Thoughts From Luke - Day 74

                                                      Luke 17:1-3

Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. ² It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ³ So watch yourselves.


               One of the main excuses for leaving the church or the rejection of Christianity is the behavior of Christians. "I see them at the bar on Saturday night and then they are at Church acting all Holy on Sunday." Or, "If Christianity really works, why are there so many ________ Christians."? Fill in the blank - depressed, divorced, unhappy, angry, greedy, non-witnessing, selfish, etc. Personally, I feel like most of these objectors have already decided not to follow, they just want to come up with a good reason to give on why not.  It is like a vegan going into McDonalds and complaining that the meat wasn't antibiotic free and whole grain fed so they won't eat there. However, Jesus does not let us off the hook. He says that yes there are going to be things coming into play that make people doubt their faith. I think of things like natural disasters, deaths of loved ones, birth defects to newborns and other things that you think God could have prevented and didn't. Jesus would say that yes those things are going to come and the reasons are far more involved and in depth for you to understand so please just trust me through those until we get to talk face to face someday. But here he is saying that although those things will come there is one thing that shouldn't come - Christians acting like non-Christians and giving people reason to doubt.

           But Jesus even gets more specific and talks about "little ones". Certainly this can refer to young "believers" who leave the faith but I think more specifically it also applies to children who due to the ungodly influences in their life never choose to follow Christ. I think of two girls in my youth group who were in the process of following Christ and the dad left the mom for another woman and now they are indifferent to Christianity. Woe to that dad. It would have been better that he die a premature death than cause his children to spend eternity in hell. Then there was a boy who was following Christ all through High School and went to a church at college with some liberal pastor who so confused him that when he came home and I asked him if he was still following Christ, his reply was, "Depends on what you mean by Christ." Then there are the college professors at Christian and non-Christian colleges that destroy kid's faith by attacking the validity of Scripture. Woe to all these people.

         Did you know that if someday you are responsible for some person leaving the faith ( one reason it is nice to believe in Reformed Theology - this could never happen) you would be better off dead!? That is how serious this is. One's eternal destiny is at stake - don't mess it up.

          Lord, help me to be a good example that draws people to Christ rather than one that repels them.  Amen