Our Community, Our Mission
Our Community, Our Mission
Ep #285 – Rediscovering Your Childlike Faith
Rediscover the freedom of childlike faith in a world that often pushes us toward skepticism and guardedness. Drawing from the beloved film Hook, Mike Schoettle, TRM’s Director of Spiritual Wellness & Discipleship, reflects on how we, like Peter Pan, can forget who we truly are as we grow older—losing our innocence, trust, and openness to God’s wonder. Jesus’ words remind us that unless we receive the kingdom of God like a child, we cannot enter it at all. The very qualities we tend to discard with age—trusting without hesitation, approaching with openness, and believing without seeing—are the ones that most deeply connect us to Him.
Through a moving story of his daughter’s contagious laughter at a family soccer game, Schoettle paints a picture of the joy that childlike faith awakens—an echo of the joy and laughter that awaits us in heaven. This powerful reminder invites us to reflect on our first encounters with Jesus and to reclaim the wonder, trust, and delight that once came so naturally. When was the last time your faith made you laugh until tears came? Perhaps it’s time to fly, fight, and crow again.
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Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this time. God, we thank you for a special word that you've given to us today. Lord, I pray your blessing over this time. I pray that, lord, that ears that listen and hear would be encouraged today. Father, we pray and ask these things in your son's precious name, amen. Hello and welcome to Our Community, our Mission with the Topeka Rescue Mission. My name is Mike Schottel, the Director of Spiritual Wellness and Discipleship, and I just have a quick word for all of you. So here we go.
Speaker 1:Ever since I was a kid, I've always enjoyed watching movies. I guess you could say I'm a bit of a movie junkie. One of my favorite movies from my childhood is the 1991 film Hook, starring Robin Williams as Peter Pan, julia Roberts as Tinkerbell and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. In the movie, peter has left Neverland and grown up to become a workaholic lawyer with a wife and two kids. Captain Hook kidnaps Peter's two children, forcing Peter to return to Neverland to rescue his children and, once and for all, defeat Hook. When Peter meets up with the Lost Boys, tinkerbell tries to convince them that the old man they're mistaking for a pirate is Peter Pan. You see, since Peter had left Neverland and fallen in love with his wife, he came to forget about the Lost Boys and Neverland. To him it was all just a dream and he didn't believe that he was. Quote the Pan, unquote. While all of the Lost Boys leave Peter's side, one of the boys named Pockets stays behind to inspect who this man is. As Pockets removes Peter's glasses, touches his face and makes his wrinkles disappear, his eyes light up and he says there you are, peter. All at once, the boys swarm Peter and look at him saying Peter, you've grown up. You promised you'd never grow old. And, peter, your nose got real big. And welcome back to Neverland, pan the man. It wasn't easy for Peter to remember who he was, but once he did, he was able to fly, fight and crow. His childlike personality that was buried deep in his sternness shone through and he became the warrior and hero of Neverland once more, saving his children and his friends from the rule of Captain Hook.
Speaker 1:Now what am I getting at? I'm getting at how, through time, just like Peter, we grow old and we lose our childlikeness. By losing our childlikeness, we lose our way of being teachable with an open mind and an open heart. We lose our way of being completely humbled and trusting. If you look up the definition of childlike, you'll find that it means it is a resemblance marked by innocence, trust and candidness. When we grow old, we begin to be none of those things. Instead of being innocent, we become stained and we become a child. Instead of being trusting, we become cynical. And instead of being candid or straightforward, we become insincere and fake.
Speaker 1:That's why in Luke, chapter 18, verses 15 through 18, jesus got so upset with the disciples when they were trying to keep children from coming to him. You can see that, as people were bringing their children to see Jesus, the disciples began to rebuke them and Jesus called for the little ones, saying Allow the children to come to me and do not forbid them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. The kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all. What Jesus meant by his statement is that the narrow-mindedness and lack of trust the disciples were showing will not be what gets them into heaven. It is the loving trust, like that of a child, that will get them into heaven.
