In what sense does Jesus call us to be “like children”? How is a child's perception of the world so different from ours? A hint of the answer can be found in the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. It would seem that the Pharisee is telling the complete truth about himself. He was hardly being hypocritical when...
In what sense does Jesus call us to be “like children”? How is a child's perception of the world so different from ours? A hint of the answer can be found in the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee. It would seem that the Pharisee is telling the complete truth about himself. He was hardly being hypocritical when he thanked God that he was not like the tax collector standing beside him. No Pharisee would ever allow himself to commit a deliberate sin. There were exceptions, of course, but on the whole the Pharisees, as deeply and sincerely religious people, really did try to avoid every sin.
To become a publican, a tax collector, and cooperate with the Roman authorities was an obvious sin in the Pharisees' eyes. And the tax collector himself, it should be noted, has no doubt about this at all. He merely asks God to forgive the sins he has committed without even trying to justify himself. He understands no less well than the Pharisee standing beside him that apart from his sins he has nothing to present to God. The Pharisee is in a different position: he has something to say to God and something for which to thank Him. Indeed, what religious person does not thank God for the life He has given him? At least as long as that life proceeds more or less steadily, without serious crises or spiritual breakdowns.
The problem here is not what each of them has brought to God. The problem is whom the Pharisee is looking at and whom the tax collector is looking at. The Pharisee looks at himself. He lists his merits before God and admires himself. It is as though he were saying to God: look at how good You have made me! Thank You, Lord, that I have turned out so well in Your hands. And there would be nothing wrong even with such gratitude but for one thing: the Pharisee has no time to communicate with God. He is occupied with self-presentation. He is presenting himself to his God.
But God wants simple, ordinary communication. He already knows everyone; He knows that the Pharisee has succeeded in his religious life. What matters to Him is that the Pharisee should succeed equally well in his spiritual life. And for this a person must look not at himself, but at God, even if he is very religious, and perhaps especially if he is very religious. One can live a spiritual life only by keeping one's eyes fixed on God. Like the tax collector. He repents of his sins without taking his eyes off God. That is what matters most. God will do the rest. For Him there are no insurmountable sins. And this is where children find it easier than adults.
Up to a certain age, they usually pay almost no attention to themselves or to how they look in the eyes of others. They are not focused on themselves. Even if a child is a pronounced introvert, he does not look at himself. He simply lives in his inner world and looks at that inner world, not at himself. This freedom from self-absorption is the most important condition for a full spiritual life. Otherwise it is impossible to keep one's eyes fixed on God, and such a gaze is a necessary condition of salvation. Necessary and, on the whole, sufficient, for nothing is impossible to God's love.
