Photo by Mads Schmidt Rasmussen on Unsplash
When asked for a sign, Jesus said that there would be no sign given except the sign of Jonah (Matthew 12:39, Matthew 16:4 and Luke 11:29). This sign is one of the way of descent. That is Jesus offers a way of life that is not the way of assent - going up - but the way of descent - going down. Just as Jonah went down into the belly of the ship and even the belly of the whale, Jesus came down from heaven, went down to the cross and down to death. The way of descent is not a very popular way of living, but according to Jesus, it is the way of eternal life.
The way of descent has different requirements to life than those of the way of assent. One of the different requirements is the way of descent listens to the dissenting voice when the one on the path of assent does not take time to do so. Those busy going up, do not have time to listen to those "little ones" already surpassed on the ladder. But it is the way of descent that listens to dissent and gives value and merit to the voice.
The temptation is to use dissent as a weapon in order to destroy others. When we use dissent as a weapon for destruction, then we are no longer on the way of descent. Rather we are on the way of assent, and we are enslaving the voice of the "little ones" for our own assent.
Tread lightly on the way of descent in this age of dissent so not to fall prey to the way of assent.