Nepios or Paidion :: Childish vs. Child Like

I’m impressed by the power of hero’s, their ability to captivate and inspire the imagination. I don’t think it chance or happenstance that causes a little boy to dream of the day when he is able to run in to a burning building and rescue a family, or follow the clues to track down a bank robber. A hero, for a little boy, is like experiencing Christmas every day. To raise our hands above our heads as we win the race, conquer our opponent, maybe fly into space is the fuel of a heart that has yet to be jaded by the word impossible.

I wonder why is it that, as an adult I forget the gift of fearlessness and selflessness that I had as a kid. When was it that I began to let go of those truths I intuitively knew as a child; that I could do anything, that nothing was impossible, that Faith & Hope & Love was all that I would ever need. Who was it that convinced me otherwise, why was it that they felt they needed to “help me see reality”?

I attended a Men’s Conference March the 21^st -24^th and I was able to see shadows and glimpses of the little boy that had dreams of designing the tallest building in the world. In fact, as a result of the Goodfellas Conference, I was able to see many men rediscover a treasure they had lost. For a precious moment, an instant, pride & ego surrender to humility & meekness and men were fine with that because they were at peace with themselves. I tweeted how I was in awe of God’s work in the hearts of the men that surrounded me. For a few days men became boys and nothing was impossibale.

At this men’s conference were real heroes; a Police officer who rescued a man from a burning car, a Special Forces Colonel who puts his life on the line during war time to secure our freedoms, an 8x Mr. Olympian a Light Weight Boxing Champ and a world class sharp shooter who all had dreams as a child that helped shape their adult lives. These men reminded all the men in the room that boy hood dreams can and do become reality!

My mind was able to capture the power, and majesty of Christ’s exhortation in Luke chapter 18 vs. 16 & 17 when Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” There is a principle that we adults often miss, and in doing so we do an injustice not only to ourselves but to the kingdom of God. We confuse the power of being “child-like” with the crippling nature of being “childish” and in doing so limit the potential of God to work in us.

I believe I Corinthians 13:11 has a lot to do with why we forget and forgo being child-like, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” Here is the rub; Paul in I Corinthians uses a very different Greek word than the word Jesus uses in Luke. Paul’s word is nēpios, which means an infant or baby. Jesus’ word of choice is paidion, which means a little boy or girl. Could it be that Paul simply wants us to stop being big babies and Jesus longs for us to believe in the imposable which for Christ is the literal?

With that in mind, I choose to believe the following;

1.      Hope is the seed, faith is the fruit!

2.      Hope is more powerful than fear, children live this out & adults forget.

3.      A dream is a destination God has given you, faith is the road.

4.      Wither you believe you can or can’t, you are right!