No pious hoopla for Jesus (Mark 7)

I was tempted to jump to the end of Mark 7 and write this post around the overwhelmed crowd that says of Jesus, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak” (see v. 37), but I am not (maybe some of you will comment about that).

My focus in this post is what happened during the first part of the chapter.  The religious ones of the day confront Jesus because his disciples are not following the traditions of the elders; in particular they have failed to ceremonially wash their hands before eating.  Jesus’ rebuttal goes directly to the heart of the matter, which is one’s heart.  The religious leaders were focused on external show-piety, so much so, that their conformity to man-made traditions led them to violate God-given commands.  In follow-up teaching, Jesus makes it clear that it isn’t sub-ceremonial eating that defiles us, but rather the sub-righteous stuff in our hearts.

Who is Jesus?  He is a proclaimer of God’s truth, even when that truth runs counter to our man-made traditions and self-centred preferences.

It doesn’t matter much if I look good, what matters is whether my heart is becoming good.  That is Jesus’ point then and now.

Click here for other posts in this series.

Seven things men struggle with

Are you compelled to read on? Maybe you are a bit like me, you don’t really want someone to point out the things you struggle with, particularly if it seems like they are just adding to the list you are already keeping. But wait, I could have easily (and maybe more wisely) entitled this post “Seven things men can overcome”.John, one of the twelve who followed Jesus wrote these words,

I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one. (1Jn 2:14b ESV)

As men of the Way we have overcome the evil one. Not on our own, but because the word of God dwells in us. This is what John heard Jesus himself say,

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31-32 ESV).

We no longer need to be enslaved by the sins that seem to so easily entangle men. And what are those things? Read on.

• Addictions
• Anger
• Arrogance
• Arrears (i.e., caught in a debt trap)
• Anarchy (i.e., rejection of authority)
• Absenteeism (i.e., being checked out physically or emotionally from the family)
• Abdication (i.e., abandoning our responsibility of servant leadership)

Do you see yourself in any of this? If you say no, you might want to check out this link.

Living in the moment

Do you know people that live for the moment? What about those that seem to be haunted by the past? And others that live in fear of the future?

The guys talked about that (and prayed about that) over our weekly fix of doughnuts. Here is my two cents.

As followers of Christ, our past may be full of “issues”, some that we own and some that was dumped on us; either way Jesus can deliver us from that darkness. Our past doesn’t need to cast condemning shadows on the present. We are free.

As men of the Way, our future is secure with God. He knows what we need to live and grow and he promises to provide that. The future need not be a source of fear or worry or paralysis. It is a destination we anticipate with hope.

As sons of the King, we are able to live fully in the moment, but we do not live for the moment. Our priorities and passions are becoming kingdom-centred not self-centred. Our moments are opportunities to lead boldly by serving Truth.

What is your two cents?