Mark 8:31-38 – God, Save Me From Your Followers
Today we are continuing our series on The Life of Jesus, and we are looking at the 1st time Jesus predicted His own death. In the early stages of His ministry, Jesus did a lot of miracles and healings. As His ministry continued, He did more teachings. And as His hard teachings drove away many in the crowds that had been following Him, He began to speak more and more of His ultimate purposes here on earth: to die and rise again. Let’s read Mark 8:31-38.
These are certainly hard teachings. I read a story about a man named Mark Stiles, who led a young man from Sweden named Andreas to the Lord. Andreas asked Mark, “I’ve been told if I follow Jesus, He will meet my needs and my life will get very good.”
Mark replied, “No, Andreas, no.”
Andreas blinked in surprise, and Mark continued: “Actually, you may accept Jesus and find that life goes very badly for you.”
Andreas asked, “What do you mean?”
Mark said, “Well, you may find that your friends reject you, you could lose your job, your family might oppose your decision – there are a lot of bad things that may happen to you if you decide to follow Jesus. Andreas, when Jesus calls you, He calls you to go the way of the cross.”
Now, Andreas had been thinking that an easier life was a selling point for the faith, but Mark had resisted the temptation to make Christianity sound better than it is. But then Andreas asked the question that stumps a lot of believers today: “Then why would I want to follow Jesus? If my life doesn’t get easier, then why would I want to be a Christian?”
Mark looked at him and said, “Andreas, because Jesus is true.”
Folks, Jesus’ words for us today may not make life easier, but they are true anyway. Jesus told His followers that He had to die. The time was coming that He would lay his life on the line. He would willingly walk to His death, carrying a large wooden cross on his back, out of the city and up a hill called in Latin Calvary, in Hebrew Golgotha, in English The Place of the Skull. Granted, death was not to be the end for Him, because He would rise again by the power of the Holy Spirit, but He most certainly would suffer along the way.
Well, to think of dying was too much for Peter, Mr. Speak-Before-He-Thinks. Peter rebuked Jesus – that is, he criticized Jesus. He scolded Him, gave Him a good talking-to, for thinking and saying such things. There’s no way that their leader was about to die.
And Jesus rebuked Peter for rebuking Him. The same passage in the book of Matthew tells us that Jesus said Peter was a stumbling block, a barrier, an obstacle, a snag in the road that Jesus was walking on. Peter was trying to talk Jesus out of doing what He had to do. Peter wasn’t thinking about God’s will at the time. Peter was thinking of saving Jesus’ skin, and really, his own skin. Where their Master would go, they would go too. If their Master died, they would likely at least get into trouble, and they would be without their Master. And maybe they would even die too. In any event, to think of Jesus dying was too much.
Jesus went on to say that putting God’s plans ahead of our own is what makes us believers. If we want to come after Jesus, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. We must be willing to suffer in any way that seems fit. We must be willing to lose our friends, to face rejection from our families, to battle loneliness, to do whatever we are asked to do. In all our schemes to make ourselves happy, the only way to do it is to accept God’s plans for us.
Jesus said that collecting stuff – toys, money, friends, vehicles, land, homes, books, movies, music – will not actually save us. All that will actually distract us from what matters most: knowing Jesus. All the stuff you have, that you collect, that you enjoy, that you are proud of – all of it – must be put to balance with the eternal things. You can’t take it with you when you go. So appreciate it, be thankful for it, but don’t love it.
And then Jesus said something interesting: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” I want to look at that word: ashamed. It means embarrassed, feeling guilty, and humiliated. It means that if you deny that you know Him if someone asks you, then there are problems. I’m not saying you have to shout it from the rooftops that you are a Christian. I’m saying that wishing you weren’t connected to Jesus is a problem.
The Bible says that we should not be ashamed of Jesus. Romans 1:16 says we should not be ashamed of the Gospel, the good news. 2 Timothy 1:8 says that we should not be ashamed to testify about Jesus. And Philippians 1:20 says we should live our lives in such a way as not to be ashamed of what we do. But the problem is often not being ashamed of Jesus or His message. Yes, the idea of a weak suffering Savior is repulsive to some. That offends some people, to think that God could die, and that’s what we put our very trust in.
