A Fearful Deserter Delivers the Word of God

The Youth Group at Tree Lake just started going through the Gospel of Mark. I have to admit the choice was based more on the fact that it is the smallest Gospel than any specific theme or teaching contained within. But as I studied the author, God showed me an interesting lesson ... one that seems to be repeated throughout the book.

Who is Mark?

We first meet Mark in Acts 12. Harod is persecuting the church. He has killed James and saw it pleased the Jews. Emboldened, Harod arrests Peter. An angel shows up and miraculously frees Peter from prison. Once free, Peter goes to where some believers are gathered, praying for him. Verse 12 tells us that he goes to the house of Mary, the mother of John who is also called Mark.
That's it. Pretty boring introduction. His claim to fame at this point is that the church meets in his mom's house.

Later in Colossians 4 we learn that Mark is also the cousin of Barnabas. We know from Acts 4 that Barnabas is a Levite, the tribe of Israel who served the priests. If Barnabas is a Levite, it's likely Mark is as well.

So, Mark is at least hereditarily a Levite, and so would have been religiously educated, and a church meets at his mother's house. That background makes it no small surprise when we see in Acts 12 that Paul and Barnabas took him with them back to Antioch.

An interesting note: At the beginning of Acts 13 a list is given of the leaders of the church there. Mark's name is not mentioned. He is not considered an elder, Apostle, teacher or preacher. Perhaps a devoted layman. Mark is likely one of the often unsung heroes of the church. What today would be those driving the van, serving Wednesday meals, mowing the lawn or changing the light bulbs.

Whatever his specific role (we're not told), he was useful enough that Paul and Barnabas take him along with them on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:5) as their "assistant".

Here's where things take a turn. In Acts 13:13, we see that John (Mark) leaves Paul and Barnabas and returns to Jerusalem. Not Antioch. He goes home (to mamma?). We're not told why he left, but Paul's comments on the matter in Acts 15 make it clear his departure was viewed negatively and refers to his departure as "deserting".

In Acts 15 Paul and Barnabas are getting ready to go on a second journey to revisit the churches they founded the first time around. Barnabas wants to take Mark and Paul says no. Verse 38 says, "But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work."

After being deserted once, it is clear Paul does not trust him to stay strong on this journey either. It is clear this was an ongoing argument for Paul and Barnabas. v38 says Paul "kept insisting". This is something Barnabas kept bringing up, trying to change Paul's mind.

Whether merely defending his cousin or seeing some change in Mark, Barnabas stands his ground, and this conflict causes Paul and Barnabas to part ways. v39, "And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus."

The next we see Mark mention of is about 10 years later.

Paul is in prison in Rome (believed to be a first Roman imprisonment, his next one carries a death sentence) and writing a letter to the Colossians. In chapter 4, verse 10, Paul is relaying some greetings from those with him. "Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him)"

In Philemon, a letter also written from prison in Rome about the same time as Colossians, Paul says, "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers."

Wait ... what's Mark doing with Paul in Rome? I thought Paul didn't trust him.

2 Timothy is believed to be the last letter Paul wrote while awaiting execution in Rome (imprisoned a second time). Among a list of those who have deserted him, Paul asks Timothy to come see him soon along with some other instructions, "Make every effort to come to me soon ... Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."

"Useful to me for service"? What happened?

The Deserter was Restored!

Remember, Mark went to Jerusalem when he deserted Paul and Barnabas, and who is in charge of the church at Jerusalem? None other than Peter. We can easily assume Peter knew Mark, the church was meeting in his mother's house, afterall.

Check out 1 Peter chapter 5. The church is under heavy persecution. Scholars date this letter to shortly before Nero burns Rome and blames the Christians. Peter is sending out a general letter for all churches as encouragement in the tough times. He sends them his greetings then says, "and so does my son, Mark." Obviously not his biological son, but his son in the faith. Peter had taken Mark under his wing and discipled him.

So, who was Mark?Apostle? Preacher? Teacher? Leader? NO.

Just a devoted helper who had been redeemed. A behind the scenes guy who folded when the going got tough. However, God took his situation and placed him at the side of the man who is considered one of, if not the, closest friend to Jesus while He walked the earth.

