Competitiveness is experienced in every profession, classroom, sports field, corporate board room, and even among churches. It is easy to see someone doing the thing you do well and instantly feel threatened. Even if you are very confident in your abilities, it is hard not to look at someone entering your arena of expertise and not feel annoyed and maybe even a bit envious. You rally your gang around you and a dynamic of “us versus them” takes over. Competition can be good when it leads to improvement and innovation, but it can take a toll on the participants.
I think John was struggling with feelings of insecurity and competitiveness in today’s passage. The twelve disciples had been given the authority to cast out demons and heal people. Jesus gave this to them in the beginning of Luke, Chapter 9, and by the end of the chapter they were feeling threatened when suddenly someone else had co-opted their gig and was able to do what they assumed only they had been authorized to do.
Luke 9 (Common English Bible)
49 John replied, “Master, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he isn’t in our group of followers.”
50 But Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him, because whoever isn’t against you is for you.”
Jesus assessed the evidence by the results. The offender was effectively casting out demons in Jesus’ name. People were being healed and Jesus’ name was being taught and learned. Jesus seemed to be inviting John and the rest of the disciples to have a more generous spirit. Soon the church would be born and the power of the Holy Spirit would be cast wide. They were already experiencing the effects of their evangelism: The Good News of the arrival of the Messiah had been heard and received and was now taking on an energy of its own. It is significant to note that this event occurred after the feeding of the 5,000..Jesus’ miracles, teachings, healings, and authority were being broadcast across the land by eye-witnesses, and no one could stop its power. Indeed, Jesus didn’t want to: This was the whole point of his coming. Paul dealt with the same issue years later, as recorded in Philippians 1:18: “What do I think about this? Just this: since Christ is proclaimed in every possible way, whether from dishonest or true motives, I’m glad and I’ll continue to be glad.”
This is a lesson for us today as we struggle with denominationalism. We may bristle at the actions of people outside our particular realm of thinking but if the name of Jesus is being lifted up, if lives are saved and changed for the better, and if Jesus himself would put them in the category of “not against you” then we must embrace these brothers and sisters as people who are for us. As Paul said, in every case we should rejoice that Christ is being preached.
At Water’s Edge 