A Whole New Perspective

A few weeks ago, our Children's Minister gave me a totally new perspective on a well-loved children's song. Watch the Cedarmont Kids sing this (just the first verse is all you need; I didn't even know there was a second verse!).


In the conversation I mentioned, we were talking about how much we teach behavior modification rather than heart transformation to kids. They have a laundry list of things we tell them God wants them to DO: Obey your parents. Be kind. Share. And then when they're older it's: Read your Bible. Have a quiet time. Go to church. The result is we raise "good" little legalistic Pharisees. (Obviously she wasn't suggesting we never teach those things, just that we need to emphasize how much God loves them and wants a relationship.)

But I digress just a tad. She then brought up the song Zaccheus. We've all sung it and done the hand motions! And what do we do when it gets to the part And he said, Zaccheus, you come down! ?!? We point and shake our finger at Zaccheus! She said, "I don't think Jesus shook his finger at him!" She then made a beckoning motion with her hand. "Why do we want kids to think God is shaking his finger at them to get them to pray or read the Bible, etc."

It really resonated with me, as I've always joked I'm a "recovering Pharisee". And since my dad was a rather stern disciplinarian, it was easy for me to transfer that to my view of God.

That was an eye-opener for me! If I ever find myself teaching preschoolers and children that song, I'm going to use a beckoning motion!

(And you know what's funy? When I was searching on You Tube for the song, I saw a lot of 2-year olds whose parents taped them singing the song. Lots of times they couldn't do the hand motions. Until they got to Zaccheus! You come down! - shaking their pointed finger was the one motion they all did!)

Anyone else game for a Zaccheus revolution?

(See how inviting Jesus looks in this picture?!)