Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.

• Matthew 18:1-10

An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.

• Luke 9:46

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

• Mark 10:13-16

“Come, Zion! Escape, you who live in Daughter Babylon!” For this is what the Lord Almighty says: “After the Glorious One has sent me against the nations that have plundered you—for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye—I will surely raise my hand against them so that their slaves will plunder them. Then you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me.

• Zechariah 2:7-9

The Boilerplate

My wife took a Bible Study in 2011.  (There was a note in the study guide that identified September 2 and that the study was being held on Friday mornings, or I might not have ever figured out what year.)  My wife had become a Christian in 2000. She greatly respected the pastor’s wife who was also a pastor.  The pastor’s wife spent time as the interim associate pastor, and this Bible study might have been during that time.

My wife passed away in March 2023, and I found this study guide as I was cleaning up.  It is a Beth Moore study guide.  Most of the questions are close-ended, mostly fill-in-the-blank.  But my wife was eager to learn.  She wrote her thoughts in the margins, sometimes encouraged to do so by Beth Moore.  I will use her comments as I did once before, calling this a “with a little help” series in that my wife contributes.  There is more to follow in that she wrote Scriptures and prayers in a notebook.  Probably what she found in her personal Bible study, giving her encouragement through the long illness that took her life.

So, instead of writing about a topic at random, I am going to write on my wife’s comments in the Study Guide. It may follow the study guide topics, but it may not.

Discussion on this topic

How can one person cause another to sin?

“By leading them into something that the other person doesn’t want to do.”

• My wife’s response

From a literal perspective, my wife brings up a good point.  If you bring up a child in the church and teach them properly, then, they will know what God wants, in a simplistic way, and then you guide them into something that they do not want.

Pedophilia would be an example of that.  But what about serving alcohol to a child that is not ready for such things?  I have seen parents who encouraged their children to get into fights.  Defending oneself is one thing, but too often we teach the child beyond reasonable defense.  And today, anything can be taken as an offense and teaching a violent reaction just escalates things.

But the largest area of guiding someone into sin is not teaching what sin is in the first place.  A parent is someone of action.  Maybe the secular world has one thing right by accident, but not really.  They call parents birthing person and such.  By removing the concept of parent, we remove the most influential figure in the child’s life until they start school.  And to what end?  They fail to learn life lessons.  The language may be removing the words “mother” and “father,” but when those people fail to teach, the child fails to learn when their minds are the most receptive in learning.  Parental neglect is a horrible disease.

Jesus said that it would be better for someone who guides a child astray to have a millstone tied around their neck and be thrown into the sea.  Why?

“Because a child represents innocence, and the kid has no way to know that he is being led to the slaughter.”

• My wife’s response

It might seem that my wife was being melodramatic, but in the end, if a child willingly goes down a dangerous path with no one that they respect to turn them around, they are eventually headed for the slaughter.  And if they have determined that parental figures have done them wrong, then they may not listen to any authority but their internal concept of self-authority.

And my wife brings up an important point.  We develop at different rates and in different realms: physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.  When do we lose our innocence in each realm?  If you think in middle school or around the age of thirteen, then why do church-going teenagers go to college and then never return to the church?  If they had met the Savior in high school or earlier in life, were they spiritually mature upon graduating high school?  Sometimes I see a new problem in my life, and I feel that urge to respond immaturely, as if the child within me still needs to grow.

And what was my wife’s reaction to Luke 9:46 as to who was the greatest?

“They wanted to be the One.”

• My wife’s response

It is odd that the Twelve seem to be jockeying for position, or at least a few of the vocal ones.  You never seem to hear much about Simon the Zealot, James the son of Alphaeus, or Thaddaeus.  Maybe they felt great just being in the Twelve?  But I have had both desires.  I have worked as the boss without being paid to be the boss.  I knew I could handle even more responsibilities, but at other times, I just wanted to be one of the guys.  Why keep singling me out of the crowd?

And why might the disciples feel insulted when Jesus uses the example of Mark 10 above?

“They couldn’t connect the implication.  They thought they were more knowledgeable and superior.”

• My wife’s response

Wouldn’t anyone who realized that their teacher was the Messiah Himself?

I have worked with people who went to a few universities that were given a class before graduation that stated their education was far in excess of the education from any other school.  Some had the maturity to understand this was to bolster the self-esteem of those that lacked self-esteem.  But since I know of at least a dozen of these schools, they cannot all be correct.  Sadly, I have met arrogant jerks who believed what they were told as fact.  They were domineering and boorish.

But Jesus flipped the tables.  He chose a child as the example, someone who would learn like a sponge soaks up water.  Jesus was the greatest teacher of all time, but His students must learn humility to understand what He meant.  It is not us; it is Christ within us that matters.

Why does Jesus say that if you welcome such a child, you welcome Him?  And what about Matthew 18:10?

“A child’s love is unconditional and Christ wants that from us, to accept without strings…  God will see you and deal with you (if you harm one of His children)”

• My wife’s inner thoughts

How do you sum up this lesson?  And how does Zechariah 2:8 tie in?

“God is a loving, protective God and doesn’t like anyone to take advantage of His little children.  He will give judgment to all who hurt His.”

• My wife’s response

Punishment, correction, and discipline are one thing.  They must exist.  But they should never cross the line into abuse.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory