The Accountability of Children
Good Morning,
We often consider children innocent or unaccountable for their actions, but that may not always be true, depending upon the age of the child. I want to point out from the Scriptures that children can make spiritual decisions, that children are accountable for their behavior, and that God is actively involved in the lives of children for better and for worse.
Any of us who have worked with children know that some are bent one direction or another. We jokingly ask, “Who is your daddy?” But in seriousness, we know there are some root differences, and some children lean toward wrong and others lean toward right.
Make no mistake, there are children who do evil at an early age. There are young people who turn from right very early in their lives, and God knows this better than anyone on earth. On occasion, the media reports a child killing a parent or friend. Schools have had rare occasions when one child violently assaults another.
At twelve years of age, Jesus began outwardly doing His Father’s business (Luke 2:49). The world hates to hear things like this, but God begins to deal with people in their youth according to their own hearts. YES! A child has a free will; YES, a child can be good or bad, and YES God does deal with people differently according to how HE sees them according to their hearts and their behavior.
1 Samuel 1:27 “For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:”
vs. 28 “Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.”
Hannah prayed for this child, and after he was weaned she gave him to the Lord.
Why not wait until he is an adult?
Because children count!
Because children can serve God!
Because from a child, he was lent to the Lord and the Lord wanted him as a child.
Mark 10:14 “…Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.”
Our Saviour lovingly asks that we bring children to Him; this is why Satan works so hard at ruining the hearts and lives of children – because they matter. Of course, many are the stories of children who come from difficult circumstances yet still choose to honor and serve God. Children can choose sinful or spiritual paths.
America has enough sense to have age limits on movies, smoking, and of who may gamble or attend nightclubs. Yet, now, perverted men are being given access to “story time” with little children to influence them for wrong or to prey on their innocence. There is no decent motive for these actions.
Samuel was dedicated to the Lord from conception. Although Eli had failed miserably training his own sons to serve God, God allowed Samuel to be left in this man’s care from the early years of his life. Regardless of what kind of an environment Samuel had to live in, there was a clear decision in Samuel‘s heart that he would live for God.
1 Samuel 2:18 “But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child…”
Samuel wanted to do right, and he did so in spite of his environment.
As a little child, I heard my mom say why she named me… she said, “I never met someone named Bruce who was not kind.”
Those words mattered. That thought was with me from then on. That thought – a casual comment – took root in my heart and influenced many decisions. In kindergarten two older boys, maybe 8-10 years of age, came to me and showed me a dirty picture. I turned away and they laughed. I was ashamed to have had seen it at all. Children can choose!
A few years later, perhaps second or third grade, I stood with friends and heard unkind words spoken to a girl who was a little odd. I stood there and watched the grief in her eyes and saw tears well up. I determined never to hurt people. As a little child I made that decision.
Consider the son of Jeroboam:
1 Kings 14:12 “Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.”
vs. 13 “And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam."
The subject is not salvation, but an honorable death and burial compared to the rest of the family dying in shame and suffering was noted. The Lord dealt with this boy differently than the others because of what God saw in him. There was found some good towards the Lord, that much is clear. The age of the child is unclear, as in many other passages of the Scripture; at times, a young adult is called a child. We cannot build doctrine on supposition, but this is one more passage where it appears a good “youth” is known and treated differently by God.
One of the last kings over Judah was Jehoiachin. Like Josiah, his grandfather, he was eight years of age when he was anointed king. Unlike Josiah, Jehoiachin was an evil king, even though he was only eight years old and sat on the throne three months and ten days, God called him evil. Who cares what psychologists think, God said it! Josiah, his grandfather, at eight years of age did right, and, at sixteen years of age, turned the nation to God and righteousness.
2 Chronicles 36:9 "Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”
This is not an obscure thought or doctrine built upon one vague passage.
Proverbs 20:11 “Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right.”
Proverbs 22:15 “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child…"
Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”
At twelve years of age…
Luke 2:47 “And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.”
Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."
We excuse far too much in the behavior of a child. Our laws treat minors differently than adults and that is the decision of lawmakers, but the items that are stolen or the people who are murdered remains the same whether the person is seven, seventeen, or twenty-seven years of age.
A child is most certainly able to have faith and place that faith in Christ, as Mark 10:15 makes clear: "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." The phrase “child-like faith” was probably adapted from this verse. It is adults whose faith is doubted by God, not that of the child.
Concluded from these examples is that children have a mind and a free will! From early in their lives, children have a spirit of submission or a spirit of conflict, a spirit of concern or a spirit of rebellion.
Consider the wrath God poured upon Israel in the days of Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 9:5 “And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:”
vs. 6 “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.”
God sent angelic executioners into the city, and some people were to be left unharmed – those whose heart was grieved over the wrong in the city. The remainder, old and young (little children included) were to be slaughtered. In this passage, God identifies that some children (little children) are grieved over wrong doing and some are not. God takes note of those children.
In another national situation, there was public preaching, prayer, and weeping over the sins of their country, and it was mentioned that children participated.
Ezra 10:1 “Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.”
Consider Elisha walking to Bethel; it had been only a short time since Elijah had been taken into Heaven in a chariot of fire. Little children came from town mocking Elisha, and the man of God pronounced a cursed on them; two bears showed up and attacked the children. Children make their own decisions and carry their own blame.
2 Kings 2:23 “And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.”
vs. 24 “And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.”
Allow me to make a few observations regarding all of these thoughts from the Scripture:
If a trial enters the life of my child, I will seek to lead him to trust in the goodness of God and to remind him that God has a plan.
If my child suffers an injustice, I will prayerfully assure him of the love of his parent and of God, and that God oversees authorities, even bad ones. (Of course, I would consider the punishment of the evil doer if appropriate, that is also scriptural.)
When hardship comes into the life of my child I will urge him to have faith and not hatred, forgiveness and not vengeance.
If my child does wrong, I would do my best to lead him to confess the wrong to God, and then to accept responsibility for the action rather than blaming others.
If my child seeks to make spiritual decisions, I will not forbid them.
I will not allow a “victim” mentality to be nurtured in my children.
If my child wishes to fast or spend unusual time in prayer, I will encourage them in the activity.
As the Lord allows, our church will run buses to the community to pick up children who desire to come to church, for children can make spiritual decisions.
Pastor