Baby Christians
Upside Down or Right Side Up
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away--it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:6
Jesus of Nazareth gave daily teachings to anyone willing to listen. He would speak anywhere, to anyone. People would come and go, bring him people, ask him questions and He would converse with them. He would heal people. Teach them. Give them hope. Lift their spirits up. And feed them.
On one such occasion, He was asked a question and He called a child up. Then as we have read in the passage above, He said woe to anyone causing one of this little ones to stumble, as it will not go well with them.
Baby Believers
Jesus said, one must be reborn (born again/renewed/changed from the inside out) and become like babies again. In essence, relearning everything like a little child -- eating, drinking, speaking, thinking and doing everything else.
And like babies, there would be a time for maturing, to take baby steps, become toddlers, school age children, teenagers, young adults and then adulthood. Also the same as being born the first time around, some would mature faster than others.
For non-believers or skeptics, all these will not make any sense. This is understandable as non-believers have not yet been reborn. It is indeed hard to comprehend this as babies in the faith, so how much harder if you have not been reborn yet? That would be impossible.
Brainwashed
Some would say that they have not been brainwashed yet. And we do see some wacko, weirdo pseudo believers out there.
But Jesus nor His disciples didn't really strong arm anyone. There has been no record that He forced anyone to believe in Him or to join their flock. In fact, the first believers would just as easily have renounced their faith in Christ Jesus if they wanted to. Many actually did.
But for those who remained, walking away would have saved them a whole lot of trouble, a whole lot of shame, a whole lot of pain, and a whole lot of business. And yes it would have saved them their very lives. All of His inner circle (except for the Apostle John who survived his death sentence and exile) lost their lives by execution which they could have been saved from, if they would have just renounced their faith in Jesus.
They were shunned and cast out by their families and their community for being the believers that they were. But on their own accord, they stood their ground, until their deaths. And they turned the whole world upside down.
And this is why like little children, believers can sing this song to their heavenly Father.
So the question really is are they the ones who got it all wrong?
Or, are they the ones who got it right -- right side up, turning over an upside down world.
Further Reading: Matthew 18:2-7 MSG
"But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall away--it would be better for him if a heavy millstone were hung around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:6
Jesus of Nazareth gave daily teachings to anyone willing to listen. He would speak anywhere, to anyone. People would come and go, bring him people, ask him questions and He would converse with them. He would heal people. Teach them. Give them hope. Lift their spirits up. And feed them.
On one such occasion, He was asked a question and He called a child up. Then as we have read in the passage above, He said woe to anyone causing one of this little ones to stumble, as it will not go well with them.
Baby Believers
Jesus said, one must be reborn (born again/renewed/changed from the inside out) and become like babies again. In essence, relearning everything like a little child -- eating, drinking, speaking, thinking and doing everything else.
And like babies, there would be a time for maturing, to take baby steps, become toddlers, school age children, teenagers, young adults and then adulthood. Also the same as being born the first time around, some would mature faster than others.
For non-believers or skeptics, all these will not make any sense. This is understandable as non-believers have not yet been reborn. It is indeed hard to comprehend this as babies in the faith, so how much harder if you have not been reborn yet? That would be impossible.
Brainwashed
Some would say that they have not been brainwashed yet. And we do see some wacko, weirdo pseudo believers out there.
But Jesus nor His disciples didn't really strong arm anyone. There has been no record that He forced anyone to believe in Him or to join their flock. In fact, the first believers would just as easily have renounced their faith in Christ Jesus if they wanted to. Many actually did.
But for those who remained, walking away would have saved them a whole lot of trouble, a whole lot of shame, a whole lot of pain, and a whole lot of business. And yes it would have saved them their very lives. All of His inner circle (except for the Apostle John who survived his death sentence and exile) lost their lives by execution which they could have been saved from, if they would have just renounced their faith in Jesus.
They were shunned and cast out by their families and their community for being the believers that they were. But on their own accord, they stood their ground, until their deaths. And they turned the whole world upside down.
And this is why like little children, believers can sing this song to their heavenly Father.
So the question really is are they the ones who got it all wrong?
Or, are they the ones who got it right -- right side up, turning over an upside down world.
Further Reading: Matthew 18:2-7 MSG
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