Take drastic measures to ensure that sin doesn’t cause others to stumble.
Matthew 18:6-14, Mark 9:42-50
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
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Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
Jesus is particularly concerned for those who are new to the community of believers. Here he uses extremely strong examples to impress upon us that we should be careful not to misled others.
Matthew 18:7 includes an interesting insight:
There are those who will lead others astray…just don’t be part of that crowd! This is all wrapped up in the sinful nature of man, the existence of evil in this world. Lately I’ve been thinking about the question about evil in the world, the common question, if there is a God, why is there evil? It seems like those who have rejected Christ, or perhaps theism in general, bolster their position based on evidence that the presence of evil means God must not exist, a loving God would simply not allow evil to continue. But the stronger point is this: the presence of good suggests there must be something that causes us to be good. A loving God gives us a heart for doing good, for caring for others.
It was the crazy Christians that tended to those inflicted with disease in the dark days of the Roman Empire and it was the Christians who ran to Africa during the outbreak of Ebola most recently. It can be argued that there were non-Christians doing the same, but that only supports the notion that there is an innate sense of good within us that must come from somewhere. If we are merely accidents of nature, why would we have any desire to help another?
The truth is a little evil goes a long way, it can turn the course of history. It takes a lot of good to counter a little evil. In this passage, Jesus reminds us that we must not be that negative influencer, he will not tolerate that behavior and we must take drastic measures to rid ourselves of whatever leads us down this path.