sometimes it takes a book

An argument arose among them as to which of them would be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, brought a little child to his side, and said to them, "Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great."

John responded, "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 whoever is not against you is for you."

As the time drew near for his ascension, he gathered up his courage and steeled himself for the journey to Jerusalem. He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and on their way they entered a Samaritan village to make arrangements for Him. But they were turned away, because when the Samaritans learned that his destination was Jerusalem, they refused to have anything to do with Jesus. When James and John heard about it, they said to Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" Jesus turned and rebuked them: "Of course not!" So they traveled on to another village.

-- Luke 9:46-56 (blended translation)

Now that you've read that, go back and read it again -- only this time try to ignore the paragraph breaks and let the whole interaction play out in your mind as a singular event where everything there is somehow related.

Ok, did you really read it again? Catch anything new this time? How about if we frame up the passage with some background topics, and then go back and read it again? This time, before you read it, think about all the different Christian denominations you've ever experienced and how they interact with or view each other. Then take a step back mentally, and think about your experience as a Christian and how the church communities you've been a part of have interacted with the local community, other religions, and the world in general (and when I say interact, I include action/inaction, opinions, doctrines, etc). Now, read it again and really soak it up. Anything jump out at you?

I cannot fully understand how or why, but while I was re-reading a book, a particular part suddenly brought to mind this passage of scripture. After reading through it a few times, I actually find that it is a great example of how Jesus dealt with people outside of his immediate sphere of influence. I mean think about it, if the guy who was casting out demons in Jesus' name was out for personal fame and glory, do you really think it would work? It wasn't really the disciples' place to stop the guy, they apparently didn't know his motivations or his faith, they just didn't want someone who wasn't in their circle touting Jesus. It's all right there on the page, Jesus is smacking these guys around trying to get them to understand that it's not about fame, glory, popularity, or being with the "in" group and that his message and teachings were not to be restricted to particular groups. I often wonder if Jesus was bald by the end of his ministry, because reading through passages like these make me wonder how he would have had the patience to not smack himself in the forehead and pull his hair out everytime he had to make his point 3 times and have his disciples still not fully understand...

Perhaps more on this later...