the greatest

Matthew 18

1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

"Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"

  2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.

3 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.

4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

  5 "And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

6 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.

Well, I guess that would indicate where televangelists fit into the pecking order of things?

Or high ranking church officials?

Or popular writers of “Christian thought”?

Or “celebrity Christians”?

Or God talking politicians?

Or self appointed authenticators?

Or me, or you?

Children back then were nobodies – thought of mostly as commodities or possessions.

It was a pretty radical thought process back then to prefer the simple humility of children over the overblown self concepts of various people who were held up as the living examples of all that is good & pure in the world.

And it's still a pretty radical concept today.

So to be great in the Kingdom we much turn from our sins & become humble in a child like way?

Hmmmm...

That's a pretty tall order in the paradigm & current thinking in which we operate.

We don't talk about sins very much anymore.

And humility may be seem to be admired in some people, actually the overarching attitude these days seems to indicate that humility is a sign of weakness.

Turn from our sins & have child like humility?

Hmmmmmm...