On The Same Team

I've been reading through Mark lately and happened upon this passage:

Mark 9:38-40 ~ John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us. (NLT)

Isn't it sad that churches fighting each other started before Jesus even left and is still going on two thousand years later? That's basically what's going on here. One group of followers of Christ is upset at another group of followers of Christ because of what they are doing for the Kingdom of God.

That may sound harsh, but it still happens (and quite honestly, it needs to stop). Yesterday we had someone at our church who would not participate in communion because they only do it at their church. Um, aren't we all doing the same communion, reenacting and remembering the same last supper with the same Scripture being used from the words of the same Jesus?

We are all on the same team. Part of why I like being a youth pastor is most youth pastors get that. Teenagers aren't as "tied down" to a church as adults or children. They will go to different churches. And that's okay with me. Part of the reason I like to get to know the other youth pastors in town so I can say, "I know Pastor ___, he's a good guy," and it puts the parents at ease and allows the student to know it's okay to learn about God outside of the four walls I work in (I know, shocking, but it can happen).

Church, let's all get on the same team. There are enough other battles to fight without adding more among ourselves...

T