Speaker 1:Time after time, the disciples ask Jesus questions like who's the greatest of all of us or Jesus? Can you tell us when all these things are going to happen, as you say they are, and I can only imagine that Jesus telling the disciples to let the children come to him was almost like the final straw to him. He's almost saying something like this to his disciples. He's almost saying something like this to his disciples Listen to me, you're all ticking me off right now because you're too caught up wondering how great you can be and yet you don't fully trust me. You need to stop asking so many questions. Just rest in the Father, accept what he says and lovingly trust what I say. He will bring. He will. I need you to trust me like these children. Trust me in their innocence. Be like them and think like them, and I will show you how great this promise is. This childlike faith brings forth so many things other than trust in the Lord. It also brings forth a joy in the Lord that is so contagious that it can spread like a wildfire. Hebrews 11.1 says that faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
Speaker 1:Friends, why is it that, as a child, we believe in something like Santa Claus, but the older we get we stop. We are so convinced as children that there is evidential proof of his existence because he brings us presents on Christmas morning. But then, when we get a clue, our parents do it. Why do we treat God the same way as we treat Santa? Santa isn't real, but God is. We've seen him answer prayer time and time again, and by our trust in him we can know he exists.
Speaker 1:If you knew Jesus when you were a child, what changed from that pure, unadulterated passion you had for him? How can we become so blind to the promises of God and we don't trust him like we did when we were children? You know what I'm thinking about. In 1 Peter 1, verses 8-9, peter writes Though you have not seen him, you love him, and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith the salvation of your souls. He writes this as praise to his readers for the childlike faith they're putting forth in the Lord and how it brings an inexpressible and glorious joy, a joy that brings forth laughter that each believer can take part in, that makes them so thankful for the creation that the Lord has placed in their lives. A laughter that is so beautiful that it wakes up our inner child and makes us feel so inundated with the love of God that we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have nothing to fear and his joy is our strength.
Speaker 1:I was reminded of a time when my parents were in town, visiting from Michigan, and we were playing soccer with my daughter. My daughter and my mom were kicking the ball back and forth and there were times when she would playfully hope that my dad or I would not thwart their game by kicking the ball in the opposite direction. When we would make contact with the ball, she would turn beet red veins popping in her neck and her forehead and she would be gasping for air because she was laughing so hard. It got to the point when she wouldn't even kick the ball and she'd start laughing and, in return, would get us all laughing. At one point, as I saw tears in both my parents' eyes and my daughter literally rolling on the ground laughing, I heard that still small voice laughing with me and saying Michael, this is just a foretaste of the joy and laughter that's in heaven. How true did that feel at the moment?
Speaker 1:The joy and faith I saw in my daughter was a wake-up call for me. I need to stop being so cynical and I just need to trust what the Lord has in store for me. Sure, I have become blind, but, just like in the movie Hook, I need to remember the child I once was and remember the faith I had in the Lord then, so that I can now fly, fight and crow. Yeah, I'm stealing that line from Hook. But seriously, that's my challenge for everyone listening.
Speaker 1:Think back to your childlike faith. It might be when you were a child like me, or the faith that you found later in life. Like a good friend and coworker we have here at TRM, kenny Ball, it doesn't matter what age you were when you ran to Jesus. If anyone personifies a childlike faith, it's Kenny. The guy is always joyful and always has a smile on his face, and I cannot think of a time that I haven't seen Kenny joyful, even when he's under the weather. The joy he has is contagious, just like the joy of my daughter. It's unbeatable. So there's the challenge.
Speaker 1:Think back to when you found Jesus and there was no turning back. Think back to that time and remember the love that Jesus has for you. Folks. There is time that is coming, when we have to fly, have to fight and have to crow. The joy of the Lord is our strength. So go out and profess that joy, bring light into this dark world and bring glory and honor to his wonderful name. Thank you all for listening. Don't forget to like, share and subscribe to our podcast. You can also donate at trmonlineorg. Thank you all for listening and God bless.