The Healthy Church vs The Hurtful Church

Matthew 18:1-14

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Luke 9:46-48

What does child-likeness mean? 

Who are the “little ones”? 

Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:3

How can we know if we have gained child-likeness?  

Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 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. Matthew 18:5-6 

He has shown them how to be great: He now teaches them how to treat the small. The two things lie very close together. The man who makes much of himself is sure to make light of others; and he who is ambitious for worldly greatness will have little regard for those who in his eyes are small.  The lesson, then, would have been incomplete had He not vindicated the claims of the little ones. --Seth Carlson, Providence Community Church 

Where are we most apt to hurt others?

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 18:7

And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.  Matthew 18:8-9

It is a matter of kill or be killed. Jesus’ way of approaching the problem of hurting others people’s faith is severe and death dealing. He commands us to look at what is hurting faith in ourselves and kill it. Jesus’ thinking is like this: We are most apt to hit on how we are hurting others by discovering what is hurting us. (He who is not careful to avoid offense to himself will cause offense to others.) One’s eroticism, for example, may be breaking out in one’s conversation, lifestyle, and teaching more often than one realizes, with deleterious (harmful) effects on the community. --Dale Bruner  

Why does Jesus make this a life-and-death conversation?

The more vigilantly we kill our pride and worldly ambition through continual repentance and renewal, the more good (and not harm) we will contribute to our church and community.   

Protect the weak by checking worldly ambition. 

Protect the weak by putting to death sinful desires.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. Colossians 3:5-6 

To put something to death you must cut off its lines of supply: it is futile and self-deceiving to bemoan one’s ability to resist the last stage of a temptation when earlier stages have gone by unnoticed, or even eagerly welcomed.  –N.T. Wright

Protect the weak by pursuing them when they stray.

See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Matthew 18:10-14