Do Not Be A Hindrance

DO NOT BE A HINDRANCE

Mark 9: 38-42

Here in this passage Jesus is doing some intensive training with his disciples.

He is molding his disciples to be more like He is…and because we are His disciples He is doing the same to us.

Now if you remember Jesus has been walking with His disciples…and as they are walking the disciples begin, kind of arrogantly, discussing among themselves, in verse 34, “which of them was the greatest.”

And Jesus reveals to his disciples that He knows what they were talking about.

And He tells His disciples who wanted to be the “greatest” that if they want to be first, they are going to have to be last of all and servant of all.”

And then he takes a child in his arms and says “if you are going to receive Me you are going to have to receive others like you would this child.”

Regardless of who they are…whether they are rich…poor…educated…uneducated.
On top socially or down on the bottom socially.
It makes no difference if they are white…black…brown or yellow.
You receive them expecting nothing in return.
So Jesus is in the process here of teaching His disciples a lesson in humility and servant-hood.

And Jesus’ words give John cause for thought, so look in verse 38 at what John says to Christ: Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to hinder him because he is not following us.”

Now, it is hard to know how John says this.
He could be bragging…”Ha, Lord, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name and because he wasn’t following us, we tried to stop Him. We showed him.”
After all, they were feeling pretty good about themselves.

Or John could be questioning?

“Lord, you have been telling us that we need to accept everyone with a servant’s attitude. Well, let me tell you what happened.”
“We ran into someone that was casting out demons in Your name, so we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
It’s like John is saying, “Lord, did we do right? Should we have stopped him?”

It may be he was confessing…especially after what Jesus has just told them.

“Lord, let me tell you what we did. We saw someone casting out demons in your name and because he was not following us, we tried to hinder him.”
…as though it is a confession.

Those are the three possibilities as to how John may have said this.

We do not know for sure.
But regardless of how he said this, they had been exalting and elevating themselves and that seems to be the reason why they tried to hinder this man who was casting out the demons.

Now, let’s look at the man that John speaks of here.

There are at least three things we know from John’s statement.

First, they saw someone, apparently a man because John says they saw “him”, “casting out demons.”

And he wasn’t just trying to cast out demons, he was actually doing it.

Second, he was doing it in “Jesus’ name”…or by Jesus’ authority.

And the third thing we know is, this man, whoever he was, was not a part of the 12 disciples.

He wasn’t a part of their little group.
Notice John says, “He wasn’t following us.”

Now, we don’t know where or how this man came to know about Christ…perhaps he had stood in one of the crowds and heard Jesus teach…or perhaps he had even witnessed Jesus perform a miracle himself.

We don’t know.

What we do know is, here you have a man who is actively fighting against Satan…he is doing a righteous and good work…and doing it with the Lord’s approval and by the Lord’s authority.

He isn’t doing this for his own self glorification.
He isn’t teaching a false doctrine…or doing a work that is contrary to the will of God or against the Lord’s kingdom.
This man is doing that which is pleasing and acceptable to the Lord.

The only problem is, “He wasn’t following after the 12.”

And that is where the rub came in.
That is why the disciples tried to stop him.
Because he wasn’t “following us”…not “because he wasn’t following you Lord”…not because he was doing this in someone else’s name”.
It was because he wasn’t “following them…he wasn’t one of them.”

They had this arrogant, haughty spirit…we are “THE” disciples…we are Jesus’ chosen few.

And then they see someone else doing what they thought that they could only do…and doing it in Jesus’ name…and some jealousy kicks in.
And they determine they aren’t going to allow this man to do what he is doing.
So they try to stop him.

Now, look at Jesus’ response in vs. 39. Jesus says: “Do not hinder him.”

Brethren, that is not hard to understand.
If someone is doing a good work….if someone is fighting against Satan.
Whatever it is….if they are feeding the homeless.
Clothing the poor…caring for the sick…comforting the elderly.
Passing out Bibles…teaching about Christ… providing for the orphans.
Whatever they are doing…if it is a good work…if it is done in the name of Christ.
If it is done according to the will of God….and in service to His kingdom and for His glory.
Jesus says, “Do not hinder them.”

Even if they don’t belong to our fellowship here at Sunset Ridge!

Sometimes we let a little pride set in and we think that if we aren’t doing it…then it shouldn’t be done.
And we feel that way even towards some of our sister congregations of the Lord’s body.
“Well, the church in Mason or the church in San Saba is supporting a work in Mexico.”
“I am not sure that they ought to be doing that.”
And the reason sometimes we feel that way is because we are jealous that they are doing it and we aren’t.

Sometimes a congregation of God’s people can get mighty high on themselves and think that they should determine what should and shouldn’t be done in the area…

And Jesus is saying here that if others are doing a good work…if they are fighting against Satan…don’t hinder them.

But now, this goes beyond our brothers and sisters doing good works and fighting against Satan.

This pertains to anyone who is doing a good and righteous work in the name of the Lord.
It makes no difference who they are.
If it is advancing the cause of Christ…if it is glorifying God…if it is doing those things that the Lord commands…then do not hinder that work.

Listen, there is no way that we as a body of Christ…or all the churches of Christ around the world combined can do all the good works that need to be done.

