Dear Church Kids: 4-Warnings

Dear church kids,

I speak as one of you. We know the stories and the songs. We know the names of the Bible characters and the answers to the Sunday school questions. We are almost a demographic of our own. We have incredible strengths, but we also know we have blind spots.

Below are some principles I discovered through personal Bible study years after that first crucial decision at my family’s kitchen table. May they not only challenge you but assist and inspire you to read and study with a new lens, fresh conviction, and renewed hope.

1. Further David’s kingdom, not yours.

In 1 Samuel 20, we see not only David’s and Jonathan’s loyalty, intimacy, and comradery. We see also Saul’s jealous anger, a fear of which unsettles David. In a move that signals his unfailing kindness and devotion, Jonathan devises a plan to expose his father’s true colors and protect his friend.

The following day, during a festival, the king sits down in his customary place opposite Jonathan. David’s place is empty. “Perhaps something happened that made David unclean,” he thinks.

Yet the following the day, the same thing occurs. David’s place again is empty. Saul then turns to his son Jonathan and questions him, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal, either yesterday or today?”

Essentially, Jonathan replies, “David earnestly asked me for permission to go to Bethlehem because his family is observing a sacrifice and his brother ordered him to be there. That’s why he hasn’t come.”

At this, Saul’s fury leaps up, and he begins to ridicule his son. “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman!” he cries. “Don’t I know that you have sided with the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of the mother who bore you? As long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established!” What Saul completely misses is that Jonathan’s kingdom is not his concern. Jonathan has a greater loyalty and knows that though his father rules, the anointed shepherd-king is innocent, and his kingdom is the one that God has blessed and shall endure.

The message? Build David’s kingdom, not yours. Joining with your father Saul in building the kingdom he has falsely promised that you will inherit is like building a house on sand or a castle in the air. Jonathan preferred to be friend of the anointed king over prince in his father’s fleeting kingdom—and was willing to take a spear for it. We can join our father of lies and reject the truth (Jn. 8:44) or serve our Friend, the unacknowledged but anointed Shepherd-King, saying, “Whatever you want me to do, I will do for you” (1 Sam. 20:4).

2. Remember the ark is holy.

David is now king and beginning to establish his kingdom. He has defeated the Philistines, and his next conquest is to retrieve the ark of the covenant, which has been residing for twenty years in the house of the priest Abinadab.

In 2 Samuel 6, David and his men are transporting the ark to Jerusalem on an ox cart, surrounding it in song, worship, and rejoicing. David and the people are celebrating what the Lord has done and are excited to finally return God’s presence to the now-conquered city.

Alas, suddenly and tragically, Uzzah, one of the sons of the priest, who had been guiding the cart, reached out and took hold of the ark of God because the oxen stumbled (v. 6). This was already the Philistine way (1 Sam. 6:7-8), not the mode for carrying the ark outlined by God in the law (Num. 7:9). Even so, the damage had been done. Uzzah had “reached out”—and died.

I mention this in a previous post, but perhaps we could liken Uzzah to the church kid. He grew up with spiritual advantages, such as living in a home with the presence of God during a period of widespread apostasy, ignorance, and confusion. In addition, his father’s occupation centered around ministering to and interceding for the people of God and clarifying and modeling what true, pure service actually meant. He was familiar with the sacred but sadly in a moment forgot the majestic holiness of his God and paid the ultimate price.

Let us beware of any casual familiarity we may have with the things of God that in the end could prove fatal. Yes, we live under a different covenant and a different promise. Even so, the temptation remains to treat what is holy so casually that we no longer treat it as sacred.

3. Beware of letting routine interfere with your relationship with God.

Ecclesiastes 8:10 reads, “Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.” In other words, beware of letting religious routine and recognition from others interfere with your relationship with God. How does Ecclesiastes describe those who come and go from the house of God, or the “place of the holy,” and receive praise as they do this? Not as devout but as wicked. Outwardly, they are one thing, yet in reality they neither submit to God’s probing nor practice God’s Word (Jas. 1:22-24). They may come and hear the truth and even fall under conviction, but they refuse to act accordingly. They are familiar with the routine and cries of preaching and of the regularity of church. They know what to expect yet are content with spiritual mediocrity and the vanity of coming and going without true religion.

Charles Spurgeon has this to say:

You do not now hear [the wicked man] say that he trembles under the Word—not he. He is like a horse that hath been in the battle, he feareth not the noise of the drum nor the rolling of the smoke, and careth not for the din of the cannon. He cometh up, he heareth a faithfill warning, and he saith, “What of it? this is for the wicked.” ...He thinks he really repents; he unites himself with the Christian church: he makes a profession of religion; but, alas! his heart has never been changed.

Let us beware of entering the house of God merely out of routine to present routine sacrifices and sing routine words. Ecclesiastes elsewhere warns us to not be quick with our mouths or hasty in our hearts but to let our words be few (Eccl. 5:2). Coming and going as a habit is a good and noble discipline; we are not to give up gathering but are to encourage one another (Heb. 10:25). However, church attendance without a heart for righteousness can easily become an empty ritual. Confront any ulterior motive behind what otherwise would be pure and godly obedience and live for an audience of One.

4. Build well on your foundation.

Finally, in 1 Corinthians 3, we read that Paul has laid a foundation as a “wise builder,” and others are building upon it (v. 10). What is this foundation? Why, Christ Himself (v. 11). However, the work of the Corinthians is just beginning. Paul has laid a foundation, but the true quality of each person’s work remains to be seen.

As church kids, many of us have a good foundation due to the work of faithful Pauls. Perhaps it was our parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, or pastor that laid a solid base upon which even more have built. The quality of their work will stand. However, in Christ, we must also build, for our efforts will be tested and the substance and quality of our work put through the divine flames of purity, integrity, justice, and righteousness. If we build with wood, hay, or straw, opting for idle hands or godless ambition, we will be spared. Our work, however, has received no such promise. Let us be wary of building with lesser things and instead purchase, even if it hurts, the gold, silver, and costly stones needed to produce that which will endure.

You have had the privilege of being shown the right foundation that others have taken decades and much regrettable experience to find. It matters not how much you build if the quality is poor. Would you not prefer to live in a small house with sturdy walls over a palace that ever threatens to collapse? Waste not this opportunity. To whom much has been given much more will be required (Lk. 12:48). God will be your Help. Only take care to build well.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, let no man despise your youth but set an example for the believers in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity (1 Tim. 4:12) along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart (2 Tim. 2:22). He died for all, that those who live might not henceforth live unto themselves but unto Him who died for them and rose again (2 Cor. 5:15). We are not our own. Our trust is to prepare the way for the kingdom of the second David, remember as we steward His presence the power and holiness of the God we serve, guard against any pollutants or praise that would corrupt our devotion to Christ, and build well on the foundation that others have laid.

Who of us would have the Bridegroom come while we sit with untrimmed lamps? Who of us would have our Master with disappointed eyes ask why we buried our talents? Who of us would jeopardize the beauty and grace and reward of hearing from our Savior, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? My hope, none of us.

Jesus came for all people, to seek and to save the lost, including the church kids, not the ones who think they’re better but the ones who know they’re not. It has been said that God doesn’t have grandchildren. Every person is invited and urged to come to Him, even the church kids, that they too might truly join the Church.