"The one who is not against you is for you"

"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.'"
-Luke 9:49-50

This is a rather interesting passage to me. There are so many questions that can be raised from this passage. I have a couple, but will really only address one. Why does John try to stop someone who is casting out demons? Isn't it obvious that casting out demons is a good thing and should be encouraged rather than discouraged? Why was John compelled to make sure that this person was casting out demons properly and for the right reasons and for the right person, namely Jesus. The interesting part is that this man was casting out demons in Jesus' name and yet John still questioned because this man did not follow with them. Initially when I read this, I thought that if I were in John's shoes I would not have tried to stop this man. I would have encoraged this person. Then I thought about it a little more and tried to find comparisons in my life to what John did. And believe it or not I found some.

Denominations. Do I really need to say more? Different churches within the same denominations that argue over practice or belief. People divided among doctrines. These are all similar to John. I even find myself being critical of someone who goes to a specific church or adheres to certain doctrines and I try to stop that person and "correct them." Now there is a place for reproof and addressing places of error, but there is also a place of comprimise for someone who follows Jesus and seeks after Him. I wish I could see the good in someone better than I do, the way Jesus does. This would cause so much less grief and struggle. My mind would be so much more clear if that "fog" were not in the way.

Then I thought a little bit more about Jesus' response, "For the one who is not against you is for you." How far does this go? If you have not had the joy of reading "The chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis, I suggest you go out and buy it right now and read all 7 books. They are fantastic. Anyway, in "The last battle" there is a Tarkaan who worshiped Tash faithfully his whole life and had been a good man by how he grew up. This Tarkaan ended up in Aslan's country and was forgiven by Aslan. Aslan told him that, "All service done unto Tash, has been done unto me."

This is a rather controversial topic and many questions are raised from this. I will not address all of these questions for there are far too many. Was he forgiven because he was unaware of Aslan and if given the chance he would have been faithful to Aslan? Was he forgiven because all good done is done unto God because that is the essence of God? I want to speculate on the second question.

What if someone who is not of the Christian faith does good? Is it counted as nothing? Does God look on this with disgust? Any good done is a good thing for it is in line with the Kingdom of God. I think God takes great joy when someone not of the Christian faith does good because of two reasons. The kingdom of God is being advanced and that person is beginning to align themselves with that Kingdom. I think all good done, is done unto God because doing good is in line with the kingdom of God. Is it possible for someone who has never heard the gospel to enter the kingdom of heaven? If this were not possible, then what of the people who have never heard the gospel? If they are condemned to hell automatically, then I would say God is unmerciful. Are they accountable for something that they do not understand?

This simply to raise questions in hopes to shake our faith in hopes that God would bring it to fullness. This argument is incomplete and I have much more to say on it, but do not think this blog is the place to do it. If you would like to talk about these issues, email me at blon0026@umn.edu or simply talk to me when you see me next :) Have a great day!

One Love,
Danger