Someone recently said I was “stepping into midlife.” Hearing it put that way doesn’t really inspire passion about getting older.
When I was a kid, I was excited to grow up because I wanted to be a cool teenager, roaming the neighborhood with my buddies and playing football in the street. As a teenager, I was excited to grow up because I romanticized the independence that comes with being in your 20s. And as I sit here, a few weeks shy of turning 40, I’m still excited—but not to grow up. I’m excited to be exactly where I am.
Vulnerability and Value
“People were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them.” Luke 18:15, CSB
Over the course of 11 years, I planted and watered a faith community in one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York City. As a former pastor turned filmmaker, I know how hard it is for pastors—midwives to the emotional, social, and spiritual well-being of their people—to avoid external pressures and expectations. While we may heed the wisdom of CEOs, organizational leaders, church elders, and deacons, we must also recognize how it can overshadow the insights of artists, prophets, and especially the younger generation.
I’ve been studying the passage from Luke describing this meeting between Jesus, a crowd of adults, and a handful of children. Even from the first verse, I’m uncomfortable—in part because I know this ends with Jesus celebrating the posture of children, the powerless who serve as emblems of vulnerability.
Our transactional society, obsessed with productivity, shames people for owning their needs and limitations because it prizes infinite capacity above all else. In this world, the more I’m able to do, freely and independently, the more valuable I am. This association creeps into our relationships too. If we are giving more help than we receive, we may subconsciously believe that we’re adding more value than the other person.
But here we see Jesus welcoming and honoring those who are most limited, those with the greatest vulnerability. He spoke first to those who could contribute least.
Toppling the Power Paradigm
“When the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. Jesus, however, invited them: ‘Let the little children come to me, and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ ” Luke 18:15–16, CSB
After a long stretch of teaching, healing, and traveling, the disciples assume that dealing with children is not what Jesus needs. It’s hard for them to see how playing with some kids could actually help in that moment rather than just requiring more of their spent leader.
Then Jesus uttered words so profound that to reduce them to promotional material for a VBS campaign would be to strip them of their power. Words so brilliant that they serve as a healing salve to an aging, callous-prone crowd: “Let the children come to me and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”
Translation: “You may have authority over these children, but don’t use that to keep them from me.” In this moment, Jesus is directly addressing the power disparity that exists between the capable and the less capable. He is reminding them that while children need adults to get to Jesus, adults need children to get to the kingdom. And Jesus knows that those words were needed for that moment and for generations to come, because power always feeds the illusion of self-sufficiency.
Just as those children taught the disciples about power and need, I too learned an important lesson from my five-year-old daughter, Hayden. After I preached two of three services at a friend’s church one Sunday, Hayden grew restless. Before the last service began, I gave her my phone to play some games and told her that if she needed anything, she could walk downstairs, come up on stage, and ask for help. About 20 minutes into my sermon, I heard her little feet echo in the sanctuary, and within seconds my daughter burst onto the stage mid-sermon, her big curls framing a determined grin, calling my bluff.
It didn’t matter who was watching; Hayden was able to be vulnerable. She knew she could be because I had given her permission to be. And this awareness of her need, not her confidence in her own ability, is what makes the kingdom of God belong “to such as these.”
Honest Ministry
Pastor, your calling accommodates your limits. And these limits keep your ministry honest, effective, and Spirit-filled. This moment in the Gospel of Luke is an invitation away from disguise and into deep-seated formation.
Because for Jesus, it was precisely his limits and vulnerability that gave birth to his resurrection presence. On this earth, it’s vital for pastors to continue to lead with clarity and confidence. But when God’s kingdom is fully realized and the banquet is set, pastors will join the table not as shepherds or rulers but, like everyone else, as children of God. Until then, may we all dare to embrace the transformative power of need, starting by simply acknowledging our own.
Rich Pérez is a Dominican filmmaker and storyteller. With nearly two decades of church planting experience in the heart of New York City, Rich has harnessed the power of narrative to cultivate spaces of hospitality and imagination. As he transitions into his new role at Christianity Today, Rich brings a unique blend of pastoral insight and creative storytelling to lead the content and strategy for CT Pastors. His mission is to inspire and equip church leaders, drawing from his experiences in church planting, counseling, and community engagement.
