He is Good | 3 Marks of Jesus Followers | Mark 9:30-41 | Coleton Segars

We are in uh the middle of a series that will finish uh actually in 2026, going through the gospel of Mark, titled He Is Good, and the reason we title it that, and maybe you could say it with me, but we title it that because that's how Mark titles his gospel.

This is the beginning.

Like I'm writing you a story.

I'm writing you an account of the beginning of the good news of Jesus and talking about how he is good.

And so we've been in this series for a while, going bit by bit.

And this week, the teaching text for today is Mark 9, verses 30 through 41.

Mark 9:30–41

Mark 9, verses 30 through 41.

Mark 9:30–41

This is what Mark writes.

He says, They left that place and passed through Galilee.

Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples.

And he said to them, The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.

They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.

But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.

And they came to Capernaum.

When he was in the house, he asked them, What were you arguing about on the road?

But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.

And sitting down, Jesus called to the twelve and said, Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and the servant of all.

He took a child, a little child, whom he placed among them, and taking the child in his arms, he said to them, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me only, but the one who sent me.

Teacher, said John, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.

Do not stop him, Jesus said.

For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me.

For whoever is not against us is for us.

Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, because you belong to the Messiah, will certainly not lose their reward.

This is the word of the Lord.

In this passage, uh, Jesus is seeking to keep his mission in front of the disciples.

He's telling them, I'm going to head to Jerusalem.

I'm going to be delivered into the hands of men by God Himself.

He's going to deliver me into that space, and then I'm going to be killed, and then I'm going to rise from the grave.

And the disciples, from here and on through, like they're not going to understand any of it.

And you're going to begin wondering why they are following him at all, because they don't seem to understand anything that he's doing.

And instead, Jesus is talking about, like, I'm going to give my life and all these things, and they're arguing about who's the best and who's the greatest disciple, which is just the dumbest thing that anyone could possibly do after someone says they're about to die, is be like, I wonder if I'm pretty cool.

But that's what they're doing.

And so Jesus, in the midst of their arguing, uses this space to give them a vision of what a community of Jesus followers, he's giving them this vision of what a community of Jesus followers are supposed to be about, and then how we should, as Jesus followers, how these men should, as Jesus followers, how they should actually represent him.

So it's a here's a vision of what you should be about, and here's how you should represent me.

And the reason I think we're gonna press into these things, and the reason I think these things are important, is because two reasons.

One, in most of the conversations I have with people who uh reject Jesus, when I'm talking to them or having lunch with them or whatever, most of the reasons they reject Jesus have nothing to really do with Jesus himself.

They have everything to do with people who represent Jesus.

They've had bad experiences with people who call themselves Jesus followers.

They're like, hey, because of the community of Jesus followers, I don't want anything to do with Jesus.

And then they share with me all their reasons.

I'm going, man, that really has nothing to do with Jesus.

That just has everything to do with these people.

And so they misrepresent him so much that they're rejecting Jesus, but they're actually rejecting a misrepresentation, not the actual person.

And it's important for us to understand what we're supposed to look like as people who represent a man, so that people have the actual option to, are you gonna reject Jesus or are you rejecting my version of Jesus?

And in my experience, most people, when they reject him, are rejecting some version of him, not him himself.

And so it's important for us to understand how we should uh represent him.

And then secondly, we should understand what the community should be like.

One, because we are one, but two, because I've worked at seven churches in 19 years.

Seven churches in 19 years.

Of those seven, five of them have either gone through a church split and cut in half.

I didn't start those church splits, just FYI.

I was just, I went there.

It's not my fault.

Um of the seven, five of them have either gone through a church split or that church exists because a church split apart.

One church that I went to, uh, I only stayed there for a year because it was so unhealthy.

Um went in, and there was so much arguing and so much conflict, and so much the elders were angry with the staff, and the staff was angry with these people, and so many fraction fractions and all these different things happening.

So much of that that the church actually just imploded on itself and they closed the doors, sold the building, and it was like this church, it's almost like it never existed because it was so bad.

And then one church that I attended and worked at uh wasn't affected by arguing at all.

It's never split.

To this point, it hasn't.

And so one in seven, my experience in church ministry is one in seven churches are affected by arguing, conflict, angry people that eventually leads to some version of a church split.

One in seven, those are bad odds as a church.

86% chance that this church, too, will one day find its way into arguing and conflict and then split.

86% chance.

And so, to me, as the leader of this thing, I don't want that to happen here.

I'd love for that not to be our story, to not be part of that 86%, because those are really bad odds that arguing would just split this thing apart.

And so in this space, what Jesus is doing is he's like, I'm actually giving you an ideal and this vision of what you're supposed to be about, because these are the things, if you do these things, these are the things that don't lead to conflict.

But if you choose to argue over who's more important, and in these churches that I've been at, who's more important, whose decision matters most?

What color the carpet should be?

Where should the seats go?

Um, should the youth ministry be in this room or in this room?

I mean, like all these dumb things that end up being these huge things that then split and fraction the church.

And so for us, what I want to do today is look at what Jesus says should be the defining marks of a community of Jesus followers.

Uh by the way, that may have been heavy.

Sorry, welcome.

