Pride Leads to the Fall

Mark 9:38–50 ESV

38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us. 41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. 42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Pride Leads to the Fall

This morning, we look at a passage that seems to be rather disjointed but is closely connected to the previous passage in Mark 9 where the disciples were arguing who would be the greatest among them when Jesus comes into his kingdom. They are still focused on Jesus going to Jerusalem to establish the Davidic throne as the Messiah.

Three of his disciples have seen him transfigured and the fullness of his glory and divinity. They have experienced the fullness of Christ but still do not understand what it means to be a disciple that takes up the cross and follows him. And today, we see that in the fact that their pride has not left them. Pride is something that can destroy us if we are not careful. It was the sin that befell humanity in the Garden of Eden. If we as disciples individually and as a church are not careful, we can fall into the same traps that the disciples were in and lead to our downfall.

1. The church is not a clique. (vs. 38-41)

James 2:1–3 ESV

1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”

Some of the disciples had just witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. On their return from that event, they meet the rest of the disciples unable to cast out a demon that was in a little boy. To their failure, Jesus responds that the only way that this demon could be cast out is in faith through prayer. So, when John, who had seen Jesus transfigured, comes to him and the rest of the disciples saying that someone is casting out demons in Jesus’ name, there is an heir of jealousy in his words.

After the confession of Peter and his rebuke, Jesus had called the disciples and the crowds that were with him at Caesarea Philippi to follow him. However, the disciples are still in a place of confusion about what this means. They were to follow him according to his agenda, but they continually wanted to focus on the earthly things. John was more worried about the proximity of this person with Jesus rather than the fact that even though they were in close proximity to Jesus, they constantly failed.

We can do this in church if we are not careful. Those who have been a part of the church for many years can develop certain protocols on who is in and who is out based on their ideals rather than Jesus’. This may concern things like looks or behavior. In some cases, this includes class. We may elevate some people over others because we think it may make us look good. James has a lot to say about this in his letter. In James 2:1-3, he says, “1 My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. 2 For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, 3 and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,”” Sometimes we think that if we elevate the one who is rich or of the right standing, it will help us in the eyes of the world. “We want to grow but on with the right people.” But who we define as the right people can swing both ways.

There are some who think that we must elevate those who are poor because somehow they are closer to Jesus. It is almost as if being poor is a religious status. James is clear that we cannot show partiality toward anyone in the church. It is not a clique for the rich or the poor, the white or black, men or women. The church is the place where all are welcome and all are called to be transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The vision for the kingdom of God is greater than we can imagine. The disciples may have been chosen, but they were not inherently special. We are called to serve Jesus not acquire a franchise. True greatness in the kingdom means that we are a servant to all in Jesus’ name and having a big enough heart to know that the kingdom goes beyond our “in-group.” It can even include Baptists and Pentecostals.

2. The church is called to care for the discipleship of others. (vs. 42-47)

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

As Jesus continues to teach his disciples on the nature of discipleship and following him, he talks about how we are to care for the discipleship of others. He does this by calling to us to a life of righteousness that does not allow others to fall into sin. He uses the term “little ones” to describe the believers who may be most impressionable. Scholar R.T. France said, “To be the cause of another’s spiritual shipwreck is so serious an offense that a quick drowning would be preferable to the fate it deserves.” But all of this begins with what the real vision of a disciple is supposed to be. Just as in the previous section, we cannot devalue anyone because doing so is worse than death.

For Jesus, it is better for us to be maimed, crippled, and blind than to lead another astray because the consequence of leading people away from Christ is hell. He is using a quotation from Isaiah 66:24 which is the last vision in the book and a horrific scene of the destruction of God’s enemies and their decomposing bodies left thrown on the ground.

Instead of leading others astray with our actions, we are to love them with the love of Christ. But we have to be careful in how we define what love is. To some, loving others means to accept them as they are no questions asked. This is not what it means to love one another. When we get to the heart of loving one another, we look to the Ten Commandments and the moral Law of God to find out what that means. If we define loving someone as allowing them to remain in sin and continue a path that is contrary to God’s design for our lives, we are neglecting to do precisely what Jesus is telling us to do. We are leading others astray in their sin instead of lovingly helping them overcome sin and live in the righteousness and holiness of God. By not truly loving others, there will be eternal consequences for us and them.

The church is to be a place where we are caring for the discipleship of others so that they can grow in Christ and live for him and with him for eternity. We cannot base our discipleship practices on the morality of the world or emotions. We live in a world today where everything is based on emotionalism. Governmental policies and moral stances by the church are done based on how one feels rather than objectivity and truth. This is not how the church is called to disciple. When we base our discipleship on emotionalism, it will lead people away from God rather than toward him. It will be a discipleship based on human need rather than holiness and righteousness. Jesus tells us plainly that if we do this as the church the eternal consequence will be hell.

3. The church is to preserve peace rather than argue who is greatest. (vs. 48-50)

Ephesians 2:14 ESV

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

Instead of arguing over who is the greatest, the disciple is called to be a people of peace. Jesus uses the metaphor of saltiness to describe how the disciple is to live for him. He connects what he said previously about the fires of hell. But then what comes next seems a little disjointed. “Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

The question arises how salt can lose its saltiness? This happens when it ceases to function as salt. It no longer preserves or adds flavoring. What Jesus is saying here is that we should live and influence the world as God has designed us to. This is connected back to a passage in Leviticus 2:13 “13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” In Mark’s description of discipleship, he uses this language of the temple sacrifice and offerings, pointing to the sacrificial and complete nature of following Jesus and in welcoming and preserving others.

The call from Jesus is for us to live lives that are pure and holy. Just like salt when it loses it function, we can miss God’s call for us because we are not focused on him. We do not become pure and blameless through our actions but only through salvation found in Christ alone and through the power of the Holy Spirit that purifies us and sanctifies us. In doing so, we are agents of peace within the body and look to glorify Christ in how we live and love others. Our effectiveness as disciples of Christ is contingent upon whether or not we take up the cross and follow him. Otherwise, our discipleship can become “me” centered rather than Christ-centered. We can fall into the trap of emotionalism when it comes to our walk with Christ and rather than living in peace, we are at constant war with ourselves and others because we are looking for the next spiritual high. We are not focused on the true way of discipleship - giving of ourselves.

This trap can lead us to think that the only people who are real Christians are people who are just like me. That kind of thinking will lead us into sin and cause us to be a stumbling block to others. We must be real in our discipleship and not try to be some kind of fake Christian that thinks that if I go to enough Beth Moore bible studies or youth events, I can gain enough emotional fortitude to overcome whatever comes against me. That is where we will fail and sometimes we can bring others with us because we lead them in the wrong direction.

Our discipleship must be genuine and not one based on pride. If our discipleship is based on pride, it will be our downfall. Our discipleship must be one that is humble and focused on Christ’s call to take up his cross and follow him. This means that the way of true discipleship is not easy. It will not give you some kind of spiritual super powers. True discipleship knows that Christ’s church is open to all who love him and earnestly repent of their sin, and the church is called to love and care for one another and build one another up so that we might live with the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding.