Rich Dixon is serious about kids.

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Sometimes I wonder if we take Jesus seriously.

I recently ran across a quote from C. S. Lewis:

Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.

Surprising, perhaps, from a man whose penetrating analysis of Christianity is still studied and quoted more than 70 years after his death. But perhaps not so surprising, since Lewis was a serious man who took Jesus’ words seriously.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Perhaps that’s why he wrote The Chronicles Of Narnia, a collection of beloved children’s stories.

As someone who devoted my professional career to guiding young people, I agree with Lewis. Perhaps society’s greatest responsibility is to protect and nurture its children and to ensure that every child – every single child – has the opportunity to maximize their individual potential.

Knowing the context of Jesus’ ministry, it’s likely the children he called to him were poor, outcasts, part of the out-crowd. Because that’s mostly who he spent his time around. And Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

Of course, my thoughts immediately turn to the 22 kids at the Home of Hope. I picture Jesus welcoming them, hugging them, weeping when they struggle. It’s that picture that keeps us going.

There are so many more. Not only trafficked children, but kids suffering from food insecurity and neglect and substandard educational opportunity in a world of such overwhelming abundance. They are all around the globe, and they are in our own neighborhoods.

None of us, by ourselves, can do it all. But together, as a society, these children are our most important work. We ought to do all we can for them. Every single one of them.

Because Jesus said so.