The Path of Preeminence

Transcript

Well, if you’d please turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 9, verse 30.

They went on from there, and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know. For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. And they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he asked them, What were you discussing on the way? But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and he said to them, If anyone would be first, he must be last of all, and servant of all.

— Mark 9

(ESV)

And he took a child, and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me. 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. 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. For the one who is not against us, is for us. 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.

— Mark 9

(ESV)

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray.

Father, we come this morning, recognizing our dependence. We come this morning in humility, asking for you to help us. Would you cause our eyes to see and our minds to understand the truth that you have for us in your word. So that we might be confronted with the truth, that we might be changed by your truth and conformed more into the image of Jesus. And we pray these things in his mighty name. Amen. Well, this morning we’ll be looking at three of these kind of separate sections in Mark. In fact, if you look at your Bible, depending on your translation, it’s likely laid out in these three sections with three separate headings. Each section is powerful enough to stand on its own and even be faithfully preached on its own. But this morning what I’m going to do is preach all three of these sections together.

The Superior Servant

Because even though they can stand on their own, these three sections are very much connected thematically. These three sections are stitched together by the thread or the theme of true humility. And again, this is by Mark’s creative design. I hope you’re seeing Mark’s style here. But just to help us along, what I’m going to do this morning is give us a few mile markers to help stitch these together. So essentially, I’m just creating my own headings for these three sections to help tie up this theme. And so in verses 30 through 32, we’ll look at the superior servant. In verses 33 through 37, we’ll look at the pride of position. And then verses 38 through 41, the trouble with tribalism. Now, just to help frame some context this morning, up to this point in Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ ministry has primarily focused on the general population, the people in the crowds.

Jesus’ priority has been preaching and teaching these crowds about his coming kingdom. So his ministry in many ways up to this point has been very public. But from here on out, as Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem towards the cross, Mark will pull our focus primarily on Jesus’ private teaching to the 12 disciples. In fact, we’ll be dealing with Jesus teaching his 12 disciples up until we get to the Passion account. Now, this morning, Jesus kicks off his private instruction with his disciples by addressing one of the greatest sins and perhaps the greatest killer of Christian community, and that is the sin of pride and self-exaltation. Now, most people don’t really perceive pride to be a great sin. And in most cases, when they’re confronted with their pride, they might get embarrassed for a few moments but then quickly dismiss it as something minor or as a simple character flaw.

And most people who have an issue with pride don’t really even know they have an issue with pride, which makes the sin altogether more dangerous because there’s no self-diagnosing going on. Jonathan Edwards says this concerning pride, It is the most hidden, secret, and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps insensibly into the midst of religion, even sometimes under the disguise of humility itself. So pride is elusive and often wears the mask of spiritual piety. And once pride makes its way into a Christian community, it tends to spread and erode that Christian community from the inside out, killing its joy, killing its unity, and killing genuine love for one another. And because of this reality, Jesus begins his intensive with this very issue. And like a good teacher, Jesus begins his discussion of pride and self-exaltation first by reminding them of the greatest expression of true humility.

He begins not simply by correcting what is wrong about pride, but by showing them an example of the opposite of pride, humility. And we see that in verses 30 through 32 with the superior servants. Verse 30, They went on from there and passed through Galilee, and he did not want anyone to know. So Jesus and the twelve disciples have moved down the mountain of transfiguration. And after this short engagement with the crowd and a demon-possessed boy, Jesus, along with the twelve, have began to move towards Capernaum. And that route would have brought them straight through the region of Galilee. Now, if you’ve been following along in Mark, you probably remember that the city of Capernaum was most likely where the home of Simon Peter was. And his home, in many ways, was a rest stop or a launch pad for most of Jesus’ public ministry.

So Jesus and the disciples would go from Capernaum into other regions. They would do all kinds of ministry. And then they would make their way back home so that they can rest and pray and get away from the crowd before they jump back on the road again. And so this was not only a shift of location for Jesus, but it’s also a shift in attention. Jesus makes his way back to Capernaum, back to this rest stop, so that he can get away from the crowds to instruct his disciples. The clock is counting down for Jesus to take up his cross. And before he moves to Jerusalem, before he engages in this passion, he still has a lot to teach these disciples. But before Jesus begins his new lessons, he starts first by giving them a review of what he’s been consistently drilling into their minds.

