Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, February 15, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
I sometimes think I know everything. I mean, obviously I don’t, and I work to cultivate the humility to recognize my limitations. But I have an impatient streak, and in those unfortunate moments, I sometimes make unilateral decisions on the assumption that I’m right. And sometimes said decisions blow up in my face.
Not that I’ve ever walked up to someone who believed in God and told them they were wrong, or deliberately put someone in a position to blow it in terms of their faith. That would be extreme—kind of like the idea of putting a millstone around someone’s neck and throwing them into the sea.
Perhaps all this hyperbole is simply a reminder to us that we ought to be aware of what message we’re sending by our words and actions on a daily basis. Do we ever act in ways (out of pride or inconsiderateness) that would undermine another person’s faith? Do we, in our need to be right, feel it necessary to force someone else to question what they believe?
In any case, what another person believes about God or, really, about anything, is between them and God. It’s none of our business (unless it’s causing direct harm, in which case it’s our call to speak truth to power, but that’s not what I’m talking about here). We can trust that God is the one in charge, and accept that it’s not up to us to convince anyone to think or believe anything. Especially because we might just be “wrong.”
Have I accidentally or intentionally undermined someone’s faith by my words or actions?
