Who Cares Who’s The Greatest

Mark 9:33 – 34 (NIV)
They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

The disciples of Jesus were actually arguing about who the greatest was among the 12 of them.  Can you imagine having that discussion with a group of your friends?  What would that sound like?  Are we actually capable of having the same stupid kind of argument?  Are there those among us who truly believe they are greater than others?

I think the answer to all these questions is YES!  But the two questions we should be asking today is – what does this look like today in our own lives?  and why?  To help us see this a little better, I’m going to skip a few verses – which we will come back to – and go to verses 38 – 39.

Immediately after Jesus calls the disciples on their silly little argument and gives them the better way, this discussion comes up.

Mark 9:38 – 39 (NIV)
“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.” “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, for whoever is not against us is for us. 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.

This is simply a different way about arguing about who is the greatest.  It’s almost as if they understood Jesus to say they should not have these arguments amongst each other … but at the same time, they still believed they were superior to other people because they were “the disciples.”  The disciples were completely missing out on what Christ was trying to teach them.

We see Christ’s lesson in verses 35 – 37.

Mark 9:35 – 37 (NIV)
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

There are two lessons I think we should take away from this.  One is pretty much obvious.  The other is one of those lessons that is here because of what is not directly said.

1. We should never think of ourselves as better than others because of some talent or skill that we may have and may be really good at.  Ultimately, we must remember that any gift, talent or skill that we have came from Christ.  He chose to bless us with these for the purpose of serving him.  This is the simple lesson.
2. We have no excuse for not following Christ where he wants to lead us.  For some, he is calling you to be missionaries.  For some, he is calling you to start some kind of ministry in your community.  For some, he is calling you to take on some new position.  For some, he is calling you to use your skills for his glory.  And there are many who are not following because they do not think their skills or gifts are what they should be in order to succeed.  Rather than arguing about who is greatest, they would be quick to say, “not only am I not the greatest, but I’m not even good enough to be in this conversation.”  These people are denying Christ’s desire to work in their own lives.

I wish I had more space and time to explain these thoughts better, but I believe if you are reading this, the Holy Spirit can use my inabilities to accomplish his goals.  After all – in successful work that is accomplished through me is only occurring because of Christ working through me.  He’s not calling me to be the best at what I do … he’s calling me to demonstrate my faith by obeying him as fully as I am able to with the skills, gifts and talents he has given me.

Go with God,
Donald B

Bringing the Truth into Your REAL LIFE

Have you ever experienced God? Or have you ever had some kind of mountain top experience where God showed you something that He wanted you to change in your life or gave you some mission or showed you an act that He wanted you to perform? Have you ever come to a place in your life where you simply knew what God wanted you to do? How did you respond?

My blog today comes from a devotional that I read this morning. Check out this bit from the devo:

My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chamber
Beware of not acting upon what you see in your moments on the mountaintop with God. If you do not obey the light, it will turn into darkness. “If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23). The moment you forsake the matter of sanctification or neglect anything else on which God has given you His light, your spiritual life begins to disintegrate within you. Continually bring the truth out into your real life, working it out into every area, or else even the light that you possess will itself prove to be a curse.

The last sentence is the one I want to focus on. Here’s the question I want you to answer today:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN YOU OR HAS SHOWN YOU?

John 14:26 (NIV)
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Before Jesus ascended into Heaven, He promised to leave us with the Holy Spirit. As we read in John 14:26, this Holy Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. And we know what the Holy Spirit shows us or teaches us or guides us in or anything is trustworthy and excellent because the Holy Spirit is God! Therefore, as Christians we have God – the Holy Spirit – living in us and guiding us through this life!

It is this same Holy Spirit that is responsible for the experiences we have where God seems to enlighten us on what to change or how to live or what act to perform next. The problem is how we answer the question above. What are we doing with it?

What we should be doing is what Chambers says in that last sentence – Continually bring the truth out into your real life. We constantly hear God … but refuse to act on what He has shown us. WHY???? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that I don’t want to continue ignoring God.

Check this out. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says “Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.” We stifle the Holy Spirit by not heeding His instruction. The problem with stifling the Holy Spirit is that soon … if we continue to ignore … we will no longer hear. Is that what you want? Do you want to be in a position where you never hear from God again? I don’t.

So … today … what do you need to be doing with what God has given you or has shown you?

Go with God,
Donald B