Mark 9

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

First Things journal reported some years ago about an interesting proposal (or, as the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod calls it, “Memorial”) submitted on the floor of their national convention.

The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS) goes back to 1847 and practices “close” communion (not, mind you, “closed” communion). The LCMS also has a more or less congregational polity, which means that any local church can submit memorials or proposals to the national convention. Grace Lutheran Church in Queens Village, New York, submitted the following to last summer’s convention.

Memorial 3.45 TO INCLUDE COMPANY OF HEAVEN IN COMMUNION FELLOWSHIP: Whereas, the LCMS only communes those who are members of the LCMS and are in fellowship with it; and Whereas, Jesus and many of the saints in heaven were on earth long before the establishment of the LCMS; and Whereas, during the Lord’s Supper we celebrate the holy meal “with angels and archangels & with all the company of heaven” (LW pp. 146-48); therefore be it RESOLVED, That we make all the company of heaven honorary members of the LCMS, even if they were not Lutheran in life, so that we are not breaking our own rules when we come to the Lord’s Table; and be it further RESOLVED, That we declare Jesus the Christ to be an honorary member of the LCMS so that in His second coming He will not be turned away from a Lutheran altar.

The memorial was not adopted. Moreover, it is reliably reported that many delegates made it emphatically clear that they were not amused.[1]

That is fantastic and I must say I immediately like whoever it was specifically who drafted that memorial. Why? Because the human desire to think that our group’s relationship with Jesus is more important and more authentic than the relationship with other groups’ relationships with Jesus is, at its core, absurd and injurious to the work of the Church around the world. Such is worthy of being sarcastically lampooned. Even so, this regrettable penchant was present even in the time of the disciples. This is precisely what Jesus addresses in Mark 9:38-41.

Christians are often tempted to see their own particular expression of the work of God in the world as the most important if not the only expression of it.

Let us remember the context of this text. We have just finished an episode in which Jesus placed a child in the midst of the disciples in order to stop their absurd conversation about which one of them was the greatest and in order to make the point that their entire approach to power, to significance, and to value itself was skewed and worldly. Children were not accepted as equals into the company of adults at that time and in calling upon the disciples to accept Him through accepting a child Jesus was making a powerful point. R.T. France is right, then, when he points out that this story “follows very appropriately from the lesson of vv.33-37” in which, through Jesus’ illustration of the child in their midst, we see “the call to disciples to be ready to receive those whom they might naturally reject…”[2] That is true. In this text Jesus explains not only that they must learn to think of significance and greatness differently but they must also guard against thinking that they alone are the only and true followers of Jesus.

The occasion for this lesson is a statement from John made, it appears, on behalf of all the disciples.

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

We might imagine the disciples walking along the dusty road. Jesus is not with them. They come upon a commotion and a throng of people looking at something. They push through the crowd and see a man they do not know. His hand is perhaps on the head of a possessed man and he is calling out loudly in the name of Jesus for the demon to depart. As they stand there watching, the possessed man is delivered and the demon is cast out.

Surprisingly, the disciples are agitated by this. Why? Because they do not know this man. Who is he? Who told him he could perform these exorcisms? Does he really know Jesus? This man is not one of us! So they try to dissuade him, to stop him. They try, but apparently they fail. Then John brings the response to Jesus.

The disciples apparently had a weak concept of Christ-followers outside of themselves. Or perhaps the problem was that the man was acting authoritatively, that he was using the name of Jesus in the same way that they had recently attempted to. And, of course, this fact may help us understand what was happening in the disciples’ minds: earlier in this very chapter we see that they attempted to cast a demon out of a boy and were unable to do so.

Was this unknown exorcists’ success a threat to the disciples? Did it wound their pride? Was their spiritual rationale for trying to stop him really just a cover for a bruised ego? If he was making a name for himself through these exorcisms (intentionally or not) and if a crowd was forming around him, did the disciples see this, especially in light of their recent failure, as a threat to what they viewed as their privileged position?

There is something else strange here. John tells Jesus that they tried to stop the man “because he was not following us.” That “following us” is interesting and likely serves as yet further evidence that the disciples in general and the inner-three in particular really were beginning to think too much of themselves. R.T. France proposes that “the expectation that someone should follow us…is new and revealing,” and he quotes Myers as saying, “Never was the ‘royal we’ less appropriate!”[3]

There is a lot going on—spiritually, psychologically, socially—behind the disciples’ attempts to stop this exorcist. Regardless of what is happening, they tried to stop the man.

It can be a hard thing to realize that other Christians, those you do not know, are just as special in the eyes of Jesus, and have just as much of and as important a ministry as you do. Christians are often tempted to see their own particular expression of the work of God in the world as the most important if not the only expression of it.

This can happen in local churches. Sometimes people come to love their church so much and are so overwhelmed by the good things that God is doing in it that they come to think that their church is the only true church. As a result, they see other churches as lesser churches, as maybe not even churches at all! This phenomenon is what has led to the humorous definition of a “cult” as “the church down the street from yours.”

But this is really tragic because it blinds us to the breadth and depth and power of God’s work all around the world through all who truly call on His name! It leads to tribalism, to a kind of fixation on us and our particular group. We find this same dynamic in the Old Testament, in Numbers 11 and its account of Eldad and Medad.

²⁶ Now two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the Spirit rested on them. They were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. ²⁷ And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” ²⁸ And Joshua the son of Nun, the assistant of Moses from his youth, said, “My lord Moses, stop them.” ²⁹ But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” ³⁰ And Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.

