This morning I have continued my reading from Mark's Gospel. I often times will read a verse where the meaning takes a bit of study to understand. This morning I was doing a bit of research on the last verses of Mark's ninth chapter, and have included a couple other verses to set context - Mark 9:33-35, 49-50 NIV:
[33] "They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” [34] But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
[35] Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
[49] Everyone will be salted with fire. [50] “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Verses 33-35 speak of the situation that Jesus was addressing in verse 50. The disciples were arguing about their importance and this talk was causing division and strife, as it always will do. This type of conversation is somewhat understandable, as the preceding verses included Jesus taking Peter, James and John with Him up on the mountain where He was transfigured. One would think that this would have caused those three to think of themselves as favored by the Lord. This conversation had changed to argument, and Jesus, who apparently was aware of their argument but who had not intervened at that moment, was not going to allow discord to settle into the group, so He addressed it when they were in private.
In verse 50, Jesus speaks of the disciples having salt in themselves and peace with each other. To explain that a bit more I have included the following note is from the John Gill Expository of the Bible - "Salt is an emblem of firm union, concord, and agreement: hence the covenant of peace is called a covenant of salt, (Numbers 18:19)". In other commentaries, salt is also compared to grace. Jesus is encouraging them to strongly embrace servant leadership and do away with pride among themselves, which leads to division and strife. Once division occurs, it is very difficult to reestablish unity and peace, and this is what Jesus was describing in salt that has lost its saltiness.
Taking that thought a bit further, if the symbols of our following Him are our love for each other (John 13:35) and unity, then if they are not present the witness of our following Him is called into question. In John 17:23 Jesus specifically speaks of the fruit of unity - "I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me." The unity was supposed to show the world that Jesus was from the Father and that He loves us. Without unity these things are not readily apparent.
It was this love and unity that set apart the early church. We see this described in the following two sets of verses.
Acts 2:42-47 NIV:
[42] "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. [43] Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. [44] All the believers were together and had everything in common. [45] They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. [46] Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Acts 4:32-35 NIV:
[32] "All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. [33] With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all [34] that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales [35] and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.
As we look at these verses, it is apparent that love for each other and unity were present. As it was recounted in Acts 2:47 - there was favor among the people for this behavior. Luke writes that this was due to God's grace (salt) working powerfully in them (Acts 4:33).
In stark contrast, as we look at the church of today, we see a largely disjointed body, rife with disagreements and strife. We see churches competing with each other for members, disagreements over doctrine and teaching, distrust and rejection of those experiencing anything we have not experienced. We see the constant fragmenting and splitting of congregations. We see brothers and sisters attacking each other over disagreements concerning teaching, practice, or theology, rather than attacking the enemy and taking ground from him. We have allowed our opinions and thoughts about ourselves to become more important than love and unity in the Body of Christ. Is it any wonder that the impact of the church is weak, especially here in America?
Oh Lord, have mercy! We need Your salt, for in many places we have lost our saltiness. We have not guarded our peace, unity or love like we should have. Lord, we need Your help! Salt us with fire, the Holy Spirit, and purify and unify us once again.
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