Jesus, the good teacher, knows that if they are going to understand any of his future lessons, he needs to first bring them back to the basics. And we see that in verse 31. For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise. Okay, so these disciples have heard this before from Jesus. In fact, this is the second of three passion predictions that Jesus will give his disciples. Jesus is continually bringing up his death and resurrection. Why? Well, first, his disciples are still a bit confused about it all. They still haven’t figured out exactly what this death and resurrection really means. And so Jesus aims to remind them in hopes to bring them clarity. And secondly, the repetition here is because we need to be reminded of it.

Remember, Mark wrote these words down for us as well. We need to understand the basics of the gospel. If we intend to apply anything that Jesus might be teaching us, in fact, the very reason we respond to Jesus’ teaching is because we know the gospel. In Luke’s account of this narrative here in chapter 9, verse 44, he says, let these words sink into your ears. And how do we let these words sink into our ears? By review and repetition. It’s good for the disciples to hear this again. It’s good for us to hear this again. We need to hear it over and over again because it’s precisely what saves us and compels us to follow his teaching. And listen, a good indicator that you need to be reminded of the gospel is if you find yourself in a place that says, yeah, I’ve heard that before.

I’m over it. I’m ready to move on to other more important things like, you know, systematic theology or, you know, deeper doctrines. If you find yourself in that place frustrated by the repetition of the gospel, then you need to go back to the basics of the gospel. We are forgetful people, and our hearts are prone to wander from the truth of the gospel. Hearing it over and over again re-enchants our hearts to the one who gave his life for us and rose from the grave. So the repetition and review is by design. And when Jesus repeats this truth, the first thing you need to notice is, again, Jesus references the Son of Man. This is meant to draw the disciples’ attention back to Daniel 7 where it was prophesied that the Messiah will rule and reign and his coming kingdom will not be destroyed. Jesus does this, again, to remind them that before the ruling and the reigning,

there must be death and resurrection. Before a kingdom that comes that will not be destroyed, Jesus’ body must be broken and destroyed and then raised up. Now, remember the first time Jesus mentioned the Son of Man suffering? That was back in Mark 8, verse 31. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. So Jesus has said this before. But this time, Jesus makes a slight but important distinction, and that is that the Son of Man is going to be delivered. Now, that word delivered in the original language is better translated handed over, which is a legal term for handing over someone to judgment. Now, this phrase handed over has a bit of a double meaning. So in one sense, Jesus was handed over into the hands of men, by wicked men.

He was handed over and he was judged by wicked men. The people betrayed him, they accused him, they rejected him, they wrongly convicted him and ultimately sentenced him to death and killed him. So that’s one reality. But in another sense, and perhaps in the greater sense, Jesus was delivered or handed over into the hands of wicked men by God himself. Meaning this handing over was by God’s divine decree. So the divine architect of this delivery is none other than God himself. In fact, Jesus said, no one takes my life from me, I lay it down of my own accord. So it’s part of God’s plan to have Jesus handed over to fulfill God’s divine purposes. Now, evil men are responsible for delivering him over. Evil men are responsible for crucifying Jesus. But God sovereignly ordained it and designed it. Now listen, this is a very important distinction Jesus makes here.

And though the disciples don’t quite understand it in the moment, what this word delivered meant, they would eventually come to figure it out. The words delivered into the hands of men would reverberate in the heart and mind of Peter sometime later. In fact, Peter with the 11 would preach probably the most powerful sermon recorded in human history on the day of Pentecost. He preaches to address this very complicated and theological issue of being delivered by God into the hands of wicked men. Acts 2 verses 22 through 23 says,

men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst. As you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. You crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

— Acts 2

(ESV)

You see why the repetition is so important? Because we need the truth reverberating in our hearts and our minds so that we can recall it when we need it, just like the apostle Peter. The disciples would eventually come to figure this out, but in the moment, they’re just clueless. And we know that because verse 32 tells us, but they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him. So the disciples are still a bit clueless about the specifics of his death and resurrection, and it’s understandable. We on this side of the cross understand the significance of the death and resurrection of Jesus. We clearly see after the cross how Jesus dying for sinners was the supreme act of sacrifice and service. How Jesus is the superior servant. We see the cross as the instrument by which God who created us condescended to save us.

