Hewing the Heart of a Child

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Jesus (Luke 18:17 NIV) "我实在告诉你们，凡要承受神国的，若不像小孩子，断不能进去。路加福音18:17

"Great is he who has not lost the heart of a child." Mencius 孟子曰：“大人者，不失其赤子之心者也。”

Both Mencius and the modern Chinese writer Lin Yutang would have heartily concurred with Jesus' warning that only those with the heart of a child would enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In "The Importance of Living," (p.98) Lin Yutang wrote, "The ideal character best able to enjoy life is a warm, carefree and unafraid soul." And who is more warm, carefree and unafraid than a child!

A child awakens each day to a world of wonder, but over time the curiosity becomes caution, the wonder becomes worry, the carefree becomes careful, the warmth becomes aloofness, the fearlessness becomes fear. It is no wonder that as we age, we tend to become nostalgic for a past that time has dimmed and idealized. What happened to the child within us?

Hewing the Heart of the Child In "The Importance of Living," Lin Yutang wrote, "Mencius regards the effect of the artificial life of civilization upon the youthful heart born in man as similar to the deforestation of our hills:

'There was once a time when the forests of the Niu Mountain were beautiful. But can the mountain any longer be regarded as beautiful, since being situated near a big city, the woodsmen have hewed the trees down? The days and nights gave it rest, and the rains and the dew continued to nourish it, and a new life was continually springing up from the soil, but then the cattle and the sheep began to pasture upon it. That is why the Niu Mountain looks so bald, and when people see its baldness, they imagine that there was never any timber on the mountain. Is this the true nature of the mountain? And is there not a heart of love and righteousness in man, too? But how can that nature remain beautiful when it is hacked down every day, as the woodsman chops down the trees with his ax? To be sure, the nights and days do the healing and there is the nourishing air of the early dawn, which tends to keep him sound and normal, but this morning air is thin and is soon destroyed by what he does in the day. With this continuous hacking of the human spirit, the rest and recuperation obtained during the night are not sufficient to maintain its level, and when the night's recuperation does not suffice to maintain its level, then the man degrades himself to a state not far from the beast's. People see that he acts like a beast and imagine that there was never any true character in him. But is this the true nature of man?"

Not Childish but Childlike We need to recapture the inner child not just to enter the Kingdom but to live life, here and now, as our Father intended for us to live it. When Jesus' said "you must be born again", he meant a spiritual birth, but given his repeated emphasis upon regaining the heart of a child, it is clear that he also meant we need to be reborn not just spiritually but emotionally and mentally as well. Though a word of caution is in order. Jesus did not say for us to become children, but to be like children.

Snake Handling We should be childlike but not childish, because our Father does expect us to grow up. We of course need the experiences and maturity of adulthood to accomplish our purpose in life--and to survive. As Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 13:11, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." [我作孩子的时候，话语像孩子，心思像孩子，意念像孩子。既成了人，就把孩子的事丢弃了。歌林多前书13:11]

When I was seven, I picked up a Texas diamond-back rattlesnake, thinking it was a giant worm. That is how I learned to fear snakes, but it was not healthy fear but debilitating terror. I even had nightmares of snakes. So during my teens I studied about snakes, learned to appreciate their beauty and purpose (they kill rodents, for one thing), and even forced myself to handle harmless snakes--though I use common sense, of course. Some rural Appalachian churches have snake handling in the services! (Chinese also handle snakes in some Fujian temples --and other Fujian folk even walk on fire!)

My Father's Hand As long as I use the common sense and experience that my Father has given me, the world is a much less fearful place, because I know that I am in my Father's hand--and that too is part of having the heart of a child.

As a small boy, I was fearless as long as my father was right beside me. If my father said to do something, I implicitly trusted that 1) it was safe; 2) I could do it if he said I could, and 3) he would be pleased with me if I obeyed. But though my father loved me, and wanted only the best for me, he made mistakes, and errors in judgment. But I am infinitely more secure today as a child in my Heavenly Father's hand because he not only made me but everything else, and knows clearly the purpose he has for me. Above all, I know that I am loved--the "bright pearl in his hand" (掌上明珠；Chinese equivalent of "apple of my eye", from the Bible). With such child-like confidence and sense of security, the world once again becomes a place of wonder, and I can do anything my Father calls me to do. And that is when we truly have the heart of a child--when we truly trust our Father.

Our Father's Child--or Orphan? The world has hewed our heart like Mencius' woodsmen denuded the mountains of forests, but we can regain that childlike heart--but not if we go it alone. The world's a dangerous place, for children and adults, but it is forever a place of wonder when we walk it with our Father.

130 Common English Phrases from the Bible

Scientific Proof that Adam and Eve were not Chinese! In 2007, when I spoke to groups of Chinese in the Philippines (Rotary Clubs, Anchor Club, schools, seminaries, etc.), I told them that scientists had proven that Adam and Even were not Chinese, because if they'd been Chinese, Eve would have tossed the apple and eaten the snake. One Chinese business lady replied, "Not true! If Eve had been Chinese, she'd have eaten the snake and sold the apple!"

Oh well, everyday I learn something new--but that is part of having the heart of a child!

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