We Will Stand...United

Blog Host: Steve Flores

Passage: Mark 3:3-35

I’ve always thought it was strange that someone would be offended when something good is happening or has happened.  When Jesus heals this man with a withered hand, you would think people would be excited about it, but this wasn’t the reaction of all who were there. 

It kind of reminds me of how disputes within the church (as a whole) happen regarding tradition, and the excuse, “This isn’t how we used to do this.  We didn’t grow up this way.”  So, great things could be happening: people are coming to follow Christ, lives are being changed, disciples are being made, but still there might be someone (or a group of someones) who grew up in church (religious) that might have negative things to say about the “new” method.  To those comments Jesus responds this way, “If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand.”

Throughout time, methods will change – it will look different, feel different, and be different.  We can’t focus so much on the methods that it creates us to become critics, even of the great things happening. 

Question: How can you make your voice known as a cheerleader, not a critic, to a new method within the church?  What is something that is being done differently now, than when you first starting going to church and how can you voice encouragement?