For Or Against?

49 John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is [a]for you.”  -Luke 9:49-50 (NASB)

38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is [a]for us. -Mark 9:38-40 (NASB)

On more than one occasion, Jesus tried to teach His twelve disciples that the nature of His kingdom was very different than what even they considered it to be. In the verses preceding the text, the disciples were arguing over who was the greatest among themselves (Luke 9:49-48; Mark 9:33-37).  It seemed they had already come to the belief that they were better than anyone else since they were Jesus’ chosen twelve.

The disciples, as they were sent out by Jesus to preach throughout the country-side, came across a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus. They sought to stop him as he was not one of the twelve or even of others they recognized as being followers of Jesus. It seemed they considered themselves as an elite privileged group and that they were the only ones permitted to cast out demons in Jesus’ name. They actually thought they were doing Jesus a service and did not see a need to seek out Jesus’ permission to rebuke the man in question. They assumed they had the right and duty to judge the validity of the man’s actions. Upon informing Jesus, they received a surprising response from him. Their problem was that they were only thinking of themselves and their authority instead of the welfare of others. They showed no concern that they had forbidden a work of mercy. No mention of praise or compassion for those receiving relief. Their only thought was to protect and preserve their exclusive right or authority, as they saw it. 

The disciples may have been in danger of acquiring the same spirit as that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, who thought more of their positions and authority than for the people they were supposed to serve.  Sounds a lot like politics today doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, such a spirit may be among many local churches too!

Jesus told them, "Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me.  For he who is not against us is for us."

Jesus presented a call or appeal to cooperation and unity for the proclamation of His message and to the relief of human suffering.  Those who seek to know more about Jesus are likely to show it by their actions, and this pleases God.  The more they strive to serve Jesus and His cause, even though it may be imperfectly, the more the name and cause of Christ will go forth.  The lesson for the twelve was that too often zeal to protect or preserve a select group, themselves, can result in excluding those who were seeking to help the cause rather than hinder it.

However, it must be noted, that just because someone does good deeds in the name of Jesus does not necessarily mean that they have a personal relationship with Jesus.  It is one thing to know who Jesus is our know about Him, it is quite another thing to personally know an be known by Jesus.

"Not everyone, who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.  On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'  And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."  -Matthew 7:21-23 (ESV)

As the passage above indicates, though the cause of Christ is proclaimed and promoted it does not necessarily mean that one will be personally blessed by God.  It all comes down to motives.  Do we do deeds in the name of Jesus to draw attention to ourselves?  Do we set ourselves up in our minds to seek positions of authority or power or do we truly know Jesus and seek the good of others first by sharing the gospel message of healing and deliverance?

Jesus promoted a degree of tolerance.  The one who appears to be doing Christ's work, however imperfectly, is not against the cause of Christ.  We are to be tolerant of such people whether they are of "our group" or not.  However, in striving to be tolerant we are not to excuse or approve wrong doctrine or practices.  Even if someone is utterly mistaken on some doctrine we must never regard him as an enemy to be destroyed but as a strayed friend to be recovered in love.