Mark 9: 38-41

³⁸ “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone 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. “For 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 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.

- Mark 9: 38-41

Something that really caught my eye in this passage is when the disciples said, “he is not one of us.” At first, it almost seems like they were so proud and confident when they came up to Jesus to say that they rebuked someone just because that person is “not one of them.” In yesterday’s passage, it mentions that the disciples were quarreling about who is the greatest, to which Jesus said that “whoever wants to be first must be the very last.” This idea is happening again in today’s passage as the disciples did not want anyone to be doing what they do. There is a sense of pride here where we see that they seem to think that they are an elite group and only they can do the works of God. But then there is a quick turn around when Jesus responded that they should not stop the person. If I was in the disciples’ position, I would probably feel like my pride has been crushed. But this is not a bad thing. This is a humbling moment that we all need. Being a follower of Jesus is not an exclusive thing. Jesus opens his arms to everyone and wants everyone to be part of his kingdom.  

There are times when we get stuck with the idea of “not one of us”. We silo ourselves into this core group and think that we are the “elite” and put ourselves on a pedestal. But how can we reflect Jesus if we do this? Even Jesus, who btw is the king of the universe – highest of the highest and creator of all, humbled himself and met us where we are at. He didn’t portray himself as someone who is an elite but instead showed us what humility means and welcomed everyone. In fact, it is God who is doing the work and not us. Are we not limiting God’s power if we think that only certain people pass our standards? We’re often stuck in our ways and we forget that God is greater than any of our human capabilities. We limit God to what our human minds can comprehend and expect Him to be how we think He should be. But God is so much bigger than that and he can work in so many different ways that we probably would never even think of.

And so, if we want to reflect who Jesus is, we also must humble ourselves and welcome everyone. If we see anyone who is coming to the Lord and doing the works of God, we should rejoice because God can use anyone to do his works, and isn’t that great!? We should be welcoming of each other and allow Jesus to use us to build his kingdom.