Tuesday Oct 01, 2024
The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven: S6E25
I’m so glad you’ve joined me at the intersection of faith and true crime here at The Unlovely Truth. Does your church or ministry struggle with physical, emotional, or spiritual safety issues? I’m your host, church safety advocate Lori Morrison and I’m so glad you’ve joined me today. Our churches need to be the safest places in our communities, so our mission on this podcast is to find actionable steps to improve every aspect of safety in our houses of worship and beyond. We will investigate The Unlovley Truth about real crime news stories happening in real churches. I’ve got new cases to explore today, so let’s dive right in.
Highlights from this episode include:
- Is the coverup always worse than the crime?
- A celebrity pastor behaving badly
- Another Christian school, more bad behavior
Matthew 18:1-10
About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
“And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
“What sorrow awaits the world, because it tempts people to sin. Temptations are inevitable, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting. So if your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand or one foot than to be thrown into eternal fire with both of your hands and feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
“Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.
This is not a super hard passage to understand. So let's just look at some of the really important points that stick out to me. Jesus starts out answering a question in a way that is unexpected. And he does that so many times. He doesn't just straight up answer their question. He redirects what he wants them to be focusing on. They were focused on themselves, on their deeds, and what those deeds might entitle them to. But Jesus talked about some of the most vulnerable members of any society. It's children.
And he doesn't just mention children. He calls a child to him. It has that little one stand as an equal with all these adults around him. And then he challenges those adults to be more like that. Marginalized. Powerless child.
And it's so opposite of what our leaders in today's cases did and how they failed the children around them. Having a millstone hung around your neck and being tossed in the sea is such a vivid word picture. When I directed a children's ministry many, many years ago, I wanted that to be our ministry verse and to paint it up on the wall, but they wouldn't let me. I can't imagine why not! But to me, it shows how seriously Jesus takes the protection of children. But in our society and yes, even in a lot of churches, We focus on adults. And we say that that's where the air quote real ministry happens. We let budgets distract us. We let the lack of volunteers keep us from doing what needs to be done. We let the lust for power blind us. And not because we're cutting out any offending part of us. It's not our hands, feet, and eyes that are the problem. It's our hearts. Hearts that lead us to steal, to abuse, and to neglect.
And we saw all that happening just in this episode. So, what do we do about it? Jesus had the answer as he always does. He said that we need to become humble, like children. And you might be thinking, have you met any kids? Not always so humble. Maybe not an attitude, but I think what Jesus was getting at was being humble in station. Not trying to rise above and be over people. Not stealing to acquire riches, not abusing, to feel powerful and not neglecting our obligations toward others.
If churches would all have leaders that met these criteria. I wouldn’t need to produce this podcast anymore. And nothing would make me happier.
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Is the coverup always worse than the crime?
A celebrity pastor behaving badly