Go Beyond

One of the most strategic components of our missions ministry is investing in children. We want for kids at Kingsland to understand that they don’t have to wait until they are all grown up to make a difference in our world. That’s why we are intentional about providing opportunities for even the youngest among us to use their little hands to serve others.

Years ago, a good friend showed up at one of our inner city initiatives wearing a t-shirt with a thought-provoking message: Work the muscles. Build the heart. He was convinced that serving others was the best way to grow a big heart. And he was right. I completely agree. Something happens to our hearts when we allow God to use our hands.

When you think about it, we really don’t have to do much to cultivate selfishness. That’s something that seems to come quite naturally to kids and adults alike. However, unselfishness must be cultivated and often comes at a price. According to the Apostle Paul, looking out for the interests of others requires humility of mind (Phil. 2:3-4) — something that Jesus modeled.

On the night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. preached a sermon in which he challenged his audience to “develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness” — like that demonstrated by the Good Samaritan. King’s insight into the story of the Good Samaritan is brilliant.

King pointed out, “The Levite asked, ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?’ That’s the question before you tonight,” King said. And that’s the question before us — the question we must ask and also teach our kids to ask.

There is nothing I enjoy more than watching kids serve alongside their parents. Every opportunity that we provide for parents to model for their kids what it means to serve is important. Teaching our kids to use their little hands to serve others is strategic work in the kingdom of God. That’s how kids develop a big heart. And that’s how God cultivates dangerous unselfishness.

This past Saturday, some kids from Kingsland’s Cross Trainers Community Group served our community alongside their moms and dads. Our kids used their little hands to plant flowers on the campus of a local ministry. They also made posters with encouraging messages that our disaster response team will distribute to those who have suffered devastating losses as a result of recent flooding.

In reality, our kids did more than plant flowers and make posters. They served God and, by so doing, reminded others that He cares. The work of their little hands benefited others. They served without expectation of any reward or recognition. And while they served, God was quietly at work building their hearts — making them a little more compassionate and a little more thoughtful. Our family service initiatives are indeed a strategic component in raising up a generation that will be characterized by a dangerous unselfishness.