It's glad you're here.

It's gonna, it might not get better, but uh, we're gonna get into this thing.

He actually has a beautiful vision of what the church should be.

Uh, but my primary experience has been pretty hard.

And uh I want us to avoid that.

And so I want to look at the uh defining marks of a community of Jesus followers so that the people in our lives actually see what he's actually like and get to make a decision about Jesus.

And then so that our church is actually filled not with arguing the way the disciples are, who's the most important one?

So it's not filled with arguing or backbiting or infighting, but it's actually filled with this fruit of what Jesus wants us to see, which is this community that's living together and actually being built up together.

So, three marks of a community of Jesus followers, and we'll take them one by one.

The first is Jesus gives us the ambition of the community.

This is what your ambition should be.

He asked them, What were you arguing about?

This is verse 33 through 35.

They kept quiet because they knew they were in the wrong.

Sitting down, Jesus called the 12 and said, Look, anyone who wants to be first, it's okay that you want to be first, but anyone who wants to be first must be the very last and the servant of all.

It's important for us to see that Jesus doesn't mind that you have ambition.

He loves your ambition.

I love your ambition.

It's awesome.

It's just when it shifts into selfish ambition and not holy ambition, when it turns into like, what can I do for myself and how much can I promote myself?

That's when he's like, I don't love that.

Your ambition is fine.

It's something that's gonna give you drive, it's something that's gonna lead you forward.

He's like, I just want you to make it your ambition to serve other people.

Make it your ambition to be someone who is a servant of all people, rather than making it your ambition to get everybody else to serve you.

Seek to provide, make it your ambition to seek to provide for other people's needs, not to actually make sure that when you show up every single day that you're looking for somebody else to provide for your needs and your wants and your comforts.

Make it your ambition to provide for their needs, their wants, and their comforts.

And this is how he says, I want you to represent me like this, because this is what he's come to do.

This is what he says.

Like I've said this about myself.

He uses the same word.

He is in Matthew 20, 28.

He says, The Son of Man came not to be served.

I did not come to be served.

I came to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.

And so if you're gonna represent him, if people are gonna walk in the doors of this church and go, like, what was Jesus like?

If they see a bunch of people going, like, I just waiting for people to meet my needs, they're not gonna have a representation of Jesus.

It's true.

They're gonna walk in and be like, I don't know, nobody really talked to me because they're so busy talking about themselves or focused on themselves or things like that.

And it's like that if that's what Jesus is like, I don't want anything to do with that.

I'm going, that's not what he's like.

You didn't encounter him, you encountered people who claim him, but they don't live like him.

And so there has to be this space where we are actually representing him well.

And according to Jesus, those who make up the church should have their primary aim to serve and not to be served.

And so it leads to the question, is that your primary aim when you show up on a Sunday morning?

And I'm gonna limit this to just Sunday morning, although you could take this in every area of your life.

What is your primary aim and ambition in life?

Is it to serve others or to be served by others?

But is that your focus on a Sunday morning?

And these questions I'm about to give you are not meant to shame you.

If they hit, receive it as conviction from the Lord and not because I don't like you.

Okay, that was fun.

All right.

Couple of questions to check and see if that's your focus.

One, do you rate your church experience?

I don't have these on the screen, so you can just focus here.

Do you rate your church experience today?

Like, was it a good day based on what you received for yourself or what you were able to give of yourself?

When you leave today, I was like, was church good?

Are you like, yes, because I got this?

Or you're like, yes, it was a good day because I did this.

I gave something to someone else.

I encouraged someone else.

I saw someone who was lonely and I went to them and made sure they didn't feel lonely anymore.

I saw someone who was sad and I encouraged them.

I saw, do you rate your experience based on what you received, or based on what you were actually able to give out?

Second question, do you avoid people you don't know?

Or do you move towards them to make them feel welcome and included?

Or do you look at them and be like, I don't know them.

I'm not going over there.

What are we gonna talk about?

Like, well, you're an adult, so probably a lot of things.

Um, but do you avoid people?

I'm gonna try and add a little levity.

I don't want it to hit so hard that you guys hate my guts, okay.

Third question do you greet those?

Do you greet those around you during the greeting time, or do you not participate because you don't like that time?

Do you actually stand up, turn around, and greet the other people around you?

Do you actually make it your ambition to serve the people around you, or do you make it your ambition to serve yourself?

Because I don't like that time.

And I know that people are introverts, and I know people are extroverts, and some people are omniverts, I don't even know what that means.

But do you make it your ambition to serve, or is your ambition in that space like, I'm not doing that?

I don't like that part of the service.

That doesn't match my needs, that doesn't match my comfort.

Then what you were doing is you have made it your ambition to serve yourself and not to serve others.

And when you do that, Jesus is saying, Well, here's here's where that leads conflict.

Conflict, always arguing, always conflict.

It's so easy to make the church, to make this organization, it's so easy to make this thing.

This is this is about me too.

And it's like the church is not about you, it's for you.

But it's just not about you, it's about Jesus.

And so if it's about Jesus, we should be doing the things that Jesus says.

And so there's a space in here where it's easy for us to kind of look at some of these things and be like, have you made the church about you in certain pockets?

