Loving, as Jesus loves, is rare. That is, loving sensitively and sacrificially, is still the greatest evidence of the gospel and the most magnetic attraction to God’s truth.
When all our evangelistic presentations have been given, it is still the sheer goodness of a Christ-like life and character which exercises the most dynamic testimony to the grace of the Lord Jesus. Not surprisingly, what is true at the individual level is even more so at the level of our life together, whether as local churches or wider Christian fellowships. Heart unity among believers is paramount for effective witness, and yet it is found comparatively rarely and destroyed so very easily.
‘He doesn’t follow us’
Mark 9.38-41 is an instructive passage about this issue. John, the apostle, tells Jesus that he and some other disciples have encountered a man driving out demons, in Christ’s name, ‘and we told him to stop because he was not one of us’ (v.38). The literal translation is ‘he doesn’t follow us’, or ‘he isn’t part of our group’. Clearly, John and his colleagues were seeking Jesus’s approval, but instead they are rebuked. The man was successfully carrying out the work of Christ’s kingdom, trusting in the power of Jesus’s name. If the demons were being driven out (and clearly they were) this must mean that he had God’s approval, evidenced by the divine power at work. ‘No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me’, Jesus concludes, ‘for whoever is not against us is for us’ (vv.39-40).
