Read: Matthew 18
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT: In his commentary on Matthew, Roger Hahn writes, "The biblical world was what anthropologists call an honor-shame society. The social status, and thus the worth of every person in society, was established through an elaborate system of valuing and devaluing. Every conversation and social interaction was regulated by the relative status of each participant. People often engaged in one-upmanship and other ploys designed to increase or decrease the honor of another. Jesus persistently rejected both the devaluing of persons and the games played that were part of the honor-shame society."
This explains Jesus' answer to the disciples when they asked Him who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. While having children was considered valuable by society, children as individuals ranked lowest on the honor-shame scales of personal worth. Jesus says that "whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (verse 18.4). People who are willing to embrace low status in the world for the sake of the Kingdom are of the greatest value to the mission of the Kingdom.
Jesus builds on His rejection of "one-upmanship" in the Kingdom of God in the following verses:
1) Great people in the Kingdom go out of their way to help others grow in their faith...they never intentionally cause any follower of Christ to stumble in their journey of faith. They are also willing to remove from their lives anything that hinders their own faith journey (verses 18.6-9).
2) Great people in the Kingdom value their brothers and sisters in Christ so much that, when even one wanders away, they immediately go into action to find and restore that person to the family (or "flock") of faith. "Your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish" (verse 18.14).
3) Great people in the Kingdom do not judge or publicly advertise the sins of other brothers or sisters in faith; instead, they reach out to them in humility and try to help them see their issues and address them if at all possible (verses 18.15-18).
4) Great people in the Kingdom always remember the great forgiveness for sin they have received from God, so they are willing to extend forgiveness over and over again to those who sin against them (verses 18.21-35).
Living this type of Kingdom lifestyle in the world is not easy. That's why we are called to live it out in community as the Church rather than as "Lone Ranger" followers of Christ. We need our brothers and sisters in Christ, and we need the presence of Jesus our lives, in order to make this a reality. Here is the good news: Jesus says, "Where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (verse 18.20).
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