Swimming with a Millstone Necklace

By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

Have you ever hit a pothole without seeing it? It’s quite a shock. Your car thumps and bumps as the wheel falls into the deep hole and hits its sharp edge. You cringe as you wonder if your wheel rim is dented or your car’s suspension is damaged. It’s not a pleasant experience. In life we can hit potholes as well.

 

In Luke 17 Jesus talks about what might be called spiritual potholes that are thrown in the path of unsuspecting individuals. These potholes are sometimes placed in the path of innocent individuals purposely or by accident. Despite the motives behind such actions, they always cause trauma and problems.

 

Luke 17:1-3 states, “Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.’”

 

Here we see several truths that Jesus identifies about our Christian walk. Things are bound to come into our life that will cause us to sin if we allow them. This is why it is so critical we seek to listen to God’s Spirit for direction, read and meditate on His Word, fellowship with other Christians and pray for guidance and direction. But here we see Jesus expand on this idea by stating, woe to that person through whom such stumbling blocks come. Jesus is proclaiming a warning to any of us who might place a spiritual pothole in the life of another believer. He states it would be better if we tied a millstone around our neck and went for a swim in the deepest part of the sea. Why does Christ use such a drastic illustration? You must understand what a millstone is.

 

Millstones or grindstones were large circular stones used to grind grain into flour for the making of bread. Grain was placed on a stone surface and then a man, men, ox or other beast of burden was used to turn the millstone in a circular path over the grain. In this process the grain was crushed to powder. This powder was then collected and used to make breads of various sorts. These millstones were chosen carefully for their heavy weight so that they could crush the grain efficiently. They could be the size of a large boulder or even larger, but they were always very heavy. Jesus’ comment about having a millstone around your neck is very illustrative of the seriousness of this sin against someone. Imagine for comparison diving off the deck of your houseboat into Shasta Lake with a huge anchor tied to your neck. Not an advisable behavior for living a long life.

 

Here Jesus is saying it would be better for you to take a dive into a lake or ocean with such a heavy necklace attached to your neck than to put any sort of spiritual, emotional or physical pothole in the path of another person that would cause them to sin. This is quite convicting if you ask me.

 

Jesus is giving wise advice for us here in our relationships with others. We are to take great care how we speak and treat others. We can cause other Christians to stumble in their walk with Christ by how we respond to them. We can also cause non-Christians to rebel against God by our actions of insensitivity. Our witness as followers of Christ extends to all those we come in contact with.

 

It is interesting that in another passage Jesus addresses this issue in a similar matter. In Matthew 18 He is asked by His disciples “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” His response reflects the conditions by which someone receives eternal life and the importance Christ places on that person for making such a commitment. In Matthew 18:2-6 Jesus uses a small child to illustrate His point. “He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. 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.”

 

Jesus cares for those who belong to His flock, His precious family. He is a protective shepherd and does not wish any harm to come to those that call Him Lord and Savior. He warns us as followers and servants to beware of how we treat others, how we respond to them and how we relate to people in general. He is especially concerned about the young in faith and those that are tender in their spiritual maturity. Great damage can be done to the spiritual life of a person when, by our actions, we cause them to stumble in their faith. How can we cause such a thing to happen?

 

Believe it or not we are each other’s role models. If our behavior is not Christ-like, others can imitate it. God set up His church on earth through the ministry of Christ and His disciples to provide a means of mutual discipleship within the local fellowship. This is of great benefit for support and encouragement in the walk of faith. But if we fail to be led by the Spirit and let our flesh rule our lives, we can cause others in the fellowship to stumble into sin. If we respond to others in anger, they can return the favor if they are young in the faith. If we participate in worldly activities that are not appropriate for a Christian, we can encourage other Christians to stumble into the same sin. We can not only lead others down an unrighteous path by our actions we can wound them so deeply they can begin to question their faith or the validity of Christian fellowship. Believe it or not, our behavior and responses do influence others in our local church fellowship. Christ is telling us here that we should take care how we treat each other and how we live, because consciously or unconsciously we are watching and observing each other for the manifestation of the Spirit. We look to each other for support in our faith and for examples of how to live for Christ. Our behavior can cause others to sin if we fail to consider the weaker brother or sister with whom we associate.

 

The reason such actions are so serious is answered by 1 Corinthians 8:12 where it says, “When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.” When we wound others, we are actually sinning against Christ Himself. Christ doesn’t want us to fall into this sin and therefore warns us to be careful how we treat others and how we behave as believers.

 

But there is one other type of person who actually seeks to do harm to others. Their intention is to purposely cause someone to stumble in their faith. These most dangerous individuals deliberately lead the weak and innocent astray. They are false teachers and spiritual predators. These individuals are spoken of in 1 Timothy 4:1-2 where it says, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” Also in Acts 20:30-31 it states, “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” So be on your guard! And in Matthew 7:15-16 is says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.” These evil individuals are described here in most graphic terms. They claim to be spiritually mature and greatly concerned about the well being of others when actually they are liars and seek to do nothing but harm. While we can accidentally cause someone to stumble into sin, these individuals actually purposely seek to lead people astray from the Christian walk of faith. Their consciences have been so seared by sin and selfishness they have no concern for others in the least. The sea of hell will be filled with such people with large millstones tied to their necks.

 

So what we have learned is that our behavior and actions towards others is very important to Christ. Our actions can lead others to walk stronger in Christ or cause them to stumble into sin. We are to take care how we treat all people that we come in contact with. If we sin against another, we are to ask for forgiveness. If they sin against us we are to confront them in love and forgive them. Above all, we are to avoid and expose false teachers and protect others from such evil individuals.

 

Ephesians 4:2-3

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.”