The call of Matthew 18 on VBS

Like almost every church in our area, we at DUMC have Vacation Bible School. Currently we are preparing the church for little ones to come and learn about Christ. It takes a lot of extra work for many people to prepare for VBS. Then we need the volunteers to work during VBS. Sometimes we have more volunteers than children, and at other times, we have problems getting enough volunteers. These problems are not unique to our church. Every church runs into this. Sometimes there is even the question as to whether we should do VBS, or any like type of program.

While it would be easier to not do VBS, we must face Matthew 18. Matthew 18 starts off with the disciples discussing who is the greatest. Jesus gets wind of this and tells them that unless they become like a child, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

But then He takes it a step further, and this is why we do VBS. Matthew 18:6, “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” What I propose is VBS is an attempt to remove stumbling blocks.

You see, we who are adults in the church have been given the responsibility to lead our children to Christ. We cannot just sit idly by and let the world have sway over the minds and hearts of our young ones. We already see the results of that. Over the years we have been lax in our teaching of children, and the world has been taking control.

The real problem is that VBS isn’t a fix, it isn’t even a good band-aid. While VBS or any other weeklong event can introduce kids to Christ, we need a concerted effort to keep Christ in front of the kids, as much as possible. Even Sunday school isn’t enough. Think about it. Our kids are in the world 16 or more hours a day, inundated with all the hurt, pain, and bad stuff the world has to offer. We expect less than one hour a week to counteract all the influence the world has to offer. It’s not enough, folks.

What I am suggesting is this; WE cause our young ones to stumble by NOT having them in a faith-based program. When we don’t insist on going to Church, Sunday School, Good News Club or VBS, we cause our little ones to stumble. Our lack of support for the Church, the pastors and the volunteers cause our little ones to stumble. This means the people causing the stumble are you and me.

If we want to change the way the world is going, we must start with our children and youth. But to do that, we need to make Christ our priority. There are too many young souls at stake, we as adults need to step up and keep those kids in church. We need to help our pastors guide and encourage our children. We need to be the examples of Christ followers all the time. We need to be willing to lead our kids, even when we aren’t in church.

The last thing we need to do is cause our little ones to stumble.

Shalom my friends.

See you in church.

Rev. Kent Wilfong is the pastor at the United Methodist Church, Doniphan/Neelyville.