Have you ever stopped to consider the multitudes of divisions that exist among the human family? It is really remarkable when you stop to think about it. There are ethnic divisions, economic divisions, societal divisions, cultural divisions, language divisions, political divisions, educational divisions, philosophical divisions, theological divisions, and the list goes on and on.

Sometimes these divisions will result in one person thinking that he is better than the other. An educated individual may look down on an uneducated individual. A wealthy person may look down on someone who struggles to make ends meet. Someone who would be considered to be a member of “high society” may look down on someone who is not on their level of societal sophistication. And again, the comparisons go on and on.

My question is, what causes one person to think that he is better than another? Do any of these divisions make one person better, more important, than another? Are the rich better than the poor? Are the sophisticated better than the unsophisticated? Are the educated better than the uneducated? Where did these divisions come from, and why are they so seemingly important among the human family?

For those of us who would identify ourselves as disciples of Jesus Christ, we would acknowledge the fact that the Bible recognizes such divisions. There are clear ethnic divisions. The Jewish people clearly believed that they were better than others. Their rabbis actually taught that the only thing Gentiles were good for was to fuel the fires of hell! That is certainly a clear line of delineation.

But what does the Bible teach about such divisions? First of all, we learn from Scripture that every individual human being is part of the human family. We are all created in the image of God. Thus, my reason for using the term “human family”. This family consists of all humans regardless of those divisions we have superimposed on the family.

There was an incident in the life of Jesus which perhaps will help us understand this concept a little better.

Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’

Matthew 18:2-4, NKJV

This statement of Jesus was given in response to a question posed by the disciples concerning who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. When you think about it, this question was the epitome of arrogance. This question was couched in their understanding of the Jewish people being the greatest people of the human family, but it also showed their belief that among the Jewish family there existed a hierarchy. They believed that some were better, greater, than others.

So, what did Jesus do? He sat a little child in the midst of these ‘important’ people, and used the example of the child to bring them all down a few notches. ‘Whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’

What do you think we are to learn from incident? What was the lesson Jesus was attempting to teach His disciples? We could discuss all the characteristics of a child, and learn some very important lessons for sure. But let’s keep in mind the question posed by the disciples that prompted this ‘teaching moment’. They asked who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus pointed to a child to give answer. Their question was based on division, and Jesus’ answer clearly showed that there is no division.

When children are together, they have no concept of division. All the children of the world – the reds, the yellows, the blacks, and the whites – play together indiscriminately. They give no consideration to the color of skin, to the economic/social status of their playmate’s parents, to the political affiliation of those parents, to the labels on the clothing of their playmates. No, none of these man-made divisions are acknowledged. They don’t come along until after the children are taught these divisions by ‘well-meaning adults’.

Billy Graham said in many of his sermons, ‘The ground is level at the foot of the cross.’ No one is on higher, or lower ground. We are all in equal need of a Savior, and this Savior, Jesus Christ, is no respecter of persons.

Let’s not give ourselves over to the erroneous thinking that someone is better than someone else simply because of some man-made notion that divisions exist. Let’s embrace the Bible’s teaching about the we are all created in the image of God, and that yes, indeed, we are all standing on level ground at the foot of the cross.

Blessings!