Now you got to think about that for a moment. The God who spoke creation into existence came down into his creation as a created one. Wrapped himself in humanity to live among us and die for us. The very ones he created would be the very ones to crucify him. But Jesus humbly lay down his life to give us life. Philippians 2 verses 5 through 8 says,

Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men and being found in human form. He humbled himself to becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

— Philippians 2

(ESV)

You see, brothers and sisters, there is no greater expression of humility than what Jesus, the king of creation, did for his people.

So it makes sense that the disciples didn’t quite understand everything Jesus said. How could they? But why were they afraid? Well, this fear is a bit of a multifaceted fear. You remember Peter’s response the first time Jesus mentioned to his disciples that he must suffer many things, be rejected and killed? Peter rebuked Jesus, and Jesus immediately fired back, Get behind me, Satan. Well, here again, when Jesus brings up his death, you can imagine the disciples would be afraid of being rebuked by Jesus. Afraid to respond. Afraid to get it wrong. Afraid that Jesus might again link them to the work of Satan, and they don’t want that. And so they’re afraid of how Jesus might respond if they say something. Also, they’re afraid because if Jesus dies, then what happens with their ministry? Who will lead them? Who will they follow? I mean, last week, Ryan preached that these dudes couldn’t even cast out a demon on their own, let alone do anything else in ministry.

How could they be effective in ministry if Jesus is not along their side leading them? And finally, if you think about it, what would be the implications of Jesus’s death for a real-time follower of Jesus? If the disciples are to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, and Jesus’s path is that of suffering and death, what does this mean for them personally? Suffering and death. In fact, Jesus already told them that this was going to happen. So when Jesus says this again, it sobers them into the reality that they’re not quite ready to deal with. And so they sit in silence and fear. Now, this is a different kind of fear than what the disciples experienced when they were on the boat, when Jesus calmed the winds and the waves. That was a fear of reverence, of awe. This was a fear of self-preservation. They fear the loss of leadership.

Pride of Position

They fear the loss of influence. And they fear the loss of life. But even though they’re afraid to speak to Jesus and they remain silent at the statements of Jesus, they’re not afraid to talk among themselves concerning their position in pride. And we see that in verses 33 through 37. And they came to Capernaum. And when he was at the house, he asked them, what were you discussing on the way? But they kept silent for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. So when they finally arrived at the house of Capernaum, Jesus turns to address his disciples. And Jesus addresses them in his typical fashion with a rhetorical question. What were y’all discussing on the way over here? Now, Jesus knows exactly what they were talking about. Whether that was by divine insight or he just happened to hear them talking while they were walking, we don’t know.

But what we do know is that Jesus knew what they were arguing about. And so Jesus asks this question. But again, they don’t respond. It’s crickets. Now, why don’t they say anything? I mean, on the road, they couldn’t keep their mouth closed concerning who was the greatest. But now they’re silent. Well, it’s because the disciples are ashamed of what they’ve been talking about or rather arguing about. I mean, they’re literally arguing over who is the greatest. This is the kind of conversation that five-year-olds have. And I know that. And so when Jesus calls them out for their ridiculous discussion, of course they’d be embarrassed. They’ve been with Jesus long enough to know that Jesus would not be pleased with them discussing among themselves who is the greatest. Now, what even prompted this conversation? It just seems like it randomly came out of nowhere. Well, if you remember, Jesus had just taken the three disciples up to the mountain to reveal his glory.

And so this likely was the motivation for talking about rank and position. And you can imagine the conversation. All the disciples huddled together, slowly walking to Capernaum. And one of the disciples says, Is it Peter? Is he the greatest? I mean, it seems like he’s got this real good connection with Jesus that we don’t necessarily have. I mean, he’s the one that’s putting all these dots together. And remember, he was the one who first confessed Jesus as the Messiah. So maybe Peter’s the greatest. But who’s the second greatest? Is it John and James, since they were invited up on the mountaintop? If it’s John and James, then who’s the fourth? You see, this created a bit of conflict and jealousy among the disciples concerning rank. And since Jesus has been talking about dying more recently, it’s obvious that there’s soon going to be a position to fill among the disciples, particularly with a leader.

