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The ‘Deadly Virtue’ of Childlikeness
Jim Weaver, Guest Pastor
. . . was a minister can gain a renewed vision, become re-energized besides physically resting during that time. And as a minister comes back to the church, the whole church benefits from the fact that the minister has had that sabbatical. And besides all of that, while the pastor is away, you may play, but you also have the opportunity to develop and grow and exercise ministry skills. So a sabbatical really is mutually beneficial. And I commend you for providing this time for Eric and his family. As I understand, you have been talking in these months about what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus said there is a broad gate, a broad way, and there's a narrow gate, a narrow way. The broad way is the way that many people follow, and it's a way that leads to destruction. It's a way of an empty life. It's a way of life detached from God. But there's the narrow way, the way of Jesus, the way that leads to the life that Jesus gives us. Life to the fullest, real life, abundant life, life lived with an eternal quality now and forever. It's a life that makes a difference. I think in some of these recent weeks, you have been looking at the classical listing of seven deadly sins. In these Sundays that I have with you, these four Sundays, we're perhaps going to be doing a variation on that and talk about some deadly virtues. I ran across this term some years ago in a work by a Christian author. For our purposes, a deadly virtue is a genuine Christian virtue, an authentic Christian value, real Christian qualities, characteristics, and traits that can get twisted and distorted and misguided and they become deadly. They become deadly to our spiritual life. They take us away from that life of abundance that Jesus has come to give us. This morning we're going to talk about the deadly virtue of childlikeness. I once read a story about a minister named Bruce McIver who wrote a book in his retirement about some of his experiences as a pastor. One Sunday he preached a sermon on the text that tells us to love God with all of our heart and all of our soul and all of our mind and all of our strength. And he focused on the call to love God with our minds. He talked about our responsibility to use those mental abilities that God has given to us and the need for us to think seriously about our faith. after the service, a concerned young mother was waiting out in the foyer to talk to McIver. And leaning up against her was her five-year-old son, Andrew, who was obviously tired and worn out. And the mother said, Pastor, I hope that my child didn't disturb you today while you were preaching. MacIver said, no, not at all. I wasn't aware of any kind of disruption. The mother replied, well, good. I guess you couldn't see us very well since we were sitting near the back of the sanctuary. Well, that piqued MacIver's curiosity. And he asked, well, what is it that happened? The mother began to explain, well, Andrew got very fidgety. He just wouldn't sit still. And I tried to concentrate on your message and do what you were asking us to do, that is to think. But while I was trying to think, Andrew somehow got off the pew and he started to crawl around under it. Well, MacIver tried to reassure her, oh, don't worry about that. Children often get restless in a worship service. But the woman had this slight smile and she said, but Pastor, Andrew wasn't restless. And what was he doing? MacIver wondered. And the woman said, well, I asked Andrew the very same thing. And what did he say? MacIver wanted to know. And the mother continued, well, Pastor, you know how in the sermon you were talking about worshiping God with our minds. And you said you don't come into a worship service and sit down on a seat cushion and unscrew your head and place it under a pew. Well, when I asked Andrew what he was doing there crawling around on the floor, he said, I'm looking for the heads. You know, children take us at our word. They believe what we say. Children have a huge capacity for trust. And one main reason that children have this capacity for trust is that they instinctively know that they must depend on somebody else for their lives. The Bible tells us that we human folks are the crown of God's creation. We have the powers of mind and body and soul and emotion that no other part of created life possesses. But for all of this, we human folks are maybe the most unfinished of all of God's creations. When we're born, We can't raise our heads. We can't roll over. We can't sit up. We can't walk. We can't find food for ourselves. And it takes human infants longer to develop all these capabilities than any of the other creatures of God's good handiwork. Newborn children are totally dependent. If a child is going to survive, A child has got to rely on somebody else for food and clothing and protection and care. A child must depend on somebody else to live. And it's this absolute dependence of little children and their capacity to unconditionally trust somebody else with their lives for everything. that make little children the perfect illustration for describing the way that somebody comes into the kingdom of God. Jesus said, Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. Only people who recognize their absolute dependence on God for life, both now and in eternity, can enter the Kingdom of