And it was to this "helper" of Apostles that God entrusted the role of author for one of His gospels. Matthew was an Apostle. So was John. Luke went step in step with Paul through much of his journeys and is a recognized leader in his own right. Likewise, the other books of the New Testament were written by people who were leaders and authorities in The Church.

But not Mark.

Our culture loves to hold up the celebrity, the popular, the smart, the powerful. Our praise and our thoughts tend automaically to the out front person, the "leader of the band".
We also tend to not bear with failure very well. We see a "recovering alcoholic" and focus more on the "alcoholic" than the "recovering". We hold on to lingering questions and doubts about someone who has, in the past, been less honorable than we are comfortable with ... even if theyseem to be an example of integrity today.

But is that how God views us? Is that how God treats our "revovery"? While our minds want to leap to an emphatic, "NO!", our hearts hesitate. We see our own failures and faults and we think, "Well, I may be forgiven, maybe even a little better than I was ... but if people only knew."
Often we are our harshest critic. Our attitudes can go beyond humility into a negative self image. Our acknowledgement of sin can turn into guilt and shame.

We know the verses:
Psalm 103:12
"As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us."

1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Romans 8:1
"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

However, for some reason we continue to believe the Enemy's lies instead. Let Mark be our example. A man who came from obscurity. A man who fled the hard work of the Lord for the comforts of the familiar. A man who never held a position of leadership or authority or did anything of note that we are aware of.

Despite all of that, God redeemed him, and this seemingly timid nobody was selected by God to be His instrument for telling the Gospel. It was through this man, once cast aside by Paul, that millions of people were able to know of Jesus Christ and the freedom he bought for us on the cross.

The next time we feel shame, fear, and like a nobody, remember, God uses small, fearful nobodies, and even our most shameful actions can be redeemed.

It's No Big Deal; I'm Just Angry.

Ok, since I am doing an article on anger let's get the gratuitous Yoda quote out of the way: "Fear leads to anger; Anger leads to hate; Hate leads to suffering." Star Wars, it may have terrible theology, but there sure are some catchy one-liners.

The first thing I think we need to understand about anger is that it's natural. Anger is an emotion, a feeling. Like all our feelings, it just happens. Simply feeling the emotion of anger is not wrong, bad, or sinful. However, we have to be aware of what our emotions are. Simply put, they are indicators. Our emotions just let us know something about the situation we're in. While they can be powerful, they do not necessarily control us. They just are. They can be misleading, and they can be trained.

Anger is no different.

Something can make us angry when really we have no reasonable ground to be upset. Ex: You are in a hurry and someone is going 55 mph in a 60 mph zone. Maybe their car can't go any faster. Maybe they didn't notice the last sign when the speed limit increased. Whatever the reason, 60 is the speed LIMIT. They don't have to go 60. They are not doing anything wrong. You are just frustrated because of your circumstances, not because of anything they are doing.

And we can train ourselves to not get upset at certain things or people. Ex: This is the definition of tolerance. You have a boss, a co-worker, a classmate or teacher who just ticks you off every day. Well, to have a more peaceful life you manage to ignore them, dismiss them or just accept that's how they are and not let it bother you.All of that to say, our anger does not control our actions.

Anger simply informs us about the situation, how we respond is our own choice. The bible makes that clear in Ephesians 4:26, "Be angry, and do not sin."

There are a few stages that our anger will follow if we let it.

Stage One is where we just leave it alone and let it fester or sour. Like milk left out on the counter it just starts to go bad. A simple emotion informing us of mistreatment now becomes bitterness. Ephesians 4:31, "Let ... bitterness ... be put away from you."

Stage Two is where our anger starts to show. It's soured, and we have become bitter. Everyone can see that something's upsetting us. Even when we try to pretend, it's obvious something wrong, and it comes out in what we say and do.

In Stage Three we're no longer aware of why we're angry in the first place. The sour, bitter mindset has just become part of who we are, and we no longer know why. We just know something wrong, and we're not happy about it.

This leads quite naturally to Stage Four: Our anger has turned into contempt and our foul attitude stinks up the place. Have you ever been around someone who's just upset and negative about everything? They're just not pleasant to be around. Their personality "stinks", and their bad attitude comes out in every part of their life. No one wants to be around that person; certainly no one wants to BE that person. But this is what happens when we ALLOW anger to control our lives and not deal with it.