And think about all the good works that have been done by others, that if they would not have done them…they would not have been done.
Today across this country there is a Bible in nearly every motel room because someone else was moved to accomplish that.
Today in Russia….and in Africa and other nations…thousands and thousands of Bibles are in those countries because other groups have sent them.
Today in Africa…the only reason the Lord’s church is in some countries is because some other groups worked and worked and made it possible for missionaries to be allowed into those countries.

Here locally there is a program, through the Police Dept. where people can go and find temporary shelter and that wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t for the work of other groups.

And here in Brady we have a hospice program, which if it wasn’t for the efforts and work of individuals associated with other groups, it would not be what it is.
Some groups are fighting against pornography, and drugs and abortion, and teenage shootings.
And other groups provide drug rehabilitation programs. And some are fighting hunger.
Many our medical facilities were the result of good works by other groups. (Baylor Medical; St. Judes; Methodist Hospital, etc)
- Are we to hinder those efforts? Jesus says “No!”

The issue is not “are those people a part of us. Are they working along side of me? Are they a part of our team?”

The issue seems to be, “Are people being helped? Is Satan being opposed? Is good being achieved and is God being glorified in the work?

If we spent all of our time hindering the good that is done by others…whether it is a man mowing his neighbor’s yard….or visiting a sick friend in the hospital.

Or giving blood so someone else can live…or praying for an elderly patient at the nursing home.
Whatever it is…if we spent all of our time hindering the good that others do simply because they don’t “follow us”…we would have no time to do good works ourselves.

If it is a good work…if it is done to the glory of God…if it is fighting against Satan…if it is a help to others…if it is being done in accordance to the will of God and by the authority of Christ…Jesus says, “Do not hinder that work, even if someone else is doing it.”

Now understand this also.

Jesus says if they are doing a good work…then we are not under any obligation to hinder that work.
But, at the same time, Jesus does not say that we are under obligation to aid that work either.
Many groups do good works.
But because of their doctrinal stand on or lack of standing on certain doctrinal issues…their stand may prevent us from aiding in that work.

This passage is not an open endorsement of fellowship with every one who comes along and does a good work…regardless of whether they teach the truth or not about Christ and salvation.

If a group is doing a good work but teaches in error about Christ and what Christ says is required for salvation…we are not to hinder that good work.
But at the same time we do not have to aid in that effort due to their false teaching.
So, this passage is not an open endorsement of fellowship.

What this passage is, it is a message to us that others will do good works…and when they do…do not hinder those works.

In fact, look what he says in verse 40:

“For he who is not against us is for us.

This phrase is a difficult phrase in the Greek.
What Jesus is saying in this statement though is, “The one who is not standing against us needs to be viewed as standing for us.”
When they do good works…they are working with us in doing what we should and need to be doing as disciples of Christ.
When they do good that frees us up to battle evil somewhere else.
And not only that, when they do good that is one less evil going against us.

Does that mean they are saved…or that they are our brothers in Christ?

Definitely not. No one is justified by their works, Eph. 2: 8-9.
And we are united in Christ at baptism; Gal. 3: 26-27.
What this means is, in their doing good they are working to accomplish the same things we are.

Now verse 41: “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as {followers} of Christ, truly I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.

A cup of water is a small thing isn’t it?
And yet, a cup of water can be a great help to one who is out serving Christ.

Now keep in mind here that John is talking about a man who did good things…in the name of Jesus.

He did a righteous work…according to the will of God….with the power of God behind Him.

And what Jesus is saying here is “when an individual or a congregation who is doing what God wants…and doing things according to God’s will and authority…when they assist others who are doing what God wants…and who are doing things according to God’s will and authority…

No matter how insignificant or unimportant it may seem.
Even though they are not a part of our congregation.
They will be blessed by God.

If we organize a door to door campaign here in Brady where we are going to pass out literature to every door….if the congregation in Mason only supplies the ink for that literature…they will receive their reward for that effort.

And during that campaign…if 100 of us go out and pass out literature…and only one brother from Mason comes and helps…
Even though that man is not a part of our congregation…that man will be blessed by God.

(TIBI – what we give may only supply materials and a computer or two. Even though we are not a part of TIBI we will receive a reward for our effort)

And finally, in verse 42 and following Jesus warns us about “causing one who is weak and immature in the faith to stumble.”

In the context of this passage, what Jesus is talking about here is causing a brother or sister in Christ to stumble by our arrogance…our haughtiness or by our hindering them as they try to do good works.

In this context, I believe that Jesus is warning us against letting our arrogance…our haughty spirit…and our unjustified efforts to hinder…to cause those who are not as mature as we might think we are…to stumble.

In fact He says, it would be better for us to have a millstone tied around our necks and then to be thrown into the sea than to cause them to fall.

This passage is not a passage on fellowship.

This passage is not a passage that throws doctrine out the window.
This passage is not a passage breaking down the differences between groups as far as salvation is concerned.

This passage is a passage on arrogance…haughtiness…and our attitude toward the good that others do.

Just because we don’t do it….just because someone else does…does not mean that it is to be stopped.
If it is a good work…a righteous work…a work in the name of Jesus…one approved of by Him…if it is in keeping with scripture…if it fights against Satan…if it is for the glory of God….Jesus says…”Do not hinder it.”
In fact, He says, when they do those good works…they are working in league with us.