The holier the Christian the lower their rank

 Matthew 11:11

 11Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

The statement may seem counter-intuitive, but really underpins just how important humility is to a walk of faith.

Matthew 11:11 can be interpreted in a couple of ways, but here is another.

John the Baptist was set up to play a specific role around the time of Jesus, one in particular being the Baptism of Jesus. Here was a man humbling himself before God’s will and allowing God to work through him as much as possible. As such, there was no other among those born of women who was a greater prophet.

Think about our walk with God and where the glory is supposed to go when good is worked according to God’s will. Of course, the glory goes to God. The idea is that falling in line with God’s will is not something of ourselves as much as it is of God, so that’s where the credit goes. As we allow God’s love to grow more in our hearts and actions, the more our will and imperfection is pushed out of the equation, and it is replaced by something greater.

However, the more that one gives the glory solely to God for the good, the greater the emphasis is on our responsibility for the bad. The higher one goes, and the more that God fills their spirit, the less excuse one has for ’sin’. That one ’sins’ at all given such a holy relationship magnifies the ’sin.’ Even the smallest of ’sins’ is weighty in relative degree if one flaunts an intimacy with God. If these sins are passed off as small in comparison to others at all this would show a lack of care towards the sin one has in their life.

Couple these ideas with the parables of the prodigal son, the lost sheep, and the vineyard workers. Note the value placed upon those who turn to virtue later than others. Those who are more closely tied to the flock have their reward for the security therein. The relative rank spiritually is ‘lower’ in terms of the effort put forth on their behalf. Being closer to the flock or already in the father’s service shouldn’t require so much effort anyone if one is living by God’s will anyway. 

To see yourself in this way and still enthusiastically turn yourself towards God’s will is a great act of humility. Taking security close to the flock and letting God’s will replace your own should be reward in and of itself. While it dampens any claim to rank and amplifies the sin we still do not work beyond, you still have the joy of witnessing.

Look at John the Baptist, it surely took nothing away from the joy in his spirit to be considered the least in heaven. Perhaps it behooves more Christians to work harder in order to be considered one of the least in heaven too.

If we are looking to serve God’s will, give the glory to God, and remove ourselves from pride, surely this is the goal?

Love is the best sin weed eater

Sin is a stubborn weed that plants roots in our heart that we never quite get rid of. Rebuke is the weed eater that skims along the surface, and where successful lops the top off the weed and keeps the ground looking tidy for appearances sake. However, it leaves the root intact, and the ground above still spare with plenty of reserves below and fertile room above to grow back.

Love is the seed that God and others plant in our hearts, and we in others. Love takes over the ground that sin would claim and makes it its own. It is a slow and steady lifelong bloom, but if tended to correctly (this seed is so amazing it feeds off itself to beget more of itself) pushes sin from the ground it claims as a matter of course. As we grow in the attending of our own hearts, with a mind to how that helps us attend others, the beauty of this bloom, the diversity of form, colour, and nourishment it brings to the soil, gives us a focus for what the rest of the garden should look like.

Those who are parents or work life long spans with people at various levels of dependency know that sometimes, for the sake of order, and to clear the ground to plant love, rebuke is needed. This is the purview for people who tend the hearts of others long enough to know the cycles of seasons and the best time to plant seeds through a journey of empathy and fellowship and/or parenthood.

But for we who pass each other on the corridors of life, who connect only briefly and often superficially over the Internet or other mediums, surely love is always the seed we plant if we care about sin. If we focus on sin through rebuke we give power to it, and do so without knowing the root of the weed in the other person’s heart. It provides nothing to tear the top off of sin if the person walks away the next moment. 

Love is the seed that plants itself in ignorance of the sin. Its purity ensures its supremacy, the beauty being that what seeds we may sow in another may not bloom until many years later, but still starve the weed of life as love  hungers for righteousness. Love is the seed you can cast another person’s way, and even if they depart from you, they carry it with them.

So which would you choose, the machine that hungers for weeds? Or the seed that hungers for righteousness? Which do you think produces better results in the long run?