Together We Stand

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

TOGETHER WE STAND

Mark 9:38-41

38 "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. 41 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.”

NIV

It would seem some people who are not what the disciples thought of as believers, or a part of their little group, or inner circle were doing miracles in the name of Jesus. At least to this point in time, they sort of had a “It’s us four and no more” attitude. Evidently those others who were preforming miracles in the name of Jesus were outsiders, who might of have a different view or approach to the message Jesus was preaching. Maybe they had been disciples of John the Baptist, maybe they had been in the group of seventy that Jesus had sent out two by two, but the fact remains they were in fact doing good  for the kingdom of God as what they were doing was in the name of Jesus. Were the disciples jealous of them? Did the disciples think that only those who followed Jesus as closely as they did were supposed to have the power to do miracles? But Jesus taught them that as long as someone is doing good for the kingdom of God then that person is not against them. We could take a lesson about feelings we might have about people in who belong to other denominations then the one we do. So what if they do not follow Jesus in exactly the same manner as we do? Does that make the good they do for the kingdom of God unworthy of their reward? True there are some basics we believe must be attended to as being born again, yet it does not seem as though Jesus was implying that here. Of course those who were doing miracles in the name of Jesus may have had some kind of conversion experience, we simply do not know about it. There again is a lesson for us. Who are we to judge if another person has had a conversion experience, other than by the evidence of their lives, and if they are doing good for the kingdom of God, that surely must count as some kind of evidence. We might be guilty of making a list of the acceptable evidences and if they are not present then we do in fact judge those people as being unsaved or non-believers, or not having had any conversion experience or at the very least not following Jesus in the same manner as we do. We must always remember that Jesus was not and is not any denomination. We should also remember that all mankind is his creation and all of mankind is loved enough by Jesus that he died for them. We need to recognize that as long as people are doing good for the kingdom of God than we should rejoice because the kingdom is being advanced and that we should see those who are doing good as our brothers and sisters in Christ. A house divided cannot stand, so we must know that together we stand.