Being a Role Model

Living As A Role Model

(Matthew 18:1-14 – page 974)

Who are the role models in your life?

Did they know that they were your role model?

If so, how do you think they felt about it?

We all will have people at different times of our life who will see us as their role model. How do we act towards them?

Interacting with people who look up to you.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"

MT 18:2 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.

MT 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.

MT 18:7 "Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to sin 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. 9 And if your eye causes you to sin, 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.

MT 18:10 "See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. n

MT 18:12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost.

Be like them … look above you.

MT 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"MT 18:2 He called a little child and had him stand among them.

The role model Jesus picks is a kid!

Why? Is it because they show such innocence and simplicity?

No … they are the bottom of the food chain! They have learnt humility!

Kids in this culture (and in most ancient cultures) had zero authority.

They were completely dependent on others and were expected to be obedient to their elders. And you see this when Jesus asks this young boy (he may have even been Peter’s son) to stand in the middle, he does it.

So Jesus is saying, ‘Do you want to become truly great in the eyes of God.

Turn your back on pride.

Learn how to serve. Put yourself on the bottom of the pecking order, just like this child here.

Illustration I heard.

Imagine that everyone climbing a ladder – some are high up on the ladder – others are climbing below us.

When you are thinking about possessions, look down not up. Look to those below you who have far less than you do.

When you are thinking about your achievements or your character or your service for God, look up not down. Look to those above you who are inspirations to you to keep climbing.

Example of this:

Bush, who found God and gave up alcohol [17] years ago on his 40th birthday, is one of the most overtly religious presidents of recent times. He opens Cabinet meetings with a prayer and prays in the Oval office.

"Faith is a powerful motivator ... I know first-hand what faith can mean in somebody's life, so I remind people I am just a humble sinner who saw redemption." (New Zealand Herald 01.05.2002

Above all, look to God. Jesus gives a really sober warning … developing a habit of dependence is not a nice hobby that Christians can develop in their spare time.

You cannot even become a child of God

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

Welcome them … look beyond you

MT 18:5 "And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

How you treat people is really important to Jesus!

How you treat people that others don’t treat well is really really important to Jesus.

He is saying ‘Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing … you show them respect.’

He gives two keys for how we can begin to treat others well.

a. How would I act if I was Jesus?

And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

In my name means that you are Jesus’ representative. We’ve had a really great example this week of the power of representation.

The unknown soldier was interned in a tomb at the National War Memorial on Thursday. He was a NZ soldier who died in 1916 during WW1 and who has laid buried in foreign soil since then.

It’s important that he is nameless because his role is to represent so many other nameless people who have died

Alan Johnston, a veteran of El Alamein and former Dominion president of the Returned Services Association said, "It's so powerful within you. He was one of us, one of those that went off to serve their country. And you just see them all, I could see him. Yes, he's come back and he represents so many."

Welcoming the child-like in the name of Jesus means acting as if it was God himself welcoming them. And what does that look like?

Jesus himself gives us a picture - he tells us about a Shepherd (of far greater status than a sheep), going to great pains to personally look out for the welfare of one sheep out of a sea of woolly faces who loses its way.

b. How would I act if this person was Jesus?

whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me

Jesus takes it as a personal blessing to him when we treat the powerless and the uncool and the impressionable and the humble with kindness and dignity.

Guard your legacy … look behind you

Then Jesus goes on and says some really weird things.

If your hand and foot causes you to sin, cut them off and throw them away.

If your eye causes you to do bad stuff, gouge it out and biff it.

Jesus is using a technique called hyperbole here. Hyperbole is where someone purposefully exaggerates something to make a point.

The point that Jesus is making here is not that we should mutilate our bodies (elsewhere the Bible says to respect your body).

Instead, Jesus’ point can be summed up in one sentence:

take radical steps to deal with sin in your life.

Don’t muck around with it.

Don’t get cozy with evil …

What does this mean in practice?

If you are getting sucked in by consumerism, give your eftpos and credit cards to someone else for safe-keeping.
If you are getting addicted to internet porn, if at all possible, rip out your modem and give it to someone else.
If you are struggling with poor self image and it’s having a negative effect on your eating habits, stop buying and reading women’s magazines and even turn off the TV!
If you are losing your passion to tell others about Jesus, go on a short-term mission to a third-world country.

And Jesus that says this is for your own benefit

It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.

– your lifestyle might be a bit cramped, but at least you will be spending eternity with God in heaven!

And we read this passage through ‘me-focused’ glasses, and that’s good.

But did you know? The whole context of the passage is not talking about you … it’s about the affect your life has on people around you. Those who look up to you and depend on you.

if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. (v 6)

Your life will make an impression on the lives of those around

Is that a big responsibility? Absolutely!

Will we feel inadequate for this role? Absolutely! But consider … the role models that influenced your life positively probably felt the same way.

And the reason we do it is because it’s not in the plan of God’s Father-heart that any one should get side-tracked from Jesus