And so someone will have to lead these folks when Jesus is gone. And so they’re arguing over who has the better resume to lead the disciples. Now, we can look at this discussion and we can think to ourselves, How childish is this? How egotistical and self-absorbed are these disciples? I’m the greatest. No, I’m the greatest. I’m more fit for the task. But listen, we only think that’s childish because of the culture that we’re raised in. In the first century, the culture was predominantly an honor and shame culture. In fact, the Jewish leaders emphasized pride. Pride in their religious work. Pride in their ethnic identity. Pride in their God. We looked at all that when we were going through the book of Jonah. Everything about Jewish people in the first century was prideful. This was normative. And not just with Judaism. This was normative in the Roman Greco world.

But despite how normal the push for prominence and position was in this honor and shame culture, Jesus makes it clear. In God’s economy, greatness is defined differently. And so Jesus must address the path of preeminence. And how does Jesus address this issue? He takes them to school. And we see that in verse 35. And he sat down and called the 12. And he said to them, if anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all. So Jesus calls his class together. Has them quiet down. Has them take their seats. And he begins to teach them. Now Jesus teaches his disciples in a typical rabbinic fashion. He teaches them in a way that would be standard for a rabbi to instruct their disciples by getting them in a close circle, having them sit down. And then the rabbi would speak and communicate.

Now what I find interesting here is that though the method of instruction is the same as the religious leaders, Jesus reveals that greatness is not defined by the actions of the religious leaders. I mean, just consider the spiritual leaders and how they acted. Jesus spoke many times concerning the religious leaders and how they paraded their righteousness among the people. In fact, in Matthew chapter 6, verses 1 through 5, Jesus teaches his disciples what not to do. And he uses the religious leaders as an example. He says,

beware of practicing your righteousness before others in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

— Matthew 6

(ESV)

But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogue and in the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Now why do the religious leaders do that all the time? Why do they parade their righteousness before people? Because of an honor-shame culture. This gave them value and spiritual significance in the world that they were living. To be in a high position meant to have honor, and to have honor meant to give your life purpose. They did these things to be perceived as great. But in Jesus’s economy, the parading of pride is not the path of greatness,

but the path of insignificance. And it’s here where Jesus introduces his upside-down kingdom principles, or the ethics of God’s eternal kingdom. He makes this paradoxical statement. He says that first must be last of all, and that greatness is defined by being a servant of all. Now this would make no sense in the first century, where kingdoms were built by great kings and established through conquest. In a world of masters and servants, this would make no sense in the same way it would make no sense in our world today. I mean, we live in a world that loves and prizes ambition. Companies are constantly looking for ambitious and competent people. Our world loves political power and prominence. We live in a culture that seeks attention through self-promotion and self-exaltation. We’re constantly trying to build our social capital, and we’re constantly trying to move up the corporate ladder.

And in our culture, people will pretty much do anything to rise to the top. They’ll sacrifice marriages and family. They’ll sacrifice friendships to be first. They’ll sacrifice their faith for fame. They’ll sacrifice their identity so long as they’re identified with greatness. I mean, no one in our world really, really wants to be last in the line of life, and no one really identifies greatness by being a servant. Our culture defines being last and being a servant as the opposite of being great. And you see, this is why Jesus’ statement here is so radical, so revolutionary, and so countercultural. And this is not just in the first century, but also in our culture. Yeah, we might have a better understanding concerning the ugliness of flamboyant pride or how arrogance is considered a bit off-putting, but that doesn’t stop us from advancing ourselves and placing ourselves at the center of the universe.

In our modern and sophisticated world, we’ve just learned to be more covert with our pride so that we reap all the benefits of positioning ourselves without any of the shame and embarrassment. So we still have the same pride issues as they did in the first century culture, but ours just plays out differently. Now notice that Jesus doesn’t speak out against being great. It’s not that Jesus is against greatness. He simply redefines greatness. He says greatness looks like putting to death our tendencies to be self-oriented and self-indulgent and to find ways to serve others. In fact, serving others is the quickest way to eradicate personal pride because it physically and spiritually positions others above ourselves. The famous quote by C.S. Lewis says, true humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less. So it’s not that we strive to be nobodies. It’s that we strive to lay aside ourselves for everybody else.