Every institution you primarily go to, every single one, is about you.

They're there, they are there to serve you.

You don't go to the Kroger and expect them to be like, Thank God you're here.

Aisle 4 needs a restock.

Could you head back there?

Like, no one, like you go into Kroger and you're expecting to be served.

If aisle four isn't restocked, you're not sitting there like, hey, can I help you guys out?

No one's doing that.

You're angry.

You're like, I don't even have my donuts or whatever I'm trying to buy, my stuff.

You get mad.

You go to a restaurant, you're not looking to feed people, you're looking to be fed.

You go to the gym, you're not trying to clean their bathrooms.

You're there to get something for yourself.

If the trainer was like, hey, listen, great, I want to train you today before I do that.

Could you actually go clean the bathrooms and make sure the toilet paper is restocked?

You'd be like, no, thanks, I'm not here for that.

Like, that's not what you would do.

Every organization is meant to focus on you and make you feel that way.

This one is different.

The way Jesus has built this thing, the founder was different.

He came to serve, not to be served.

And so it's very easy to make the church the exact same thing, but Jesus says, that's not the way we do things here.

We do it differently here.

Everyone is supposed to show up with this idea of like, what can I do for the people in this space?

What can I do for every single person here?

What can I do?

How can I get my hands dirty?

How can I get out of a space that makes me feel comfortable and actually do something to where I feel like I accomplished something today, not because somebody accomplished something for me, but because I did that for somebody else.

Your ambition in this space is not to be served, but to look for ways to serve.

And if everyone, if everyone who walked in here on a Sunday morning, excluding the guest, if you're a guest here, we love you, we're gonna serve you as much as we possibly can, you don't have to do much.

But if everyone walked here in here on a Sunday morning was looking for some way to serve or someone to serve, if everyone had that, that's my ambition.

I showed up to serve, then what this environment would look like would it would mean that like no one would be burnt out due to overworking with the chairs and all that.

No one would burn out because all hands on deck, everybody would be looking.

Oh, that person's tired.

I can see that they're tired because I'm looking for someone to serve.

And so I will make sure that they don't burn out doing the majority of the work.

If everyone showed up on Sunday mornings to serve, everyone would feel appreciated because everyone in the church would be looking for ways to encourage and thank them.

Our primary goal would be to uplift people with our words.

No one in the church would be overlooked because people in the church would be on the lookout for anyone who's alone, anyone who's new, anyone who's sad, anyone who's in need of encouragement.

No one would ever sit alone unless you just want to.

No one would ever sit alone because the people in the church would be looking for anyone who's lonely.

No one would ever be left out because people in the church would be making sure you are brought in.

That's the way the church would be.

The kids' ministry would always have plenty of volunteers.

Everyone would be cared for, encouraged, and valued.

That's what it would feel like.

And no one would be left out being like, I'm the only one with the ambition to serve.

And it's like, no, no, if everybody shows up that way, then every single person, I'm giving my life to these people and these ways of serving, but other people are doing that for me as well.

And so as I'm pouring out, somebody else is pouring in, and that's happening all over the place in the life of the church.

And Jesus is saying, that's the way it's supposed to be.

Nobody's ever supposed to be so worn out that they feel unappreciated in my community because they are appreciated, and there's supposed to be Sabbath rest and rest for your souls in this community.

And so, but there's also supposed to be the thing where we move forward, actually seeking to serve, and then having other people serve us, but not sitting there waiting for them to do it and being angry because they either not doing it fast enough, good enough, enough at all, or they're talking to you too much.

And if you're sitting there waiting for somebody to meet your needs or to leave you alone, you will get frustrated.

It just leads to those things, and that's what's happening with the disciples.

Because the opposite of looking to serve and and and looking to be served is just gonna lead to arguing.

That person sat in my seat, that person's too loud, their kids move too much.

I don't even know what you could complain about here.

It's normally super hot or very cold in this room.

We have no idea.

The lights are too bright.

Yes, you're right.

I don't even we can't control it.

Like I like there's all these different things, but if you if we're coming in with those things versus going coming in with the idea of like seeking to serve.

Jesus wants that for the church.

That's his vision for the church.

I want to pause for a second.

Uh, just feeling the room and feeling this message.

I'm not saying that we're terrible at this.

I'm not responding to a to a I'm like, I've just seen something in you guys and I'm just here to rebuke you.

That's not it.

I'm teaching the text.

This is what we're in, we were in Mark 9, 11 to 29 last week.

This week we're in Mark 9.30.

It's just the verses we have for this week.

And so I'm receiving it from the Lord that this might be something that all of us just need to be reminded of and actually encouraged in.

So it's not a direct rebuke from the pastor to like, I've been noticing some things.

It's not that.

It's just the text.

I'm preaching the text.

I love you.

Okay.

Next.

The vision for the church.

Jesus says, make it your ambition.

What should your ambition be?

To be a servant of everybody.

That's the way it's supposed to go.

So that everybody is lifted up.

Next.

He talks about the relational exclusivity of the community.

Who do we let in?

Who do we let out?

Who do we let in and who do we keep out?

He says, verse 36 through 37, he says, He took a little child and placed them among them.

