Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’
‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked.
Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’”(Mark 3:20-21, 31-34 NIV)
Many years ago, I sat down with the parents of a student who wished to participate in our ministry’s mission trip to Haiti. Both were fearful for their daughter’s safety and skeptical I had the knowledge and skill to keep her safe. I attempted to reassure them that I had taken groups of students to Haiti and other foreign lands many times and had brought all of them safely back to America. I also assured them the missionaries with whom we were going to work had years of experience of hosting Americans in that volatile country.
It didn’t matter. They were convinced I was ignorant of the real dangers and they would not allow their child to go with us. They thought such a trip was crazy.
That experience came to mind as I recently read this passage about Jesus’ family’s reaction to Him. They thought He was nuts, including His mother, Mary. Because they had lost faith in His judgment, they went on a mission to save Him from Himself. Of course, when told of His family’s arrival, He knew precisely why they were there. And in that moment, He made a declarative statement about family and obedience: “Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.” In other words, Jesus drew the line between family and obedience to Him.
In my long tenure working with college students, I have often dealt with fearful parents who object to their children’s desire to do what they consider risky or seemingly irrational things in order to follow the calling of the Lord. As with the family of Jesus, they want to swoop in and take charge. You want to do what? Though it is largely unspoken, their thinking is, “You’re out of your mind.”
The reality is this is what you get if you truly want to follow Jesus. He is going to ask you to do things that, on the surface, seem irrational and, sometimes, even crazy. And parents and other people will desperately try to talk you out of it. Countless times I have seen graduates decide to pursue vocational ministry here or abroad after earning a college degree, only to be met with ridicule by those around them for “wasting” their education. Or when telling “poor” students that the Lord wants them to be generous with their money, often getting blank stares in return reflecting the ridiculousness of the suggestion. Or when posing the question, what if the Lord wants you to…? in order to get someone thinking about their perception of the inevitability of their choices (e.g., getting married, choosing a career, forgiving someone who has hurt them, etc.) and receiving back the verbal or non-verbal response of “What?”
Without realizing it, even if we are Christians, we raise children, and have been raised in such a way as to take the safe, rational routes in life. This seems like the logical and smart thing to do. But that is rarely what Jesus did. He said things He was told not to say. He did things people told Him not to do. And the truth is, He wasn’t crazy, but obedient.
Today, consider how you live your life and the basis for the choices you are making. Pleasing those around you with your choices is fine as long as they are in line with what the Lord wants. The rub is when the Lord wants you to do what others believe is irrational or even a bit crazy. What will you do then—give into the desires of others or do the will of the Lord?
© Jim Musser 2017
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