Mark 9:41-48 - September 3, 2010

Mark 9:41-48 “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.”42 "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”

What kind of influence do you have on people? Jesus declares a stern warning to all men in this passage. Many times correction and warning are most readily received if they are intertwined with positive encouragements that temper the more challenging topics that must be addressed. It is in this tone that Jesus identifies two responses to our relationship with believers. Do we serve them because of their association with Christ, knowing that to serve them is to serve Christ? Or do we cause them to sin through the influence of our own unconquered flesh?

It is an all too common condition amongst believers to see one person draw another more righteous believer into sin because their own sinfulness is being confronted by the purity of the other person’s life! This and many other expressions of the principle that Jesus is addressing are all committed to the great harm of both the one defiled and the one who leads them astray.

Jesus’ illustration of the little child who believes is a picture of the innocence found in those who are pure of heart. And it is this innocence that is wounded when we draw someone else into our sinfulness either intentionally or even unintentionally. To this Jesus speaks with great warning and seemingly sorrow. Other passages make it clear that our God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and yet Jesus speaks strongly that it would have been better for a person to be cast into deep waters with a millstone around their neck than for them to have a negative influence on one who is pure in heart.

Jesus does not stop with this temporal warning either! Our Lord continues on to warn of the fires of hell that await those who contribute to the defilement of one who is pure in heart. The Lord’s counsel is an aggressive pursuit of correcting the sinful nature of our hearts. If our hand offends, cut it off. If our eye offends, pluck it out. And so on, and so on. What firm words of warning that end with the sobering statement in Mark 9:47-48 “It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'”

At the heart of this message is a call to accountability. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ we will have no one to blame but ourselves. Here and now, in this life, the warning has come with great strength and absolute clarity. We are accountable to God for our choices and our actions. We are accountable to God for what we allow to remain in our own lives and for the negative influences we have on others due to these unrepentant areas in our lives. Jesus calls us to deal radically with sin!

Mark 9:38-40 - September 2, 2010

Mark 9:38-40 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man 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. "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.”

Mark 9:38 carries within it a simple but important message. Many people within the body of Christ have fallen to the deception that this teaching addresses. Throughout much of the church people are polarized around certain doctrinal positions or topical emphasis. There are those who focus on faith, others prioritize evangelism, still others spiritual gifts, prayer or end time truths. Each of these focuses is valuable and plays an important part in our Christian faith. Where the problem comes in is in the area of exclusivity. Too many groups within the body of Christ cling to their emphasis with great tenacity but to the exclusion and at times even criticism of those with other emphasis.

In Mark 9:38-40 the disciples are concerned about the fact that there are some people conducting ministry successfully in Christ’s name that are not connected relationally to their expression of ministry. This independent success has raised a concern in the hearts of the disciples that has provoked them to ask the Lord if He would like them to put a stop to this work without connection. The lesson from Christ is quick and immediate as He tells them “do not stop him.” Jesus makes it clear that anyone who does a miracle in the name of Christ will be personally impacted by that miracle flowing through them and their loyalty to Christ will be deepened by it. He then states an important principle: “whoever is not against us is for us.”

In this response Jesus addresses a very important issue that has crept into the body of Christ today. It is impossible to state with certainty what motivated the disciples in their concern over the ministry of this man but it is easy to see the motives of many who carry this same limiting concern in the church of today for there are many different ones at work. In the 21^st century church there are leaders who target someone’s doctrinal differences as the point of their criticism. There are others who feel that anyone who is not under their authority or the authority of their group cannot be legitimate. There are still others who would point to the supernatural demonstrations taking place in the name of Christ as their primary point of resistance. To all of these the answer of Christ is incredibly simple in its focus “whoever is not against us is for us!”

Jesus chooses to focus on the issues that unite rather than the things that divide. In is so comforting to see two things demonstrated in the emphasis of His response. First He displays a desire to focus on the good that is being done above any problems created by an individual who is not working directly under His authority or that of His disciples. Secondly Jesus demonstrates a tremendous confidence in the ability of the Holy Spirit to steer the hearts of those who work in the name of Christ. He does not react with a fearful concern that this man is somehow going to damage the work of Christ through His efforts. Jesus is at rest and simply responds with the phrase we have noted above that those who are not against us are for us!

This is not to say that there is never a time that a church or minister should a stand against obvious heresy or clearly destructive ministry styles, the scriptures address many of these with sufficient clarity so as to make our responsibility clear. What is important to say is that those issues and areas are when the extremes are found not simply areas of difference. There are many things clearly stated for the church within scripture, but there are also many things that the Lord has chosen to leave as grey areas, obscure areas that leave room for us to have differences and still be united in spirit. Though in a different context, Paul expressed this same confidence in God’s ability to direct hearts into right belief in Phil 3:15-16 where he stated, “…if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” Let the church seek opportunity to be united above its search for that which can divide and let us grow up in love so that the full measure of the body of Christ can be seen in all of its diversity by a world that is desperately in need of a powerful church to demonstrate the glory of Jesus Christ in this generation.

Mark 9:36-37 - September 1, 2010

Mark 9:36-37 “He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me."

Jesus places value on everyone! That is one of the things that I love about Jesus! There is no person young or old, sinner or saint, Jew or Gentile whom Jesus does not love and value. This truth is at the heart of everything that God does. So much so that Paul states in Rom 5:8 “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The love of God is consistently on display through the life and ministry of Christ. His actions while alive, the death that He died and the message that He brings to us in His resurrection all speak to us a message of enduring and sacrificial love.

Mark 9:36 displays this message in a moving image of Christ’s tenderness as He takes a little child and has him stand amongst the group. Jesus does not merely bring this child into the group as an illustration and leave him standing cold and alone while everyone stares at the child and listens to Jesus. Jesus takes that child in His arms and holds him close! Jesus embraces this child and then uses that embrace as the teaching point. The embrace IS the message! Jesus holds this child close and says “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.” As He states these words He demonstrates in that embrace what it means to welcome that child. To give the love that is Christ’s love is to see the heart behind the physical needs and to reach into the needs of the heart. Jesus saw this child as more than an illustration for His sermon. Even while reaching His goal of ministering to the people Jesus tenderly cares about the emotions of this child. In this same way as Christ displays this sensitivity He turns to those present and encourages them to open their hearts to people.

“Welcome the weak one and you welcome me. Welcome me and you welcome my Father!” At times Jesus made things so simple. “Treat other people; even the ones that you feel may not be able to make a major contribution, as though they were valuable to God!” This is a powerful lesson, and of equal importance is the connection to the principle that to love them IS to love God. They are all interconnected. When we place value on the things that matter to someone, we place value on them through that action! And God values people! He values them so much that He died for them! In John’s Epistle to the church he states this principle very directly in 1 John 4:20-21 by saying “If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” If we want a deeper revelation of God one of the quickest paths to encountering His love is to find it through loving others!