Let's Work Together

"Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."

"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. – Mark 9: 38-41

Today’s Reading: Numbers 34-36, Mark 9: 30-50

This is a really powerful message and I believe it expands into all aspects of life. We have to do a better job of understanding who is on our team.

Especially when on the surface it may seem like we shouldn’t be…

In regards to the specific message above I think it is sad when Christian folks from different denominations can’t get along. Sure the different groups or churches may have differing opinions about certain minor issues, but overall, they profess to believe in the same core concepts.

So if we are all trying to do good and spread love in the world then why waste energy bickering amongst ourselves?

But I’m going to take this a step further. This is a very important concept when interacting with other people of different faiths. Entirely too many wars have been fought and lives have been lost by people who call God by a different name.

This is unacceptable.

Instead, I like to look at things from this perspective:

My faith encourages me to spread love in the world. Anyone else who is down to spread love is down with me.

Working with folks of other faiths or beliefs on the common goal of spreading love does not jeopardize or marginalize my beliefs. Rather it strengthens them. Through the shared work of spreading love we grow; not only in the joy of fulfilling our purpose, but also in the richness of life that understanding brings.

So when we see someone or a group that seems to be different let’s not focus on the difference. Rather, let’s focus on finding what we have in common.

In this way our capacity to love will grow by leaps and bounds.

Rick Warren said something similar when he was on Meet the Press.

“I can work with Muslims and atheists and other religions and gays and straights and--I can work with any--if you want to save a life, that's a human issue. And, and so you don't have to water down your beliefs, but you, you can work for the common good. And that's what we need. I believe in the good news and I believe in the common good.” – Rick Warren

I agree 100%