In an earlier post I discussed how about two weeks ago I damaged my
right knee playing basketball. It happened four days before we left on an
eight-day vacation to the East Coast. Perfect timing, right?
Stephanie
pleaded with me to use a wheelchair in the airport, but I pridefully resisted
her attempts. I hobbled all around Philadelphia and Carlisle, PA until we
decided to take the kiddos to Hershey Park, an enormous amusement park that was much better than AstroWorld (my
hometown theme park as a child). Finally, Stephanie convinced me to rent a motorized chair, and
even though I was a bit embarrassed, it was also kind of fun.
I hate
being dependent upon others and asking for help for basic things, but this
recent knee injury has forced me into those situations over and over again. It’s
made me feel as needy as a little child.
At the end
of Matthew 17, a tax collector comes
by the house where Jesus is staying with His disciples. The man is collecting
the temple tax (a half-shekel), which every man over the age of 20 has to pay. Jesus
tells Peter that sons of the kingdom are exempt from taxes, but they should not
offend the rulers of this present age. Then, Jesus tells Peter to go throw a
line into the sea, and the first fish he catches will have a shekel in its
mouth that Peter can use to pay for both himself and Jesus.
First, this
story displays Jesus teaching that His followers belong to a completely
different government (the kingdom of God). Second, it also depicts that of the
twelve disciples, it is highly probable that only Peter was over the age of 20,
since only he and Jesus pay the temple tax. But finally, Jesus demonstrates
here that when we’re stretched to our limits, He has unlimited resources. He’s
teaching Peter a childlike dependence.
Chapter 18 begins right after Peter
has pulled the coin out of the fishes mouth.
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and
said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to
Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are
converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. – Matthew 18:1-4
Like the
disciples, for a while now I've felt like God has been telling me that I need to change to be more childlike. I definitely don’t mean more immature, but
rather something closer to what the early Christians taught.
He says, “Unless you become as these
children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of God,” … Rightly, then, are
those called children who know Him who is God alone as their Father, who are
simple, and infants, and guileless. … He has proclaimed this utterance, bidding
them dismiss anxious worry of the things of this world, and exhorting them to
adhere to the Father alone, in imitation of children. – Clement of Alexandria 195CE,
Volume 2, p. 335-336 [CD-ROM]
The early
Christians taught that having a childlike faith meant taking Jesus at His word
like an intelligent child would. It meant renouncing the alluring desires of
this world, and instead seeking first the kingdom of God. Having the faith of a
child meant clinging to God the Father, and trusting Him to be one’s defender
and provider.
As a man,
a husband and father, I rather enjoy feeling like a provider. I like the
feeling that I can take care of myself. However, too much emphasis placed on
oneself as a provider will inevitably lead to anxiety, frustration anger and
depression because, well, crap happens that we can’t fix because we’re not God.
In
frustrating, anxious and angry times such as this current knee injury, my dad
(who is a Christian counselor) often reminds me to prayerfully ask three
questions.
1.
God,
what are You trying to teach me about You through this situation?
2.
What
are You trying to teach me about me through this situation?
3.
What
are You trying to teach me about others through this situation?
Two weeks
into this knee injury, I believe God is again teaching me that He is where I find
rest for my soul. He’s teaching me that I need to engage Him more often as my
provider, and that I need to repent of the pride that often keeps me from
asking for and receiving help from others in the body of Christ.
What
about you? How is God calling you to change to be more childlike in your faith?
May you experience more of the kingdom of God as you choose to depend more and more on our Heavenly Father!
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