A Stumbling Block

Scripture:

Luke 17:1   Jesus said to his disciples, “Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! ² It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ Be on your guard! If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. ⁴ And if the same person sins against you seven times a day, and turns back to you seven times and says, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive.”

Observation:

It’s easy to forget that Jesus and his disciples are still on the way to Jerusalem, for it seems that much time has passed. This vignette is a focused conversation with the disciples. Green tells us, “Disciples are to be on their guard against a mind-set that works against justice and compassion for the ‘little ones,’ but also against dispositions that obstruct the restoration of sinners to community” (NICNT). 

Application:

In our embrace of independence we often fail to see that our behaviors, or lack of action, may become a stumbling block to another person. This is an important lesson for someone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus Christ. If you would ask a number of young people today why they are stepping away from the church and Christianity, they would say that it is because of what they have observed in the lives of people who claim to follow Jesus. One might argue whether the excuse is justified or not, but the reality is that we have not always exemplified what it means to truly follow Jesus. 

Jesus was to be the cornerstone, his own life a huge stumbling block to the status quo of religious life. He remains a stumbling block to all that would choose to follow him. Christianity is not about living our lives within a particular culture, but about truly knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior. When that happens, we change. There will be occasions for us to stumble as we grow in our faith, but we need to learn from those situations. 

At times, our stubbornness, can become a stumbling block. Oliver Wendell Homes, Jr. once said, “Certitude leads to violence. This is a proposition that has an easy application and a difficult one. The easy application is to ideoologues, dogmatists, and bullies--people who think that their rightness justifies them in imposing on anyone who does not happen to subscribe to their particular ideology, dogma or notion of turf. If the conviction of rightness is powerful enough, resistance to it will be met, sooner or later by force. There are people like this in every sphere of life, and it is natural to feel that the world would be a better place without them!” Forgiveness is required in the life of a disciple. We are to forgive the repentant, over and over and over again. Lack of forgiveness, which is stubbornness, becomes another stumbling block. 

As true disciples, we would not want anything in our lives to become a stumbling block to someone else in their faith. We will continue to make mistakes, but the important factor is our response to those mistakes. Will we have a spirit or attitude of humility, willing to ask forgiveness for those whom we may have wronged? Only in this way can we reflect the true character of the kingdom of God. We live for the One who is the cornerstone, who may make us stumble off of our arrogant path, and then we live in grace so that we may not become a stumbling block for others. 

Prayer:

Lord, open my eyes to see the ways in which my life may be a stumbling block to others’ faith in you. amen.