrees in Human and Community Development from the University of Illinois at Urbana. Susan has trained Christian workers from over 30 countries and authored/edited educational materials, journal articles, chapters, and books on children-at-risk and global human development topics. She has recently co-authored Effective Intercultural Communication: A Christian Perspective (Baker Academic, 2014). Currently, she is serving on a Lausanne Movement special issue leadership team, developing global advocacy strategies and publications on children-at-risk and mission. Married for over three decades to the Rev. Canon Jay Greener, Rector of Church of the Redeemer (Highland Park, IL), she is the mother of one daughter and two sons and grandmother to three grandsons.

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