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THE K I N G ' S BUS I NES S
May, 1937
Looking Ahead with Boys and Girls
d jU U
By CLA IRE WEIERMULLER* Pasadena, California
Photo by Ewing Galloway, W. Ï .
H O W long will the church of Jesus Christ devote most of its energy and spend thousands of dollars yearly in the almost hopeless task of trying to per suade men and women to be reconciled to God, when with comparatively little effort great numbers of boys and girls can be brought to know Him ? When will- we Christian workers learn to evaluate our labor properly and put the major emphasis where we may obtain the best results? Though we bear the name of Christ, if we ignore the need of the children we are unlike Him in love for the lost. When the disciples and the multitude would have pushed the boys and girls aside, H'e took them up in His arms and said: “ Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God” (M k . 10:14). Again, He said: “ Whosoever shall not re ceive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein” (Lk. 18:16). When our Lord thus urged upon His early followers the value of devoting attention to a little child, why should we in the present day be satisfied to concentrate effort chiefly upon winning adults? V ision E ssen tial W e need a new vision of the possibilities in the evan gelization of boys and girls. W e must sense the vastness of the task. In the United States alone, there are 27,000,- 000 boys and girls who receive no religious instruction whatever.t W ith shame we must admit that of the num- * Director of Christian Education, Immanuel Baptist Church, t An estimate based on a careful survey made by Chicago authori ties a few years ago.
her who enroll in Protestant Sunday-schools, 65% cease to attend before or when they reach adolescent years. More tragic still is the realization that during.the years of their attendance at Sunday-school, a majority of these boys and girls never were even given an opportunity to face the Lord’s requirement: “ Ye must be born again” (John 3 :3 ). W e must recognize, too, that when a boy or girl is won for Christ, in the return of that one to the fam ily circle a way is open for the gospel’s entrance into that home. This fact was emphasized by a missionary to Japan who said, “ The greatest evangelistic agency in all Japan is the kindergarten.” Many an adult with whom Chris tian people have dealt for a long time concerning his or her need of the Saviour will yield to His claims readily when Christ’s winsomeness is manifested through a little child in the home. F ourfold A im As Christian parents and teachers, we should have 'a fourfold aim in dealing with children. First, we must lead boys and girls to the Saviour. It is not enough to talk to them about Christ; we must pre pare the way for each individual to see his need of the Lord Jesus Christ and to receive Him into the heart. It is recorded concerning Joseph Smith, the founder of Mor- monism, that as a little lad in New York, he was ejected bodily from Sunday-school for misbehavior. What a dif ferent story of subsequent years might have been written if a tactful Sunday-school teacher, alert to the boy’s need, [Continued on page 182]
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