The men’s fellowship I’m
part of is looking at Randy Alcorn’s book, “Heaven”. Now Randy has some useful insights about
heaven. I’m only partway through it, but I’m noticing that
in writing it, Randy can’t help but reveal his own philosophy of eternity. You may disagree with some of his points, but
his primary point cannot be disagreed with.
At least, not by those who strive to get there. This is, that we don’t think enough about it,
and we don’t plan enough with it in mind.
He gives an illustration of the importance of this in the opening
chapters, when he points out how bizarre it would be to find someone with us
travelling to a destination and wondering at the same time what it will be
like. How well you enjoy the
destination depends on how well you prepared to be there. But if we’re going to prepare to be there, we
might as well find ways to maximize our enjoyment of it. And surprisingly, Jesus said we can do
exactly that.
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child and had him
stand among them. 3 And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless
you change and become like little children, you will never enter the
kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this
child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” [1]
To be ‘great’ in the
eternal Kingdom is indeed something to strive for. After all, people here will exhaust themselves
and count it worthwhile that they accomplished something that lasts only through
a few decades of retirement! How much
more then, to have that which lasts forever and ever!
That Jesus tells us to do
that by becoming like children is intriguing.
Often I am with people who believe that what He really meant was
something totally different.
Certainly it’s a hard thing
to understand on the face of it. Our
society attributes value based on capability and education – things children
(and the text makes the point that he really meant ‘little children’)
definitively lack. Seeing children as
incapable of adding value to the Kingdom of God, they reduce this text to
meaning only that if you are as unpretentious as a child then you have
the qualities that God is looking for.
But is unpretentious the quality Christ noted in the child before
him? No – He said, “whoever humbles himself like this child”.
Now I don’t know about your
kids, but neither my kids nor anyone else’s I’ve ever met was particularly
humble. Selfish? Check.
How many have heard children say, ‘no’ more than once too often? Greedy?
Check. How many have heard
children say, ‘mine’ more than once too often? Concerned only with what they want right this
second? Check. In fact, the younger they are, the more unaware
they are of the needs of others around them. So in what way is a child (especially a little
child), “humble”?
You might think that Jesus
should’ve rather said, “Unless you change and become like students.” After all, students have many great
qualities. They’re diligent about
finding out about the world around them, committed to the search of knowledge
and typically aren’t burdened with the
pride that some professors have. But it’s
also true that most students are young people who really don’t know what they
want, struggling with hormonal changes, highly impulsive. Students have many great qualities, but not
the key quality that allows both entrance and greatness in the Kingdom of
Heaven.
You might think that Jesus
should’ve rather said, “Unless you change and become like social workers.” After all, social workers really care about
people! They’re committed to helping
others even if it means obscurity and low wages for themselves. They’re prepared to go to the difficult
places and work with difficult people.
But social workers are also committed to personally making a
difference. And striving to change
others is not the key quality that allows both entrance and greatness in the
Kingdom of Heaven.
Similar things could be
said of pretty much every profession, and also of every stage of life. There is something about a little child that
Jesus expects is evident to all of us – something that IS the key quality that
allows both entrance and greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven. That quality, Jesus says, is humility as a child has it. So in what way does a child demonstrate
humility?
It might seem odd that a
child who is barely self-aware, who can’t pronounce 4 syllable words (like
hu-mil-i-ty) and who demands much of adults around them can demonstrate a
profound quality like humility. And I
think for that reason we often tend to spiritualize the daylights out of this
passage of Scripture, trying to twist it to mean something about humility as
adults would demonstrate it. But
children can’t do that. What they do demonstrate
is a kind of humility that we actually rarely see in the adult world. That is,
the humility that causes them to constantly look beyond themselves. As a result, they find joy in their present
circumstances, while being unconcerned with personal accomplishment.
It is exactly the opposite
of the quality most of demonstrate during their teenage years (at least,
speaking for my own memory of those years).
When we feel we can do anything anywhere, even though we haven’t done
anything, gone anywhere alone and don’t even understand the world around
us. It is markedly different than the
quality most of us demonstrate in our adult years, when we’re aware of the
complexity of the world around us and we know we can’t do everything, so we try
to do something right where we are. It
is exactly the opposite of the quality most of us demonstrate in our
careers. When we’re focused on using our
skills and talents to bring change to our spheres of influence. We tend to focus on our circumstances.
Little children just aren’t
that concerned with their circumstances.
They find ways to play and have joy even in the middle of the most dire
of circumstance. I think they do that
because they aren’t focused on themselves at all. They expect someone else to be in
charge. Someone else to provide for
them. Someone else to accomplish
things. Someone else to meet their
needs. They come with NOTHING but
themselves, and they do that naturally.
Unlike us. It takes a great deal for us to come with
nothing but ourselves. That’s why Jesus
says, “Unless you CHANGE and become like little children”. Unless we have the humility to set aside all
our skills, and all our accomplishments, and all our circumstances, and just
BE. Unless we’re prepared to stop
focusing on what we can DO and what we can offer. Unless we look beyond ourselves to HIM.
That is the key. Not just the key to the Kingdom, but the key
to greatness in the Kingdom. The more we
look to Him, the more we expect beyond ourselves, the better off we are -
FOREVER.
[1] The Holy Bible:
New International Version. (1984). (Mt 18:1–4). Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
