Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus loves the little children of the worldJesus died for all the children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
Jesus died for all the children of the world— Lyrics to the song Jesus Loves the Little Children
Evangelicals typically believe that Jesus loves all the children in the world, especially zygotes and fetuses. Church children are taught songs such as the one above, impressing upon them that Jesus loves them bunches and bunches and bunches. Granted, Calvinists don’t believe Jesus loves all the children in the world; just the elect. Outside of Calvinists, Evangelicals generally promote the idea that Jesus — who is God — really, really, really loves children.
Jesus is presented to children as their BFF, an ever-present, personal friend. This idea is reinforced in sermons, Sunday school lessons, and junior church programs. Countless Evangelical children have sung the song Jesus Loves Me:
Jesus loves me!
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak but He is strong.Jesus loves me!
Loves me still,
Tho I’m very weak and ill,
That I might from sin be free,
Bled and died upon the tree.Jesus loves me!
He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.Jesus loves me!
He will stay
Close beside me all the way.
Thou hast bled and died for me;
I will henceforth live for Thee.Chorus
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.
Evangelical children enter adolescence wholeheartedly believing Jesus really loves them. However, as they face and experience the pressures of growing into adulthood, they often begin to question whether Jesus really does love them. Doubts and questions creep in, and by the time they graduate from college, many Evangelical children wonder if Jesus really loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives. Life brings challenges and realities that cause them to question whether Jesus is their BFF. When teens bring their doubts and questions to their parents, pastors, and teachers, they are encouraged to faith-it; just because Jesus seems distant, indifferent, or nonexistent doesn’t mean he is.
For many of these students, post-high school, they will drift away from church, no longer believing what their elders are selling. As these young adults examine the world they were brought into, they wonder, “Does Jesus really love all the children of the world?” The evidence suggests he doesn’t; that, at best, he is an indifferent, uncaring, impersonal God. They see war, violence, sickness, disease, and starvation, wondering, “Where is the Jesus who loves all the children of the world?”
When they turn their eyes to their Republican/Libertarian parents, pastors, and teachers what do they see? Do they see Evangelical Christians who love all the children of the world?” No, they see policies that seem to focus on the unborn, but are negligent and hostile towards the born. Most Evangelical Republicans/Libertarians oppose the social safety net; policies and programs such as free student lunches, summer lunch programs, food stamps, Medicaid, and Section 8 housing. Most of them are pro-war, knowing that innocent civilians, especially women and children suffer horrifically and often die as men and women fight to the death over real estate. Few seem to have a problem with draconian border policies in Texas that place concertina wire in border rivers that could severely injure and kill undocumented children trying to cross the river.
Many Evangelical young adults conclude that the “love” they had been taught is a lie; that whoever Jesus might be, he is not a man who loves all the children of the world. They see in their parents, pastors, and teachers, people who say one thing but do another. Droves of young Evangelicals are exiting the church stage left, never to return. The reasons for this exodus are many, but one reason is the disconnect between what is said and reality.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.
I couldn’t have said it better.
Yep, I sang those songs. I even taught them since I was a bible school teacher.
I always wondered about the various ads by chritian organizations to “help the children”. Why didn’t this omnipotent jesus?
and then read the bible where this god repeatedly murders kids.
Unsurprisingly, these TrueChristians(tm) are now cutting WIC benefits for all of those children they want people to be forced to have.
I remember as a teen becoming aware of these discrepancies. I was told by church teachers that Jesus does indeed love everyone, but bad things happen to children because we live in a fallen world and Jesus can’t do anything about that. That’s why we need everyone to be witnessed to so they can get saved and live in heaven one day. But….I couldn’t figure out how an omnipotent God couldn’t just fix everything, bypassing suffering so that humans could exist peacefully and without suffering on earth.
Oh no, Young ObstacleChick, God gave humans free will – they choose to reject God.
But, children don’t really have choices outside the control of their parents, and what about the kids in China and India who have never heard of Jesus? They don’t really have a choice.
Young OC, that’s why more people should become missionaries and sneak behind the Iron Curtain and Bamboo Curtain to witness! Don’t you get it? Besides, the Bible says God is evident in nature so they’re without excuse.
So….I am supposed to become a missionary and sneak into Communist countries, risking capture and imprisonment and torture to spread the gospel, but the people are supposed to be able to look at trees and sunsets and intuit that God and the gospel of Jesus dying for their sins is a thing?
No, not like that, Young OC. Aren’t you listening?
I still don’t get it.
You need to pray on it, Young OC.
As well, besides the drowning of the entire planet’s children (unborns, newborns, babies, toddlers, etc.), as well as the tenth plague in Egypt (death of firstborn boys), there’s also this:
Joshua 6:20-21 – “When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it – men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.”
1 Samuel 15:3 – “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
Psalm 137:8-9 – “O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us! Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!”
Isaiah 13:15-16 – “Whoever is captured will be thrust through; all who are caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses will be looted and their wives violated.”
(Tired response from evangelicals / fundamentalists: “But, that’s the Old Testament.”)
Jesus loves the little children until they reach the age of accountability after which he will toss them into hell to be tortured for eternity. What kind of love is that?
I’ve always wondered if the whole “age of accountability” thing was / is a made-up non-biblical point invented by Christians due to the concept of ‘babies in hell’ being an uncomfortable and disgusting idea (which I should at least give Christians credit for, for feeling uneasy about such things. If only they also felt just as uneasy about the idea that any non-Christian teen / adult deserved to end up in hell). Back during my years as a believer, the more accurate biblical view would suggest that from the day a baby is born they are destined for hell (even if they died the next day) due to having the blood of Adam residing within their veins.
I’m just glad I don’t have to go through the mental gymnastics anymore.
Being taught Jesus loves the children of the world in sunday school is what had me questioning the Southern Baptist religion at a mere 4 years old because they taught us the song, but then we were also taught that only white people would go to heaven and that specifically black people would go straight to hell because they weren’t born white. Being mixed race white and Native American had me worried where that left me. The final straw that made me turn my back on organized religion was a deacon threatening to rape the preacher’s wife as retribution for the preacher allowing a black family to attend Sunday service. This all went down in the parking lot after the sermon and I as a child was witness to it. I was best friends with the preacher’s daughter and infatuated with his adopted Cherokee son. My parents were friends with the preacher and his wife and we used to go to their house for steak dinner and they would come visit us. After the parking lot incident, the pastor moved his family overnight and I lost my best friend. It turned me again men and Christians both, especially Christian men who I realized were evil and dangerous and especially white Christian men who can never be trusted. Guess who never went back to the baptist church after they turned 18?
Ange—Threatening to rape a preacher’s wife because the preacher allowed a Black family to attend Sunday service? What a messed-up sense of justice!
Oh, but his Jesus loves children.