And just to drive this point home in verse 36, Jesus gives his disciples an object lesson of true greatness because sometimes things are better illustrated than simply spoken. We see that in verses 36 and 37. And he took a child and put them in the midst of them. And taking him in his arms, he said to them, Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives not me, but him who sent me. So in order to fully understand the scope of what Jesus is illustrating here, you have to understand the way the first century culture viewed children. People today would hear this and immediately think, oh, we got to embrace cute, innocent, and vulnerable kids with childlike wonder. But if you have kids, then you know kids are not born innocent. This is just not the case. So that’s not what Jesus meant.

In the first century, children were treated with less dignity and less value than adults. In fact, it wasn’t until kids became adults when they were actually treated with respect. Now, that’s the opposite in our world today. Children pretty much run the household. But in the first century, kids were a burden, insignificant. They were on the lower end of the social spectrum. They had no status. And listen, this was the predominant view of children prior to Christianity. And that really puts into perspective the way Jesus interacted with children. In a few weeks, we’ll see how the disciples were blocking children from coming to Jesus because they viewed children the same way the culture did, as insignificant. But Jesus said, no, let the children come to me. Jesus sees children with inherent dignity, value, and worth, which is why, dear Christian, we must fight for our children.

If we claim to follow Jesus, then you need to share the heart of Jesus for children, both in and outside of the womb. Because they’re not an inconvenience. A fetus is not on the lower end of the social spectrum that can simply be disregarded. And we might be a little bit more enlightened today than we were back then, but we’re not that far from the Roman world in our culture. Killing in the name of inconvenience. Jesus says, whoever receives one of these, meaning a child or a person who is perceived to have no social status or dignity, this means unborn babies in the womb, but it also means homeless people, felons, drug addicts, prostitutes, gang members. Think about it. What’s the worst you can imagine in your mind? Those are the kind of people God calls us to serve. So that’s one part, receiving and serving the social outcasts of society,

but then there’s this other side in serving people. Jesus is saying, you don’t serve people who will only benefit your portfolio. You don’t serve for a photo op or to be perceived as someone who cares. You don’t serve for your Instagram stories to stay on brand as compassionate. In other words, don’t only serve people when they help you secure a position of prominence. Christians do this all the time. They serve as some sort of virtue signal, but this would be no different from the Pharisees. You serve and receive the least of people, and not only will Jesus receive you, but so will the one who sent Jesus, the Father himself. Now listen, a servant who loses a sense of himself by giving up himself to the least of people takes on the qualities of his master who came to receive the least deserving and save the lost.

Trouble with Tribalism

But Jesus is not done with his teaching on true humility. He continues to address humility by a different kind of pride, exposing a different kind of pride, and we see that in verses 38 through 41 with the trouble with tribalism. 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. So here Jesus moves the conversation from a me versus you kind of pride to an us versus them kind of pride. John, for the very first time in Mark’s gospel, takes center stage. And what most likely happened here is when Jesus told his disciples that whoever receives one of these children in my name, that probably brought to John’s mind a previous event where someone was casting out demons in his name. So the phrase in my name was likely the point of connection

for John to ask this question. And what I find so ironic about this whole situation is that if you remember last week, Ryan preached about the disciples’ inability to cast out a demon. They couldn’t do it. And here John says, oh yeah, there’s this guy over there who’s actually casting out demons, but we told him to stop doing that. And notice John’s reason for trying to stop him, because he was not following us. John didn’t say because he’s not following you, meaning Jesus, but because he’s not following us. So here the disciples have it in their mind that they’ve somehow arrived as a crew worthy enough to have a lock on the ministry market. And just to be clear, it’s not just John. Because remember, John said we tried to stop him. So this is a group effort trying to stop this guy. Essentially, John is saying this dude is not part of our tribe,

so we shut him down. You see in the disciples’ mind, if you’re outside the circle of the 12 and you’re doing great ministry, then you need to stop because you’re not part of our crew. But look at how Jesus responds. We see that in verse 39 and 40. 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. For the one who is not against us is for us. So the first thing to notice in Jesus’ response is that he said, do not stop him. Not, you shouldn’t have tried to stop him. That’s not a grammatical slip there. It’s a future tense, meaning if you come across a person doing mighty things in my name in the present or in the future, stop trying to stop them from doing what they’re doing.

