The Millstone Award
The Millstone Award
Text: Mark 9:38-50
There are occasionally certain texts and stories that come up in the Bible that us preacher types go to great length to avoid. Let’s be honest. They can be difficult sayings, hard stories, or accounts of ancient medical procedures that while interesting for some, might work better as a cure for insomnia for most. Among these readings are ones that are so jarring, so strange, that to simply read them without preaching on them would likely leave everyone scratching their heads. Today is one of those days where one of those hard readings has come up, and really won’t let go… I also find the timing rather interesting…
Starting on Wednesday night, I’m leading a series of stand alone studies as an introduction to the Bible. Each night will be a different theme, doing what is essentially a broad overview on what the Bible is, how it has made an impact on society, who them major characters are, languages and translations… At the request of a few people, I’ve decided to call this “The Bible for Dummies” because I think many of us feel like dummies when it comes to what people often call the “best known and least understood” book in the world.
So on the eve of this study, I am presented with a text that is perhaps one of the least understood within the Bible itself.
On the surface, Mark 9:38-50 starts off easily enough, but then very quickly gets into a whole bunch of really unpleasant sayings attributed to Jesus.
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better to have a great millstone hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
Ouch. Call it the Millstone award.
But it gets better:
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have hands and go to hell...”
“And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell…”
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell…”
I have yet to meet anyone of deep faith and sound mind who is missing an eye, hand or foot. Even the most literal of literalists has a hard time with this passage.
So what on earth was Jesus getting at anyway?
Well… perhaps another question we can ask is “what on earth was Mark getting at anyway?” After all, it was Mark who collected these sayings together, and it was Mark who put all of the most difficult sayings in the gospel clustered into one spot.
On one level, it is possible to say that Jesus was using some exaggerated imagery to say something about the kingdom of God. One of the things that we are effectively tone deaf to is understanding how people with disabilities were perceived in Jesus’ day… People who either had deformities or who had been maimed were more often than not considered as outcasts. Their physical condition was seen as an outward sign of God’s punishment, and therefore they were clearly not welcome in the kingdom of God. We think of those suffering from Leprosy, or a whole host of disfiguring conditions… but there was also the aspect of some cultures who practiced some sort of mutilation as punishment for crime; amputating a hand for stealing for instance. At any rate, the loss of a limb was an outward sign that they were not welcome in the Kingdom of God…yet here we have Jesus using examples of people who have been injured in some way becoming part of the kingdom. That’s very much in keeping with how Jesus went out of his way to touch the leper, to welcome the outcast, and to proclaim their part in the kingdom of God.
Yet there is also this whole other level… When Mark was bringing this gospel together, he was doing so at a time many years later… as the early church was forming. He may have been aware of Paul’s activity in the churches around the Aegean Sea, and this common language of the body of Christ to describe these early church communities. Even so, as Paul also experienced, the early church was not without its problems. He often talked about the body of Christ, that individual members were part of the body, and used language like a hand or foot, or eye... Paul would use this metaphor to plead for unity within the church.
Apparently the problems may have been severe enough in Mark’s own community that he took these sayings of Jesus that even the maimed are welcome in the kingdom of God, and interpreted them to say that perhaps there are some circumstances where a wounded congregation would be better than one that is led astray. After all, the common theme seems to be about something that causes one to stumble… but the better translation is about being misled.
The real concern in the passage was not about an individual being maimed… It was a whole lot more about the real potential for fraud and the abuse of one’s position… for individuals using religion for their own personal gain. There were self-proclaimed “Super-Apostles” who claimed secret knowledge would build cults of personality around themselves, rather than proclaiming the kingdom of God. Much of the New Testament was compiled as a safeguard against this… yet we still only get a glimpse as to how serious a problem this was in the early church. They didn’t really have a term for it then, but today we call this religious fraud.
Pulling this forward some 2000 years, we know all too well what happens when individuals built up a cult of personality around themselves and lead people astray. There have been many high-profile examples over the past number of decades… it is a significant enough problem that there is a website out there called “MinistryWatch” that alerts people to the possible dangers of religious fraudsters… Some of the people they name are very well known.
Maybe this is why Jesus and Mark were being so harsh. This was not about individual piety, but about the very real threat of fraud that existed within the early church. The story starts with Jesus telling the disciples not to stop someone who was casting out demons in his name, but there is this caution against those who deliberately mislead people under the cover of faith. We should never get in the way of authentic, genuine ministry… but at the same time, we really do need to be mindful that religious faith can be a cloak for something much darker… fraud, personal gain, and leading otherwise good and faithful people down the wrong path.
If anything this is both a warning to those who might perpetuate such things within the church, but also perhaps a bit of advice for the early church as well… while we should not stop others from proclaiming the gospel, we need to be careful that we or they do not mislead people… otherwise we may be up for the Millstone award ourselves!
This really is a cautionary tale, reminding us that our faith is not for our own personal gain, nor is it to exploit the trust of others. Often the church is criticized for being full of hypocrites, who say one thing and do the opposite. Perhaps we should remember that Jesus had some very harsh things to say about hypocrites, and those who would prefer to be demagogues instead of teachers.
If there’s anything practical to be gained from this for us, I think it’s two-fold. First… don’t be one that misleads others for personal gain. This passage has everything to do with deliberate misleading… fraud. Don’t become involved with it, and make sure that your church community doesn’t get caught up in it… otherwise we could be deserving of the Millstone Award. I think many of us are afraid that this passage holds us to account for making honest mistakes. That’s not it at all… because Jesus was very much about that room for forgiveness.
Amen.
