One of the most difficult texts of the New Testament to apply in our contemporary setting is Mark 9.38-41:

"John spoke up, 'Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn't in our group.' Jesus wasn't pleased. 'Don't stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he's not an enemy, he's an ally. Why, anyone by just giving a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.'"

It's not verse 41 and the giving of a cup of cold water that gives us pause, it's the words of Jesus's rebuke of John. John wanted to silence another who wasn't in the inner circle of Jesus and Jesus rebuked John for his presumptuous spirit. It is apparent that when Jesus rebuked his disciples in the prior verses for their competitive spirit (see Mark 9.30-37) they didn't get the message. Their pride wasn't dead.

I take Jesus's statement to John as a warning against criticizing acts of service done in the name of Jesus by those who are not of my inner circle of fellowship, keeping in mind that the real enemy in this cosmic spiritual struggle is Satan, not other church groups or religious institutions. The competitive pride that champions "my truth" is deadly -- the assumption that there can be no truth outside of the truth I know.

I am proud to be a descendant of our Restoration Heritage, rooted in the wisdom and insight of greats like Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone and Walter Scott. Perhaps some of the greats of the past had a better grasp on the intentions of our Restoration leaders than we do today. For example, N.B. Hardeman in a message delivered at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in 1928 captured well the intentions of our Restoration Heritage.

"I have never been so egotistic as to say that my brethren with whom I commune on the first day of the week are the only Christians on this earth. I never said that in my life. I do make the claim that we are Christians only."

Christians only or the only Christians? There is a vast difference is those two expressions -- a vast difference Jesus himself addressed. It would do us well to remember that judging the sacrifice of a person's life is God's task; living as sacrifices is our task.