Is It Worth It?
Is It Worth It? Why Ministering to Children Changes Eternity
Every year, churches across the country pour enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources into Vacation Bible School. Volunteers work all day, drive to church, serve for hours, go home exhausted, and get up the next morning to do it all over again. By the end of the week, the weariness is real. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a quiet question tends to surface: is all of this really worth it?
The answer is an unqualified, resounding yes. Not just because it makes for a meaningful week, but because what happens when the church opens its doors to children carries consequences that stretch far beyond a single summer program. It reaches into eternity.
What Jesus Said About Children
In Mark chapter 10, beginning at verse 13, a scene unfolds that is as instructive today as it was two thousand years ago. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus so that He might touch them. The disciples, convinced this was a waste of the Master's time, turned the families away. They rebuked the parents for even trying.
Jesus responded with a word that deserves careful attention. The text says He was indignant. That is not a mild word. Indignant describes the kind of anger that rises up in response to something perceived as unjust or wrong. What the disciples were doing was wrong, and Jesus said so plainly. He told them to let the children come and to stop hindering them. He did not suggest it. He commanded it. And then He went further, saying that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
He then took the children in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
That image is worth sitting with. The Son of God, with every demand imaginable pressing in on His time and attention, stopped. He held children. He blessed them. If that does not communicate the value He placed on the youngest among us, nothing will.
The Window That Does Not Stay Open Forever
The urgency of reaching children is not just theological. The numbers tell a sobering story.
According to the International Bible Society, 83 percent of Christians made their initial commitment to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. That is not a small statistic. That is the overwhelming majority of believers pointing back to childhood as the season when their faith took root.
Research from the Barna Group adds further weight to this. Children between the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Christ. That number drops to 14 percent for teenagers between 14 and 18. For adults 19 and older, it falls to just 6 percent. The window is real, and it does not stay open indefinitely.
This is not meant to suggest that God cannot reach anyone at any age. He absolutely can, and He does. But it does mean that the years of childhood represent a season of extraordinary spiritual openness. When the church invests in children, it is not simply running a program. It is meeting people at the moment when they are most ready to receive the love of God.
Pride, Humility, and the Lesson Adults Need to Learn
In Matthew chapter 18, the disciples came to Jesus with a question about greatness. They wanted to know who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answered by calling a child into the middle of the group and pointing to that child as the model.
Greatness in the kingdom of God, He said, begins with humility. Unless a person turns and becomes like a child, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
This cuts against everything the world prizes. Adults build careers, accumulate knowledge, and develop independence. All of that can quietly grow into pride, and pride is one of the most common barriers keeping people from accepting the grace of God. Children, by contrast, know they need help. They trust without demanding proof. They receive without negotiating terms.
That kind of simple, humble dependence is exactly what God asks of every person who comes to Him, regardless of age. Children model it naturally. Adults have to fight to get back to it.
The Weight of Influence
Matthew chapter 18 also contains one of the most serious warnings Jesus ever issued. He said that whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Him to sin would be better off with a millstone tied around his neck and dropped into the sea.
The language is severe, and it is meant to be. Jesus was making clear that influencing a child or a new believer away from faith carries real accountability. False teaching, cruelty, mockery, and bad example are not neutral acts. They have consequences, and those consequences are weighty.
The flip side of that warning is equally true. Positive influence also carries weight. Every Bible lesson taught, every prayer prayed over a child, every act of genuine kindness shown in the name of Christ is planting something that may not bear fruit for years, but will bear fruit.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that he planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase. That is the proper posture for anyone who ministers to children. The results are not ours to control. The faithfulness is.
Worth Every Minute
Some of the children who walk through the doors of a church during a week like Vacation Bible School will never return. Others will become part of the community for decades. Some will be baptized. Some will grow up and bring their own children. A few will serve and lead and carry the faith forward in ways no one can currently imagine.
We do not get to know which child is which. That is not our job. Our job is to plant generously, water faithfully, welcome warmly, and trust God with the harvest.
Because every snack served, every game played, every song sung, every story told, and every prayer offered over a child is part of something larger than a single week. It is part of a story that could change a life. And not just a life here, but a life that lasts forever.
That is why it is worth it. Every single time.
