'Stage Mums' are mothers who think their children are absolute stars but often end up putting on more of a performance backstage than the children do on stage.

Matthew 19.1-15

Reference:  v.13  Then little children were brought to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them.  But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. (NIV Bible)

Explore:   As I'm not in the entertainment industry I have never experienced them but only heard about 'Stage Mums'.  These are mothers who think their children are absolute stars but often end up putting on more of a performance backstage than the children do on stage.  Often these parents are living their own dream through their children and so they'll do anything they can to have their child front of stage.  Their backstage performance has been the focus of many documentaries, movie storylines and reality TV shows.  While this type of mother is an extreme, I saw it come through many times in other ways when working at primary schools.  There are often parents who believe their child can do no wrong so therefore it must be the school's fault that their child hit another child, or doesn't listen in class, or can't play well with others!
With this in mind, I read Matthew 13 with a new perspective.  Maybe the parents were being pushy towards the disciples and so in turn, the disciples rebuked them.  However, Jesus was able to see past the attitude of the parents and the disciples to look at the true focus - the children.  He was not going to let his disciples or the parents get in the way of blessing the children.

Application:  These days I think there are still many barriers that stop people from getting to Jesus.  It is often family background where the parents may not have prioritized their faith, but it can also be many other elements too.  If the culture of the area looks down on expressing faith it can create barriers for people to 'come to Jesus'.  But unfortunately, often it is the church, just like the disciples, that stop people from 'coming to Jesus'.  They put law before grace; they look to the outside of a person, not the inside; they see sin, not the sinner.  May we continue to learn to have open arms like Jesus, who saw the child and welcomed them home.

Prayer:  Lord, so often we put our own prejudice before the needs of our community.  We all need the loving grace of Jesus in our lives.  Amen.