And taking the child in his arms, he said to them, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.

And whoever welcomes me doesn't just welcome me, but the one who sent me.

And so who do we welcome?

What are the relational limits?

What are the community limits?

And this isn't just for the life of the church, but you personally, as a Jesus follower.

Who do you let in and who do you keep out?

Who do we treat as significant and who do we avoid and ignore?

And Jesus says, here's what you should do.

Your limit, your standard, your relational exclusiveness should be welcome the children.

Now, to us, that's not revolutionary because obviously we welcome the children.

We have a kids ministry for the children, and we love your kids.

We're so thankful that they're here.

But back then, this was a huge shift for them because children weren't seen with such high value back then as they are today.

In the Roman world that Jesus obviously is living in during this time, the father, which sounds pretty cool, but the father had all the rights, like all the rights of life and death for the children.

And so a father could decide whether to kill a kid or not kill a kid based on just here's how I feel today about this particular child.

And so one of the historians said, in the Roman world, when a child was born, I believe we have this quote here, when a child was born, it was laid at the feet of the head of the household, and its fate rested in his hands.

If he acknowledged the baby, it would form it was formally accepted as a member of the family and would be given a name and raised within that family.

But if he refused to acknowledge the baby, it could be exposed.

According to Seneca, Philo, and Cicero, infants could be drowned, thrown away with the rubbish, smothered, exposed to the elements, eaten by stray dogs, or sold to slave traffickers.

It was not considered a crime to kill a child until 374 A.D., and this is happening at 30, around 30 A.D.

And so children had no legal rights, no honor status of their own to speak of.

Children were viewed as property, like a slave, but they were seen as less than slaves because at least a slave could work and do something for the family.

They should be seen and not heard.

And one commentator said children were good illustrations of the very least.

Who are the very least?

They were the children of the very least and the very last.

Like nothing.

And so for Jesus to say, welcome the children, he's saying the community of Jesus followers should welcome the least valued members of society.

Welcome the very least, and welcome the very last.

And so the idea would be like if you welcome the children, you would also then go, like, well, then if I welcome the children, I guess I gotta welcome the slaves.

It's like, yeah, you should do that.

Well, if I welcome them, then I gotta welcome the women.

It's like, yeah, you gotta do that too.

Which again was not common at this time to welcome women into these spaces.

Well, if I welcome the children, I gotta welcome the poor, the sick, the sinners.

I gotta welcome the people that are less valuable in the world.

And he's like, Yeah, they're welcome among you.

And so Jesus is saying, our community and any community of his followers should have no exclusions based on status or worldly value.

They should consider everyone as valuable and everyone has significance.

That's the way it works.

What should we do?

What's our what's our standard?

It's like everyone has value and everyone is significant.

That's to be the standard.

That's to be the standard of who's welcome in, that's to be the standard of who's welcome into your life.

Who's able to sit at my table, those who have no value to offer you?

Who's able to be my friend, those who are the least likely members of society to ever be your friends?

Who should I let in?

Just those who I have commonalities with, those I have similar likes and dislikes, similar stages of life.

Like, yeah, yeah, that's that's fine.

But you need to do the exact opposite of that too.

You need to look around the room and find people that like, there's you add zero value to my life.

And you need to be like, they're welcome, not only in this space, but they're supposed to be welcome in your life.

And the reason is because Jesus was this way.

Jesus was the holy son, is the holy son of God, and there's nothing more different than the holy son of God than sinners and tax collectors.

And yet he was a friend of sinners and called a friend of sinners, and he ate and drank with tax collectors.

God's family, if you think about it, God's family was exclusively for righteous people.

It was like, I only let the righteous in.

And so he wasn't just like, so sorry, y'all, that's it.

You're not righteous, you can't cut it, you're sinners, and I only let the righteous in.

We're exclusively for the righteous.

And so what he did was he was like, I need to make it to where sinners can become righteous so that I can actually bring these people in.

And so what he did was not just go like, sorry, this is the way the standard falls.

You're out.

He was like, I will become sin so that you can become righteous, so that you can actually be invited into my space.

And I'm willing to do whatever it takes, include give my life so that you're welcomed in, because no one should be left out.

And so the idea should be the same for us.

We've been treated that way, and so we should do that.

And so again, it leads to the question not to shame you, but just to consider what's your standard?

Who do you let into your life?

Who do you look at as someone that I can't wait to talk to them?

And who do you look at and be like, oh God, please don't let us wind up in the bathroom together?

I do not want to talk to that person.

I'm trying to actively avoid that person.

Who do you give your attention to and who do you try to not give any attention to at all?

Never want to make eye contact with them.

They may come and talk to me.

It's so easy to fall into the standards of just who's in and who's out.

It's so easy to do that.

We naturally, and it makes sense, like you naturally want to speak to your friends.

You want to speak to the people that make you comfortable.

You want to speak to the people that do something for you and take nothing from you.

That's easy to do, and we we lean towards that comfort.

The issue is with doing things only that way, if that's constantly how you live as a Jesus follower, one, you're gonna give a very different representation of Jesus than who Jesus actually was.

But then two, a bigger thing is what Jesus says in verse 37.

