Scripture teaches us to be like children. Scripture also teaches us that we should not be like children. Some may consider this and declare that the Bible is inconsistent and contradictory; but such claims result from ignorance and/or misunderstanding. We find the explanation when we understand the context of the commands. Let's take a look, shall we?
Let Us Be Like Children. Once, when Jesus' disciples asked Him who would be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, He called a little child to come to Him, set the child in their midst, and said, "Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:1-4) The command to be like children comes from none other than our Lord, Jesus Christ! But what did He mean? Part of the answer is found in His own words:
Humility. Jesus explained part of what He meant when He said, in answer to the question about who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, "Whoever humbles himself like this child..." The child-like trait that all disciples should have is humility-a mindset that recognizes the value of others and the relative unimportance of oneself. It is the mindset that will, as Paul put it, "count others more significant than yourselves" and cause a person to "look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." (Philippians 2:3, 4) It is, as Paul pleaded with them, to have the mind of Christ (v. 5). Humility is, at its foundation, a way of thinking that refuses to focus on you and how others might be treating you, but focuses on others and considers only what you are doing for them or how you are treating them.
Those who are without humility demand that others treat them with a certain degree of honor, praise, and esteem; humble people are the ones who offer honor, praise, and esteem. The person without humility takes offense at criticism intended to correct wrong actions or words; the humble gladly accept criticism because they are not so full of themselves as to think they could never be wrong. The one without humility counts as his friends only those who lavish superficial praise on him; the humble man seeks friends who are always honest with him-even when it is difficult to do so.
Those without humility demonstrate, by their own words and deeds, that they see self as the only one worthy of honorable treatment and everyone else as unworthy. They take offense when a friend says, "I expected better of you." Then they turn around, with great disappointment at hearing such words, and tell the friend, "I expected better of you," never seeing the contradiction. Pride is so thoroughly ingrained in the minds of these people that they simply do not see their own faults; but they easily and quickly see the faults of everyone around them.
The man who is without humility, when another mentions his fault, is quick to cite the words of Jesus and remind the correcting brother that he first needs to go back and get the beam out of his own eye (cf. Matthew 7:1-5). He doesn't realize that it is he who has the beam in his eye.
Love. The child-like humility Jesus said we must have is based on the attribute demanded of all disciples--love. Paul described for us the attributes of love--it "is not arrogant" and "does not insist on its own way" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 5). Love moves us to act humbly, and to consider what others are saying, even when we don't like the way they say it because they could be right. Arrogance, on the other hand, blinds us, hardens our hearts, and replaces love with suspicion and doubt, and eventually-with hate.
Friends and brethren, let us become more child-like in the way Jesus intended. Let us be people of humility, acknowledging that we don't know it all, and that everything in life is not about us, but about God and about others. When we have such mind sets, we will indeed be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Without that mind set, we may be excluded from the kingdom!
Let Us Not Be Like Children. The apostle Paul instructed the Corinthian brethren, "Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature." (1 Corinthians 14:20) In the context of this statement, we might think that it was particular instruction for a particular people and a particular situation; Corinth was divided, and much of the division stemmed from their spiritual immaturity (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4), and these words would be particularly needful. But if we think Paul's words do not apply to us, we are sadly mistaken.
Mature thinking is an absolute necessity. In the physical world, we would be in grave danger if we only thought as little children. Children believe that the entire world is good, that only good things happen, and that all people will treat them as they want to be treated. It is an innocent naïveté that implicitly, and without questioning, trusts in other people's words and deeds. Unfortunately, this innocence and ignorance of the reality of this world's evils is the reason children are sometimes kidnapped and abused, and why abused children still love their abusive parents.
In the spiritual realm, we cannot afford to remain babes in Christ. Our enemy "prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) Since lions often seek out the young and the weak, we need to grow up, and grow up quickly! We need to gain the wisdom that will give us the answers to every temptation he throws at us so we can escape his destructive ways (1 Corinthians 10:13). We need to "desire the pure milk of the word" (1 Peter 2:2) that we may grow up and be better able to resist. We need to "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) so we will have answers when we have trials and temptations.
Loving, godly parents shield their children from as much of the world's evil as they can, while safeguarding them and raising them in "the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4). While their parents are raising them, the children are learning about life's realities and the need to be prepared for the day when they go out into the world to be on their own. Soon, someone will take advantage of, scam, or even physically endanger an unprepared child. Likewise, an unprepared disciple will be deceived, used to achieve unholy goals, and spiritually endangered. Let us not forget that our enemy sometimes "disguises himself as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14), and "his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness" (v. 15). We need to be mature enough to recognize them, even in their disguises, or they will lead us away into error and eventual eternal condemnation.
The apostle Paul reminded the Ephesian brethren that Christ had established leadership within the church that they might equip the saints to edify one another and help one another to be spiritually mature and more like Christ, but also that we might "no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes" (Ephesians 4:11-14). When we are children in our spiritual understanding, it is very likely that we will be going back and forth like those waves, unsettled and unsure of where we stand or what is right or wrong. The spiritually mature, though, distinguish between good and evil (cf. Hebrews 5:14) and choose the good. It is imperative that we strive to achieve that level of spiritual maturity as quickly as we possibly can!
Finally, let us acknowledge that our spiritual immaturity can be a great hindrance to bringing others to salvation. The writer of Hebrews chastised the brethren for their spiritual immaturity, reminding them, "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child." (Hebrews 5:12, 13) Instead of being teachers [as they should have been] they still needed to be taught. They were, in effect, children!
Friends and brethren, let us be as children where we should be child-like: in humility and in love. But let us also strive to not be like children where we should not be: in spiritual understanding and maturity. By doing so, we will become the kind of people we need to be-God's children (cf. 1 John 3:1).
Brother Harper has done an excellent job of showing how two seemingly contradictory teachings about the same subject can be explained by examining the different contexts where the subject is discussed. So many times, we forget to treat new converts as spiritual babes and the ones who should make better decisions as mature Christians. As the result of our failure to make this distinction, which the Scriptures clearly teach, the Lord's church has experienced many problems. Remember to consult 1 Corinthians 13:11-13. Sadly, there are too many spiritual babes who should be more mature in faith and understanding. This is the result of their failure to grow! (KMG)