Friday, June 11, 2010

Millstone and Offending others

Photo taken of a millstone used in this olive press in Nazareth, Israel
" And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea."
Mark 9:42
...............................................
I uses to think in the above scripture that "little ones" only meant little children...and is referring to those who offend, abuse, and harm the underaged. However, I learned from a friend that term can also refer to adults as well. Middle Eastern teachers, when conveying their love and closeness to their disciples, will address them as “little children”. According to custom, people call or address unlearned men, no matter how old they are, as “little children.”.. or "little ones". When God called Jeremiah to preach to the people, the prophet said: “I am a child.” This means “I am unlearned.”
Many times, when we learn of new things we are zealous in sharing these truths with others who might be "little ones"... yet might be older than us in age. I have learned that we are all on different levels of understanding and knowledge. It is important that we don't "offend" others by taking away what they know to be true... but only add to their knowledge.. add light to the light they already have. If we offend or hurt these little ones... then it would be better that a millstone be hung around our necks.. Seeing an actual millstone .. one would reconsider how we not only treat little children.. but those who are "unlearned".. I now understand why the Savior most oftentimes taught in parables.
So here are some rules to follow:
Rule #1: Learn to love people as much as you love truth.
Rule #2: All truth is not for all people
Rule #3: Be careful how you judge.

1 comment:

  1. It will take me some time to read through all the treasures in your blog, but this particular subject has been on my mind a lot this past month: feeding milk v. meat, and the idea of taking others' free agency away when you give them too much information that they're then forced to deal with.

    You have a gift of being able to put these things into words so perfectly.

    ReplyDelete