Luke 9:46-50: a reflection

After the disciples argue about which of them is greatest, and Jesus rebukes their pride by setting a child before them, John raises a related concern: Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us. John was troubled that someone outside their group was doing the work of Christ. But Jesus corrects him: Do not stop him, for the one who is not against you is for you. The work mattered more than whether the man belonged to their circle.

Notice the attitude Jesus corrects: a territorial, possessive spirit about God's work. John assumed that because this man was not part of their group, he should be stopped, even though he was casting out demons in Jesus' name. It is the instinct to guard our own circle, to be suspicious of those who serve God outside our group, to think that God's work belongs to us and our kind. Jesus rejects it: do not stop him; he who is not against us is for us.

That is a needed correction for a common tendency. We can grow territorial about God's work, suspicious of those who serve Christ but are not part of our group, our church, our tradition, our circle, as though God's work were our possession. Jesus' words free us from this: those who are genuinely for Christ, even outside our circle, are not to be opposed but welcomed. Do not be territorial or possessive about God's work. Rejoice when Christ is served and his kingdom advanced, even by those who are not part of your group. The one who is not against him is for him; be glad for God's work wherever it is done, not jealous that it is not done only by your own.