Every year, churches across the country pour enormous amounts of time, energy, and resources into Vacation Bible School. Volunteers work all day, drive to church, serve for hours, go home exhausted, and get up the next morning to do it all over again. By the end of the week, the weariness is real. And somewhere in the middle of it all, a quiet question tends to surface: is all of this really worth it?
The answer is an unqualified, resounding yes. Not just because it makes for a meaningful week, but because what happens when the church opens its doors to children carries consequences that stretch far beyond a single summer program. It reaches into eternity.
What Jesus Said About Children
In Mark chapter 10, beginning at verse 13, a scene unfolds that is as instructive today as it was two thousand years ago. Parents were bringing their children to Jesus so that He might touch them. The disciples, convinced this was a waste of the Master's time, turned the families away. They rebuked the parents for even trying.
Jesus responded with a word that deserves careful attention. The text says He was indignant. That is not a mild word. Indignant describes the kind of anger that rises up in response to something perceived as unjust or wrong. What the disciples were doing was wrong, and Jesus said so plainly. He told them to let the children come and to stop hindering them. He did not suggest it. He commanded it. And then He went further, saying that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
He then took the children in His arms, laid His hands on them, and blessed them.
That image is worth sitting with. The Son of God, with every demand imaginable pressing in on His time and attention, stopped. He held children. He blessed them. If that does not communicate the value He placed on the youngest among us, nothing will.
The Window That Does Not Stay Open Forever
The urgency of reaching children is not just theological. The numbers tell a sobering story.
According to the International Bible Society, 83 percent of Christians made their initial commitment to Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. That is not a small statistic. That is the overwhelming majority of believers pointing back to childhood as the season when their faith took root.
Research from the Barna Group adds further weight to this. Children between the ages of 5 and 13 have a 32 percent probability of accepting Christ. That number drops to 14 percent for teenagers between 14 and 18. For adults 19 and older, it falls to just 6 percent. The window is real, and it does not stay open indefinitely.
This is not meant to suggest that God cannot reach anyone at any age. He absolutely can, and He does. But it does mean that the years of childhood represent a season of extraordinary spiritual openness. When the church invests in children, it is not simply running a program. It is meeting people at the moment when they are most ready to receive the love of God.
Pride, Humility, and the Lesson Adults Need to Learn
In Matthew chapter 18, the disciples came to Jesus with a question about greatness. They wanted to know who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus answered by calling a child into the middle of the group and pointing to that child as the model.
Greatness in the kingdom of God, He said, begins with humility. Unless a person turns and becomes like a child, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
This cuts against everything the world prizes. Adults build careers, accumulate knowledge, and develop independence. All of that can quietly grow into pride, and pride is one of the most common barriers keeping people from accepting the grace of God. Children, by contrast, know they need help. They trust without demanding proof. They receive without negotiating terms.
That kind of simple, humble dependence is exactly what God asks of every person who comes to Him, regardless of age. Children model it naturally. Adults have to fight to get back to it.
The Weight of Influence
Matthew chapter 18 also contains one of the most serious warnings Jesus ever issued. He said that whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Him to sin would be better off with a millstone tied around his neck and dropped into the sea.
The language is severe, and it is meant to be. Jesus was making clear that influencing a child or a new believer away from faith carries real accountability. False teaching, cruelty, mockery, and bad example are not neutral acts. They have consequences, and those consequences are weighty.
The flip side of that warning is equally true. Positive influence also carries weight. Every Bible lesson taught, every prayer prayed over a child, every act of genuine kindness shown in the name of Christ is planting something that may not bear fruit for years, but will bear fruit.
Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 3 that he planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase. That is the proper posture for anyone who ministers to children. The results are not ours to control. The faithfulness is.
Worth Every Minute
Some of the children who walk through the doors of a church during a week like Vacation Bible School will never return. Others will become part of the community for decades. Some will be baptized. Some will grow up and bring their own children. A few will serve and lead and carry the faith forward in ways no one can currently imagine.
We do not get to know which child is which. That is not our job. Our job is to plant generously, water faithfully, welcome warmly, and trust God with the harvest.
Because every snack served, every game played, every song sung, every story told, and every prayer offered over a child is part of something larger than a single week. It is part of a story that could change a life. And not just a life here, but a life that lasts forever.
That is why it is worth it. Every single time.
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