Mark 11:1-33
As Christ nears then end of His ministry on earth, he enters the city of Jerusalem. He is met with cheers and praise, then He proceeds to do a "house cleaning" in the temple. He also has an encounter with a fig tree that He uses to teach the disciples some valuable lessons on prayer and then the chapter ends with a confrontation with the Pharisees. As I meditated on the chapter I was struck with four dangers that are represented in these four events.
THE DANGER OF PUBLIC PRAISE: There is nothing wrong with public praise, but it is dangerous to measure ones spiritual maturity or commitment to Christ based on public performance. The crowd gets caught up with the emotion of the moment as Christ comes into the city. Today they cry "Hosanna" tomorrow they will cry "crucify Him." It is dangerous to judge others or ourselves by the proclamations we make in public. Our true spirituality and maturity in Christ is judged by who we are alone on our knees before God. We all look good during the Sunday morning worship service but the true test of our walk with God should be Thursday.
THE DANGER OF PERSONAL PROFIT: The temple was a place for men to meet God and make atonement for their sin with sacrifices of animals. The sale of animals became a source of profit for the priests who were in charge of such things. Money is always a huge danger in our lives because it can quickly become the motive behind what call "ministry." Motives are impossible for us to judge in others, but Christ has no problem looking right through our external actions to see the attitudes of our hearts. There is not a lot of money that is generally associated with ministry, but the amount of money is not the problem. The problem is the motivation of money. If we are not careful, personal profit can become the motive behind what are pretending is a ministry.
THE DANGER OF POLLUTED PRAYER: The fruitless fig tree that Christ cursed turned into an object lesson that Christ used to teach His disciples about prayer. Prayer is a powerful thing, but it can be made impotent by two things: a lack of faith and a lack of forgiveness. Far too often we find ourselves praying because we know we are supposed to but not really believing that God will do anything about it. During droughts, prayers for rain are very common, but umbrellas are not. We often pray for forgiveness but at the same time we refuse to forgive people who might have sinned against us. These attitudes pollute our prayers and render them powerless.
THE DANGER OF PLEASING PEOPLE: The Pharisees want to kill Jesus, but His popularity is so high that they don't dare. Their only hope is to trap Him in His words so that they can accuse Him of blasphemy, turn the tide of the crowd and gain public support for His death. Jesus knows their problem so He brings up another controversial person: John the Baptist. They cannot take a position on Him either because they are afraid of public opinion. This is the danger of living to please people. We will always end up living a spineless and convictionless life. Any time that we think that we must have public approval, we can generally be assured that we are wrong. God calls us to live by the truth of His Word no matter the consequences or the opinions of men.
THE DANGER OF PUBLIC PRAISE: There is nothing wrong with public praise, but it is dangerous to measure ones spiritual maturity or commitment to Christ based on public performance. The crowd gets caught up with the emotion of the moment as Christ comes into the city. Today they cry "Hosanna" tomorrow they will cry "crucify Him." It is dangerous to judge others or ourselves by the proclamations we make in public. Our true spirituality and maturity in Christ is judged by who we are alone on our knees before God. We all look good during the Sunday morning worship service but the true test of our walk with God should be Thursday.
THE DANGER OF PERSONAL PROFIT: The temple was a place for men to meet God and make atonement for their sin with sacrifices of animals. The sale of animals became a source of profit for the priests who were in charge of such things. Money is always a huge danger in our lives because it can quickly become the motive behind what call "ministry." Motives are impossible for us to judge in others, but Christ has no problem looking right through our external actions to see the attitudes of our hearts. There is not a lot of money that is generally associated with ministry, but the amount of money is not the problem. The problem is the motivation of money. If we are not careful, personal profit can become the motive behind what are pretending is a ministry.
THE DANGER OF POLLUTED PRAYER: The fruitless fig tree that Christ cursed turned into an object lesson that Christ used to teach His disciples about prayer. Prayer is a powerful thing, but it can be made impotent by two things: a lack of faith and a lack of forgiveness. Far too often we find ourselves praying because we know we are supposed to but not really believing that God will do anything about it. During droughts, prayers for rain are very common, but umbrellas are not. We often pray for forgiveness but at the same time we refuse to forgive people who might have sinned against us. These attitudes pollute our prayers and render them powerless.
THE DANGER OF PLEASING PEOPLE: The Pharisees want to kill Jesus, but His popularity is so high that they don't dare. Their only hope is to trap Him in His words so that they can accuse Him of blasphemy, turn the tide of the crowd and gain public support for His death. Jesus knows their problem so He brings up another controversial person: John the Baptist. They cannot take a position on Him either because they are afraid of public opinion. This is the danger of living to please people. We will always end up living a spineless and convictionless life. Any time that we think that we must have public approval, we can generally be assured that we are wrong. God calls us to live by the truth of His Word no matter the consequences or the opinions of men.
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