{"id":32289,"date":"2022-09-10T16:03:42","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:03:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-reasons-kids-make-great-evangelists\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T16:03:42","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T21:03:42","slug":"4-reasons-kids-make-great-evangelists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/4-reasons-kids-make-great-evangelists\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Reasons Kids Make Great Evangelists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Mark Dance<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was twelve-years-old, I saved a boy my age from drowning. When Danny\u2019s kayak overturned, he panicked because he didn\u2019t know how to swim.<\/p>\n

No adults were around so I jumped off the boat dock and swam behind him so I could safely drag him to the shore without getting caught in his panic. When my friends helped me drag him to the shore, I was relieved he was okay, and that I didn\u2019t have to give him CPR!<\/p>\n

Kids are capable not only of being lifesavers but also soul winners. Here are four reasons why kids make great evangelists\u2014the kind we shouldn\u2019t underestimate.<\/p>\n

1. Kids make friends easily<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Children often have more ethnically and spiritually diverse friendships than adults because their social circles are broader. They naturally make friends in affinity groups both inside and outside of school.<\/p>\n

A Lifeway Research study of 2,000 unchurched people found only about a third (35 percent) say someone has ever explained the benefits of being a Christian to them.<\/p>\n

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Real friends don\u2019t let friends go to hell easily. If we\u2019re only talking about the gospel among fellow Christians, are we really living gospel-centered lives?<\/p>\n

When the religious rulers criticized the children for praising Jesus at the temple, Jesus rebuked them by quoting Psalm 8:2:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have prepared praise from the mouths of infants\u201d (Matthew 21:16).<\/p>\n

2. Kids are not afraid to be embarrassed<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you ask for a child to volunteer to join you on stage, how many hands will enthusiastically shoot up? Kids are naturally more fearless because they often haven\u2019t experienced the sting of rejection or embarrassment as much as adults have.<\/p>\n

Another Lifeway Research study discovered about 80 percent of adult regular church attendees feel a responsibility to share their faith, although 61 percent haven\u2019t done so within the last six months. I suspect that\u2019s because adults are afraid of saying the wrong thing. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut when they hand you over, don\u2019t worry about how or what you are to speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, because it isn\u2019t you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you\u201d (Matthew 10:19-20).<\/p>\n

3. Kids are not as cynical as adults<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I love how tender young hearts are open to simple spiritual truths. Jesus\u2019 original disciples were often cynical and fearful. It was this same band of misfits, however, that Jesus entrusted the gospel.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. Then he said to them, \u2018Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation\u2019\u201d (Mark\u202c \u202d16:14-15\u202c).<\/p>\n

Kids have less trouble trusting and obeying God than teenagers or adults do. We need to see kids as valuable missionary partners instead of simply church consumers.<\/p>\n

4. Kids learn quickly<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Kids are not only willing to talk about Jesus but are also eager if we take the time to teach them how. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to help Danny if someone hadn\u2019t shown me how to rescue a drowning swimmer in a lifesaving merit badge class at Boy Scout camp.<\/p>\n

The inspiration for today\u2019s post came from an eight-year-old girl in a church I served in Nashville last summer. Almost every Sunday morning, I taught the whole congregation how to share the gospel using the \u201c3 Circles\u201d gospel conversation guide.<\/p>\n

After we practiced on napkins one Sunday, a mom brought me the napkin of her eight-year-old daughter on which she had captured the essence of the gospel.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for an even more kid-centric resource, Lifeway has a guide for older kids called Leading a Friend To Christ. It\u2019s designed with a detachable placeholder that fits inside a Bible and doubles as a handy witnessing reference.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve too often been guilty of not taking children seriously enough. Let\u2019s not underestimate our children\u2019s ability to help change a life, or eternity<\/em>. Our kids will make great evangelists if we equip and encourage them to do so.<\/p>\n

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Mark Dance<\/h2>\n

@markdance<\/strong><\/p>\n

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After serving as a pastor for 28 years, Mark is now the director of pastoral wellness for Guidestone Financial Resources. He frequently speaks at churches, conferences, and retreats\u2014often with his wife Janet. Read more from him at\u00a0MarkDance.net.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n