We see in this the fact that tribalism has always plagued God’s people. Joshua’s objections to the “unofficial” prophets was the same as John’s objection to the “unofficial” exorcist. “The objection of John,” writes James Brooks, “…was only that the man was not part of their little group…”[4] But here is the problem: the work of Christ is bigger than our little group.

Emo Philips wrote a joke a number of years ago that has since become quite famous and that perfectly captures the problem with the human attempt to limit the work of God to this or that particular group.

Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, “Don’t do it!” He said, “Nobody loves me.” I said, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?”

He said, “Yes.” I said, “Are you a Christian or a Jew?” He said, “A Christian.” I said, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” He said, “Protestant.” I said, “Me, too! What franchise?” He said, “Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?” He said, “Northern Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?”

He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” I said, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” I said, “Me, too!”

Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” He said, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” I said, “Die, heretic!” And I pushed him over.[5]

This is the fallacy that John and the disciples fell into. This is the fallacy that many Christians fall into today.

But the work of God in the world is greater than your expression of it and your understanding of it.

Jesus’ response to John’s report reveals that the work of God in the world was greater than the disciples’ understanding of it.

³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For the one who is not against us is for us.

John was undoubtedly surprised when Jesus disagreed with their actions in trying to stop the exorcist. In disagreeing with their specific course, Jesus was also disagreeing with the assumptions undergirding it. In short, Jesus was saying, “Your view of My work is too small. It is bigger than the twelve of you. My name is going out over the whole earth and many great things will be done in and through it by people you will never know.”

In short, Jesus’ rejection of the disciples’ actions signaled that Christianity would be a worldwide movement beyond the direct control of any particular human expression of it. For this reason, Jesus said, “Do not stop him.”

Some question whether or not the unknown exorcist was even a believer, but I would propose that Jesus’ response alongside the fact that the man was successfully casting out demons would suggest that he was. Jesus does not respond as if the man was an unbeliever. He seems to be trying to expand His disciples’ understanding of the work of the Kingdom.

When Jesus said, “the one who is not against us is for us”, He was pointing to a wideness in the work of the Spirit in the world. Paul understood this. Paul understood that the most important thing was that the name of Jesus goes forth into the world. You may perhaps recall that when Paul was in prison there were Christian preachers who sought to capitalize on Paul’s removal to advance their own ministries. They were apparently jealous of Paul and his fame and saw in his imprisonment an opportunity to fill the void and to show what they could do. Their motives were ignoble and we might expect that Paul would rebuke these men. On the contrary, Paul’s words in Philippians 1 reveal that the advancement of Christ’s name was the only thing that mattered to him.

¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.¹⁶ The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. ¹⁷ The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. ¹⁸ What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

So too with this unknown exorcist: if was rightly proclaiming the name of Jesus and the work of the Kingdom was expanding through his ministry, why stop him? If his motives were impure (and we have nothing in the text to suggest that they were) God would, in time, deal with him. But Jesus’ primary concern appears to have been His own disciples’ motives! Their efforts to stop this man revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of what it meant that Jesus had come to unleash the gospel upon the earth.

While the work of God in the world is wider than we think, it is authentic only when done in the name of Jesus.

It is true that the work of God in the world is wider than our own particular expression of it, even so, this grounding truth must ever be understood and embraced: while the work of God in the world is wider than we think, it is authentic only when done in the name of Jesus.

⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

This verse, along with those that precede it, reveal that Jesus was not granting His approval of any vague religious work. Jesus was not a mushy ecumenist who thought it did not matter what one believed so long as one believed sincerely. That is a modern heresy and one that is clearly not being embraced. For instance, notice how often this text grounds what is happening through this exorcist in the name of Jesus.

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.

⁴¹ For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.

What this most decidedly is not is an approving nod to modern, latitudinarian, leftist, spineless, ecumenical mush. The work of God is bigger than our specific expression of it but it is never bigger than the name of Jesus for Jesus is the very apex of the work of God. The point is that this man was casting out demons in the name of Jesus. He was doing the work of the Kingdom and of the King!

We may therefore establish this principle: so long as the work is grounded in the gospel and advancing the name of King Jesus and His kingdom, we are not to try to stop it! If it is in Christ then it from God.

There are, to be sure, many and varied expressions of ministry in the world, some of which might strike us as odd or unusual or unconventional. Even so, the only question that matters is this: is it true to the gospel and does it advance the name? If so, do not seek to hinder it!

In Ephesians 4, Paul wrote:

⁴ There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

There are many component parts of the body, but only one body! Your part of the body is not the whole body! Do not act as if it is. The body of Christ is large and multi-faceted, though ever and always one. It is spread throughout the whole world. There are Christians right now who are loved by God just as much as you are, whose little expression of the great body is just as significant as yours is, whose work is just as important as yours is, and who should be prayed for and encouraged just as much as you want to be prayed for and encouraged. The body of Christ is beautiful and eclectic and wonderful. It is His body and His bride!

Do not seek to reduce it to your clique, your club, or your congregation. Stand in awe when you see unexpected expressions of it. Stand in awe and marvel that our great God is able to work like this through His people!

If the name of Jesus is being advance then that work is authentic and good, even if it is surprising.

Do not stand in the way of the amazing work of our glorious King!

 

[1] https://www.firstthings.com/article/2002/01/religious-freedom-in-a-time-of-war

[2] R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark. The New International Greek Testament Commentary. Gen. Eds., I. Howard Marshall and Donald A. Hagner. (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002), p.375.

[3] R.T. France, 377.

[4] James A. Brooks, Mark. The New American Commentary. Gen. Ed., David S. Dockery. Vol.23 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1991), p.151.

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/sep/29/comedy.religion