God preserves his gospel through sinful messengers
Something that stood out to me from Mark 9 is just how much the twelve didn’t get what the Kingdom of God would actually look like. In this chapter, they argue about who will have the highest positions in the kingdom and get a scolding/reality check from Jesus. Then John “reassures” Jesus that they stopped a guy who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, “because he wasn’t in our group” (9:38). Jesus is like, guys! We’re a small enough movement as it is. Don’t ruin things by your tribal mentality! “Anyone who is not against us is for us,” he says in verse 40.
The point Jesus makes to the disciples about people who weren’t against them reminds me of plenty of situations today where denominationalism gets ugly. Why on earth would we tell believers to stop just because they aren’t part of our group? We get flustered and sputter that the others will mar the name we’re associated with, and ruin our (or, Jesus’) reputation. We don’t like that we can’t control them.
This reminds me of another passage where Paul actually says it’s okay with him that some people preach Christ out of envy, rivalry, and selfish ambition! He says, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motive of true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.” (Philippians 1:18)
That’s absolutely shocking to me—as it was, I’m sure, to the church at Philippi. That sort of thing is only possible to say truthfully if you are an incredibly humble person who deeply trusts that God is in control… that God will preserve his gospel, will make it effective for salvation even when it is preached through sinful messengers, and that God will handle my own reputation as he sees fit.
In the missions world, applying this means we do not compete with others’ ministries. We should celebrate and encourage the ministries of others, even those outside our group, wherever possible. And even those we know or suspect have wrong hearts? We should leave them in God’s hands, and trust that he is able to work good even out of those situations!
I don’t think this means we shouldn’t call out sin in gospel preachers, or call out a false gospel being preached, like Jehovah’s witnesses. But even in those situations, we must trust that God is in control.