Today I pondered this short conversation between Jesus and his followers.
Mark 9:38-40 (New International Version)
"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.
Jesus could have said, whoever is not for us, is against us, excluding all but his closest friends (like we silly Christian folk do). But he didn't. Fascinating, I think. I wonder what this says about the divisions amongst Christian folk even today, and Jesus attitudes about those divisions. What does this mean, and what does it mean for my neat and tidy "Christian" assumptions about the world?
Want to think about this more? Go here. Listen.
