xclose menu

The Kids Table

It was one of those visuals that sticks with you, simple though it was. You know the kind: They imprint themselves deeply in your brain’s hippocampus and can’t be forgotten (no matter how hard you try!).

In reality it was just two tables on a stage. One “normal table” and one “kids table” (you know, a shorter table where the kids sit). Perhaps there was one of those when you enjoyed Christmas dinner with your family earlier this week.

But the visual I’m reflecting on wasn’t during Christmas dinner. It was at ECO’s National Gathering in 2016, when we learned from Dr. Kara Powell, author of Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids and Growing Young: Six Essential Strategies to Help Young People Discover and Love Your Church.

In her talk (embedded below), Kara asked whether we in church leadership force younger members of our congregations to sit at the “kids table.”

Ouch.

Now you know why that visual has stuck with me for nearly two years.

Notice on Sunday as we continue in Luke how Jesus is welcomed into the temple. Later in the chapter we read,

When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Doesn’t sound like a “kids table” there!

Pastor Curtis

Leave a Comment

Comments for this post have been disabled.