Childish Behaviors - Reckless Offenders

Introduction

Two weeks ago we arrived at Matthew 18. We are about 8 months from Jesus’ Crucifixion, and Jesus and the disciples have just returned to Capernaum from the region of Caesarea Philippi. On their way back to their headquarters, the disciples have quietly been arguing about who Jesus would name the greatest once His kingdom was set up.

And when they get back, Jesus asks them, “What were y’all arguing about on the way to Capernaum?” When they finally ‘fess up and tell Jesus, “Well, we were wondering which one of us would be the greatest in the kingdom,” Jesus addresses this childish search for preeminence. He tells them that the greatest in all the kingdom will be someone who serves all people.

And of course, Jesus is the one who humbled Himself to come to the earth, take on the form of a human, and die a death He did not deserve, even being executed on a cross. This He did so that He could offer salvation to all mankind, even the lowest of the low. In turn, the Father exalted Him and gave Jesus a name, a position, a status above all other names. Jesus in all things is preeminent — first place.

Jesus, as He answers the disciples and their quest for greatness, makes them realize that true greatness is only achieved by true humility. We should remember the passage in James 4:6 that says

James 4:6 KJV 1900

6 ...Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

and later in verse 10

James 4:10 KJV 1900

10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

God resists any semblance of pride, and the word “resist” means to set up in battle array against. God actively makes war on pride-filled people. But on the flipside, God gives grace to and lifts up, exalts the humble. And this matches perfectly with what Jesus would later tell the Scribes and Pharisees in the presence of His disciples in Matthew 23:12

Matthew 23:12 KJV 1900

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

So seeking preeminence is a sure-fire way to go against God, but humility is required of each disciple.

So, last week, we saw that Jesus then took a toddler that was among them and set him in His lap saying, “Remember, whoever wants to enter the kingdom of heaven, has to become like this little child.” We covered this last week as we learned what exactly it means to have childlike faith. That childlike faith, trust and acceptance of what Jesus said and who the Bible claims He is, is crucial for salvation. But we are not to just have that humility in order to be saved, that childlike faith should direct us in the treatment of other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus went on to say in Matthew 18:4-5 this:

Matthew 18:4–5 KJV 1900

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.

He reiterates the necessity of humility if greatness is desired, and then He makes this last statement — “The way that you receive, literally the way you welcome and the way that you treat, a brother or sister in Christ [because in his example, this little toddler is a picture of a Christian], that is the way you receive or treat me.”

This is a sobering thought. The way that I treat any brother or sister in Christ is that way that Jesus sees me treating Him. So, I must be driven by love and humility in my treatment of other Christians. Why? Because Jesus takes it personally.

And now, we get to the next part of this sermon. One in which Jesus addresses another childish behavior

Reckless Offenders - Title

Matthew does not include what brings on the next topic in this discourse, but Mark and Luke do, so let’s look at Luke 9:49-50

Luke 9:49–50 KJV 1900

49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. [Notice that John still is not grasping this lesson in humility. He is telling Jesus, “We found this man that was doing good, doing good in your name, Jesus. He was delivering people from demons. So we told him that he should follow us, but he didn’t want to. So since he didn’t want to come with us and be a disciple of yours in the same way that we are, we told him that he’s not allowed to cast out demons any more.” Can you see what is happening here? John is still claiming preeminence, if not over Jesus, over this man that is doing good in Jesus’ name. Meaning - he still doesn’t get it. So look at Jesus’ response. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

As a side note, this is a very clear passage that lets us know that not all churches need to look the same. Not all Christians need to look or act the same way. There are churches that have single song director, others that have worship teams like ours, some that only use the piano, some that use a full orchestra, others that have Sunday School, some that do not have any children’s ministries, some that meet in houses, others that meet in buildings like this, churches that have pews, churches that have chairs, churches that use one version of the Bible, others that use multiple versions, and all of those differences and many more are just fine.

Yes, there are some things that are crucial. There are some doctrines that are absolutely foundational, but by and large, Christian churches need not to meddle in the affairs of other Christian churches unless those foundational doctrines and practices are not being perverted or corrupted, we need to wish them well in their mission of preaching the Gospel and making disciples.

But back to the main thing. This passage is often referenced as its own little passage. But it sits squarely in the middle of this discourse, and it is important for us to understand this as we go forward in Jesus’ discourse, because Jesus does not just say, “Leave the man alone, if he is not against us, then he is for us.” Jesus is talking about how we are to receive or treat other believers when John makes this statement. So Jesus goes back and re-explains it.

