One thing is true today-- somebody is watching me. I don't mean with sinister motives either. I mean people are watching me as I follow Christ in order to gain encouragement in their own walk with Jesus. Paul said, "Follow me as I follow Christ" and I've done that my entire Christian life. I've watched the men who follow Christ and I've followed them. I followed them as a man, as a dad, as a friend and as a pastor. I watched what they did and I emulated them. I guess because of that I've always known that people were following me too. I don't know if the men ahead of me felt the weight of that responsibility but I know I have as I thought of those following me. I didn't want to be a stumbling block for others.
Matthew 18:5-7 always challenges me as I think of those who might be following me. "Whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" I have never wanted to be a stumbling block for anyone.
Have you ever thought about how we can be a stumbling block to others? If people respect me and are following me as I follow Christ, how might I trip them up if I'm not careful? Here are three things we might do to cause others to stumble.
Sin - When people are following us, and we choose to reject Christ and embrace sin, we are placing a stumbling block before others. Most all of us know that we are sinners, and even that those we follow are too, but there is something truly disheartening to watch someone we love and respect, someone we follow, choose selfishness and sin over loving God. Your sin will not only affect your relationship with God, it can stumble those who are watching you, looking up to you. When you and I choose the selfishness of sin, especially grievous sin, those behind us may choose to give up in their disappointment.
Unrepentance - We all know that we still sin and deep down we are aware that even our "leaders," those we follow, can fall. We know they can even fall grievously and that in itself can cause others to stumble, but something else that may stumble even more is a heart unwilling to repent. When confronted with sin, if you and I are unwilling to repent and turn back to follow Jesus, those who have been following us may decide that Jesus isn't worth it either. Maybe they didn't stumble over our sin but they stumbled over our unwillingness to repent and turn back. They may choose to give up because we are unwilling to return.
Rejection - John Maxwell once said, "No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care." There is a great deal of truth in this. So often people follow us because they feel loved by us, they trust us. If we act unlovingly, if we portray rejection, then we may just be setting a trip hazard before others.
Ultimately all of us are responsible directly to God himself. None of us will be able to excuse our own failures by appealing to a stumbling block someone else put before us. Along with this reality, there is the truth that God's Holy Spirit indwells and empowers us all to walk and not stumble. Yet nonetheless, there is this grave word of caution-- do not be the cause of others tripping.
May God help us walk and even run the race in such a way that those who follow will not stumble over us.
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