God. Only people who trust God unconditionally with their lives for everything can become a part of the Kingdom of God. I think we can all get this point that Jesus is making about little children and the Kingdom. But in Jesus' own day, this illustration about children was even more powerful. In the Greek and Roman worlds, children weren't idolized. Children weren't looked upon always with a warm and fuzzy sentiment and feeling. Children weren't always considered to be the apples of our eye or our most important resources or our future or anything else like that. Children were often held in low esteem with no legal rights, no social status. Children were often regarded as the least important members of a society. Where to grow older meant that you had more honor. One of the reasons why Jesus' disciples tried to keep some little children from gathering around him one day was that the disciples did not want Jesus to waste his time with such unimportant members of society as these little children. But Jesus had plainer vision than anyone else. And Jesus rebuked his disciples and Jesus hugged these little children close to him and Jesus blessed them. And then Jesus said that the kingdom of God is only for people who know that they're like one of these small, helpless, powerless, dependent children. The Kingdom of God is only for people who know that they don't have any right to it. The Kingdom of God is only for people who know that they can't deserve it or earn it or buy it or manipulate it or achieve it. The Kingdom of God is only for people who receive the Kingdom of God because they know that it comes to them as a gift. and they receive the gift with joy. The Kingdom of God is like a relationship with God for people who are like a little child. The Kingdom of God is for people who are childlike in their trust in God. The Kingdom of God is for people who are childlike in their complete dependence on God. The Kingdom of God is for people who receive the Kingdom in joy. They're childlike in their readiness to receive this gift from God. Have you ever watched a child tear off the wrapping paper off of a package to get to the gift? That's genuine excitement. That's real joy. And this is the way for people to receive the kingdom of God with the sheer delight of a little child. Childlikeness. Childlike faith, as we sometimes call it. is a virtue that is central to the Christian life. It's at the core of attitudes and qualities of the Christian life. In fact, this childlikeness, this being like a child, determines whether we belong to the Kingdom of God, whether we receive the Kingdom of God at all. Jesus couldn't have been any plainer. Anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. But this virtue of being like a child never means being childish. This virtue of being childlike becomes destructive and deadly if it becomes being childish. The Apostle Paul reminds us that there are some things that we can see in children that we need to outgrow. Paul declares, when I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. There are probably enough childish ways that we can be slow to give up to provide material for a month of Sunday sermons. But if you boil it all down, our childish ways come into focus in one basic fact about children. Children are by nature self-centered. Now I don't mean this as a negative judgment or in a pejorative way. It's just the nature of things that children think about themselves and their needs first. It's just a necessary ingredient in our human desire to survive. Children operate at that me level of motivation. What will happen to me? What's in this for me? What's going to come to me? Who's watching out for me? Children are at the center of their own worlds and most everything else revolves around them and their needs and their wants. Just think about it. Have you ever known an infant that woke up in the middle of the night and thought to himself, now I know I'm comfortable. I know that I'm getting hungry and I'm going to need something to eat before too long. But mommy had a rough day and she needs her sleep. And so I'm just going to lie here and not disturb her until the morning comes. Have you ever known a child that thought like that? No child thinks like that. No infant has that kind of thinking. The baby squeals and wails until somebody comes and feeds him. Or have you ever seen an infant with a soiled diaper who reasoned with herself. Now this diaper really makes me feel bad. It's bothering me. But daddy is busy with my big brother. And it just wouldn't be convenient for him to stop what he's doing right now and come and change my diaper. I'll just show a little patience and I'll wait my turn. There's no infant that ever reasoned like that. The baby fusses and hollers until she has a new diaper fastened in place. Maybe at times we might agree with the person who said a baby is a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. At any rate, perhaps we can affirm the reality about children. Children are born with a fundamentally self-serving and self-centered perspective on life. And this perspective is okay for children. This perspective is acceptable for children. But this perspective is not okay for adults. People are expected to mature and grow up. A person who has never really come to acknowledge that there are other people in the world and cares about them. A person who's never really learned to share and to give and to