Mark 9:39–41 KJV 1900

39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. 40 For he that is not against us is on our part. 41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.

You see the principle being repeated? Now it is on the converse side. Jesus said earlier, “The way you treat others is that way that I feel treated.” Now He is saying, “if others treat you well, then they will have a reward.” Why? Because they are children of God, and Jesus takes it personally when Christians are treated well in His name.

And now, we get into the meat of the sermon for today:

Reckless Offenders

WE are about to read a word that is not something that we think it is. It is essential that we understand that the Bible was not written in English. The New Testament is primarily written in Greek, as that was the trade language of the day. So when we read these passages in English, the translators were doing the best they could with the material they had to give us as reasonable and accurate translation as they could. Some words or phrases just do not translate well, and others lose a little of their original intent or the word picture that was being portrayed once it gets translated. Sometimes it happens because of language differences, other times it happens because we are so far removed from the time and the culture in which the passage was written.

So, I want to define a word or two for us today. And from now on, when you see this word a form of this word in the Bible, especially the New Testament, you must remember what it is talking about.

The word that we will define today is the word OFFENSE.

OFFENSE

Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines this word as

something that outrages the moral or physical senses

the act of displeasing or affronting

the state of being insulted or morally outraged

the act of attacking

an infraction of the law

Though these are the modern meanings of the word OFFENSE, we must not think of these definitions when we read this word or any of its forms (offender, offending, offend) in the Bible.

It is not wrong to use this word this way, but it is NOT what the Bible means when it uses this word.

So what does this word mean in the Bible?

OFFENSE

From the Greek Skandalon

a trap-stick (bent sapling), i.e. snare (figuratively, cause of displeasure or sin) It literally refers to the part of a snare (to catch small animals) which holds the bait. The little stick that holds the bait is the skandalon. And once that bait is touched, the trap itself is sprung and it captures the animal.

an occasion to fall (of stumbling)

a stumbling block (principle meaning in the Old Testament - Hebrew - miksol - stumblingblock. Psalm 119:165 “165 Great peace have they which love thy law: And nothing shall offend them.”)

So think of the word offense as something that ensnares somebody, something that causes them to be caught and does not let them go.

The next word I want to define correctly is the verb form of this word TO OFFEND

TO OFFEND

Once again, Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines this verb as

to transgress the moral or divine law, to sin

to violate a law or rule

to cause difficulty, discomfort, or injury

to cause dislike, anger, or vexation

And once again, I will remind you that this is not what the Bible’s definition of the verb offend is.

The definition that the Bible gives is this:

TO OFFEND

From the Greek Skandalizo

to entrap, i.e. trip up (figuratively, to cause to stumble)

to entice to sin

to cause to sin

So, in a moment when we read these words, remember the Biblical definition of them.

Let’s take a look at Mark 9. Remember, John has just said, “We stopped this guy from doing miracles in your name because he didn’t follow us.” Jesus says, “Don’t stop him. If he’s not against us then he is for us.”

Now, He goes on to say this within that context -

Mark 9:42 KJV 1900

42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

Remember the word there is not offend as in to hurt someone’s feelings, but to cause them to sin or to entice them to sin.

This is what John and the disciples had just done! The Bible tells us clearly that if we know to do good and we do not do it, it is a sin. So John and the other disciples had just told this other man that was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, “Stop doing that. Stop doing the good thing that you are doing.” Obviously, this man was being led to do this by the influence of the Holy Spirit, he clearly believed in Jesus, and was using power that God had given him to do good for others. But the disciples stopped him from doing so!

Their demand, that he stop doing these miracles for others in Jesus’ name, was a skandalon — it was something that if the man took it, if the man followed their demands, he would be sinning by not doing the good things he knew he should be and could be doing.

“We told this man to stop performing miracles in your name, Jesus.”

“Oh, you did? Well, do not stop him because he is not against us, he is for us. And by the way, by telling him that, you set this man up to sin, and if he does sin, then it is better for you to be cast into the sea with a heavy millstone tied around your neck, John.”

WOW!

When John announced that he and the others had stopped a man from doing miracles in Jesus’ name simply because he would not follow them, he probably felt pretty proud of himself. And now, three sentences later, John just got told, along with the others, that if the man does what they told him to do, they would be better off drowned.

Why? Because Jesus takes this personally!!

