"...but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! Matthew 18:6-7 (ESV)
Some time ago I sat down to lunch with a middle age woman and her husband. During the course of the conversation they stated (with some apprehension), “So, you’re the new minister in town”. The woman then began to tell me of her distain for Christians. With bitterness and invective, she informed me of her experience attending church as a child and teenager. This church had been exceptionally rigid in its moral code and harsh in its appraisal of all other forms of Christianity. She recalled an upbringing that forbade everything, permitted nothing, and seemed to hate all things. Finally, she adamantly declared that her teenage daughter has been raised in a “Christian-free environment.
Jesus’ chief opponents were a religious group called the Pharisees. They were notorious for their strict religious lifestyle. Though God had given humankind His standards of holiness through the law of Moses, the Pharisees continually add rule after rule upon their people. Of course, at the other end of this spectrum were those who indulged every passion and pursued a life of pleasure and desire. In this passage Jesus issues a warning. Despite the belief system, despite the intention, causing someone to “stumble” (lose faith in Jesus, or mislead into false faith) has drastic repercussions.
The ESV translates the meaning of the Greek when it says "causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin". Literally the phrase ends with"to stumble", though most certainly this passage is talking about stumbling from faith into sin (i.e. "falling away from Jesus"). The “large millstone” (literally, millstone for a donkey) referred to the huge stone wheels that were attached to a horizontal bar connected to a donkey’s harness. As the animal walked around in circles, the wheel rolled over a raised stone slab. "...the depths of the sea" refers to the deepest part of the sea. With this vivid metaphor, Jesus leaves no one in doubt over the certainty of drowning (a).
Ultimately, the woman in my story stands culpable for her own decisions and attitudes towards Christianity. We each must give account for our own actions. This truth does not negate formative influence that others play in our lives. She had encountered a form of Christianity that was twisted, unloving, and legalistic. It formed a ‘stumbling block’ and she spiritually fell flat on her face, never to rise again.
Analyze your own life. Do you present Christianity as a harsh, mean-spirited moral code? Perhaps you present it as a care-free, indulgent, ‘have-it-your-way’ religion. Few set out to ruin the faith of another, but deteriorated pathways of Christianity tend to form bumps in the road that damage many travelers.
Change your ways, because when Jesus gets his hands on you…
(a) Blomberg, Craig L., The New American Commentary: Matthew, (Nashville: Broadman Press) 2001, c1992.
0 comments:
Post a Comment