live life in community. A person who insists on their own way in their own time. A person who keeps on living at that me level of motivation, that self-centered of motivation. That person is no mature, well-developed, grown-up adult, no matter their age. Paul said, when I became an adult, I gave up childish ways. But sadly, not everybody does. Life often gets lived out with the attitude of, it's all about me. And this attitude of all about me, wherever it shows up, it wreaks havoc. In families, in the workplace, at school, in sports leagues, in community organizations, in politics, in government, even in church. This attitude of it's all about me being in childish is an especially deadly virtue when we find it in our Christian lives. Paul describes some believers in the church in Corinth as infants in Christ. And so perhaps it shouldn't surprise us that our first tiny steps toward faith in Jesus may have involved some me-level motivations. Maybe we were looking for security or comfort or contentment. Maybe we were seeking to escape God's judgment. Maybe we were hoping for God's heavenly promises. Maybe we were wanting to become about a person. Whatever it might have been, we saw in Jesus that source of everything that we desired and everything that we needed, and we responded to Him. Now there's validity in all of these me-level motivations. There is something in it in following Jesus for you and for me. But if we're honest, I think we have to admit that this me level of motivation really does function and operate more at the level of a child's self-focused concerns. Baby who is crying wants the security, the comfort, the contentment a parent can provide. Child often modifies his behavior to avoid punishment. Child is quickly attracted to the prospect of some kind of reward. Child thrives on affirmation, on hearing somebody say, what a good boy you are, what a nice little girl you have been. It's this kind of me level motivation that may have led us toward that first baby step of faith in Jesus that we took. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong with all of that. But the tragedy is that for some Christians, that first baby step of faith becomes the only step of faith. Some people don't move beyond that me level of motivation as their primary attachment to Jesus. But as followers of Jesus, we're called to grow up into adulthood in our faith. We're called to mature in our faith and to become like Jesus. Unfortunately, some Christians experience stunted growth. Some Christians may really not have a childlike faith, but a childish faith that never grows up. Growing Christians, maturing Christians, Christians who are seeking to become like Jesus are called to a more excellent way, to use the Bible's phrase. This way knows that there are other motivations for following Jesus besides what's in this for me. This way is a journey that moves from me concerns to other people concerns. This way is a journey that moves from self-serving to other people serving. This way is a journey that moves from self-centeredness to selfless service. This way is the way of Jesus who said, For I did not come to be served but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many. The unfortunate truth is that many Christians may see their relationship with Jesus and with His Church sometimes or maybe even a lot of the time as a matter of being served rather than of serving. The church may become just the place where we get served rather than the way that we go about getting involved in serving God by serving the world. For some people, the church may be just the place that we go in the same way that We go to a garage when our car breaks down, or we go to a restaurant because we're hungry, or we go to a hospital because we're sick. The church becomes a place where we get something done for me. It's a place where I can get repaired and nourished and cured. It's all about me. And the result is that We can lose sight of our mission and our full identity as the church, the body of Christ. The church is the community of followers of Jesus who are being equipped to become the mechanics for a broken world and the cooks for starving souls and the physician's assistants who serve other people for the great physician. This is who we are. This is what we're called to do. And if we forget all of this childish attitudes and self-centered ways may be slipping in. I recently saw the story about a pastor who came home as her spouse was cooking dinner late one afternoon. The pastor said, I thought I'd heard it all, but I got a new one today. Someone came into my office to talk to me about joining the church. I gave her my standard question, why do you want to join this church? And she said the most amazing thing. The spouse continued to be busy at the stove, but beautifully asked, well, what did the woman say? The pastor replied, the woman said she wanted to join the church because she wanted to learn how to love other people. And she thinks our church is the place where she can learn to do that. The pastor continued, and all my life I've never heard anything like that from somebody. Most people talk about what the church can do for them, how the church can meet their needs. give them all the love they deserve for a place of support, find new friends, offer programs for their children, whatever. You know, the whole service is rendered for offerings paid thing. I almost fell out of my