No Kid-Sized Holy Spirit
"If Jesus could come back then, why can't he come back now?" The inquirer was a 10-year-old girl I'd met a few days before, a girl I wasn't sure would still be at camp that day because of how intensely home-sick she'd been at the beginning of the week. A girl who had never attended church or heard about Jesus, whose Bible had never been opened, only purchased because a Bible was on the what-to-bring-to-camp list.
Elementary camp was a ride, a non-stop whirlwind of games, excitement, water, snacks, tears, and noise. But in between all of that, the love of Jesus, just being poured out on these hundred and some odd 8- to 10-year-old kids.
That question about Jesus coming back was posed to me on the last night of camp while other girls in our cabin were getting ready for bed. The previous night in our cabin devotionals we'd talked about the gospel message that had been shared at chapel. I went into a little more detail, mentioning how Jesus appeared to many people after he was raised and went to heaven.
Needless to say, when the question came the next day out of the blue, I was pleased. It meant that at least one child had heard what was said and was still ruminating on it a day later. I told her that one day Jesus will come back, and that when he does, everyone will somehow know about it, that he won't just come back to one room of people again. But I didn't leave it there, as something to be hoped for in the future. I told her what Jesus said about it: that it was better for him to go away. She looked as confused as I'm sure the disciples were. I went on to tell her what Jesus said about the Holy Spirit:
"But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you...When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth." John 16:7,12.
Trying not to make a mess of an explanation of the Trinity, I did my best to tell her how when we are part of God's family, his Holy Spirit lives in us, guiding and helping us. How we don't need Jesus' physical body with us, because when we believe in him, we have God with us always.
I don't know how much of it made sense to this girl. I don't know the state of her heart. I don't know what she took away from her week at camp. That doesn't bother me. Because what I do know is that God is in the business of loving and changing people. Personally, I think God is at work in her heart, that whether or not she made a decision to follow him, her life isn't going to be the same because of hearing about the love of Jesus at camp.
Something one of the other leaders said more than once stuck out to me: there is no kid-sized Holy Spirit. God's power is at work in these kids' lives. The same Spirit who lives in all of us who believe, is also at work in their lives, guiding, strengthening, convicting, encouraging, and empowering them in their faith.
I'd say most of the kids at camp weren't like the girl I mentioned. Most were church kids, who have heard about Jesus their whole lives. At camp, they heard again about Jesus' amazing love and were challenged to live like him. How amazing it is to know that they are the next generation of believers, that we have a hand in guiding them along on this journey.
Honestly, sometimes I'm a little skeptical of how real kids' faith actually is. Having known so many of my peers to grow up in the church, profess a faith in God as a child, and then turn away as an adult, it can be disheartening. Do these kids actually believe? I have no way of knowing. But I don't let that stop me from telling kids over and over how compassionate and loving and forgiving God is. I serve a God who loves children, who says the faith of a child is something to be emulated. It's the Holy Spirit's job to do the rest, not mine. But I can pray for them. So please, please, pray with me for these kids. Pray for the kids in our church, for the kids in your families, for the kids who went to camp with us. God loves them so much.