Scripture
32The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. 33And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.” 34Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Mark 12:32-34
Observation
No matter how hard the religious leaders tried “to trap Jesus into saying something for which he could be arrested” (Mark 12:13), Jesus sprung the trap. In fact, they were forced to question their own assumptions and faulty theology as a result of Jesus’ answers. This exchange here is different from the others. The religious leader is sincerely asking as evidenced by his response to Jesus and what Jesus recognized to be the heart of a genuine seeker. Yet, the conversation stops there. The religious leader was so close to salvation. He understood for the first time that his entire life had been about religious traditions, ceremonial procedures, and pompous presentations and yet none of this was what God was looking for. None of these religious trappings could save his soul or anyone else’s for that matter. Yet, even with this fresh revelation he could not take that final step of surrender, lay it all down, and follow Jesus. He was a professional after all. This was his job. What Jesus was saying was that anyone who followed Him could fulfill God’s command to love Him and love others. It didn’t require lineage, specific training, or priestly garments. It just required “all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength.” This was dangerous thinking to the established system. If the sacrificial system was no longer the answer, if the priesthood was now open to all followers of Jesus, then where did that leave him? He couldn’t make that leap of faith for everything he had known all of his life would come crashing down around
Application
This week most people were focused on candy and costumes on October 31st, but something much more significant was celebrated. 504 years ago a man named Martin Luther walked up to the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany and nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door. It was the hammer heard ‘round the world as Luther challenged the religious traditions of the church in Rome. The Ninety-Five Theses decried the use of selling indulgences for salvation, the primacy of the priesthood over the believer, the inaccessibility of the Holy Scriptures to the common man and the idea that good works could earn your way into Heaven. This one act would start what we now know as the Protestant Reformation and would bring the Word of God back in to the hands of the people of God removing the need for religious regime that had a stranglehold on the the faith of God’s people. Martin Luther took the leap of faith that the religious leader in Mark 12 would not. He was willing to challenge the powerful religious status quo that didn’t line up with Scripture. As Robert Rothwell wrote, “Luther recaptured the biblical view of the priesthood of all believers, showing all people that their work had purpose and dignity because in it they can serve their Creator.” I believe this is happening again. I believe God used the world wide pandemic to reveal that The Church has fallen for many of these same lies as the Church In Rome. As a “professional” I was confronted with the fact that I have not done well in “equipping the saints for the work of the ministry” (Eph 4:11-12) as my scriptural job description commands me to. I had done a great job in training believers to come and receive from the professionals and our expertly crafted inspirational presentations. Yet, when gathering in these settings was no longer an option what had I actually done in the way of discipleship towards Jesus? Had I trained others to do what Jesus did or to simply watch me do what Jesus did? How many in my church knew how to pray, study the Bible, teach the Bible, lay hands on the sick and pray for healing or cast out demons? How many had been baptized in The Holy Spirit and trained on how to use their God-given gifts of prophecy and discernment? Easter Sunday 2020 was the hammer to my heart. That was the beginning of the reforming. That was when I committed to the Lord to not waste any more time trying to preserve a system but instead to make disciples. Now, I will admit it hasn’t been easy. I’ve been in full time ministry for over 25 years and the pull back towards the self-preservation mindset is strong mainly due to ego and insecurity. Yet, as I look over these past few months I see some good changes. The joy of seeing so many of our leaders with teaching gifts stepping into that calling at our Sunday morning gatherings and in our Growth Groups is truly inspiring. To see many walking in the gifts of The Holy Spirit in a new way is hopefully going to be the norm. Even this week we are seeing the youth leading their own peers in Alpha, the gathering of all our North County churches to pray and worship on Sunday, and the launch of our first house of prayer on Monday. This could be the beginning of a new reformation and I know it starts with me.
Prayer
Jesus, I don’t want to be like the religious leader who saw the truth of Your words yet couldn’t let go his “way of life” to follow Your way. I want to be like Martin Luther who was led by Scripture rather than tradition or self-preservation. I want to continue to release Your people in their Divine Design. I lay down my reputation and the insecurities of being needed. The reformation starts in my heart and works its way out from there. I surrender again my position, my status, my reputation. It can’t be about me. It has to be about You and what You are doing in and through Your people!
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