Teaching the Children: Friendship
This title could easily be “What Children Taught Me about Friendship.”
No inhibitions. No prejudices. Nothing to prove. As I watched a group of 3–7-year-olds during Bible class, I witnessed the beauty of connection.
Children of different backgrounds and skin tones sat shoulder to shoulder, holding hands during the puppet show. No one told them to do it. They simply did what felt natural. Throughout the forty-five-minute class, they experienced connection to the Bible lesson and to one another.
Friendships at this age might only last the length of a class or a week of VBS, but sometimes, these humble and simple beginnings grow. What if we kept that innocent openness with us throughout our lives?
I’m not saying everyone you meet should be a close friend, but we have no reason to greet new people with animosity, distrust, or an agenda. In the Muppet Movie (1979), Gonzo sings a song with the line, “There’s not a word yet for old friends who just met.” In 1992, in the Muppet Christmas Carol, Kermit sings, “There’s no such thing as strangers when a stranger says hello.” Similarly, William Butler Yeats, an Irish Poet, decades earlier wrote, “There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”
Yet how often do we live that way as we grow into adulthood? Somewhere along the way, we lose the simplicity of asking, “Hi, want to play?” or “Let’s sit together.” Instead of enjoying the opportunity of the moment, we seek barriers to relationship. What if our adult relationships weren’t filtered through status, suspicion, or self-interest, but through the lens of shared presence and curiosity?
Children aren’t perfect, but in moments like the one above, they remind us of something we often forget as adults: we were made for connection. Romans 12:10 says, “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Children have no boundaries, but along the way, we learn to be guarded. We learn to protect ourselves based on our experiences. We start to divide by differences and assume motives in everyone we meet.
Throughout His ministry, Jesus reminded His followers to be like children. He wasn’t speaking of maturity but of the easy nature of children to love and trust freely. While we are also instructed to guard our hearts and minds, we don’t have to barricade ourselves against relationships.
What if the secret to deep friendships is that childlike openness? Imagine workplaces, communities, congregations, and even social media outlets, where our first instinct was to hold hands, not build fences. What would change if we saw every new introduction as an opportunity to say, “Let’s be friends”?
The next time you meet someone new, lead with curiosity, kindness, and the kind of love that doesn’t need to be earned. Perhaps, like Kermit, a simple “hello” can turn a stranger into a lifelong friend.