A Personal Prelude: The Swimming Pool Lesson
The afternoon sun hung heavy over Akasia, that familiar Pretoria heat that makes the air shimmer above the tin roofs. I was teaching my youngest to swim in the community pool—that place where our neighborhood’s children splash alongside dreams and fears. She stood at the pool’s edge, tiny toes curling over the cool blue tile, her body trembling not from cold but from that primal terror of the deep unknown. "Jump, my child!" I called, my arms outstretched. "I will catch you!" Her eyes darted from my face to the watery abyss and back again. For a heart-wrenching moment, hesitation reigned. Then came the leap—not a calculated decision but a desperate flight into the certainty of her father’s embrace. As I lifted her laughing from the water, Scripture whispered in my spirit: "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10:15, NIV).
In that splash and laughter, theology became tangible. This is the childlike faith Jesus demands—not childish ignorance but unwavering trust in the Father’s character. Today, as South Africa grapples with rolling blackouts, political realignments, and the lingering ghosts of inequality, this childlike faith remains our most radical response to divine promise.
Defining the Divine Paradox: Childlike Versus Childish
The Essence of Childlike Faith
We must first dismantle the dangerous confusion between childlike and childish faith. Childish faith is sentimental, unexamined, and easily shaken—like building on the shifting sands of feeling and circumstance. But childlike faith—ah, that is something entirely different! It is:
· Unshakably trustful: Like my daughter leaping without testing the water’s depth
· Biblically grounded: Rooted in God’s proven character and covenant promises
· Intellectually engaged: Embracing mystery without abandoning reason
The Scripture never commands us to check our brains at the door of the Kingdom. Indeed, God invites us to "reason together" (Isaiah 1:18). Yet our reasoning must recognize its limits—we approach the infinite God with both minds fully engaged and hearts fully surrendered. This is the great paradox: we use our intellect to recognize intellect’s boundaries before a transcendent God.
The Philosophical Foundation
Dru Johnson’s groundbreaking work on biblical philosophy demonstrates that Scripture itself presents a robust "philosophical style" characterized by "logic, rigor, second-order reasoning". The Hebraic mind engages in:
· Pixelated thinking: Understanding truth through narratives, patterns, and concrete examples
· Networked knowledge: Connecting revelation across biblical texts and lived experience
· Mysterionism: Embracing divinely revealed mysteries beyond full comprehension
Thus, when Jesus calls us to childlike faith, He invites us not to abandon reason but to place our reason within the larger framework of trust in the Ultimate Reasoner—God Himself.
The South African Context: Where Childlike Faith Meets Ground Reality
Our Historical Hesitations
We South Africans know something about difficulty with trust. Our collective psyche bears the scars of broken promises—from apartheid’s brutal betrayal of human dignity to the post-1994 "rainbow nation" ideals that remain partially unfulfilled. Today, as we navigate:
· Economic disparities: Where 10% of the population controls 80% of the wealth
· Infrastructure challenges: The relentless "load-shedding" that leaves our homes in darkness
· Social fragmentation: The lingering racial and economic divisions that plague our communities
In this context, trust—whether in institutions or in each other—does not come easily. Yet Christ calls us to precisely the trust that transcends circumstance—a trust rooted not in human reliability but in divine faithfulness.
Modern Innovations and Ancient Faith
Despite our challenges, South Africa exemplifies childlike faith in action through stunning innovations that address concrete needs:
· Gabriella Mogale’s fire-proof shack material: Protecting vulnerable communities from devastating fires
· Lucky Netshidzati’s "Smart Glove": Bridging communication gaps for the deaf community
· UCT’s urine-based bricks: Turning waste into sustainable building materials
Each innovation began with a leap of faith—a trust that solutions existed beyond conventional thinking. This is childlike faith applied to societal transformation: believing that God’s kingdom principles can reshape broken systems.
A Philosophical Defense: Answering the Objections
Confronting Rationalism and Anti-Intellectualism
The biblical call to childlike faith faces two primary distortions in modern thought:
1. Rationalism: The idolatry of human reason that makes intellect the ultimate arbiter of truth
2. Anti-intellectualism: The rejection of reason that elevates feeling over truth
Both represent sinful extremes that distort God’s design for human knowing. Scripture affirms:
· The value of intellect: "Love the Lord your God...with all your mind" (Mark 12:30)
· The limits of intellect: "The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God" (Romans 8:7)
Biblical Balance in Knowing God
Human Reason Divine Revelation Result
Autonomous (Rationalism) Rejected Spiritual blindness
Disengaged (Anti-Intellect) Ignored Spiritual immaturity
Submitted to God Embraced Childlike faith
The Epistemological Argument
We can formulate the logical case for childlike faith through syllogism:
· Major Premise: All human knowing is ultimately dependent on trust in first principles that cannot be proven
· Minor Premise: God, as revealed in Scripture and Christ, is the ultimate first principle of all reality
· Conclusion: Therefore, trusting God’s self-revelation represents the most rational foundation for knowledge
This is not blind faith but intelligent trust—recognizing that every knowledge system ultimately rests on unprovable axioms. The Christian acknowledges God as the ultimate axiom.
The Practical Outworking: Leaping in the Dark
From Township to Suburb
Childlike faith transforms how we address South Africa’s pressing issues. Consider the Muizenburg Community Garden where our partner Benson embodies Jesus’ words by treating everyone—"whether living on the streets or addicted to drugs or wealthy and privileged"—as bearing God’s image. This is childlike faith incarnate: trusting that God’s value system transcends earthly categories.
In my own Akasia neighborhood, childlike faith means:
· Trusting God’s provision when employment statistics show 40% Black unemployment
· Believing in reconciliation when racial divides persist
· Embracing simplicity in a culture chasing material wealth
The Prayer of Release
Father,
We confess our sophisticated doubts, our calculated cautions, our self-protecting hesitations.
We have trusted institutions more than You, statistics more than Your promises,
Our own understanding more than Your character.
Forgive our grown-up unbelief!
Give us the faith of children—not ignorant but trusting,
Not naive but confident in Your proven faithfulness.
Help us to leap from the edges of our self-reliance
Into the deep waters of Your sure catch.
Amen.
Conclusion: The Eternal Leap
The mystery of childlike faith remains this: We leap not because we see the bottom but because we know the Catcher. We trust not because we have all answers but because we know the Answer-Giver. This is how we enter the Kingdom—not by earning but by receiving, not by achieving but by trusting.
As South Africa faces an uncertain future—with the 2025 Pretoria Consensus calling for "reimagining democracy" and addressing "overlapping political, economic, and climate crises"—may we lead the way not with cynical sophistication but with childlike trust in the One who holds nations in His hands.
So I ask you today: Where is God calling you to leap? What pool-edge anxieties keep you from the Father’s waiting arms? Take the leap. His arms are strong, His catch is sure, and His kingdom awaits those who trust like children.
"Whoever will not receive God’s Kingdom like a little child, he will in no way enter into it" (Mark 10:15).
Comments
Post a Comment