Children and Faith Development

[Anne Roche]

You know the old chestnut about how kids aren't properly saved till they make a full commitment to God, usually in their teens? Faith development theories to some extent help us to value a child's first steps of commitment to God, but as I was pondering this recently, I had one of those flashes of insight which got me really excited.
Faith is a relationship between God and us, and that relationship grows and develops throughout our lives. The most similar pattern is that of a child's relationship with their parents. When a child is born, the parents don't expect anything from the baby at all. They are just besotted! Even as the child starts to grow, the relationship is based on the parents' love primarily. Each tiny response from the child, such as a smile, or turning the head to see the parent, is more than enough to keep the relationship going. Just because the child doesn't understand the full meaning of love or the latest theory on how to keep a relationship going, doesn't mean that there is no relationship. The relationship is based on the love shown by the parent to the child, which evokes a response.
If you carry the analogy on, then surely the prayer of a 3 year old for God to be their friend is equally as important to God as a full-blown adult prayer of commitment? The level of faith shown in this by the child is in line with their human development. It is their response to God's love for them. I feel sure that God treasures those prayers, whereas so many times church leaders dismiss them and seem content to wait until the child 'grows up' before celebrating a commitment to God.

[Carolynn Pritchard]

Hi Anne
You are not the only one to come to this conclusion.
Fowler a Christian psychologist has written at length on the stages of faith and the importance of those early experiences of trust and love in faith development and Westerhoff developed a metaphor of the growth of Christian faith being like an acorn and growing....everything needed to be a tree is encompassed in this acorn even though it is not yet a tree and as the tree grows it is no less of a tree for being a tiny tree. A Child growing up in the Christian faith is no less a Christian than an adult of thrity years faith.
If you want I'll dig out the references for you.
Carolynn
Both these are models or faith development and can be picked holes in and may possibly have been superseded but they will give you a start on the classic Faith Development Literature.
One problem is that the models are progressions of growth Fowler a line and Westerhoff concentric circles of growth

[Sally]

I love your analogy of a parent and baby with God and us!

Just a few hours ago I prayed with a teenager who was saying "Yes" to God in a way she hadn't before because she became aware of a new aspect of her life and wanted to give that to God too. Isn't that what we all have to do all the time? Her commitment before wasn't inferior, it was right for then. I hope it will continue to grow and change.

But I'm reminded that Jesus used a child as an example of what we are to become. so maybe a three year old's faith IS superior an adult's faith - it's certainly not inferior. (I suspect that since the relationship depends on Jesus not us, they're both as good as each other!)

[Linda Mill]

Hi Anne I think what you're saying is totally true. There's a book written by Ron Buckland called 'Perspectives on Children and the Gospel' In it he talks about a child's journey and their responses to faith. It's been a little controversial here in Australia over the years but there is some great insight and for me, it just resonated with my own ideas of where children stand in the kingdom. If you can get hold of a copy it's definitely worth reading. You might be able to get it from Scripture Union in the UK. If not it's definitely available from Scripture Union in Australia.