Matthew 18:1-6

Who is the Greatest Disciple?

2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,

3 and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 "Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

5 "And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me;

6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

A Higher Place in Heaven - Who's the Greatest?

Not very long ago there were up to 13 churches in my small SC town without pastors. Church divisions seem to run rampant nowadays and there is no immediate end in sight to having differences of opinions so strong as to tear the congregations apart.

 

People are leaving to join other churches only to find many of the same situations in their new church homes.

 

Now, I do not proclaim to be an expert on church welfare nor do I believe I have some secret insight no one else knows but, I do see many of the challenges that face church ( meaning Christian fellowship ) as having to do with power and authority issues.

 

Many times, there is a small number of people, or maybe a family, who wants to make all the major decisions for reasons unknown or present some pet program that they, of course, will be put in charge. There is nothing wrong in introducing new ideas. But, the process can become so much of a power play between rivals that it is almost political in nature.

 

The disciples fell into the same trap of getting so "busy" with running the operation of "The Way" and competing for a higher place in heaven that they forgot why they were chosen in the first place.

 

Jesus brought it all back into perspective when He used a little child as the example of how people should follow Him. He didn't mean for them to act like children but to accept and have faith in Him like a child. Children are not caught up in "majoring in the minors" so to speak. Things like the color of the sanctuary or which member we will gossip about this week never enters their minds. They just know that Jesus loves them and forgives them when they stray.

 

Coming to Christ with an open heart without the greed or competition that comes with authority is still the best example of discipleship. It's easy to get so caught up in the daily operations of a church, along with its committees, planning for the future and starting new programs that we can sometimes forget why we come to church in the first place.

 

Lest we forget, we come to worship God and to fellowship with each other. Without those two ingredients nothing else matters and we become like the disciples asking who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 

The good news is, if we ask, Christ will help us to overcome petty differences, forgive us for participating in them, and help us to come together to work for the greatest one of all which is our Lord.

 

Love in Christ

- Bob

Matthew 17:24-27 - Peter Finds a Coin in Fish's Mouth - Peter finds a coin in a fish's mouth but there is much more to this Bible lesson. It's about tribute and whether or not taxes should be paid. Also, learn that God wants our participation in His will for our lives.