I was talking to a Children’s Minister recently about how things were going at her church.

She told me that she was really discouraged. She was thinking that what they were doing was not really working…until she sat down with the kids.

She said, “I sat down with them one night and asked them about their spiritual lives, and I was blown away! I could not believe the depth of their spiritual maturity.”

She was four months into her new leadership ministry for children.  

“Praise the Lord!” I said.

Several years ago, I was approached by a deacon’s wife in my church.

She said, “Clint, you are asking too much of these kids to require them to do a daily quiet time.”

She was a friend. I said, “Julie, it is a good thing for your daughter to have a daily quiet time.”

Well, about three month later, she came to me and said:

“You were right! I see a change in Amy’s life. You warned us not to give up, and you were correct.”

How dare me to require a child to do a daily quiet time! 😊

In ministry we must be cautious to make sure we are staying true to the calling of Christ to make disciples.

When I first started out in ministry, I was passionate about sharing the Good News of Christ with every lost child.

I would create fun events, lock-ins, retreats, etc.

Throughout the past 26 years, I led hundreds of children to Christ during these events.

As I have learned more and more about discipleship through the years, I realize I was not discipling the kids who were making decisions.

I was “throwing out the baby with the bath water.”

They would move up into the student ministry ill-prepared to face the battles they encountered as teenagers.