Jesus made it clear that He loves children. It’s one of those heartwarming things about Him that most of us resonate with. Children can be fascinating little entertainers, and it seems like the older I get, the more I love watching them. It’s a pastime that always adds a smile to my face and an extra shot of joy to my heart. And as an additional bonus, God sometimes uses them to illustrate spiritual principles I didn’t anticipate. The impromptu antics children are prone to engage in might not always be so delightful for their parents, but some of the rest of us really enjoy them. 

Reassuring Scenes ~
Children are natural imitators, and when they mimic adults, we think it’s cute. When a little girl comes clomping through the house in her mom’s high heels, we smile and reach for a camera. And when a little guy grabs his toy lawn mower and pushes it through the grass just like his dad, we might pause for a few minutes just to embrace the moment. Scenes like that reassure us that things are progressing as they should, and they make us feel good. But our reaction is quite different when we see the process turned around. 

When supposedly intelligent and mature adults talk and act like children, it’s nothing to smile about. It’s not unusual for children to believe in unicorns, friendly dinosaurs, and animals that talk, and we accept that as a normal part of growing up. When adults embrace notions that are ridiculous, ignore disastrous outcomes of their behavior with detached indifference, respond to imagined situations as though they were real, and have a tantrum when things don’t go their way, it’s anything but cute. And when they do it on a national scale, it’s tragic. Grownups acting like children in any context is unacceptable, but when those with power and authority do it, it’s especially tragic. 

A Childhood Hero ~
Speaking of children, I’m reminded of a story I loved in my middle school days. It was written by J.M. Barrie and originally published in 1904. The story was named for its lead character called “Peter Pan.” It was a tale about a mythical land where kids didn’t have to deal with the burdensome stuff associated with growing up, and where things were possible that you can’t do in the real world, like being able to fly. The place was called “Neverland,” and in Neverland, you could spend your days just flying around, having fun, enjoying a banquet whenever you got hungry, and fighting an occasional pirate. Calling the place, “Neverland,” was appropriate, because the things that were depicted there were not ever going to be possible in the real world.

I mention that because some of the things going on in this country politically, socially, economically, academically, and theologically cause me to wonder if a lot of people haven’t become afflicted with something we might call “Neverland Syndrome.” It’s a condition where people who appear to be normal, reasonably intelligent adults act as if they never had to grow up. People afflicted with it seem to have no inclination to assume the duties, responsibilities, and attendant accountability that come with adulthood. Diagnosing the “Neverland Syndrome” involves asking a few simple questions of displaying evidence of the “Neverland” infection and applying the only reasonable answer. For instance:   

• • Question: When will the bizarre and unnatural gender-related changes advocated by greedy political and medical ideologues actually become positive, healthy, and beneficial for those coerced into practicing them and for the nation that blindly affirms them? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will the sexualized and psychologically damaging curriculum and educational policies promoted by academic leaders finally produce graduates who are intellectually competent, academically competitive, socially well adjusted, and spiritually mature? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will the oppressive restrictions and unsustainable costs being inflicted in order to affect “climate change” finally give us cooler summers, warmer winters, fewer storms, and no deadly hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, or floods? And when will the spoiled, indoctrinated, professionally-groomed activists be required to live under the same rules they want to inflict on others?  
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will the wealthy and powerful elites and the narcissistic bureaucrats who serve them finally be subjected to the same justice system that they impose on those who disagree with them?
    • • Answer: NEVER!

A Failure to Produce ~
The “Neverland Syndrome” leads people to support, promote, and defend policies and practices that are as divorced from reality as those in J.M. Barrie’s fictional tale, and like all the devil’s deceptions, can never produce what they promise. Those afflicted seem to believe they can create an alternate version of reality simply by declaring it to be so. Unfortunately for them and their followers, truth is not established by popular vote, and it cannot be erased at the whim of the ruling class. The questions above emerge from real situations, conditions, practices, and policies going on in our country every day, and they are harbingers of disaster in every category. When that kind of immature, self-indulgent, spiritually-irrational thinking invades the Church of Jesus Christ, it’s especially disturbing. 

But we can’t single handedly transform a nation, so what are we to do? Do we just wait around until their imaginary world finally collapses and they discover that the devil’s fairy dust was just an illusion?  Do we just shake our heads and try to hang on and hope things get better? I think God has a better plan in mind than that, and it begins with us abandoning our own childish tendencies and living like spiritual grownups. Paul advocated that when he wrote, 

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. (1 Corinthians 13:11 NKJV)

And in another epistle added this: 

…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ (Ephesians 4:14–15 NKJV)

Another Neverland ~
I might suggest something else as well. I think God could counter the Neverland Syndrome with a story and some heroes of His own. His story invites the reader into a Neverland that also depicts life that is radically different from the world around us. Children are welcome there and childlike faith is a powerful asset in His realm, but leadership there is reserved for grownups. Impossible things happen there, too, but they’re real, not imagined and it’s faith, not fairy dust that empowers them. God’s diagnostic test has the same answer, but it’s predicated on a different set of questions. There are lots of possibilities, but here’s a sample: 

• • Question: When can we expect God to lower the bar and accept us into His kingdom without having to confess and abandon our sins, accept Jesus as Lord, and surrender our lives to Him? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will faith in Jesus fail to be enough to secure the promises He made to us? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will God’s power be insufficient to overcome the challenges the devil’s system throws against us? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will God fail to provide what we need to fulfill what He’s called us to do? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

• • Question: When will God’s Word be proven to be unreliable, outdated, and untrue? 
    • • Answer: NEVER!

Self-centeredness is expected and believing imaginary things can be cute if you’re a child, but we live in a real world and the challenge of confronting evil is real. Jesus did not say, Thou art Peter Pan, and with this fairy dust I will build my Church. Jesus loves children, but the mission of His Church requires mature and seasoned spiritual grownups. Jesus loves children, but He doesn’t establish them as teachers and leaders, and He doesn’t send them into battle. 

We can’t single handedly change the world, but a good place to begin to affect it is to abandon our own childish tendencies and apply one of Peter’s relevant and powerful admonitions:

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby. (1 Peter 2:1–2 NKJV)