The Gospel of Mark was written so that Christians will learn to live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. However, learning to live as faithful followers of Jesus Christ is a significant challenge, more than you probably realize when reading through the Gospel of Mark. The challenge is rooted in the reality that following Jesus means following Jesus to crucifixion and resurrection, and the can be no resurrection without submitting to crucifixion.
Of course, Jesus is very much willing to let you decide if you want to follow him or not. If you do want to follow Jesus, then the condition is plainly spoken. Jesus says“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (8:34).1
Whatever taking up the cross might look like in your context, you cannot follow Jesus unless you are willing to lay your own life down just as Jesus does. That includes me. One of the great sins of American Christianity is that a person can be a Christian without the cross, free to continue in a life shaped by American values. I’m talking about materialism and consumerism, American exceptionalism and militarism, radical individualism, religious pluralism and moral relativism, and yes, both American conservatism and liberalism.
So when you read of Jesus predicting his death for the second time in Mark 9, don’t be surprised to see the disciples arguing instead about who is the greatest. The disciples then struggled to grasp what it means to be a disciple just as much as Christians struggle to grasp discipleship today.
Rather than getting angry, Jesus simply corrects the misunderstanding, insisting that following him is not about any aspirations for greatness but about becoming “the servant of all” (9:35). To demonstrate the posture of humility and service required, Jesus picks up a little child and then says, “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me” (9:37).
What’s so challenging about welcoming children? Are children not cute and playful bundles of joy? Of course, they are but children didn’t always enjoy the status they have today. As hard as it might be to understand, in Jesus’ day, children lacked any social standing.2 Welcoming children in Jesus’ context did not elevate anyone’s greatness, increasing their prominence and social standing. In fact, welcoming children could be thought of as foolish.
Welcome those who lack social standing as the way of welcoming Jesus and the one who sent Jesus, and see the way God works for his redemptive good.
The point Jesus is making by welcoming children is that his followers must welcome the people in our society who lack social standing. These are the people who, from a worldly perspective, will not elevate your status and may even have other people questioning your judgment as they silently chuckle. So just who are the people Jesus says to welcome? The answer might be that migrant family who barely speaks any English and comes to the church building asking for food, the single mother living in the section-8 housing you pass on the way to church, the intellectually disabled adult who requires so much extra care, the elderly man who lives on a fixed income that limits how much he can give financially to the church, that man whose breath wreaks of too much alcohol and cigarettes every time he comes to worship, and the declining neighborhood that your church building is located among.
I think you get the idea but here is why such welcoming is a challenge to churches. Most churches are in decline and have been for some time. As a result, scores of books have been written on the subject of church growth so that your church can not only find renewed growth but become like that big megachurch located on the boulevard just off the freeway that appears to be the latest buzz among Christians. My point isn’t to knock megachurches but to say that churches should do some introspection on the desire to grow.
Amazingly, church growth is something Jesus never talked about once. Jesus talked about was repentance, faith, and the kingdom of God with an invitation to come follow him. And then Jesus shows us what it looks like to follow him through teaching and example. As a minister, I understand why churches want to grow and why Christians want their church to grow but instead of seeking to grow a church, perhaps it would be better just to focus on living as faithful followers of Jesus. Do what Jesus does. Welcome those who lack social standing as the way of welcoming Jesus and the one who sent Jesus, and see the way God works for his redemptive good. Maybe your church will grow or maybe it won’t. What I do know is that when churches follow Jesus, they will always be the church Jesus wants them to be and the kingdom of God will come just as it did for that little child Jesus welcomed.
All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
R.T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, The New International Greek Testament Commentary, Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002, 374; John R. Donahue and Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Mark, Sacra Pagina, Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2002, 285.