I think that it is sad that when I read this narrative, it made me think about the control the church has held over people for almost 2000 years. The church used only one verse, thus out of context, to control people. Catholics could not own a Bible until 1964 CE. The idea that a person has to confess to a priest, who then prays to Mary, then to Jesus, then to God for forgiveness, presents a hierarchy. Jesus said many times that every person could come before His throne and ask for forgiveness. The reality is not a need for an intermediary. Read the book of Hebrews if you disagree. However, the church insists that one is necessary and that person is Jesus Christ. In the movie "The Empire Strikes Back, "Yoda told Luke Skywalker, "control you must have control ," that is true for the Force, but not for an individual who comes before God.
Another controlling mechanism of the church is the phrase "in Jesus' name." The church's interpretation is not accurate. This phrase means that the speaker wants to do something like Jesus would (or did). The church grabbed power by saying that this phrase means doing it the church's way because the church represents Jesus. Therefore, the church determined what it meant. Its original meaning is that you have a desire to do something in the same way Jesus did. Also, using this phrase allows the person to show allegiance to Jesus. Following the ways of your rabbi (teacher) was influential in Jesus' day. Even today, some groups of Christians and Jews follow the ways of their teacher. The Disciples learned to do things the way Jesus wanted them done. In other words, He taught them. When this is done to show honor and respect to the teacher, it is good. When it is used to control people, well, that is bad.
The book of Hebrews tells us that we are all priests before God. Interestingly, the Bishops decided to keep this book in the New Testament. It is in contradiction to the established methodology of the church. Now looking at this Mark passage, Jesus tells us that anyone trying to help people repent and become members in the kingdom of God should be encouraged and assisted! Jesus told His disciples that they do not have the "market" on healings and casting out demons. Jesus was not interested in creating a power struggle. Therefore, He rebuked the disciples for their power grab.
The twelve men were the first students. A great teacher desires his or her students to learn everything they can and to surpass the teacher. It is also expected that the new teacher will have disciples and teach a new generation of followers. That was the way of education in Jesus' day. The church needs to accept this message from Jesus. Every teacher in the church should celebrate when a student surpasses them. Unfortunately, when a student wants to become a teacher in many churches, the current teacher will not let go of the reigns. The church has lost several persons who could have been great teachers of the word of God because the church did not make room for them.
Let me give you a church story that is not specifically about teachers and students, but it makes the point. A rural church held a summer community picnic. It was well attended and produced a large amount of income. Before the picnic, a signup sheet was placed in the church for the ice cream stand. A new young member signed up. The picnic was on a Thursday, so he had to take a vacation day to be there. The day of the picnic came. He showed up at the ice cream stand. The five men in the stand looked at him and told him they did not need him or want him there.
Why was there a signup sheet if they did not want help? They did not want help. However, they wanted to give the church the illusion that they needed help. This young man was angry. I do not blame him. These men could have included a sixth man. However, they did not. The shunned man's next stop was to find me to resign from the church. He left with his family. He collected them that morning and drove off, never to be seen again. I spoke with the ice cream crew, and they had no remorse about what they did. This attitude is a sign of the death of the church. Like teachers in Sunday school, the problem of the old regime hanging on to power is in all aspects of the church.
Inclusion is important! I believe that is one of the main messages here. Jesus spoke here about inclusion. The lesson for the disciples was inclusion. The lesson for the church is inclusion. I hope that the church will realize this soon before it is too late. Power grabs in the church and excluding people is the death march of the church.
Let us turn this attitude around. Please do all you can to change it when you see it. It is all around you and should be easy to find now that you are alerted to it.