chair. Somebody who actually wants to put their hands to the plow. And the spouse said, whoa, and almost burned the gravy. in a world where it's most often all about me, it can surprise us when someone takes Jesus seriously and shows up to serve and not to be served. Do you remember what Jesus said to those people who became his first followers? It was this call. Come follow me and I will make you become fishers of men, fishers of people. In other words, Jesus said, become my community of faith and I will send you into the world with the good news of God's love and the invitation to God's kingdom. There's no me level motivations in this call. Jesus didn't promise to do anything else for these people. these people who were fishers of fish except to make them to become fishers of people. But it's also true that as these people followed Jesus and they became fishers of people and they served other people with the love of Jesus, they received for themselves everything they ever really needed or ever could desire. They became a part of something bigger than themselves. Their lives had meaning. Their lives had purpose. Their lives had spiritual vitality. Their lives made a difference in the world. It's still the same way would Jesus call to us to become fishers of people, to become servants of other people in his name. Several years ago, an 18-year-old young man named Toby traveled to Africa with a Christian humanitarian organization. Toby and a few other team members were distributing food and supplies to some impoverished people in a village. A young boy came up to Toby and tapped him on the shoulder. This young boy had been watching Toby and he had compared his own ragged, worn out t-shirt with the sturdy, well-made clothes that Toby was wearing. And this young boy asked Toby for his shirt. Toby hesitated. He knew he was going to have to work out in the hot sun all day, and he knew it would be evening before he could get back to camp where he could get another shirt. Without saying a word, Toby stepped back from the boy and he turned and he left the boy behind. That night back at camp, Toby reflected on what had happened that day. He broke down and he cried. A few days later, Toby returned to his home in Michigan. But he just couldn't get that young boy who wanted his shirt off of his mind. Toby determined that he was going to start a t-shirt drive in his hometown and he called it, Give the Shirt Off Your Back. The media picked up on the story and soon 10,000 t-shirts had been donated and the humanitarian organization stepped forward to transport these t-shirts to Africa. And Toby's constant prayer in all of this was that God would make sure that young man he had walked away from got one of these t-shirts. This is the story of someone who moved beyond looking out for me to looking out for other people. It's the story of someone who learned that being a child before God never means being childish. And this is a lesson we all need to learn. You know, none of us here is ever going to outgrow that truth that we are somebody's child. I was always my mother's child and my father's child as long as they lived, no matter how old I was. But even more, we always need to recognize and to know that we're God's children. Depending on God for our lives, trusting God with childlike faith. no matter how long ago it might have been that we first entered the kingdom of God. But we also need to know that maturing children, spiritually growing up children, are always being more faithful to God than childish children. So how do we grow up as followers of Jesus We keep growing in Christ in the same way that we first entered the kingdom of God. By grace. By the sheer grace of God. By the power and presence of God in our lives as a gift. We grow by grace. God's grace. But we have to grow by a willingness to grow. And the willingness to open up our lives to let God's grace do God's transforming work within us. You know, I think it's just possible that being childish is the most serious obstacle to the faithfulness of the church to be the church we're called to be and to fulfill that mission that Jesus has given to us. That's why being childish is so deadly. What we always need is grace. And God's grace is here for us in Jesus. If we just receive it like a little child, if we just receive him like a little child. Would you pray? Father, we thank you for life that we have in Jesus Christ. We thank you for that ability that we have to trust our lives to you, to be dependent on you, to know that we're your children. But Father, help us always. to be children who are growing, focused on the world that you have made and you've come to redeem in Jesus. Help us to be serving children and not childish children. For we pray in the name of Jesus who came to serve and not to be served. Amen. This morning we come around this table, this table that Jesus invites us to. We take the bread, we take the cup, we celebrate what Jesus has done for us. In the words of Paul, we proclaim His death until He comes. It's time for us to reflect on who we have been and who we are and who we're becoming in Christ. This is a table for people who will come with childlike faith. And so I invite you to come and let us confess all of our childish ways and know God's forgiveness. And let us come and renew our faith in Jesus, knowing that we're completely dependent on Him. Our deacons will come and we will share The bread and the cup.