“She’s A Cute Little Sinner, Isn’t She?”

I've heard many well-intentioned Christians laughingly make this statement while ooohing and aahing over an adorable little infant or toddler, and it has always bothered me. After hearing it again this weekend, I started thinking about why I don't like it. I mean, it shouldn't bother me, right? It IS true, after all. We are all born in the fallen image of Adam. While I know that the people who say it are only trying to offer a lighthearted reminder of the depravity of ALL mankind, no matter how cute and innocent one may look, it REALLY gets under my skin.

I hate the way it makes light of a person's separation from God. The depravity of man is no light thing, and it is appalling to me that people laugh over the fact that their babies have been born with a spirit of rebellion toward God and will be objects of His holy wrath until they recognize their need for Him and repent. That is something to WEEP over, not joke about! Nobody looks at a teenager who has yet to receive Christ and laughs and says, "She is a beautiful little sinner, isn't she?" Nobody goes to visit their unregenerate, aging grandparents and laughs about them being cute old sinners. So WHY does anyone think that it is appropriate to joke about when it comes to babies??

Am I saying that we deny that our children are indeed born sinners and in need of a Savior? Not AT ALL. I am saying that the next time you see a baby, rather than saying a joke about the child's depravity, think about saying a prayer for that child. Pray that God will, when the time is right, open his or her eyes to their need for Him and lead him or her to repentance and faith in Christ. Pray for the child's parents, that they will be Godly role models and bring the child up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And pray for yourself, that you would realize the urgency of evangelism to all of the "little sinners" across the globe and that you would not take man's sinful condition so lightly as to make jokes about it.