Matthew 18:6–7 KJV 1900

6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!

Jesus is not naive. He is not expecting that there should be no temptation for others in the world. In fact, when He says, “Woe unto the world because of offences!” He is lamenting the fact that there are stumbling blocks in this world.

But then He laments the person by whom those stumbling blocks are laid. Don’t be the offender. Again, this does not mean, don’t hurt people’s feelings. It means, do not be the reason someone falls into sin.

When Jesus says, “Whoever offends one of these little ones who believe in me,” he is not talking about infants or toddlers, He is referencing back to the point He made earlier of becoming like a little child, having childlike faith, to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

So the warning here is that if you cause another Christian to sin, then it is better for you to be drowned by tying a millstone around your neck and being dropped in the sea.

Do you see now why Jesus gets so frustrated and angry with the Pharisees and Scribes? It is because they are reckless offenders. They, having the key, the access via the scriptures to lead men and allow people to enter into a meaningful relationship with God, have been doing nothing more than blocking people’s entrance into a relationship with God.

For many Jews, it was their desire to have this deep and meaningful relationship with God. They looked to the religious leaders, the ones that had the knowledge and access to the scriptures, the ones that were supposed to be telling them accurate interpretations of the law and the prophets, only to hear twisted versions of God’s words and commentary that directly went against what God was trying to get His people to understand.

Jesus took this personally. In fact, Jesus is so serious about not causing other Christians to sin that He paid money He did not have to pay to the temple tax to make sure that He was not a stumbling block for others.

A few weeks ago, we saw how Jesus’ response to Peter’s thoughts about paying the temple tax. It was not necessary for Jesus to pay the Temple tax, as He is God, and the Temple was God’s house. However, had Jesus blatantly not paid the Temple tax (something that God had commanded the Israelites to do), there would have been a large portion of the population that would have seen this as an act of rebelling against God out of spite for the religious leaders. Many then would have done the same thing - not paid the Temple tax, something that was a requirement for them to do, even though it was not a requirement for Jesus to do.

Many would have not understood this and then fallen into sin because of Jesus’ actions. So what did Jesus say and do? At the end of Matthew 17, Jesus tells Peter, “I do not have to pay the Temple tax, however, in order to not offend them, to not be a stumbling block to them, to not set a trap in which they might be ensnared by sin, go pay the Temple tax with the money I am going to provide for you.” And Jesus miraculously provides the money necessary for Peter and Jesus’ tax to be paid.

So what is the lesson for us here? That we can, either intentionally or accidentally, be the cause or catalyst of someone falling into sin. Yes, everyone is personally responsible for what they do, 100%. If someone murders another person, then they are 100% guilty of that and must be held accountable. However, if another person raised that murderer to believe that people of a different skin color are less than human and that killing someone like that is just as justifiable as killing a squirrel, then that person has a responsibility in that sin as well.

We are soon approaching Fathers Day. Parents, be careful what you are actively and passively teaching your children.

Christians, be careful how you treat other Christians and what you promote and teach. This is the reason that the Bible says that pastors are not supposed to be novices, rookies when it comes to Bible knowledge and a relationship with the Lord. This is why the book of James says, “Brethren, be not many masters,” and the word ‘masters’ there means teachers. “Be not many masters,” why? “Knowing that we will receive the greater condemnation.” God holds teachers and pastors and leaders to a higher standard than others, because we hold influence over others.

Again, this does not absolve anyone of personal study and a personal walk with Jesus. Pastor Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church may have been the instigator and coordinator for the evil displays of unchristian-like conduct that the members of that church participated in when they protested funerals and misrepresented and twisted the character of God in both their conduct and their preaching, but each person that participated in those things is 100% responsible for their own actions. But both Fred Phelps and Timothy Phelps and any and all other leadership of that church will stand before God one day and answer for the people that they led into sin as well.

Some do it on purpose, like this example, and some lead others to sin unintentionally. I can influence my children to hate others by bad mouthing people in their presence, by criticizing, by gossiping. All it takes is for a young child to hear how someone hurt their mom’s feelings and then that child takes on an anger and a hatred and a prejudice that is not even theirs to carry. They fall into a sin, just because of what they heard.

This happens in homes all the time. Mom complains about dad to the kids, or vice-versa. It nearly forces the kid to take sides. Parents, let me remind you that your children were not given to you as an outlet for your frustration or anger.

