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The disciples came to Jesus because they were arguing and they wanted their teacher to settle the matter. “Teacher, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” They wanted to know which of them was the best. Jesus, though, calls over a child. “This one is the greatest. Whoever is as humble as this child is the greatest.” In other words, none of you, right now. He continues teaching. “Don’t cause your brothers & sisters to stumble. If you do, you’d be better off dead. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. If your eye, pluck it out.
“If a shepherd with 100 sheep loses one, won’t he leave the 99 to find the one? And when he finds it, he rejoices. It’s the same in heaven when a lost one is found. God doesn’t want any to be lost.”
An argument sets off a storm of teaching. Be humble like a child. If you’re humble you won’t get between God and another. If part of the body takes you away from God, get rid of it. God doesn’t want to lose any of you.
And that wasn’t the end. Jesus talked first about causing someone to sin. Well, what if someone sins against you?
This chapter starts with an argument. I think arguing may be one of the most useless things we do. But also one of the things we do most often. I was thinking last night about disagreement and arguments. I once heard a comedian say, “Nobody ever wins an argument. Nobody ever goes, ‘Oh, I’m wrong.’ Somebody eventually just goes, ‘Shut up, we gotta eat.’”
That’s what I mean about arguing being useless or pointless. Rarely, if ever, does an argument change anyone’s mind. Well, thinking about arguments and disagreement logically led me to think about jokes. I had to look some up, and I found quite a few. I have to read a one.
Three dolts are in the forest when they spot a set of tracks. Dolt No. 1 says, "Hey, deer tracks!" Dolt No. 2 says, "No, dog tracks!" Dolt No. 3 says, "You’re both crazy—they’re cow tracks!"
They were still arguing when the train hit them.
This, unfortunately, reminds me a lot of our society. People are so stuck on being right that they lose sight of reality. There seems to be a trend of people deciding their opinion is the only valid one. If you disagree with me then you are wrong and therefore, you are my enemy.
I’ll be honest, what spurred these thoughts was the beginning of football season. I don’t know about you, but I watched a lot of games yesterday. I love it. But I’m starting to think college football fans are getting a little carried away. People poisoning trees, calling names. And it’s not just college football. Last week 2 fans were shot after an NFL game.
And it goes beyond sports. There are deep political divisions in the country right now. This side says they are right. The other side says they are right. And if we’re right, then you’re wrong. If you disagree then you’re the enemy.
We have started to view things as very black and white. Everything is absolute, and any opinion that differs is wrong. Plain and simple.
When Jesus spoke to the disciples he wasn’t talking about simple disagreements. In verse 15, he says “If another church member (or your brother) sins against you.” So it’s not a disagreement. This is someone acting as a stumbling block; one person getting in the way of another’s relationship with God. He’s talking about going after a lost sheep.
If someone has sinned against you, don’t kick them out in the cold. Go to them and try to work things out. Talk it over, don’t argue. If that doesn’t work, take others and try again. If that doesn’t work bring it before the church. If that doesn’t work treat them as a Gentile or tax collector.
I need to say something about that. I’ve always read that part as “kick them out.” Excommunicate them. But is that how Jesus treated Gentiles and tax collectors? No. Those were the very people with whom Jesus spent time. So if the ‘intervention’ doesn’t work, we’ve got to keep working on them. Try to bring that lost sheep back to the fold.
Remember how Jesus starts this teaching session. His topic: Humility. There’s not enough humility in the world today. Too many people know their opinion is right. They know it’s right because it is their opinion. It must be right.
Each time Jesus mentions going to the person, he says “If you are not listened to” or “If the person does not listen.” There’s no humility there. That is a person so determined that they are right that they are unwilling to listen to anyone who might disagree. Unfortunately this attitude seeps into the church as well.
But we are not called to that kind of dissension. We are called to community. We are not called to agree. We are called to get along. We are called to function as a body to work together for God’s Kingdom. That means living with humility. That means being wrong sometimes. That means being willing to listen to others.
Paul gives us some direction in these matters in the passage we read earlier from Romans.
“The commandments are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Love one another.
At the end of his teaching, Jesus gives us a promise. “Where ever two or three gather in my name, I am there among them.” It’s interesting that this comment follows his instructions for handling conflict. It’s almost as if it’s a reminder that, even in our disagreements and arguing, Jesus is there.
I think that is important to keep in mind. We don’t just experience the presence of God during our worship. We are in the presence of God, whenever we’re together in Jesus name.
And let me add this, as a Christian, isn’t everything we do and everyone we interact with in Jesus name? Which tells us that this stuff is not just for our time in church. This attitude of love and humility is not just for inside these walls. It should be our way of life. Just as Paul tells us. Live honorably. Put on the Lord, Jesus Christ. If we take Jesus with us everywhere, it makes it much easier to love those around us. To live with humility.
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