Church Nursery...

The topic of the nursery has been a hot one as of late in not only our family, but also our church. It has come up in our family discussions because our youngest daughter is now a year old and is starting to get a little fidgety and vocal in the services. It's being talked about in our church because we are currently without a nursery director. While for my family we will stick with the concept of attending church services as that; a family, that's not always the case for everyone in the church. If parents desire to have their children in the nursery then so be it because the issue is an open handed one.

Obviously the next question I get from people on this topic is, "Why won't you put your children in the nursery?" To which I reply, "The Bible says that the parents are to raise their children." Deut. 6 tells parents to diligently teach our children morning and night of the statutes of God. Eph. 6 tells father's to bring their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Part of that discipline and instruction is teaching our kiddos how to set in church and listen to what is going on. I strongly believe that when 90% of our teens leave the church by the time they are sophomores in college it's partly because they have spent most of their younger years of church going in other areas besides that of the sanctuary. The American church has fallen in love with the idea of our young ones not being in church services. If we teach them as babies that they don't belong in service then why are we surprised when they leave as young adults because they don't feel apart of the service?

Mainly, I don't put my children in the nursery because there is no scriptural basis for it. In scripture we see the exact opposite. Ezra 10:1 says; men, women, and children gathered to him out of Israel. Jesus acknowledged the presence of children in chapters 18 and 19 of Matthew.

The biggest argument I've heard for not having children in church services is, "They cause distractions so someone may not hear the gospel." That is a very interesting argument for a couple of reasons. The first one being that, is God not big enough to save someone even though a child is making noise or crying? Secondly, how hard is it to get the attention of your spouse when he or she is watching their favorite television program? Kids can be screaming, phone will be ringing, and someone is at the front door, yet it still doesn't break their attention toward that program. The bottom line is that when we are doing what our heart desires nothing will stop us from completing the task at hand.

The fact is that the nursery as well as other well intended church "programs" are being used for nothing more then a free babysitter. The church has given parents a good excuse for not training their own children and parents are jumping on the bandwagon by the truck load!

With all that said, does it mean that the nursery is wrong? No, it's just not proven in scripture. We must stop doing things just because that's how we've always done it and get back to using the Bible as our instruction manual. And just because we've always done it that way doesn't mean it has always been done that way.......

In Christ Alone,
Mr. V.