JESUS, THE CHILDREN—AND THE MILLSTONE The Warning We’d Rather Not Hear

A Jesus Entrepreneur Collective Commentary with Stan Hustad

 

There is a version of Jesus that almost everybody can live with.

Gentle Jesus. Welcoming Jesus. Compassionate Jesus. Jesus with the children gathered around him. Jesus healing the sick, feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners and telling frightened people not to be afraid.

That Jesus is real.

But he is not the whole Jesus.

And in this challenging edition of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective, Stan Hustad asks his audience to confront another side of Jesus—the strong, courageous, sometimes confrontational Jesus who was willing to say things that made powerful people uncomfortable.

This is Jesus, the Man of the Millstone.

And his warning concerning the vulnerable—especially children—is difficult to dismiss.

Jesus said that whoever causes one of the “little ones” to stumble would be better off having a great millstone hung around his neck and being cast into the sea.

Those are not gentle words. They are not politically convenient words. And they certainly do not sound like the harmless, perpetually agreeable Jesus sometimes presented by modern culture.

They are the words of someone who took the protection of the vulnerable with extraordinary seriousness.

Jesus Was No Wimp

Hustad begins the program with an observation he has made repeatedly throughout his years of broadcasting, teaching and coaching: Jesus was not weak.

He was compassionate without being timid. He could welcome a child, touch a leper, forgive a sinner and comfort a grieving family. But he could also challenge religious authorities, confront hypocrisy, overturn tables and stand before political power without surrendering his convictions.

Hustad recalls the famous scene from the classic film Ben-Hur. A Roman soldier attempts to prevent Jesus from giving water to the exhausted prisoner. Jesus simply rises and looks at him. No speech. No violence. No threat. Just presence. And the soldier backs away.

Whether or not the cinematic scene tells us precisely what the historical Jesus looked like, it captures something important about him: Strength does not always have to shout. Real authority does not require bullying. Courage does not require cruelty. And conviction does not require hatred.

That distinction becomes especially important when Christians enter the difficult moral arguments of their time.

Don’t Mess With the Children

The program then moves directly into one of the most contentious issues in American public life: abortion, particularly political efforts to permit abortion very late in pregnancy.

Hustad makes no attempt to hide his position. He believes unborn children possess profound human worth, and he believes Christians should speak clearly in their defense.

But the challenge goes deeper than a political argument. His question is: What does Jesus’ warning about protecting the vulnerable require of people who claim to follow him?

That question cannot simply be handed to politicians. It belongs to pastors, business leaders, entrepreneurs, parents and grandparents, teachers, broadcasters and communicators, and ordinary Christians sitting quietly in church pews.

The millstone passage is disturbing precisely because Jesus intended it to be disturbing. He deliberately chose an image his listeners would understand: an enormous grinding stone, potentially so heavy that an animal was required to turn it.

Then Jesus attached that image to a warning about harming or corrupting the vulnerable.

Whatever one’s politics, those words should stop a follower of Jesus long enough to ask: Do I take the protection of vulnerable human life as seriously as Jesus apparently did?

That is the challenge. Not hatred. Not harassment. Not threats. Not personal condemnation. A challenge of conscience.

Conviction Without Cruelty

There is another challenge here for the Christian entrepreneur. It is possible to believe something strongly and still behave badly while defending it.

Christians do not receive permission to become cruel simply because they believe their cause is righteous. Jesus demonstrated another way: strong convictions, courageous words, compassion for people.

Those three belong together.

The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective therefore does not call people to attack those with whom they disagree. It calls people to become courageous enough to speak, thoughtful enough to listen, disciplined enough to understand the issue, and compassionate enough to remember that every person in the argument remains a human being.

The unborn child matters. The frightened mother matters. The father matters. The physician matters. The person who profoundly disagrees with you matters.

Truth and love are not competitors. The difficult task of Christian leadership is learning to practice both.

Jesus the Marketplace Man

Hustad then returns to one of the recurring themes of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective: before Jesus became an itinerant teacher, he spent many years in the ordinary world of work.

He knew customers. He knew deadlines. He knew workmanship. He knew expectations. He knew what it meant to make something useful and have another person judge its value.

Whatever modern occupational title we apply to the ancient tekton, Jesus knew the marketplace.

