“At
the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the
greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child
unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily
I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and
become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever
therefore shall humble
himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
- Matthew 18: 1-4
A
few years ago our kids were spending some time with my parents at
their house, when all of a sudden a thunderstorm came out of nowhere.
Sensing that the kids were a bit skittish about the thunder and
lightning, my mother decided to tell the kids, “Don’t worry.
That’s just the angels bowling in Heaven!”
To
this day, every time we hear thunder rolling in the distance, at
least one of my kids will say, “That’s just the angels bowling in
Heaven. Grandma said so.” It doesn’t matter that we’ve
explained to them many times that it isn’t true. It’s now just
stuck in their heads. (Thanks, Mom!)
But
that’s honestly one of the best things about kids: They take
whatever you say at face value.
It
doesn’t matter how much science you throw at them, or whether the
particular logic defies common sense. Very rarely will children wax
philosophical and think deep thoughts about what they’re told.
They just accept it as truth and carry on with their little lives.
A
big reason it’s so easy for children to accept what we say
unquestioningly is because they are, as Jesus referred to in Matthew
18:4, humble.
They don’t have a problem admitting that they just don’t know a
whole lot.
And
Jesus is telling us in Matthew 18:1-4, that He expects His followers
to be as little children. Let me correct that… He doesn’t just
expect it, He commands
it. In fact, He says that unless we humble ourselves and become as
little children, we will NOT enter the kingdom of Heaven.
There
are a whole lot of people out there who call themselves followers of
Christ, but there are very few who actually accept what He taught at
face value.
Love
thine enemies? Do good to those who persecute you? Turn the other
cheek? And what….give to anyone who asks of you?!?!
Just
as the serpent taught Eve to question the very clear commandment of
God in the Garden of Eden, the serpentine version of Christianity
that is taught in most churches today explains away the very clear
teachings of Christ. It is the serpentine Christianity that causes
us to think our deep thoughts and question what Jesus said. “Surely
Jesus didn’t really
mean that we are to love our enemies and to do good to those who are
persecuting us. I mean, what if someone broke into our house and
threatened our family? I’m sure Jesus would want us to blow them
away with a rifle. That’s just common sense! And give to all who
ask of you? Surely He didn’t really mean that either. I mean, He
wants us to be good stewards of our money!”
Sound
familiar?
And
even among those who have come out of the serpentine churches, the
so-called “remnant,” you will be hard-pressed to find those with
the humility of a child. Does anyone remember the SNL skits called
“Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey” where the guy is staring at
himself in a mirror and sharing his special, deep thoughts with his
audience? These people are who I refer to as “Deep Thoughts”
Christians. They will agree with you on the basics of what Jesus
taught, but that’s not enough for them. They have to be special.
They have to feel more spiritual than you, so they sit around
thinking their deep thoughts. And then they’ll post their deep
thoughts on Facebook, while claiming it was the Holy Spirit who gave
it to them. (That’s a MUST, because then when someone disagrees
with them, all they have to say is, “Well your argument is with the
Holy Spirit, not me. If you were as spiritual as I am, you would
understand. But you’re not. Sorry.”) And usually these “deep
thoughts” have nothing to do with edifying the Church, but rather
only puffs up the person expressing them and causes confusion,
discord, and arguments amongst the rest of the Body.
Oh,
to be the Church that Jesus commands us to be! Would it not be a
piece of Heaven on earth, quite literally? Imagine if those who
claim to follow Christ would simply humble themselves, become as
little children and believe what He said.
Jesus
did not come to give us deep thoughts. In fact, He came to dumb it
down for us! He basically told us, “Hey, you can’t handle all
these laws, so let’s just focus on these two, ok? Think you can
handle that?”
“And
thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this
is
the
first commandment.
And
the second
is
like,
namely
this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other
commandment greater than these.” -
Mark 12:30,31
And
you know what? We can’t even grasp those two very simple
commandments. Do you really think the main priority of the Holy
Spirit is to unlock the deep mysteries of prophecy to you when we’ve
got Christians out there who think it’s A-okay to kill their
enemies? Or openly worship Caesar? Or hate on their neighbors
because they belong to the “wrong” political party?
Wake
UP, Remnant! He did not bring you out of the serpentine churches so
you could cause confusion and broadcast your deep thoughts! He
brought you out so that you would become as little children, HUMBLE
yourselves, and proclaim HIS very simple Words!
“Verily
I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and
become as little children,
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever
therefore shall humble
himself as this little child,
the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
- Matthew 18: 1-4
Junia
Mark
dmark2012@gmail.com
