Matthew 18:6-10 Stumbling Blocks

...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. "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!  "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire.  If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell.   "See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. [Matthew 18:6-‬10 NASB]

The little ones Jesus refers to are not only children, but all those who will call themselves a child of God the Father.

I've seen a pattern repeated over and over. When a person first receives Jesus as Savior, his enthusiasm is great, but his faith, being newly formed, is weak. This is a vulnerable time for a Christian, when the seed of God's words hasn't had time to take root.

They are easily led astray into false doctrine, worldly activities, or even away from the faith. The world works very hard to promote evil, and will love to see a Christian stumble. We have to deal with anti-Christian bias in the news, ungodly teaching in the classrooms, pornography on the internet (what would have passed for pornography 50 years ago is broadcast on primetime network television). Then there are the attacks from "friends", family and co-workers who don't understand our faith, and so they try to tear it down.

Then you have our fellow Christians (as if the world is not enough). If someone doesn't believe just what we believe, then they must be wrong. Years ago, a co-worker who I knew to be a Christian came up to me and asked, "Do you believe in healing?" I answered him, "Yes." His face turned red, and his expression contorted into rage. He said, "Healing is of the Devil! Anyone who believes in healing is going to hell!" I asked him to show me where in the Bible it said that, and he stormed off, never to speak to me again. Had I not been firmly grounded in the word of God, and firm in my faith, that might have made me question God. Instead I simply felt sad for the man.

There are many ways in which we can cause a weaker brother to stumble. As Christians, we have tremendous freedom in Christ. We are not under any law, nor any man-made rules. Instead we are led by the Holy Spirit, and follow the law that He writes on our hearts. If we are led by the Spirit, He will lead us into greater righteousness than we can ever imagine by following any set of rules.

But with this freedom comes responsibility. Don't focus so much on your freedom that you lose sight of the Holy Spirit who gives you that freedom. Peter said, "Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God." [1 Peter 2:16 NASB] We are not slaves to the world, nor slaves to the law, but we are bonded to God, and pledged to obey Him.

Paul said, "But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak." [1 Corinthians 8:9 NASB] Paul used the example of meat. It was the practice at the time to make sacrifice to an idol, then sell the meat in the meat market. The moral debate at the time was whether a Christian should eat meat that had been sacrificed to an idol. Paul said that it was a matter of conscience and faith. He said, "For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols? For through your knowledge he who is weak is ruined, the brother for whose sake Christ died. And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ." [1 Corinthians 8:10-12 NASB]

This applies to any behavior that causes a brother to stumble; drinking alcohol, watching Stephen King movies, listening to non-Christian music, etc. We're caught up in a paradox. We're called to freedom, but we must not allow our freedom to cause another to stumble. Paul concluded, "Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." [1 Corinthians 8:13 NASB]

So here's what I do. I am free in Christ, so I will not allow any person or church tell me what I must do, or what I cannot do. But if I am with someone whom I know to be weak in an area, I will abstain while I am with that person. This is not done out of compulsion, or because of law, but out of love. I will do whatever I can to help that person grow in the faith, so that they too will learn to walk in freedom.

I urge you to follow me in the example of love.