"Not One of Us"

This morning I felt led to continue reading from Mark 9.  I thought I had already mined that chapter pretty well, but the Lord apparently has other ideas.  That is His option. He is the Lord.  :-)

So the verses I am thinking about this morning are the following -  Mark 9:38-41 NIV:

[38] “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” [39] “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, [40] for whoever is not against us is for us. [41] Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward."

This is a very interesting set of verses, because apparently someone else, who was not one of the disciples, had come to understand that the name Jesus had authority on earth, and was walking under that authority and casting out demons.  He was demonstrating the Kingdom reality that Jesus came to proclaim and demonstrate, but he wasn't part of Jesus' team.

Oh that the Church would take on this same attitude towards those other denominations and congregations other than our own.  We need to recognize that those who are not against Jesus, are with us!  We are on the same team, working towards the same goal, just with different methods or training.  It is a wide swath of acceptance that Jesus swings here.  Anyone who is doing miracles in His name, anyone who is advancing the Kingdom, anyone who is not against Him, is for Him!  We need to pray for the same heart and mind as Christ.

So often the disagreements are over method or teaching, and this man might have watched Jesus, but he certainly wasn't trained by Him, nor was he one of the disciples at any time, as evidenced by John's statement.  It s apparent that the issue being addressed by Jesus here is pride.  John was apparently suffering from the malady of pride again for they had just been arguing who was the greatest in the verses immediately before the verses above.  You have to give John credit for his persistence down a path, even if its wrong.  They had just been instructed by the Lord concerning pride and positioning for His favor, and John switches  to a discussion around the topic of someone who didn't belong in the elite club of apostles, doing ministry like Jesus.  He was embracing pride, but this time for the sake of Jesus' reputation, at least that is probably how he rationalized it.  His goal was to shut down any ministry that wasn't officially sanctioned.  Boy does that sound like religion.

Finally let us embrace the last verse where Jesus speaks of showing kindness to those ministering in His name.  The gift of something as small as a glass of water catches His attention.  Let us choose to bless and not attack our fellow ministers in the Name of the Lord.  We may not like their methods or training but if they are effectively ministering in His name, let us bless them and give thanks for them, because the Kingdom is advancing.

Amen!