Time to Grow Up

Matthew 18:1-6

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 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.”

This Scripture passage presents us with a seemingly incongruous message that can only be understood if we lay aside all worldly wisdom and receive it with meekness through our spiritual ears. It’s a lesson that the Lord is personally teaching me, and I’d like to briefly share my thoughts on it.

Jesus states that we are to become like “children” if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. Many people teach that this pertains to one’s initial salvation, but that is not the case. Entering the kingdom of heaven is what awaits the faithful Christian yet future, a reward giving to those who find and travel the narrow pathway, who overcome the flesh, the world and the devil, and who prepare their wedding garment by their acts of righteousness. In other words, those Christians who truly submit themselves to the Lord’s work in their life will find themselves at the receiving end of the Lord’s commendation, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”

And so, “becoming like a child” would encapsulate that process and give us an idea of what it looks like to be that faithful, overcoming Christian.

 Bear with me for a minute as I contrast the picture that is presented here. 

The world’s wisdom teaches us that in order to be successful in this life, our journey looks something like this: We start out as infants, completely dependent on our parents for our very survival – food, shelter, clothing. As we grow up we are to grow independent, still needing instruction and care-giving by our parents, but our parent’s influence should lessen as we grow up, inevitably leading to our complete independence from them. The goal of growing up is to be fully responsible adults, relying on ourselves for food, shelter and clothing, with possibly the addition of our own family unit to care for, thus starting the cycle of dependence to independence all over again. 

I’m not saying this is bad in and of itself; I’m saying that this is how we are taught to live in this world.

Spiritual wisdom teaches us that in order to be successful in this life, our journey looks something like this: We start out with the barest knowledge of who God is, with our beginning steps being a recognition of our need for a Savior, usually precipitated by an awareness of our own sin and guilt and unworthiness in the eyes of Him who created us. This brings us to Christ, Whom we acknowledge died on the cross for us, for our innumerable sins, bearing the punishment for us simply as a free gift on God’s behalf. This marks our “birth” into the family of God.

At this point we are usually worldly wise, having much knowledge of the ways of this world. For those of us who came to the Lord as adults, this is where the spiritual growth runs counterintuitive to our current way of thinking. We may already have become independent and responsible “citizens,” feeding and sheltering and clothing ourselves as we were taught to do.  We are all “grown up.”

And then God calls us to grow up into Him by becoming a child. This means that we are to stop trying to exert control over the numerous aspects of our life that we have been taught to control, and we are to turn all of our cares upon our Father. Our Father requires us to learn His ways and receive His instruction and discipline, all while we learn to obey His rules. Doing this requires us to rely completely on Him and believe all that He says, even though our physical eyes will most likely tell us something different. Regardless of what situation or circumstance occurs, we are to completely rely on Him… just as if we were mere infants, being cradled and cared for by a Parent who desires nothing more than to raise us up into His firstborn son – a son who will be equipped and ready to step into the administration of His household when He hands it all over to His only begotten Son. 

This can be a very scary thing to do.  It requires a shift in our thinking and a humility that can only be gotten from God. It requires us to ask our Father for the wisdom and knowledge to become like a “child”… but isn’t it worth it?

1Corinthians 1:20

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1Corinthians 2:14

But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.