OK, so what do we do?

Jesus says that if we're angry with our brother without cause we are guilty of murder. (Matthew 5:22) He even goes on to say that it is so important to not hold on to anger that we should drop everything and go resolve it. (vv. 23-24)

"But you don't understand; I'm REALLY angry. I try, but I can't help it." That's not what Jesus said. Jesus said you can help it. Next week we will take a look at how.

Is it a Sin? (Part 4)

OK, so we’re seeking to glorify God and uphold His well deserved reputation. We are trying to avoid things that will tear down or harm our relationship with God, and we are trying to stay away from things that might enslave/control us.

The next 2 questions we’re going to look at are still considering ourselves. Again, not selfishly but as a way to examine ourselves, make sure our attitude is humble and keeping things in the right perspective.

First, when faced with a choice in the “gray areas” ask yourself, “Will it defile God's temple?”

1st Corinthians 6:19-20 says, "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." While this verse is in the specific context of sexual sin, the principle is still true that we should not do anything with our bodies that would dishonor the Lord.

The bible says that we are not our own. Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

If our body is a temple, and Jesus “purchased it” with His blood when He died for our sins, then we’re kinda like renters or guests. While we still remember that we are free to do as we'd like (Romans 8:1) it’s His body, not ours. We can’t just paint anything we want (body art) or punch holes in the walls (piercings) or put up just any kind of decorations (clothing) or bring in any other people we want (sex outside of marriage) without checking with the landlord first. Because it’s not our house. The same way you would want people to respect your possessions, we should also respect God’s. Just because it happens to be our body doesn’t make it any less true.

Next we take a deeper look inside and ask, “Will it violate my conscience?” This a big one! I cannot stress enough the importance of this.

First, what is our conscience? One thing it is NOT is emotions. We are not talking about a simple feeling, want or desire. Neither is it just an idea or a curiosity. Just wondering about something doesn't necessarily mean it's bothering your conscience. The dictionary defines conscience as an "inner sense of right and wrong in our conduct or motives, compelling us towards right actions."

Conscience is an inner sense that compels us to do the right thing. Keeper than feelings or idle thoughts. Remember that in Genesis God tells us that we are created in His likeness. Part of this shared likeness is an in-born sense of what is right. Throughout history all cultures have had a basic understanding that selfish greed is wrong and good treatement of others is right. Specifics may vary, but a general morality exists because deep down we all know right from wrong. That's our conscience.

Also, the bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is sent as a helper and teacher to remind us what is true. So that voice telling you to check yourself, yeah, that may be God directly.

1st Corinthians 10:25-29 contains three references to abstaining from a certain practice "for conscience' sake." And Romans 14:23 says, "He who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin." If we are not sure whether an action is pleasing to God, we should not do it. That way our conscience will remain clear and our relationship to God will not be hindered.

In the example given in Romans, eating meat from a pagan temple, the christians in question were actually free to eat. The act itself was not sinful. However, they didn't think so, and just because their conscience created doubt, for them it WAS a sin to eat. Their eating went against what they believed God wanted. Whether true or not, they practiced (what was in their mind) rebellion against God.

This is not neaw idea. Remember that Jesus taught lust is the same as actually committing adultury and hate is the same as actually murdering someone. Whether you actually commit the act or not, in your HEART you have sinned.

When your conscience even hints that something may not be right, you should say, “No.” When you decide on purpose to go against your conscience you are training yourself to rebel, to sin. Even when it is something small, you are hardening your heart against the voice of the Holy Spirit, and you can basicly “stop taking calls” from God. You train yourself to ignore God.

Once you have effectively silenced your conscience by practicing ignoring God on the "gray areas", you can then easily slide, or dive head first, in to actually violating the plainly black and white commandments.

We are children of the Creator of the universe and heirs together with Jesus to the Kingdom of Heaven. Does that sound like a family you really want to stop taking calls from? Not me!

Jesus told us to remain in relationship with Him (John 15). You don't keep a relationship going by ignoring the other person. We need to listen to our conscience. God gave it to us for a reason.