That matters to Hustad because Christianity should never be confined to Sunday morning. If Jesus is Lord, then Jesus belongs in Monday morning too—in the office, in the shop, in the sales meeting, in the boardroom, in the classroom, behind the microphone, and in the difficult public conversations that respectable people would sometimes prefer to avoid.

The Jesus Entrepreneur Collective exists in part to recover that connection between faith, courage, work, enterprise and public responsibility.

Become an Apprentice

Perhaps the most important word in the program is not entrepreneur. It is apprentice.

Christians traditionally call the followers of Jesus “disciples.” Hustad suggests that modern people might better grasp the idea if they thought of themselves as apprentices.

An apprentice watches the master. Studies the master. Practices what the master does. Learns how the master thinks. Makes mistakes, receives correction and tries again.

So Hustad poses a far more demanding question than simply, “Do you believe in Jesus?” He asks: Are you apprenticed to Jesus?

Are you learning his courage? His compassion? His way of dealing with people? His willingness to challenge conventional wisdom? His concern for the vulnerable? His ability to combine strength and grace? And his willingness to accept the consequences of telling uncomfortable truths?

That is considerably harder than simply claiming a religious identity.

What’s Your MOU With the MOU?

Hustad closes with one of his memorable plays on words. Businesspeople know the term MOU—Memorandum of Understanding.

So he asks: What is your MOU with the MOU—the Master of the Universe?

What exactly is your understanding with Jesus? What have you agreed to do? What responsibilities come with calling yourself his follower? What happens when his teaching conflicts with your politics, your profession, your comfort, your financial interests—or even your friends?

Perhaps every Christian entrepreneur needs a personal memorandum of understanding:

This is what I believe. This is whom I follow. These are the people I will protect. These are the principles I will not sell. This is how I will treat people who disagree with me. And this is the courage I intend to practice when remaining silent would be easier.

That may be what apprenticeship to Jesus looks like in the modern marketplace.

And perhaps that is why the image of the millstone still matters. It reminds us that the Jesus who welcomed children was also fiercely serious about what happened to them.

Grace was real. Love was real. And so was accountability.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

Jesus was compassionate, but he was not weak. His love included courage, confrontation and moral seriousness.

Protecting the vulnerable is not merely a political issue. For followers of Jesus it is a matter of conscience and discipleship.

Conviction does not excuse cruelty. Christians should be able to defend what they believe without dehumanizing those who disagree.

Christianity belongs in the marketplace. Faith that disappears when business, money, reputation or controversy enters the room is worth examining.

A disciple is an apprentice. Following Jesus means more than admiring him. It means learning to live differently because of him.

THINGS TO SHARE

Share this program with someone who believes Jesus was merely “nice.”

Share it with a Christian business leader who is trying to determine how faith should influence difficult decisions.

Share it with someone who disagrees with Stan. In fact, that conversation may be particularly worthwhile.

The goal should not be to create another shouting match. The world already has plenty of those. The better goal is to create an uncomfortable but honest conversation about human dignity, courage, responsibility, children, conscience and what following Jesus actually requires.

THINGS TO DO

Before criticizing somebody else, examine your own MOU with the Master of the Universe.

Ask yourself: Where am I remaining silent because speaking might cost me something? Where have I confused being loving with being agreeable? Where have I confused being courageous with being angry? Who are the vulnerable people around me whom I have a responsibility to protect? If someone watched my business life for a month, would they discover evidence that I am actually apprenticed to Jesus?

Then choose one action: Speak. Serve. Protect. Give. Apologize. Learn. Challenge. Encourage. Or simply refuse to remain comfortably indifferent.

AND NOW, A CHALLENGE

Stan Hustad has made his argument. You are welcome to challenge it.

If you believe he has gone too far, tell him. If you believe he has not gone far enough, tell him that too. If you think his interpretation of Jesus is wrong, make your case. And if this program caused you to reconsider something you had comfortably stopped thinking about, tell him that as well.

Write Stan at [e-mail].

Better yet, don’t keep the conversation between Stan and you. Share this article. Share the program. Start a conversation.

And if the idea of becoming an apprentice to Jesus—in your life, profession, business and marketplace leadership—strikes a chord, talk with Stan about becoming part of the Jesus Entrepreneur Collective.

Because perhaps the world does not need more people who merely admire Jesus. Perhaps it needs more people willing to apprentice themselves to him—and then have the courage to live like it.