This happens when a mother or a father get frustrated with someone else in the church and on the way home they are talking about that person and how mean they were, and how you can believe they would actually do or say such a thing… Meanwhile, the kids are hearing this in the back seat, and it is forming their opinions about that person.

A few days later, or maybe even just a few hours later, you over it. Either you realize that you over reacted or misinterpreted something, or the other person comes to you and apologizes, or the Holy Spirit reveals to you that you need to forgive regardless of the situation, and you do. You are fine, but your kids still remember everything. They do not know of the resolution or the reconciliation between you and the other person. Why, because you recklessly were speaking in front of them.

Reckless definition

Reckless

1. marked by a lack of proper caution

2. careless of consequences

3. irresponsible

You didn’t mean to sow seeds of discord between your children and that person, you didn’t mean to bait a trap of sin for your children, but you accidentally did, you recklessly did. And if our children take the bait we set, then we become accomplices in their sin, and Jesus takes it personally.

This happens between other brothers and sisters in Christ. We’ve seen how people can twist and preach the Bible in a wrong way that will lead others to sin. But this can be done unintentionally as well. It is done through gossip — listening to and spreading gossip can lead a person that overhears it to sin much in the same way that parental gossip influences children.

We can recklessly offend or entrap others by living a way that is not right. “Well, so-and-so doesn’t come to church on Wednesday, why should I be expected to do that? That person lives a whole different life outside the church and they seem to be doing fine, I am going to do the same thing.” The Bible clearly tells us that no man lives unto himself — that is to say that nobody lives in a bubble. Everything you say or do can potentially influence others to either do right or wrong.

These are not the only ways to offend someone though. These are not the only ways to bait a trap. Sometimes we cause people turn to sin by the simple act of not genuinely loving them.

Reckless Contempt

We will call this reckless contempt.

Church, we need to be careful how we treat others, how we receive others, how we talk to other Christians. We have already studied that Jesus takes this very personally, but He is is about to expound on that a little more.

Matthew 18:10 KJV 1900

10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

The word despise in our modern understanding means to strongly dislike or hate, or to look down on with disrespect, according to Merriam-Webster.

However, the word translated despise in the Greek, kataphroneo, is a word that not only means to treat with vehement disrespect and hatred, it also carries the meaning to think little or nothing of.

It is easy to say, “Well, I do not hold hatred toward anyone.” But it is quite another thing to be able to say, “I regard every brother or sister in Christ in the way that I should.” Because the way that we should regard them is, according to the following verses, as better than ourselves.

Romans 12:10 KJV 1900

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

That means preferring that others receive honor before we do.

Philippians 2:3 KJV 1900

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

Actively think and hold others as better than yourself.

Ephesians 5:21 KJV 1900

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Willfully putting yourself under someone else - submitting.

1 Peter 5:5 KJV 1900

5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

All of these words were written to Christians about their relationship with other Christians.

But often, instead of submitting, we get defensive. Instead of esteeming others better than ourselves, we look down on others. Instead of seeking to prefer others, we seek to have our preferences fulfilled first.

And then, there is the fact that we often don’t even think about anyone else. And this is why many Christians cannot tolerate being inconvenienced by other Christians. We don’t want to go to meetings because it is an inconvenience, and it is an inconvenience because we are only considering ourselves. We do not want to be held accountable by other members in the church, because it is difficult for ourselves. We do not give grace, and when I say “give grace” I mean real grace, no this phony-baloney “As long as I don’t think about it and continue to shove it to the back of my mind then it is all good,” - kind of ‘grace,’ but real grace — actual forgiveness that treats others as though they had not wronged us. But we don’t offer grace to others because it is uncomfortable to us and inconvenient.

And the reason we feel inconvenienced is simply because we are preferring ourselves over others.

We forget to even think about others. Most of the time it is not a problem of despising someone, hating someone. The main problem is that we often don’t even consider others.

Last week, for those that are participating in it, we had a study in our Disciples Path books about 40 of the “one anothers” in the Bible. For those unfamiliar with this, there are about 100 times in the New Testament that the phrase “one another” is used. Of those 100 times, about 59 of them are direct commands for Christians to treat one another in some way or another. We looked at 40 of them last week.