Check out http://www.ministrywatch.com
Text: Mark 9:38-50
There are occasionally certain texts and stories that come up in the Bible that us preacher types go to great length to avoid. Let’s be honest. They can be difficult sayings, hard stories, or accounts of ancient medical procedures that while interesting for some, might work better as a cure for insomnia for most. Among these readings are ones that are so jarring, so strange, that to simply read them without preaching on them would likely leave everyone scratching their heads. Today is one of those days where one of those hard readings has come up, and really won’t let go… I also find the timing rather interesting…
Starting on Wednesday night, I’m leading a series of stand alone studies as an introduction to the Bible. Each night will be a different theme, doing what is essentially a broad overview on what the Bible is, how it has made an impact on society, who them major characters are, languages and translations… At the request of a few people, I’ve decided to call this “The Bible for Dummies” because I think many of us feel like dummies when it comes to what people often call the “best known and least understood” book in the world.
So on the eve of this study, I am presented with a text that is perhaps one of the least understood within the Bible itself.
On the surface, Mark 9:38-50 starts off easily enough, but then very quickly gets into a whole bunch of really unpleasant sayings attributed to Jesus.
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better to have a great millstone hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.”
Ouch. Call it the Millstone award.
But it gets better:
“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have hands and go to hell...”
“And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell…”
“And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell…”
I have yet to meet anyone of deep faith and sound mind who is missing an eye, hand or foot. Even the most literal of literalists has a hard time with this passage.
So what on earth was Jesus getting at anyway?
Well… perhaps another question we can ask is “what on earth was Mark getting at anyway?” After all, it was Mark who collected these sayings together, and it was Mark who put all of the most difficult sayings in the gospel clustered into one spot.
On one level, it is possible to say that Jesus was using some exaggerated imagery to say something about the kingdom of God. One of the things that we are effectively tone deaf to is understanding how people with disabilities were perceived in Jesus’ day… People who either had deformities or who had been maimed were more often than not considered as outcasts. Their physical condition was seen as an outward sign of God’s punishment, and therefore they were clearly not welcome in the kingdom of God. We think of those suffering from Leprosy, or a whole host of disfiguring conditions… but there was also the aspect of some cultures who practiced some sort of mutilation as punishment for crime; amputating a hand for stealing for instance. At any rate, the loss of a limb was an outward sign that they were not welcome in the Kingdom of God…yet here we have Jesus using examples of people who have been injured in some way becoming part of the kingdom. That’s very much in keeping with how Jesus went out of his way to touch the leper, to welcome the outcast, and to proclaim their part in the kingdom of God.
Yet there is also this whole other level… When Mark was bringing this gospel together, he was doing so at a time many years later… as the early church was forming. He may have been aware of Paul’s activity in the churches around the Aegean Sea, and this common language of the body of Christ to describe these early church communities. Even so, as Paul also experienced, the early church was not without its problems. He often talked about the body of Christ, that individual members were part of the body, and used language like a hand or foot, or eye... Paul would use this metaphor to plead for unity within the church.
Apparently the problems may have been severe enough in Mark’s own community that he took these sayings of Jesus that even the maimed are welcome in the kingdom of God, and interpreted them to say that perhaps there are some circumstances where a wounded congregation would be better than one that is led astray. After all, the common theme seems to be about something that causes one to stumble… but the better translation is about being misled.
The real concern in the passage was not about an individual being maimed… It was a whole lot more about the real potential for fraud and the abuse of one’s position… for individuals using religion for their own personal gain. There were self-proclaimed “Super-Apostles” who claimed secret knowledge would build cults of personality around themselves, rather than proclaiming the kingdom of God. Much of the New Testament was compiled as a safeguard against this… yet we still only get a glimpse as to how serious a problem this was in the early church. They didn’t really have a term for it then, but today we call this religious fraud.
Pulling this forward some 2000 years, we know all too well what happens when individuals built up a cult of personality around themselves and lead people astray. There have been many high-profile examples over the past number of decades… it is a significant enough problem that there is a website out there called “MinistryWatch” that alerts people to the possible dangers of religious fraudsters… Some of the people they name are very well known.
Maybe this is why Jesus and Mark were being so harsh. This was not about individual piety, but about the very real threat of fraud that existed within the early church. The story starts with Jesus telling the disciples not to stop someone who was casting out demons in his name, but there is this caution against those who deliberately mislead people under the cover of faith. We should never get in the way of authentic, genuine ministry… but at the same time, we really do need to be mindful that religious faith can be a cloak for something much darker… fraud, personal gain, and leading otherwise good and faithful people down the wrong path.
If anything this is both a warning to those who might perpetuate such things within the church, but also perhaps a bit of advice for the early church as well… while we should not stop others from proclaiming the gospel, we need to be careful that we or they do not mislead people… otherwise we may be up for the Millstone award ourselves!
This really is a cautionary tale, reminding us that our faith is not for our own personal gain, nor is it to exploit the trust of others. Often the church is criticized for being full of hypocrites, who say one thing and do the opposite. Perhaps we should remember that Jesus had some very harsh things to say about hypocrites, and those who would prefer to be demagogues instead of teachers.
If there’s anything practical to be gained from this for us, I think it’s two-fold. First… don’t be one that misleads others for personal gain. This passage has everything to do with deliberate misleading… fraud. Don’t become involved with it, and make sure that your church community doesn’t get caught up in it… otherwise we could be deserving of the Millstone Award. I think many of us are afraid that this passage holds us to account for making honest mistakes. That’s not it at all… because Jesus was very much about that room for forgiveness.
Amen.
Check out http://www.ministrywatch.com
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