Insiders and Outsiders

Luke 9:49-50 - John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you.”

The Disciple John was obviously special. In his own gospel, he calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” He was one of only three Jesus took with him to special places like the Garden of Gethsemane (when Jesus wanted to pray the night before his crucifixion), the bedroom of the little girl Jesus raised from the dead, and the Mount of Transfiguration where Jesus met with Moses and Elijah. John knew he was special. In John’s mind at the time of his words above, that must have meant others were not – at least not as - special. He must have thought either “God cannot use them” or “God should not use them.”

Jesus gave John a clear lesson that still applies for us today: God can and often does use others who have not had the same experiences we have. They may not have been on the mountain with Jesus and us, but that does not mean they are against us. So many times, we in the church have been guilty of spending our energy and resources fighting others inside because of our differences rather than using them to rescue those outside.

It seems John did not learn the lesson the first time. In the next passage, the people of Samaria did not welcome them. Now they were not just dealing with people from a different Christian denomination doing things a bit differently yet still in Jesus’ name. These were true outsiders. John wanted to judge and punish them for their outsiderness and the rejection they brought. Again, Jesus rebuked him. Jesus did not come to punish outsiders. He came to bring them inside (John 3:17), and his definition of inside is often larger than ours. I am glad John finally figured that out. He spent the last days of his life living in the very “outsider” Greek world of Ephesus and the Roman Province of Asia bring outsider Gentiles into the family of God. Let’s keep that same heart.