I have made a copy of them, and at this time, I will ask a few of the men to hand a copy of this list to every person present this morning. Everyone needs to have one of these, and do me a favor, please don’t leave them in the seats or on the floor. Take them with you. Study them. Identify which one you struggle with and begin praying over those things. Apply them to your life. There is not one person here that can say, “I don’t struggle with any of these. I am doing all of these, to all other Christians, all the time, perfectly.” So take them, pray over them, and allow the Holy Spirit to convict you of the areas or the people that need to be considered properly.

As these are being passed out, let’s look at one of them. It is number 21 on the list, as you get it.

Philippians 2:3 KJV 1900

3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

The word other is the same Greek word that is translated in other places as one another. The word esteem means to behold, to consider. A better way to say this today would be, “let each of you consider others as better than themselves.”

This is the problem though. Of all the other “one anothers” in the Bible, none of them can be obeyed if we first do not even consider one another. Think about one another.

The way we forget to think about each other is taken personally by Jesus, and let’s revisit His warning. Matthew 18:10

Matthew 18:10 KJV 1900

10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

Take heed, be careful that you do not despise one of these little ones. In an affirmative statement, it would sound like this: Be careful to think about in a positive way each of these little ones. Don’t not think about them.

Why? And this is one of the verses from which we understand that each believer has at least one angel assigned to them — because their angels always behold the face of my Father. Because the angels are always giving reports to the Father about the Father’s children.

Guess what? I mistreat Zach Johnson, my brother in Christ. Not only will God’s omniscience be enough to keep me accountable to God, not only will the Holy Spirit that dwells within each of us bear witness of the account, not only will Zach’s voice and prayers and emotions bear witness against me, but Zach has an angel who is constantly going to the presence of God, and according to Jesus, when I mistreat Zach, that angel rats me out.

But let’s take it a step further into what the verse actually says. If I don’t think about Zach. If my thoughts and actions and pursuits revolve around me, and in the course of my day I do not consider how something might affect Zach, how my frustration toward him without considering his full situation, how my thoughtless gossip or joke about him might make him feel, then again, not only does God know because He is omniscient, not only does He know because the Holy Spirit lives in me and is witness to all I do and say and think, but there is an angel assigned to Zach that goes to God, face to face, and says to Him, “God, Mike Jones, who is a child of yours, is going about his life without considering, without thinking about, without any regard toward how his words, attitudes, actions or lack of actions are affecting another one of your sons, Zach Johnson.”

And that is just one angel responsible for one person. I wonder right now, how many angels are bringing this very account to my heavenly Father about me? No, none of these angels accuses us like Satan accuses us. None of these angels seek to condemn us like Satan does. But they do go before the Lord and bear honest accounts of how other Christians are treating the Christian under their charge. How many angels are reporting me?

How many angels are reporting you?

Invitation

I’ll ask Tahsha to come to the piano as we prepare for a time of invitation.

I want to ask all of you to take out your paper with the 40 different “one anothers.” As the music plays, take a few moments to skim through it. [Allow a minute or two.]

Now with heads bowed and eyes closed, I am going to ask one question. How many of you would say with an uplifted hand, “Mike, there is not one single item on this list that I do not struggle with. I can go through all 40 of these items, and I can confidently say that I practice this regularly with all my brothers and sisters in Christ.”

Is there anyone like that?

I didn’t think so.

At this time, I am going to ask you to stand, if you are able, still with heads bowed and eyes closed, in an attitude of prayer. Would you stand with me please? Have you been a reckless offender? Either intentionally or accidentally? By actions and attitudes or by merely neglecting your brothers and sisters in Christ?

As Tahsha sings, the altar will be open. And some of you may wish to come and make things right with God. Some of you may need to bring that very sheet of paper and begin confessing areas in which or people with whom you have been deficient in the one another commands.

As the Tahsha sings, the altar is open.

Life Groups

1. What, if anything, stood out to you about the sermon? Any questions or comments?

2. Think of a time when you felt overlooked or neglected. How did you respond internally?

3. How is the word offense used in the Bible, and how is that different than how we define it today? Why is it important to understand the difference?

4. Why do you think that Jesus speaks so strongly about causing others to stumble (millstone around the neck)?

5. What character flaws are revealed in the disciples’ hearts when they attempt to stop the man casting out demons in Jesus’ name? pride, desire for control/preeminence

6. The sermon emphasizes that how we treat other believers is how we treat Jesus. What makes that idea challenging or even uncomfortable?

7. When are you most tempted to think about yourself first instead of considering others? What can you do to remedy this?

Application for the day: Before the end of today, how could you deliberately put someone else’s needs ahead of your own?