Spiritual Train Wreck
Mark 10:35-45
James and John want a religious shortcut. Their message is, “Hey Jesus, you know how we’ve been helping you out here in your ministry? Well, how about a little favor in return. Give us whatever we ask for.”
I think all of us can identify with James and John. Why? Because this passage reveals the common sin of human idolatry.
Maybe you think idolatry is about literally worshipping stone statues. Well, that counts, but more commonly in our day idolatry is about worshipping things instead of God. In our idolatry we replace God with the stuff we think we want. And when idolatry goes unchecked, we can even get so presumptuous that we ask God to help us worship our idols.
We don’t always go for the unconditional “whatever I want” approach. Most of the time we’re more humble and more modest about it. We’re also more specific. We say things like, “God, I promise I’ll do anything for you, if you’ll just get me an A on this test.” Or “God, I know I haven’t been to church in a while, but please, I need a raise at work.” Or maybe even “God, I’ve been sacrificing everything for you. I’ve been at church every week. I’m just asking for a new car in return.” We’re pretty shameless.
And here we see our spiritual brothers James and John saying in essence, “God, can you please give me another god to worship? Instead of wanting You, I just want what You can give me, and I’m not afraid to ask You to do my will instead of Yours.”
So, what about you? Are you the direct type, telling God straight up, “Here’s what I want you to do for me. Oh. And by the way, the deadline was yesterday.” Or do you go for the indirect route? Making little sacrifices and acting more obediently while secretly, hoping like crazy that God is noticing and will make all your dreams come true.
Whatever the strategy, aren’t you really thinking, deep down, “Wouldn’t it be great if God would just do what I ask him to do?” Whether we admit it or not, we’re pretty selfish people.
The thing is, Jesus is the opposite of selfish. Jesus is self-less and this is a high-speed, head-on spiritual train wreck. While we and the disciples are saying, “Service is hard work. Just give us whatever we want.” Jesus is saying, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve.”
The only way to reconcile this is to meet Jesus where He stands. We need to bring ourselves to Him in all our selfish wanting and let His love overwhelm our lives. We need to quit looking to be served and look to serve others instead.
It’s not easy. But if we’re not willing to do that, a messy spiritual train wreck is all we can expect.