He says, if you live that way, whoever welcomes one of these in my name welcomes me, and then welcomes the one who sent me.

And so he's saying, if you welcome the least of these, you're welcoming me into your life.

But then the opposite is also true.

If you are rejecting the least of these and those who add no value to you, you're not just rejecting them, you're rejecting me.

And so don't think you have any part with me if you choose to live this way, because you've actually pushed me away as you pushed them away.

And so you're like, I'm pretty sure I'm really, I'm really tight with Jesus.

I prayed this prayer one time when I was going through church, and it's like, if you don't do this, if this isn't taking shape in your heart, then your heart has not been renewed, it has not been transformed, and you're not in inside of his family.

And it's not works-based righteousness, it's the fact that you were supposed to be regenerated and transformed by Jesus.

And so if you have a standard that he doesn't have, he's going, Don't think that you have welcomed me because you haven't.

And so it's bigger than just like, um, you know, I do it every now.

I don't even know, I just don't really like those people.

It's like, no.

If you don't like them so much that you do, you do not allow them into your space.

I allow my friends, my family, just the people that that offer me stuff, the people that make me feel, but those people are difficult.

He's like, don't think that you're welcoming me because you haven't.

Because as you rejected them, you've rejected me as well.

And so, what about you?

Do you have those that you treat as significant and those that you don't?

And if so, I would encourage you to repent and talk to Jesus and say, Hey, I'm really sorry.

Because I have treated people differently than the way that you've treated me.

You added no value to Jesus.

You didn't give him something he needed.

There's nothing you got.

Your money, your whatever, like there's nothing.

Like you're, I mean, the talent up here, the stuff, like he doesn't need anything from any of us.

And so we add no value to him, and yet still he was like, but still, actually, the value you added was like, hey, in order to get you, here's what you will cost.

I will have to suffer a torturous death and be crucified on the cross.

Like, that's what we offered to Jesus.

And he was like, I'm in, I'll take it.

That's the value we added.

And so to ever look at somebody else and be like, you add no value to my life, and so I'm gonna reject you out of that.

Jesus is like, I did not do that to you.

You added no value to me except a crucified death, and I wanted that.

And so I pursued that.

And so, how dare we treat people differently than Jesus has treated us?

The church was meant to display the beauty and wonder of Jesus.

This community was meant to be a space where they can encounter what it was like to actually meet Jesus, to meet you, and to go like outside in the real world, you would never talk to me.

Like we would never cross paths.

And yet, somehow in this space, because of what Jesus has done, I have friendships with people that the world look at and be like, What is this?

How could that work?

That's like, man, Jesus has done a real cool thing.

And it's supposed to be this thing that he wants for our community.

What he wants?

A couple of things.

What Jesus wants for our community in this idea.

He wants those who are forgotten by the world out there, he wants them to be lifted up here.

Like I have nothing out there.

Everybody sees me as garbage out there.

Why do you guys hold me up as a leader?

It's like, because Jesus allows the people in and gives everyone this displayed glory and value because you're made in his image.

Those who don't have friendships out in the world, they can find friendships here.

Those rejected out in the world can find acceptance here.

Those of no importance in the world's eyes, here, they feel and they know and they learn about their value.

You are made in the image of God.

He has a plan for your life, a purpose for your life.

It's like, well, I can't do anything out there.

No one holds me respectfully out there.

It's like that doesn't matter.

Here there's a space for you, and you're reminded of your worth, what your what your what your value is, and then ultimately what his purpose is for you, because you are made in his image to do things and you display his glory.

Those with issues that out in the world, the world's like, I don't want to deal with any of that.

The church wants to take those things on.

You're welcome here.

The rich and the poor are treated as equals here.

Those who don't have enough money to, I mean, like you couldn't eat together at certain restaurants out in the world, but here we share a table and we can eat together.

Those who have failed miserably in the world has canceled them or blackballed them, here you find forgiveness.

And we don't cast you out because of your mistakes.

You find community and belonging.

Those who have no status and those who are the movers and shakers are treated equal in the church.

Those who would never find friends in the world now, because of Jesus, can find friendships that have zero boundaries.

That's what he wants.

That's what this is supposed to be.

It's supposed to be this really beautiful thing where it's like, I got nothing out there, but I got everything here.

This has become my actual space.

This is reality for me here.

And I'm treated so differently out in the world to where we long to be among the followers of Jesus because they just treat us differently.

And so if anybody rolls in here and they're like, well, I'm accepted with this particular group of people, but not this particular group of people, then we're the same as the world.

Nothing has shifted.

And if that's true of you, then you are the same as a pagan or a non-Christian who's claiming to be a Christian.

And so there's this call that Jesus is saying, welcome the children, welcome those who have zero value.

And again, I'm not thinking of someone in particular and being like, I really hope they get this one.

I'm just teaching the text.

This is what he's saying.

And I think for all of us, there's this space where we drift towards the comfort of just the people that we like and the people that we know.

And he's going, that's fine to do that to some extent, but don't do that to the neglect of these other people because they're just as valuable.

And when you welcome them, you're welcoming me.

And when you reject them, you're rejecting me.

All right, number three.

Jesus gives us not just the relational exclusivity, but he also gives us the stance of a follower of Jesus.

