At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.  Matthew 18:1-5

Mature Christians have a childlike nature. Let’s get a few things straight from the beginning; Being childlike doesn’t mean we’re immature…And being mature doesn’t mean we accept the joyless, bored life that is often associated with adulthood.

As adults, we have a tendency to lose our childlike sense of wonder toward the world and our surroundings…even toward God. We put Him in a theological cage to make us feel more secure, like we do when we approach a lion at the zoo. We can congratulate ourselves on how close we are to a real lion—but the actual lion is securely behind bars. There’s no real risk of us getting dangerously close.

When we are mature Christians, we have a childlike nature, we don’t easily become bored. We celebrate. We laugh. We view life as a gift. We have a healthy naivety and a realistic idealism.

That’s a biblically-based summary of childlikeness. But the immediate context of today’s verses emphasizes only one thing: humility—without which none of the above is possible. Leave it to Jesus to cut to the quick. You can’t really grasp childlike living without humility first and foremost.

The context of today’s verses is who is the greatest in God’s Kingdom. Getting into God’s Kingdom requires a change of heart (“unless you…become as little children”). So this childlike thing is more important than we often consider.

We tend to focus on a belief change when it comes to evangelizing, far more than a total transformation of our hearts, much less becoming childlike. So where does childlikeness begin? Jesus is quick to answer: “whoever humbles himself as this little child”. Yes, humility is at the root of Jesus’ words. But what does He mean by this childlike humility?

Let’s consider how Jesus answers in this passage (you can read the whole chapter): He begins by speaking about human relationships. He talks about having a heart for the lost sinner and contrasts it with a heart for large numbers (18:12ff). Restoring and reconciling relationship with those who sin against us (18: 15ff), including forgiveness (18: 23ff).

All this in a discourse about childlikeness. How can this be? Because childlikeness has to do with not taking ourselves so seriously—not even taking others so seriously. (Humility is a two-way street. If we put ourselves on a pedestal, we might recognize that this isn’t humility. But putting someone else on a pedestal is equally arrogant. It’s a subtle way of raising ourselves up by our association with our exalted hero.)

For some of us, childlikeness is something to foster or return to. For others it’s totally new; but God supplies what he asks of us. He will make us childlike if we ask Him.