The beautiful Christmas carol "What Child is This" asks the question that we should be asking of ourselves. Do we see God's love laying in Mary's arms? From the moment Christ was born we were forced to see what God valued above His own self. The gospel of Jesus Christ has changed many things in this world, and at the same time, many things remain the same. There is much work still left to be done by the church in helping mankind to value little children. Here in the United States, and in many western European nations, children have become prized and valued. The modern celebration of Christmas is centered around children and the joy we can bring them through giving them gifts. I know we've lost the true reason for Christmas, and it has become commercialized beyond belief, but there is a beauty in knowing that millions of people value their children so much, that they are willing to go into debt like they do. This is a direct result of the Church glorifying the birth of Christ.
As we've been learning over the last few weeks, things weren't always as they are now. Children weren't always valued like they are today in western culture. Sadly, despite what the Church has done, there are many places in the world today where children aren't valued, and their lot in life hasn't changed much over the many thousands of years of recorded history.
The stink and the filth of mankind's contempt for life is often revealed in how children are treated. The worth of children was often measured by their sex, and physical features, and to this day, unwanted children are killed in every way imaginable. It is utterly mind boggling how we can value a whale, a tree, or even inanimate objects more than we value children. Even among so-called 'progressives' there is an utter disdain for unborn children, and among the most rabid of pro-abortion advocates is the belief that a child must breathe air to prove it is 'viable'. We don't need to stop abortion as much as we need to once and for all make a legal definition of personhood. If in the matter of law you can be charged with two counts of murder if you kill a pregnant mother, then that definition needs to be applied to all children. Our nation, as well as many other western nations, is still trying to wrestle with the idea of what to do when a mother doesn't want the child in her womb.
In ancient cultures, unwanted, or deformed children were thrown out into the rubbage heaps of ancient cities. In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, babies were thrown over the walls of cities, and into ancient ravines if they were the wrong sex, or had physical abnormalities. Things don't change much when you remove the influence of the church. We're at a point now in our development where it will be possible to genetically modify an embryo to suit our desires.
Throughout history, children have always been abused as free or cheap labor. This practice continues today in many societies. There is little difference between a child being given up to serve as a shrine prostitute in ancient cultures, and what is seen in many impoverished communities all over the world. The gods of ancient civilizations are nothing more than the god of money today. Child sex trafficking can be found in every modern society as well as many third world countries. This disdain for the innocence of children breaks the heart of God.
When God chose to show how much he loves the world, He didn't send his Son as a full grown man, but instead put him in the womb of a woman that He would be truly human as we are. Children have never been less in God's eyes. We're told in both the New and Old Testaments that he prizes children and sees us as we will be even before we are in the womb.
It is amazing how easy it has been over the course of human history to marginalize children and make them pay for our sins. Human sacrifice is almost exclusively focused on little children.
The Church has changed that! Wherever Christ is taught, the value of little children is also taught. I personally long for the day when little boys and girls are allowed to laugh, play, and live free from fear. I look forward to a time when the idea of "Jesus loves the little children," will be sung in our hearts with appreciation for the man or woman they will become.
The greatest sin of child abuse, is the crushing of promise.
