I loved being a first-grade teacher.  As a young adult wife and mom, I remember embarking on my first career assignment.  In fact, my husband and I both felt “called” of God to pursue teaching degrees in college so we could be teachers in public schools where darkness tried to overshadow the Light of Christ.  We wanted to be different, to be His Light, and make a difference in the lives of those little ones who needed someone they could trust. 

As we taught, however, we noticed that their trust and faith was easy to gain.  We also learned that we should not take this trust lightly.  My first graders believed whatever I told them!  So, as those little eyes looked to me for help, my love for them grew.  I wanted to give them the best I had.  I wasn’t aiming to be the greatest teacher, but instead took more joy in helping the students realize their full potential.

Here’s what I discovered from this realization of their faith in me as a believer in Jesus: 

Childlike trust with real, authentic faith in the Master Teacher is the greatest and highest calling of all!

But sometimes, church, we can be childish.  And oh, how that grieves the Teacher…

Matthew 18, The Message

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

18 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”

^2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.

^6-7 “But if you give them a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck. Doom to the world for giving these God-believing children a hard time! Hard times are inevitable, but you don’t have to make it worse—and it’s doomsday to you if you do.

^8-9 “If your hand or your foot gets in the way of God, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owners of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

¹⁰ “Watch that you don’t treat a single one of these childlike believers arrogantly. You realize, don’t you, that their personal angels are constantly in touch with my Father in heaven?

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

We learn what breaks the heart of God in this retort of Jesus to His disciples who are vying to get the top spot, to be the greatest in His Kingdom.  They are not childlike but childish in their arrogant thinking and behavior.  The Master Teacher brilliantly makes His point while driving home how childish they were being by calling over a child to stand with Him and in front of the “class” as an example of childlike faith.  “Return to square one,” says Jesus.  Go back to elementary school and remember how you treated the Teacher with humbled respect, trust, and childlike faith, as one believes everything the Teacher says!  Where is your focus?!

Church, are we childish or childlike in our faith and works?  Let’s evaluate.

Childish behaviors vs. Childlike behaviors 

Childish:

• We feel justified to be a bully of self-righteousness to anyone, including the pastor, who does not agree with what we say or do what we want. 
• We say things like, “this is the way we’ve always done it,” as the final answer.
• We seek tradition over relationships.
• We dig in with arrogance when a new idea to reach people is brought to the table.
• We make the comment, “they know the church is here, what else is there to do.”
• We want to be completely comfortable in church and will complain if we are not without hesitation.
• We campaign for position and power because we give more, work harder and feel deserving of the attention.
• When we want a different pastor, we slander his family.
• We expect great performances from worship leaders with great sermons we think others should hear as we sit back to applaud—or not.
• We bully new believers who are not “turning a new leaf” in their behaviors quick enough so they can be more like them.
• We push and pull, trying to get our own way in all things called “church.”  We feel righteous in doing so.
• We do not accept everyone as they are.  We accept only those who look and talk like us.
• Our first thought is self-satisfaction.

Childlike:

• We accept all who walk into our lives as people God sends to walk with us.
• Our first thought is not judgement but compassionate love.
• We realize the depth of love God has for us and extend that kind of love to others.
• We are open to what God wants to do in and through his church so others will know His Son and be saved.
• We realize ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
• We are sinners saved by grace. 
• We are grateful for all that God has brought us through in life. 
• We are grateful for all He has provided for us and will provide now.
• We are grateful to be alive with abilities to serve the One who saved us.
• We lean on His everlasting arms because Jesus is our Hope of eternal life. 
• We are joyful and expectant contributors to the Kingdom work.
• We don’t put the pastor on a pedestal of performance but encourage leaders with prayers of protection for them and their families.  We know the “devil prowls”.
• We understand “joy unspeakable and full of glory” when we see another person come to Christ and grow in their faith.  Jealousy is avoided at all costs.
• We come alongside other believers for encouragement knowing that we are all in need of a Savior who wants to be Lord of our lives.
• Jesus is Lord of our life—all of it—not just the “go to church” part. 
• We know that going to church does not save us or make us good. Only God is good.  Only Jesus saves us and makes us whole.
• We know what God expects of us as we trust fully in Him, leaning into what Micah 6:8 says, “To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.”
• We know that we cannot be good without the power of God’s Holy Spirit living in us to help us grow in goodness.  Only then can our childlike faith bear the Holy fruits of the character of Jesus Christ; “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  (Galatians 5:22-23)
• We love God.  We trust God.  Our faith is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness—not our own.
• We forgive because Jesus forgave us.  We know that nothing we have done is beyond His capacity to forgive because of His relentless love, mercy, and grace.  So, then, we forgive others who have hurt or offended us.

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  Galatians 5:20-21

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking, and envying each other.”  Galatians 5:24-26

“What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.” –Jesus

LORD,

Forgive us when we fall to flesh, those childish behaviors, draw us away from you.  Help us to love each other, forgive each other, like you love and forgive. Break our hearts of those things in us all that break your heart, so we will be less likely to join in childish thinking and behaving.  I pray this as your child who believes all that you say

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen