Courtroom in Beverly, Yorkshire, England.
The
disciple, John, said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in
your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.”
But Jesus
said, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.” Luke 9:49,50
In a sermon,
W. Clarkson says, “We are in danger of counting among our opponents those whom
we should reckon as allies. It did not seem to be a service of a any particular
account that a man should use the name of Jesus to exorcise demons, even though
he may have had a measure of success in his attempts. But Christ said he was
not to be forbidden as an outsider, but rather hailed as a friend and as an
ally. What then, would he not say now of those who go so far towards the
fullest declaration of his truth as many thousands do, but who remain outside
the particular church with which we may be connected? Would he have us blame
and brand these because they “follow not with us?”
The spirit
of persecution is cruel, foolish, and emphatically unchristian. Rather, let us
rejoice that there are found so many who, while not feeling it right to connect
themselves with our organization, are yet loving the same Lord and serving the
same cause. These are not our enemies; they are our allies.”
I like what
Clarkson said. I know of how some people look down on Christians of other denominations.
Not only sneer at them and their beliefs, but say they are not saved. I
remember hearing in my church how “we have the truth,” and visiting a different
denomination where a woman told me, “we have the truth.”
I think that
is spiritual pride, and a kind of putting God in a box where he is only with
the people in that box. Someone once told my husband he was not a Christian
before he was baptized into my church. No, he was a Christian for a year and a
half before he was baptized.
Human
beings, all of us and I definitely include myself, judge other human beings
constantly. That can be good or evil. We must use our judgement in deciding who
to marry, who to be close friends with and who to do business with. God doesn’t
want us to be blind to the faults of others. But when we judge whether someone
is saved by grace or not, we move into God’s territory. Only he knows the heart
of each person, and each person is on a path only God knows. He is patient. We
are not. He is all loving. We are not. He is God. We are not.