The stance.

Everybody wants to know your stance.

What's your position on da-da-da-da?

What's your stance on this?

Jesus gives his stance.

Teacher, this is verse 38 through 41.

They saw someone driving out a demon.

We told him to stop.

He wasn't doing it just like us.

Do not stop him, Jesus said.

For no one can do a miracle in my name, and then the next say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.

Truly I tell you, if anybody's kind to you and gives you just a cup of water in my name, they will not lose their reward.

And so the disciples, if you remember last week, couldn't drive out a demon and are struggling with it.

And now this week they see some other bro driving out a demon and it's working.

A little competition takes root, and they're like, You must think you're all that.

And they get a little angry and they look at Jesus and they're like, hey, this guy, he's not even with us, right?

Like he's doing it a little bit differently.

Like we're like, we were on that boat with you with that storm that you calmed.

He wasn't that guy wasn't there.

Like we've seen all kinds of stuff.

Like he's he wasn't there.

And so we told him that because he's not doing it like us, he doesn't believe exactly the same as us.

We told him he needed to stop because he's doing it wrong.

So, Jesus, what's your stance?

And who knows what they were expecting to say.

But Jesus is like, here's my stance on that.

Unity.

Unity above everything else.

Unity is my stance.

Unity.

He says, whoever is not against us is for us.

Choose what's my stance?

You should be unified with that person.

Don't stop him.

Just because he does it differently than you, just because it's a little bit different and not your style of ministry or whatever.

Unity.

You should seek unity with that person.

Unity above everything else.

We struggle with this.

People do it differently than us.

The Presbyterians baptize infants.

I mean, what's that?

Baptize infants.

The Catholics like pray to a priest.

Come on.

Like what?

Saints?

What are they doing?

And we struggle with some of these things.

Those Pentecostals are like being slain in the Spirit and speaking in tongues.

They got healing ministries.

And we got all this.

Y'all understand what I'm saying here?

Okay.

It's just a little bit of like, there's just things that are like those, that church doesn't have any worship band equipment at all.

And like this one's like a rock band.

And it's like, and with all these fractions and fractures and all these different things.

That church only uses the King James Bible, and that person quoted the message Bible.

And this this woman lets women preach, and that one makes women wear funny hats.

And like, you got all these different things that are happening in these spaces, and it's like, what's your stance?

And it's like, the stance is supposed to be unity.

Like, yeah, they do it differently than you, but the stance should be unity.

The Catholics believe that communion is the literal body and blood of Jesus.

So what?

Our stance should be unity.

Our stance should be unity among all those things, unity above everything else.

If they preach the gospel in Christ and Him crucified, if they believe that you are saved, not by your works, but by grace through faith in Jesus, if they believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me, if they believe that the scriptures are the inspired word of God given to us to hear his voice, if they believe those things, then leave them alone.

Like that's the idea.

Like you're supposed to just be like, whatever, man, they're completely different.

I appreciate that.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah.

Just one person that's cool.

Hey.

You guys are you guys are coming.

It's coming.

Don't worry.

But it is supposed to be that way.

Seek unity above everything else.

It's like, yeah, but they I don't even understand what their tongues are saying.

So just don't go to that church then, but don't dog them.

Because what happens is churches pit themselves against one another, and it's like, just because I don't understand it, that must be wrong.

And that's what the disciples are doing.

And Jesus is like, what is wrong with you?

Stop.

Just enjoy the fact that you're different in those spaces.

Unless their belief, unless any other church or any other person, unless their belief teaches us to be against who Jesus says he is and what the scriptures testify is, unless their practice is so different that it leads us to worship another God.

If it does those things, then fine.

But unless it does that, then our stance is unity.

We will be unified with them.

But they do it weird.

Yeah, I know.

But we love them.

They're our brothers, they're our sisters.

We're unified with them.

Now look, I'm not saying that there aren't lines in the sand to draw.

I have friends that want to come and preach at this church that cannot, I just tell them, no, you cannot come and preach at this church.

And the reason is it's because you don't believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

You don't believe that he's the Son of God.

And so this is a the only reason this thing exists is because Jesus calls this his bride.

Like if you don't preach Jesus, there's nothing to preach.

And so I'm sorry, you can't come and preach here, and we're still friends and we we make it work.

But like, no, you can't come preach here.

I have other people that would want to come preach here, but like you would preach something super contradictory to the scriptures that aligns with our culture, but that doesn't align to the text.

And so if you don't believe the text, then you can't preach the text, and that's very hard.

And so there are things where we do, but for those who hold firm to the essentials of the faith, but they express it differently, our stance with them should be unity.

Y'all do it differently than me, and y'all practice it differently than me, but I'm for you.

And the reason is because the world needs different expressions of the body of Jesus, they just need different expressions of his body.

Some people love high church Catholic style, very respectful, very reverent, very solemn services.

And they connect with God in that space where there's a lot of silence.

Um, they love that.

And it's like, great, then connect with God in that space.

As long as they're preaching Christ, I don't care.

That's really good.

Some people love loud worship music like we have, and some of y'all don't.

I like that's okay.

There are churches that do both those things.

