I have been reading the Gospel of Mark and mulling / mediating on some things of late.   It’s not just Mark but other books I have read within the last year or so like The Jesus Way, Hope Lives, The Hole in Our Gospel and reJesus to name a few.   I am kinda of slow so its taken me a while and God using a lot of sources for me to get it.  Perhaps my soul needs to be detoxed.

For most of my adult life, I have lived and ministered off the mentality that to  change the world I need to reach the most significant – college students, leaders, the influencers, those who can effect change.    It’s not that this was bad and all-wrong.  And God has used people who were significant in the world’s eyes in the bible and throughout history.    But subtly (maybe it was just me), the mentality stretched into being ‘reaching leaders’ is the pinnacle.  And if you reach a leader who doesn’t want to reach other leaders, you moved on.

But what about Jesus?  Of all the people He specificaly called / ministered to / sought out, how many would be significant in the world’s eyes?   The Centurian.  Jarius’ daughter.  (Maybe not her but her father) Perhaps Joanna,  the wife of Cuza, the manager of Herod’s household. (again maybe not her at that time in history) Two secret disciples: Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea.   So what?  5 over 3 years.  Perhaps I forgot someone but that’s all I can think of off the top of my head.

So who did He target?  Who got His attention?  His hot hours?  The insignificant.  The poor.  Women. Children.  Blind beggars. Lepers. Diseased people. The lame, the mute, the crippled.  Demon-possessed men, women and children.  Tax-collectors (ostracized by both sides of the fence). Radical zealots. Smelly fishermen.  Women of ill repute.    Whenever Jesus is asked who is the greatest in the Kingdom or how to be great, He answers by saying:  ’a child, a servant, a slave, be like them.’     Not exactly ‘the signifanct’ of the world.    Not exactly the kind of crowd you would build a ministry/movement/church on.    

In Mark 10, there is a story we all know… Jesus encounters a rich young ruler.  I am not even gonna go in to how we quickly dismiss Jesus’ instruction to him or how this is one of only two times when approached with the question of how to be ‘saved’ that Jesus challenges people to a life focused on the least of these.  What has struck me of late is that this guy is the model of how we were told to build our kingdoms ministries.  Look at the dude: he’s young, he’s hip, he’s a leader and to top it all off he’s rich.  Dude could either lead the ministry or better yet… fund it.  He has staff potential all over him.  He’s the man who would want to invest him.   And to top it off, he is coming to ask  how to get  into heaven.  How easy is this.    But Jesus blows it.  He runs him off with some super challenge that no one can do.  And He doesn’t chase the guy down when he walks away.  Just says, “Oh well.  it’s hard for guys like him to make the cut.”

What the heck is going on?   I thought He was building a church?   Jesus would have been fired from most Christian organizations or churches for this insane act.  You can’t go building anything if all you do is run off the influential seekers with some high bar act like selling everything and giving to the poor.

Something else strikes me about this.  This story is found in 3 Gospels and every time, every time, it follows the scene of people bringing their kids to Jesus to be blessed.    In the NIV, it says that when  the disciples rebuked these parents that Jesus was indignant.  Here they were thinking they were doing Jesus a favor by sparing him from menial ministry so He could concentrate on those really important or at least those with real needs.  And yet it was affront to Our Lord.   “Guys don’t you get it.  This is not a waste of time.  These kids are what the Kingdom of God is all about.  It belongs to these precious little ones… vulnerable, dependant, full of faith, innocent. In fact its a prerequisite to be like children if you want any part of my Kingdom.”    Admit it.  We think ministry to kids is second-rate.   At best its a means just a program to best bring in the rich young ruler parents.  Or babysit them while we entertain the parents.  Certainly its not worth being indignant over.  Yeah, Jesus, be indignant over chasing off little kids but then turn around and chase off the guy who could fund the kids program.

So what do I do with this?  I don’t know.  Certainly we need to ask what God is calling us to do and do that.  We can no longer devalue ministry to those at the bottom.  We can’t go on thinking that people are selling out for the easier choice if they work with orphans and the poor like its some easier choice.  Giving your life to serve the poor is way harder than reaching leaders… it cost way more.  And, if we are called to reach those at the top and  if we are not helping them minister to those at the bottom, are we really making true disciples of Christ?

Personally… I have to examine my own life.  ”Lord show me where I run after the significant and ignore the insignificant.  Lord, help me see its not a waste of time.  Remind me that this is how you lived.  Break my heart for the things that break yours.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 3:28 pm and is filed under Bible, JACK, Missions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.