One of the many mis-quoted and mis-applied passages of scripture is, Matthew 18:6,
if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
True, Jesus was just talking to and about, little children—but He then expands it to include anyone who has placed their trust in Him.
7“Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!
Don’t get me wrong, there’s an innocence with kids that makes leading them astray twice the sin it would be with a mature adult who ought to know better. However, don’t be fooled into believing that it’s really no big deal when people use persuasive arguments to lure someone away form the truth. It’s a BIG deal.
It’s HUGE.
So it might be a good idea to be aware of how we can sometimes fall into this gross sin and not even fully realize it.
One huge way I’ve seen of late is in small groups gone bad!
Da Da Da Dum! Can you just hear the eirrie theme music that goes with this horrifying scenario?
But all cheesiness aside, I remember when the leadership of Southbrook had to discipline a church member who was gossiping and slandering to their heart’s content. As you might imagine, it wasn’t received well. Nevertheless, they seemed to submit to God’s Word and spiritual authority and we thought it would be the end of it.
Not even close.
They just went under cover.
Small group times turned into trash talking and prayer times became a platform for gossip. Within months their entire small group was messed up and even a couple new (baby) Christians were soured on the whole “God thing.”
What had they done in reality?
They were causing some little ones to stumble in their faith.
They were trippin tiny tikes. And it happens at churches more than people realize.
At Southbrook we take a hard line on those who hurt the spiritual; walk of others—and we’re twice as severe on the ones who pick on young, naive Christ followers.
But cheer up. We’re not as hard as Jesus was on them.
If it were up to Him, there’d be a run on millstones!