Some people love hymns, and it's like, great, you should go to it.

If that's where you connect and you can't connect in this space, you should find a space where you're able to actually connect with him in that way.

This is why.

Some people love uh very Pentecostal services.

I actually would be one of those people.

I'm more expressive and charismatic than y'all probably are comfortable with.

Um, and I I I own that and I don't want to be a distraction.

But I went to a service one time on a Tuesday night at this church in Nashville, and I loved it.

I was able to worship however I wanted to because nobody was looking at me because there was some weird stuff going on around me.

I was like, I'm doing weird stuff, but not like these guys.

Like, it was awesome.

I was like, they're not, no one's even seeing me in this space.

And so I got I just got to I got to be free in my relationship with Jesus because I'm like, ain't no eyes on me in this thing.

The world needs multiple expressions of Jesus in its community.

I say this a lot and I'll keep saying it, but I uh Jesus is for everyone.

Jesus is for everyone, our church is not.

Jesus is for everyone, and this church is not.

And it's not because we would say no to people coming here.

We everyone is welcome here.

We welcome the children.

Like everyone is welcome here.

But the truth is that there are needs that people will walk through our doors and they will have needs that I will go like, hey, we would love to help you, we would love to meet that need.

But it is very possible that I know three different churches that could help your need and minister you to your need a lot better than our church could.

Just in this the seer, this season of life that we're in, what that church has a ministry for, your needs, you're welcome here, and we would love to help you.

I just want you to know there's a church up the street that might be able to do it better, and I can connect you with your pastor.

And so the truth is, one church is not for every single person.

That's why we need multiple churches.

There are spiritual gifts that people will walk through these doors with that I'm going, man, I'd love for you to express that gift here.

We don't have that ministry, or we don't have that space right now, or somebody else is in that role doing that thing.

Like we don't have that.

But there's a church up the street where you might be able to express that spiritual gift a lot better.

Maybe you should go there, not because we're kicking you out, but because you want to express that thing.

You have passions and we want to see your passions connected to ministries, and maybe your passions just don't align with like what we're trying to do in our particular space in our city.

You have inner city desires or whatever.

We're like, we're in bougie East Memphis.

This ain't it.

Go to Midtown to Mosaic and like you will find a thing where it's like it's right there.

We would love to see those things take shape here, but do you see what I'm saying?

Like there needs to be more than one expression of the body of Jesus because he actually wants to accomplish more than just one thing in one spot.

And so there needs to be Jesus is for everyone, but one church is not for everyone.

And so what we should be doing is instead of arguing over our differences, we should be celebrating them.

And that's what the disciples should have done.

They should have looked at this guy casting out a demon and been like, are you serious?

We couldn't do that yesterday.

And there was like six of us down there trying that thing.

You did it with one thing?

That's awesome, man.

Could you just what you do?

Like you should, they should they should have been like very excited that the kingdom of God is just moving forward in different spaces, and they weren't.

They got competitive.

They're like, Well, I don't want to lose anything.

I don't want to lose my credibility, I don't want to lose any of the power that I have.

They should have been celebrating those differences, and we should too, that the kingdom of God can advance in different spaces and spaces in our city through different expressions of the body of Jesus.

It's true of the city that there should be multiple expressions of Jesus followers doing it a little differently.

It's also true here inside one community.

In our church, in our church, we should have people in it like me that think prayer is the most important thing.

We should have people in this church that believe like me, prayer is the most important thing you give your time to.

But not everyone should think that, that it's the most important thing.

We should have people in our church that believe that foster care is the most important thing, but not everyone in our church should think that.

We should have people in our church that think racial reconciliation is the most important thing, but not everyone should think that.

We should have people that think that sanctity of life is the most important thing, but not everyone should think that.

And it's not because we want to divide you, it's it's so that if if if everybody believed, everybody in the church was like, the most important thing is prayer, and we're just gonna pour all of our passion and energy into that one thing.

We will accomplish a good thing, but one thing in the name of Jesus for the kingdom of God.

But if you have tons of different passions among people, and they're so passionate about it, and they want to chase it down in Jesus' name, then all of a sudden the kingdom of God is able to move forward and advance in a way where we're accomplishing not just one thing, but multiple things are being accomplished in our community.

And so there needs to be tons of different passionate people about different things, but not everybody should share that as the most important thing.

We should think it's important, but not everybody should be like, yes, I'm with you, it's the most important thing.

Not everybody should feel that way.

And what I've seen happen is when people think it's the most important thing this is the most important thing, and not everybody in the church doesn't think it's the most important thing.

So either I'm leaving or they're not Christians, because if you were a Christian, you would think this is the most important thing.

And it's like, no, that's not biblical, and that's not unity.

The idea is supposed to be like, man, what a gift that you have your passion, and you should chase that down, but you should never look down on anybody else chasing a different passion in the name of Jesus.

We should celebrate those differences because what the Lord wants to do in our church, He doesn't want to just do one thing, He wants to do a bunch of different stuff through many spiritual gifts and many passions and giftings that He's given us.

The church to be healthy, the church to be healthy must be full of people who are different but unified.

Different but unified.

The church should be filled with people to be healthy that have different passions, different gifts.

