And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. (Mark 9:38-40) Emphasis mine.
This last sentence of Christ’s struck me this morning. As much as I want to follow the Bible and Christ’s teaching, and as much as we must compare all the Scriptures before declaring a doctrine or practice, where does my practice reflect this aspect of Christ’s teaching? It can be explained, but it cannot be dismissed “out of hand” just because I’m a strong Bible-believer. A “strong Bible-believer” believes those verses as strongly as the rest of them.
They aren’t against us as along as we don’t say anything about the doctrines where we disagree.
I say Hallelujah!!!!! God’s grace is sufficient for even me. I was starting to wonder. (See the first post on my new blog.) That, I think, is the verse many hot headed christians forget when they go after another brother in Christ. BTW love the devotionals….Thanks