Complicated tax forms are intimidating. It's little wonder that tax preparation services are big business. If it were only as simple as the humorous basic tax form with only two lines: (1) how much did you make? (2) send it in. On second thought, that's too painfully simple.

Perhaps we similarly complicate the road to the Kingdom of God. If someone were to ask, "how do I enter the Kingdom?", answers might include church attendance, financial giving, character integrity, and doctrinal grasp. And, while these are important areas, perhaps the best answer of all is this:

"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3)

Could it really be that simple? Are the pursuits that we equate with spiritual maturity in radical opposition to Jesus' basic statement about child-likeness?

Let's preface an answer with the child-like qualities Jesus apparently had in mind. The following verse holds an important clue:

"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:4)

Humility is clearly a prized quality: "Blessed are the gentle (meek; humble), for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5). "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3).

Humility is coupled with another quality that Jesus alludes to in the following verses in Matthew eighteen: forgiveness. A humble person is easily forgiving; a proud person can be harshly unforgiving.

Growth and maturity are essential on the road to the kingdom (Hebrews 5:12,13), but unless humility and forgiveness permeate our character, our growth is unproductive. These vital qualities are the bedrock of love, from which all must spring (1 Corinthians 13).

Confusing as it might sound, the priority is to grow up and be like a child. Pursue knowledge and understanding, maturity and wisdom, but never lose humility and forgiveness. Grow up, but never away, from these essential qualities.

Steve