Then Jesus gives them this kind of Jewish idiom. For no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. In our culture, we might say it like this. If he’s pushing our agenda, then it’s all good. If he’s not against us, then he’s obviously with us. Now, the question then is, what constitutes being for us? Well, in this particular context, it all boils down to the phrase in my name, which could be translated on my behalf or in partnership with me or on the same mission as me. There is a particular set of truths and ideas that are in line with the person and work of Jesus. And so when Jesus refers to other people doing mighty things that are in sync with me or are on my mission, rather than shutting them down, celebrate the mighty work that God is doing through them.

They don’t have to be a part of your tribe or community or church. If they are doing things in my name, then they’re doing things under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit. Now, of course, if they’re doing things in Jesus’ name that contradict Jesus’ works and words, then it’s not really doing it in Jesus’ name. And then you’re to call them out or to not partner with them. So this doesn’t mean that you throw discernment out the door. It means that you actually use discernment to judge whether what they are doing is in line with Jesus and his words. And Jesus is really driving out here the trouble with tribalism. A community of Jesus’ followers who believe that their way is the only way or the most effective way or the only God-honoring way. These things are just not true. And it’s exceedingly prideful.

This is why Jesus addresses it. And you see what really drives tribalism is pride. It plays out in comparison, critique, and control. It’s pride that evaluates what others are doing based on whether they’re a part of your tribe. It’s pride that criticizes others for doing things that are philosophically different, not biblically different, but philosophically different than what your tribe is doing. It’s pride to try and control the fruit or effectiveness of those outside of your tribe by shutting them down and speaking, condescending towards these people. It’s exceedingly prideful, and it hurts the kingdom of God. So practically, this means that God uses people outside of our particular denomination. Hear that. He uses reformed folks and charismatic folks. He uses Baptists, Presbyterians, and Anglicans. He uses all kinds of denominations. He uses people outside the walls of this church, so long as they herald the gospel of Jesus Christ

and are faithfully committed to his works and his words. This is why we rejoice when people in Portland become members at Hinson Baptist Church or The Well or any other gospel-centered church here. We rejoice. And this is why we rejoice at the idea of planting churches, because it’s not about us and our particular tribe. It’s about the kingdom of God. And we care so much about the kingdom of God that we’re willing to fracture our tribe and send them out. As sad as that is and as hard as that is to do, we make that a priority. Many of you know I was saved in a charismatic Pentecostal church. It was in this context where I first came to love the Lord Jesus, where I first began to read his word and where I first encountered the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I loved those days.

And then some years later, I was discipled by some reformed guys. And it was in this context where I grew in my knowledge and understanding of who God is and what he’s done for me. It’s where I first encountered deep theological truths that radically shaped my thinking. And here’s what’s crazy. When I was in those charismatic circles, they warned me about these Calvinistic folks. They said, you’ve got to be careful, because they’ll turn you into one of those intellectual Christians, and you’ll start dismissing all the work of the Holy Spirit. You’ll stop experiencing Christianity. And then I was discipled by some Calvinistic folks, and they warned me about those charismatic folks. They said, be careful. They’ll have you chasing experience only. They’ll minimize your theology. And for so long, I was moved and persuaded by whatever tribe I was a part of at whatever time.

And it really is a tragedy, because I’ve come to find the beauty in both of those spaces. I’ve been challenged in both of these spaces. Now, I’ve arrived at a very specific theological space. I have my theological convictions, but I have a deep love for other tribes. I appreciate and respect the differences so long as those differences are in line with the gospel and the scriptures. You know, about three and a half years ago, I went through probably the most difficult season in my life. A bomb was dropped in the center of my world, and I was deeply wounded because of a deep betrayal. It was so bad. It was like I was in this perpetual state of falling with no floor and no net. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t even think straight. And because of that, I had to systematically cancel