The church should be filled with people with different political affiliations.

We need the Dems and the Repubs, like we need all of them.

And we need the other one too.

I don't know what the other one is, libertarian, whatever they are.

They're also included.

Um but a church to be healthy needs those things.

The church to be healthy needs different beliefs on non-essential doctrines of the scriptures because they will shape us and form us.

We should have different socioeconomic classes, different ethnicities, even though we're different in all those ways, and we should be different in all those ways, even though we're different and could divide, and actually out in the world you would divide, but here we don't divide, we actually pursue unity together.

That's what Jesus is saying.

And when we do that, Jesus is saying, when that happens, when the church looks like this unit and they're unified over things, even though they outside in the world they're split apart when the church is doing that.

He says in John 17, like then the world will know that I am who I say I am.

They will know that I've been sent to the world.

It is an evangelistic message to the world that Democrats and Republicans can eat together and not bash each other online and sit there and be angry with one another.

It's a message to the world, and they will actually hate it.

How dare you eat with that person?

You know what they believe, and it's like, here, what unifies me is Jesus and his teachings more than anything out there, any political affiliation.

Like it's not gonna happen.

And so this thing is supposed to take root and supposed to be stronger than the other stuff.

And so, what's your stance, Jesus?

What should the stance of the church be?

It should be unity above all.

Unity above all.

Again, I'm not saying there's no lines in the sands, but what should our stance be?

Unity above all.

So for us, as a church, I want our ambition to be to serve and not to be served.

Make it your ambition to serve others, not to be served.

If you don't, it will lead to conflict, just like the disciples, arguing and positioning on who's more important in the church.

But a church where everyone is coming to serve one another and not waiting to be served will be a place where everyone is actually cared for individually because every single person, as they're pouring out, they're being poured into.

So I want a church where people have an ambition to serve, not to be served.

I want our church to be a safe place for everyone.

Not for numbers' sake.

We're not trying to blow up our numbers here and like we just need to be very open so we accept all people.

Like, I not I'm not trying to do anything with the numbers here.

We have no goal numerically.

I don't care.

Um, but I do think the church is supposed to be a space where anybody walks in the doors, they can encounter what it was actually like to meet Jesus.

It's supposed to be that way.

You're supposed to get a pretty good take on what it was like to meet him.

Because the people who did meet him, they came from all backgrounds and a bunch of different things going on in their lives, and yet they always knew I am known by him, I am seen by him, I am cared by him.

I think he'd do anything for me.

I think he, I think this man actually would give his life for me.

And that's like, that's right.

That's what he did.

And so this community should be a space where people can actually taste and see that the Lord is good.

And they're gonna find it here, Lord willing.

So I want our church to be a safe place for everyone, and then lastly, I want our community to have the stance of unity above all.

Unity above all.

I want it to take root not just here and actually how you live out there in the world, but I don't, I'm not with you 24 hours a day.

Um, but definitely here to have a unique set of people with different gifts, different beliefs on non-essential things, but unified on like Jesus is who he says he is.

The world and the news and everything else will try to divide us, but the thing that actually the person and the essentials are stronger to keep us unified than they are to separate us.

And I don't mean uniformity.

Unity isn't uniformity.

We don't all have to agree.

The fact that unity is we disagree and yet we choose to stay together.

Like we don't all agree.

And I don't all I we probably could talk with one another, and I would find at least one thing in your story or life that I disagree with, and vice versa.

You would probably find that in my life.

And if every time we found something we disagreed on, we broke relationship, I wouldn't have a relationship with my wife.

Because we don't believe agree on a lot of things.

And like, and so the idea is like, yes, we disagree, but we are you we we choose unity, we choose to be together.

The early church had this, they were defined as stubbornly loyal.

We're stubbornly loyal to one another.

They're hard-headed, they won't leave one another.

They're just gonna stay together, even though they're different in so many different ways.

And that's why tax collectors and zealots and poor people and rich people and slaves and their masters could join together in the church, stubbornly loyal.

And I want that so that the world will know that Jesus is who he says he is, and so that the manifold wisdom of God will actually be displayed in the world, and that something this church will do in the world will actually display a better vision of what is actually possible, but it's possible because of what Jesus has done.

Jesus was the one that served us by giving his life for us.

Jesus is the one that made it to where we could be brought in instead of cast out.

Jesus is the one that we were not unified with the Father.

We had no peace with the Father.

And now he has brought peace between us and the Father, brought us unity to where he can make us one with the Father through his death on the cross.

And so he has done that.

He is the person that runs this, and he's the one that we're following.

And so in those spaces, our church needs to represent his ideals and his values, and that's what he wants for the church.

Let me pray.

Lord, would you make that true in our community?

Would you make that true in our time?

Would you make that uh just the truth of what we're aiming for?

Uh Lord, if there were spaces in our lives and in our uh during this message that convicted us, God, I pray that we would walk towards that in repentance and seeking to be made new and seeking to repent so that we actually are able to experience what you want for your bride, the church.

And so would you continue to build these things into us?

Make us people whose ambition it is to serve.

And we welcome the least and the last.

And Father, would you unify us more and more and more we would take a step towards that today, being unified with those who are differently than us.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.