But again I say, the problem is often not being ashamed of Jesus or His message. The problem comes when we are ashamed of the other followers of Jesus. Jesus calls people to follow Him, and that means more than just you. That means other imperfect people as well. Other followers. And sometimes these other followers are embarrassing.
First, let me say: not everybody who claims to be a follower really is one. Jesus warned us elsewhere about wolves in sheep’s clothing – that is, people who pretend to be Christians but really aren’t. Some of them may be deceiving themselves, some may be trying to deceive others. Either way, they exist.
I’m ashamed when believers blatantly show hatred towards gays, blacks, French, Muslims, Mexicans, as if they don’t even have a right to exist. Being different from you is not a good enough reason to hate everything they do. I’m ashamed of Rev. Fred Phelps, whose whole life message is God Hates Fags. I’m ashamed to be his fellow pastor.
I’m ashamed when believers would rather show bitterness than forgiveness. They would rather carry their grudge than let it. They would rather fight that one last battle than swallow their pride and admit their mistakes. Not that I’ve ever been unforgiving – no, of course not!
I’m ashamed when believers would rather switch churches than work out the problems in their lives. They’ll blame the pastor or the leadership or the teachers or the theology or the hypocrites, but it’s always someone else’s problem, not theirs.
I’m ashamed when believers use the Bible to back up their opinions, on everything from slavery to women in ministry or how church should be run or lists of do’s and don’t’s, each time isolating individual verses, instead of looking at the big picture of the entire Bible. It’s called proof-texting, and it embarrasses me to see people randomly quote scriptures to back up their personal beliefs.
I’m ashamed when believers are connected with the sex scandals that plague the Church, both Protestant and Catholic. I don’t expect perfection from anybody, but those things heap such shame on the name of Jesus. I know it’s certainly not everybody, in fact only a small percentage. But it reflects on us all.
I’m ashamed when believers think they are the only ones who have it right. Everyone else is wrong and mis-directed, as if you have to belong to their denomination to be right. I mean, every person should think they are right – if they don’t, why do they believe it? But there’s a huge difference between, “I think I’m right” and “I’m right, so if you disagree with me, you’re wrong.” That attitude embarrasses me.
You see, so many times I want to be a follower, but don’t call me a Christian. I want to love the Lord, but don’t you dare lump me together with all those other people. I’m not ashamed of the Gospel, and I’m not ashamed of Jesus, but I can get awful ashamed of my fellow believers. The Christian writer Flannery O’Connor said, “It seems to be a fact that you suffer as much from the church as for it.” Which is why I slapped this message with the title: God, save me from your followers!
So, what do you do when other followers of Jesus cause you shame? What do you do when other believers embarrass you? First, you need to realize you can only live your own life. What they do, you can’t control, so don’t try. Take responsibility for your own actions.
Which means you forgive them. Even if they don’t deserve it, don’t hold their actions against them. Even if they should know better, no matter: forgive them. Let it go. Give them a pardon.
Also you need to realize a few facts. 1) Understand different people have different convictions about curse words, nasty habits, music choices, and so on. All you can do is live by what God has shown you about those things, and remember that God has perhaps spoken to other people differently.
2) Realize that other people come from different backgrounds. A former alcoholic will have different convictions than others. A person who has seen more of the world will have different convictions as well. Try to understand where the other person is coming from.
3) Realize that you may have a plank in your own eye, before you can pick a splinter out of someone else’s. You might be particular about how to spend Sunday, but your actions on Monday are far from Christ’s standards for you. Make sure you give to others as much mercy as you deserve for yourself.
4) Realize that sometimes it is your place to confront, as Paul did to Peter in Galatians 2. But proceed with caution. Go with respect, courtesy, an open mind, plenty of forgiveness, and the willingness to be confronted about your own issues. Make sure you have a heaping helping of prayer behind you.
And 5) Realize we are all works in progress. None of us is perfect. Each of us falls short of what God wants. So yes, that believer may cause us shame, but we all have caused God shame. We have all disappointed Him and been less than what we should have been. So you have to give others the same grace God has so richly poured out on you. Second and third chances, mercy, compassion… these you need to dish out on others as well. Be patient with them and pray that they would give an accurate reflection of who God is, and do your best to do the same.
