Thoughts on Luke - Day 42

                                                        Luke 9:49-56

⁴⁹ “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”
⁵⁰ “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”
⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.

 
        A lot of Doctors, when they join a practice, have to sign an exclusivity clause. That basically means that if they leave the practice they can't set up a practice within, for example, 50 miles. The reason for this is that the practice is afraid that someone might use them to steal or recruit their patients for a few years, on the practice's expense, and then start a competitive office down the street. This exclusivity clause tries to make it impractical, because of the distance, for patients to leave the practice and follow the doctor to his new location. I had a doctor do that to me in 1995 because I didn't believe in that clause. The reason I didn't believe in that is two-fold. One, the reason I came to a small town was because I wanted to go to a place where I was needed. In Orlando, where I trained, I heard constant fighting among the doctors about stealing patients and I didn't want that. I came to a county of 50,000 where I was the only OB/GYN. So why wasn't I bothered when he set up a practice 1 block away from me - because I welcomed the help. He brought in a partner and I brought one in and suddenly there were 4 of us serving the county's needs. That was a good thing! Secondly, if patients liked or felt more comfortable with the other doctor, I wanted what was best for the patients, so why would I force them to stay with me?

       It seems in this passage that the disciples wanted an exclusivity clause - if you are one of the 12 or maybe even the others in our group, then you may cast out demons and use Jesus' name. Otherwise you are in danger of violating copyright laws or something to that effect. They still were seeking earthly power. They, in effect, would rather have people be demon possessed than be "treated" by someone else. They wanted to be the only game in town. Jesus in effect said, " We are too small a number to help everyone in this area. As long as they are casting out demons in my name (practicing good medicine) we can use the help. Don't stop them. You know guys, casting out demons isn't the reason why I came anyway - I came to die on the cross. So if a group of people are taking over this ministry, lets head to Jerusalem." Today, we need to be careful about saying the same thing in ministry. I can't remember which country I was in on a mission trip, but I remember the missionaries being fearful of the Pentecostals who were coming in and having an influence on the people, like they were Islam or something like that. As Baptists, we have to be careful of separating ourselves from ministries that aren't Baptist. Hey, the world needs Christ and it's a daunting task. Let's welcome the help. Let's not be the ones discouraging them or fighting with them or as we see in the next few verses, praying judgement on them.

       Last night we were at a Young Life banquet. It was held at 1st Baptist Church. I saw Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, Pentecostals, Christian Church members all there and probably more. I don't agree with a lot of their doctrines but if they are all about winning kids for Christ, let's join hands - and we did. I think that is what Christ wants.