So what's with the 180?

Matthew 18:1-4 English Standard Version (ESV)


Who Is the Greatest?

18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I have had several people ask me recently about the meaning of the number 180 for our youth group. There is more to it than just a cool youth group name, even though Group 180 is a cool name!!

We live every day filled with choices. Everything we do, everywhere we are, is a direct result of choices that we make. Some of our choices are big: where to live, what car to drive, where school to go to, what career do I want to pursue, who will I marry, will I have children, and on and on. And then, some of our choices are relatively small: should I wear my hair up or down, what do I want for lunch, what do I want to watch on TV, do I wear shorts or pants today, and on and on.

Concurrently, every day we have the choice to make of whether or not we are going to follow God. Whatever we do, whether big or small, you can either glorify and follow God through your choices, or you can glorify and follow the world. You can’t do both, and it is up to you daily as to what choice you are going to make. You have two very clear and distinct options you can choose to follow daily:

The World <----------------------------------------------------> Jesus

Often times, we start out with the best of intentions. We want to follow Jesus, but we can’t. In our fallen nature oftentimes the world looks good, and we lose our way. When that happens, we need to turn around…we need to change course…we need to do a 180 and choose Jesus!

If we look at the passage from Matthew above, the Apostles are arguing over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Now just by looking at what they are arguing over you can see that they have lost their way. Who cares about stuff like “who will be the greatest” in Heaven? You know who? Sinful, fallen people that’s who. Humans are a prideful bunch, and heaven sometimes feels just like a reward for doing a good job. So obviously, the better the job you do, the better the reward. On this point the Apostles had started to lose their way. Jesus understanding this, used the opportunity to illustrate to the Apostles the true nature of heaven. Calling a child to himself, he taught the Disciples that in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven they must turn (do a 180) and become humble and childlike in their faith. There is no least and greatest in Heaven. Heaven is perfected creation as God had intended it to be. The Apostles strayed from the message of Jesus, and Jesus corrected them and got them to turn to him.

That is the driving force behind Group 180. Being a kid, or a young man or woman, in this age is tough. The influences of world through friends, reality TV, social media, etc. is nearly too much to handle. It is so easy to lose sight of the message of Jesus and focus your attention on the world. Group 180 is there so that the students know there is a church body that loves and supports them, that there are other students their age that share the same beliefs that they have, and to serve as a place where students know they can come and be equipped to turn from the world and turn towards Jesus Christ.

Jesus did not call us to partially follow Him. He called us to be His. He is our Saviour, He is our Lord. We need to turn our back to the world, do a 180, and follow Jesus Christ. In the words of the famous song “I have decided to follow Jesus”: “The world behind me, the cross before me. No looking back, no looking back.”

To be a donor, or not?

Is organ donation, or being an organ donor, compatible with the Christian life? I had someone ask me about this the other day, and after giving my response I thought I’d write a little blog about it in case anyone else had the same question. From what I can gather, the Bible does not specifically address the issue of organ donation. Organ transplants (like other modern technologies and advances) would have been unknown during Bible times. However, the scriptures is a unified drama that tells a unified story, with an overriding unifying message about love and redemption. When addressing issues such as this, we can look at verses that address the underlying principle that is needed. That being the case, here are some that in my opinion apply. Love and compassion are large, overriding principles of the Bible, therefore some compelling arguments for organ donation is the love and compassion that such an act demonstrates toward others. The command to "love your neighbor" was given by Jesus (Matthew 5:43), Paul (Romans 13:9), and James (James 2:8), but it can actually be traced all the way back to Leviticus 19:18. From the earliest days in the Old Testament, God's people were commanded to demonstrate a love for God as well as for their neighbors. We can use that principle to state that being willing to donate an organ from our own bodies would seem to be an marvelous example of selfless sacrifice for another. (Side Note: I want to be clear, each person has to make this decision with regards to their own sensibilities. We are not commanded to donate organs, but if you feel the desire to do so there is no argument against it that I can find in scripture. And if donating is not your thing, then don’t)


Getting on with it, the greatest example of sacrificing for another is the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made as He gave up His body for all of humanity. John summed up the command well when he wrote, "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11). Jesus not only conveyed this message of unconditional love, He also taught us to care for the hungry, thirsty, homeless, naked, sick, and imprisoned (Matthew 25:35-46). Jesus said "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40). If a practice or procedure is not clearly in conflict with biblical principles, then it can be considered permissible and can be supported by faithful Christians.
There are several other topics that can be touched upon here related to organ harvesting. fetal tissue, mutilation of the body, keeping the body intact, etc., etc., etc. I am not going to address those now for the sake of brevity. But just to restate and be clear, a thorough reading and understanding of scripture demonstrates that being an organ donor is not in conflict with a Christian worldview and is therefore acceptable and permissible to faithful Christians.

“The greatest love you can show is to give your life for your friends…” John 15:13 (GWT)