“Do Not Cause Others To Sin!”

“Do Not Cause Others To Sin!”(Mt.18:6-9).
There is this story of a 15 years old Mexican boy who was caught stealing bread from a store. As he attempted to escape from the guard who caught him, a store shelf was also broken.
The boy was brought before a judge. When the judge heard the charges, he asked the boy: “Did you really steal something?”
Boy: “Yes, bread and cheese.”
Judge: “Why?”
Boy: “Because I needed it.”
Judge: “You could have bought it.”
Boy: “I had no money.”
Judge: “You could have taken from your family”
Boy: “I have only a sick and unemployed mother at home. I stole the bread and cheese for her.”
Judge: “Why don’t you do any job?”
Boy: “I was working in a car wash. I took one day off for mom’s care, because of that they fired me from the job.”
Judge: “You could have asked for help”
Boy: “I was aking for help since morning but no one helped me.”
After the interrogation the judge said in his decision: “Stealing of bread is the worst crime. And we are all responsible for this horrible crime; including me. Everybody in this courtroom is guilty of this theft. I impose a fine of $10 on each person here, including myself. Yes, no one can leave the court without paying the ten dollars.”
So saying the judge took $10 out of his pocket and put it on the table. Then he continued, “Also, the court imposes a fine of $1000 on the store administration for treating a hungry child inhumanly and handing him over to the police. The store has to pay the fine within 24 hours, otherwise the court would order the store to be sealed.”
The final remarks of the verdict were: “The court apologizes to the boy.”
After hearing the verdict, the audience broke down in tears. As the boy was released, he repeatedly called the judge “A God, a God.”
I just finished listening to a Youtube documentary about Salvador, the first capital city of Brazil. The commentator says 80% of the population are of African descent. The twenty percent of whites control the city in all spheres. Salvador is a city built on the toil, sweat, tears and blood of African slaves. Yet their descendants are the “Swamp dwellers!”
Even on the African continent every Johannesburg has a Soweto nearby where those who do the menial and hard jobs for a pittance salary live.
City crimes like banditry, shoplifting, pickpocketing, drug trafficking, prostitution, brothels, etc are merely the outcomes of the impoverishment of the majority by the minority.
Fighting the above criminal networks is not by mere clampdowns on the criminals, it is by creating an enabling environment through the creation of structures that narrows down the gap of disparity which exist between the rich and the poor.
There are many who have been pushed into crime(sin) through the systems that have been put in place. Systems that favour a few at the expense of the masses.
Whenever there is this disequilibrium, the marginalized are forced into crime like the 15 year Brazilian boy in our story above.
The Lord Jesus Christ does not have any kind words for those responsible for the structures that promotes sin in others.
The Lord says, “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. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to sin! Such things must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!…”
Nemesis is real. If you do not want to save yourself, do not cause others to inadvertently join you!
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, guide my steps away from presumptuous sin. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang