Jesus said: "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," (Mark 9:42).
I was once in a seminar when the person conducting the lesson told me that if I was a member of his church he would take me out and shoot me.
What happened was this. We were talking about the importance of children in the Christian community, and the seminar leader asked why they are such a vital part of it.
I put up my hand and volunteered this answer: "Because children are part of the church of tomorrow." Bingo, I thought; in my mind it was such an "obvious" answer to an easy question.
It was then that the lecturer said: "If you were a member of my church, I would take you out and shoot you for that."
Needless to say, it was a response which stayed with me! Fortunately, I was not a member of his church, and moreover he was (of course) jesting. At least I hope he was.
But the reason he shot down my answer was simple, as he then made clear: children are not part of the church of tomorrow. They are part of the church today. They are not to be seen as a future commodity to "keep the church going". They are disciples of Christ who need help and attention right now.
Jesus uses similarly over-the-top language to make the same point in Mark's Gospel. As his disciples quarrel over who among them is the greatest (9:33-35) and who is "in" and "out" of Jesus' community (v38), Jesus calls over a little child and holds the infant among them (v36). Our attitude to welcoming children in his name, he says (v37), tells us a lot about our real attitude to him.
And then he goes on: "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." It is hyperbole – over-the-top language to make a point – for sure, but effective hyperbole nonetheless.
It's a stark warning to child abusers. The part of the church in which I worked has been rocked by various child abuse scandals in recent years. I have known three personally myself. Jesus' words could not be a starker warning about how God views their actions: toss them into the sea with a concrete block round their neck. God sees, God cares, and he will enact justice against the unrepentant. It doesn't get much starker than that.
It's a stark reminder to us all about children. How seriously do we take children's ministry in our churches? One of the churches where I serve is currently considering re-starting its Sunday School after an absence of many years. It's one of the most encouraging things I have heard in a long time – and even better that it has come from some of the church members themselves rather than me as their minister.
It's a stark reminder about how we treat other Christians. It's possible Jesus' words don't just apply to children – but any "little one", perhaps someone young in the faith, or someone with learning difficulties. Do we cause such believers to stumble through our use of "in" Christian language or incomprehensible services or through careless remarks in any way?
As I write these words I remember a man with Asperger's syndrome in a previous church. In spiritual terms (if not, I fear, in girth) he was perhaps one of the "little ones" Jesus has in mind. One of my fondest memories is a church barbecue where he cooked 12 sausages to an absolute cinder, said grace loudly and then ate them all one after the other (refusing offers of salad), after which he gave a loud burp and went to sleep.
The church loved him! What about you and your church and its "little ones"? Would my seminar teacher threaten to shoot you? Would Jesus threaten to drown you? Or would he see us welcoming such people in his name...
David Baker is a former daily newspaper journalist now working as an Anglican minister in Sussex, England. The Rough Guide to Discipleship is a fortnightly devotional series.
