Handling the Hurdles
by George Hutto
via Biblical Insights, Vol. 14 No. 8, August 2014
“Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” (Matthew 18:7)
The in-laws had given us that peach-colored leather couch, and brother Jim Underwood went with me to get it. The sleeper was too long for closing the tailgate on his Ranger, but its weight assured us that it would stay put. However, on Interstate 20 just this side of Douglasville, the road wind was more than we had anticipated. The “bump” from the back alerted us to the catastrophe that was unfolding behind, as three lanes of Hondas and eighteen-wheelers were suddenly subjected to a living room-sized stumbling block, right in the middle of the road.
This life-changing event illustrates what Christ was talking about. Life might be going “wide-open,” nothing ahead but clear skies and blessings, when, through no fault of our own, everything is suddenly in peril.
The word Jesus uses is “scandalon,” sometimes translated as “stumbling block” in the New Testament. He said, “It must needs be that offenses come.” Scandals, offenses, traps, shipwrecks -they happen. The Bible provides guidance on handling these hurdles. And we need it.
Hopefully, we can simply go around. That is what the folks behind us on 1-20 did (“You’re lucky. I looked away for a second, and when I looked back, there was a couch in front of us!”). They were safe and skillful drivers.
Lot, on the other hand, was reckless in pitching his tent toward Sodom. As they say, we have to learn from the mistakes of others, because there isn’t enough time to make them all ourselves (Romans 15:4).
Lot simply invited catastrophe into his life “for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds...” (II Peter 2:8). Not much imagination is required to see obstacle after obstacle between Lot’s family and godliness. His wife, ironically, was indeed turned into a pillar of salt. And the scandal which followed was just as real. Stumbling blocks were just a way of life for them.
Those who live recklessly as Lot did will not take care about what they watch or hear. Television, the worldly message of music, and the theatre will become stumbling blocks to them. The friends they chose will present temptation, not spiritual encouragement. The Lord would have them choose better associates.
“Do not be deceived: ‘Evil company corrupts good habits’” (I Corinthians 15:33).
Some obstacles must be overcome because there is no way around them. When I told my couch story to a friend, he had a similar story. He lost his couch on a crowded bridge and just kept driving. The folks behind were left with no choice but to navigate through couch parts in just one narrow lane.
The context of Jesus’ words centered on children. “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Mt. 18:6). Children do not get to pick the families into which they are born. On their first excursions into the world, they rely on those older and stronger to protect them. They must be shielded from offenses which would divert them from the course of innocent godliness.
When those hindrances do come one’s way, parents and teachers who train the young hope that temptation, vice, and sin will be overcome.
One of the most telling passages of the human condition is Genesis 4:7, where Cain is told, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” The obstacles of anger and resentment had fallen into his path, and his job was to overcome them.
Of course, removing stumbling blocks is a priority. I have been surprised, as I confessed my rash moving episode, to hear other stories of tumbling lawn mowers, floating treadmills, and jumping cows. Tying things down has become a way of life for many of us.
The byproduct of free moral agency is a world in which anything can happen. “Time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Security for ourselves and those around us will be of our own making and the grace of God(Psalms 23; Philippians 2:12).
Our words must be pure and edifying (Colossians 4:5-6). Our examples must be worthy of emulation (Romans 14:21).
Jesus is not happy with those who wreak havoc in others' lives.