all of these events that I was scheduled to speak at, except for this one conference. I couldn’t cancel that event because it was literally a few days after this bomb went off. And just to give you a bit of timeline, this bomb went off on a Sunday, and I was on a plane to speak at this pastor’s conference on a Tuesday. Now, this pastor’s conference was a conference for more charismatic denomination, okay? I was probably the only Calvinist to speak at this conference with all of these pastors. And so when I arrived, I was completely broken. I was doing everything I could to hold it together. I was dying on the inside, but looking normal on the outside. And one by one, pastor after pastor in this denomination approached me and told me, you know, the Holy Spirit just told me to come up to you

and tell you, God is close to you, and he understands what you’re going through, and he’s sitting with you in the pain and in the tension. Many of them came up to me and said, you know, I don’t know what’s going on with you or your church, but the Holy Spirit put it upon my heart to encourage you, to lift you up and say, God will bring you and your church through whatever’s going on. Many of them stopped to pray with me right there in the moment. One by one, pastor after pastor in this denomination encouraged me. These men knew nothing of my situation. Nobody did, except for our elders here, but they were used by God in a mighty way to encourage me, to build me up, to lift me up. This was not my tribe. These were not my people, but these were God’s people,

and God used these people profoundly in my life in a season where I needed it the most. You see, just because folks are from a different tribe doesn’t mean they’re from a different kingdom, and this is really what Jesus is getting at. We think that our tribe, our community, and our church has the key to perfect ministry, but we don’t. We don’t, and if we feel this way, then we need to humble ourselves and trust that God is at work with other people, other churches, other denominations, and other tribes. I mean, we have prayed over and over again for our city that God would do a mighty work and save many in our city. What if he actually did it, but he didn’t use us to do it? Would you still celebrate and rejoice what God has done, or would that make you frustrated? That’s a good indicator

as to whether you have this issue of pride. Listen, it would be the chief of pride to think that God is only pleased with Trinity Church of Portland. Now, I don’t think in general that we feel that way, and I don’t think we as a church act that way, and praise be to God for that, but it doesn’t mean that we don’t have to do the hard work of protecting ourselves from this kind of pride because it can creep up to us in a matter of moments. And then Jesus closes his instruction on pride and humility with this cosmic reality. In chapter 9, verse 41, he says, 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. So here, Jesus juxtaposes his rebuke of the Pharisees. When they prayed their righteousness before people,

they will have received their reward. They got what they wanted, but it was a temporal reward. Here, Jesus says, If you serve somebody, there is an eternal reward connected to that. Jesus equates a cosmic and eternal reward to something as insignificant as giving someone a cup of water. When the Son of Man comes, he will judge the world in righteousness. He will eradicate evil, but he will also reward the humble, those who showed compassion and served the least of people. And when we see other people serving these kinds of folks, you celebrate it and you thank God for what he’s doing in the lives of other people outside of our church, outside of our tribe. This is true humility. J.C. Ryle says this, and this is a beautiful quote. Of all garments, none is so graceful, none wears so well, and none is so rare as true humility.

If we need a living and breathing illustration of what true humility looks like, we need only look to Jesus, our Savior, our sovereign King and our suffering servant. I’ll close with Mark chapter 10, verse 45. This here encapsulates the essence of Jesus’ statements and true humility. For even the Son of Man, the Son of Man, the one who comes to reign and rule, came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. Brothers and sisters, let this be our template. And may this eradicate pride in our hearts. Let’s pray. Our Father and our God, we see how clearly and how ugly pride is. I pray, oh Lord, that you would help us to see it when it’s in our own hearts. Help us to lovingly confront it when we see it in other people’s hearts in our community.

Help us to prize humility. Help us aspire to greatness, but in a way that is in line with your kingdom principles and your kingdom realities. Help us to be great at being servants. Help us to be great at being the least of all. Help us to not put out our own agenda, to push our own agenda, but to lovingly lay our lives down for other people. Help that to be one of the predominant characteristics of this church. And I do thank you, Father, for the unique expressions of humility that permeate this church. The very fact that there is an expression of true humility in this church is owing all to the fact that we are humbled by your grace. We did nothing to earn anything, but you changed us and you humbled us. And so we pray that would be the predominant characteristic of our church.

Help us to see Jesus as the greatest servant, the sovereign king of the universe, who served us by laying his life down for us. May that be our template. We pray these things in his name. Amen.