One of the humbling experiences I’ve had, growing a bit, is watching children I’ve taught in Sunday School grow up. Humbling, because I end up having to acknowledge that they are far smarter than me, or much more competent at life, are far more talented in some area or other.

It is really difficult for human nature to let go of the upper hand in the master/pupil relationship. Darth Vader was not completely wrong when he saw the issue needed to be settled with light sabres. And then there is Jesus:

He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief.

People accustomed to ordering about, and looking down upon, a child, are not open to the idea that they must now acknowledge his authority. They want to make “the Law” (by analogy) perpetual. Because then they get to be the master and have a slave. I use “Law” as an analogy for a reason found in Paul’s letter to the Galatians:

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

So Jesus came and made us slaves into mature heirs–which would mean, in NT context, into kings and priests. Paul not only addresses how the Law kept us when we were children, but implies to the Galatians that teachers of the perpetual law want perpetual children/slaves for reasons of personal aggrandizement:

It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.

This indicates that not only were they desirous of keeping the “sheep” in their place, but were part of a group that expected such status. The false teachers wanted to stay in good standing with other teachers. Paul, substantiates this in Romans:

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children…

But what happens when those blind claim to see, the foolish are wise, and the children grow up to teach you? That should be the goal of every guide, instructor, and teacher. But sometimes it is not the point at all. The point was to maintain the status of a guide, instructor, and teacher–forever over the little people.

God wants guides, instructors, and teachers, but this temptation for and perversion of that role needs to be guarded against. The thing to remember is that roles can be reversed at different times and in relation to different issues. The mutuality God wants to see in His Church is not a mutuality of people who are all the same. But neither is it a mutuality of people who always will stay the same. We can feel compelled to try to make them do so, and think we are being pious.

This has implications. I’ll mention a couple.

Helping out people who are less fortunate than you. The word “needy” is ambiguous for good reason. Those who are dependent need help, but the point is to get them to a point of independence. And this is the trap: helping can sometimes perpetuate the wrong habits and attitude. I am not saying we should not help. I’m saying that we have to be careful about it. Are we treating people like temporarily oppressed adults or as permanent wards? If the latter, we might find they stay that way.

And what about when you resist help or pastoral counsel? [ie. from lay teachers and other volunteers] Is it because you think you are going to be treated like a child ever after? That is obviously a real possibility. Maybe by being someone’s “case” you will never be acknowledged as a mature person in their eyes. Nevertheless, God exhorts us to humility and promises to exalt the humble. Perhaps the other person will grow and do better by you than you expect. You have to pray and hope for that.

But even if they won’t mature as you mature, I think the time to deal with the problem is later. Do not to resist help when it is offered and you need it. Jesus, after all, didn’t confront his hometown as a child.

He just left once he had grown up.

Possibly related: A fifth kind of legalism?

PostScript

For those considering the pastoral ministry, perhaps this post helps us understand the reason for Paul’s exhortation to Timothy:

Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.

Pastors are pastors in the church, but they too will know that people in their congregation need to be allowed to grow up. Not everyone needs intensive pastoral counseling, for example. And the point of such, when it must be done, is to end the need for it. (If this calls into question some forms of “spiritual direction,” maybe that is a good thing in some cases.)