“Core values” have become somewhat of a buzzword in business. Core values include a commitment to a quality product or service and creating value for the customer in the interaction. Integrity, knowledge, innovation, and more can be core values. These underlying principles guide the relationship between the business, its employees, and its customers.
Core values are not just a set of words on a page. They are the guiding principles that shape our actions and decisions. At Heralds of Hope, our core values, including our commitment to the authority of the Scriptures, our pursuit of organizational excellence, and our dedication to growth, are deeply ingrained in our culture and operations.
Our commitment to the authority of Scripture is not just a value; it’s the bedrock of everything we do. We believe that the Scriptures are God-breathed, inerrant, and infallible. So, we teach using exposition, opening the text and allowing them to determine the subjects addressed. This approach ensures that the divine wisdom of the Scriptures guides our actions and decisions. We strive to fulfill Jesus’ last command to make disciples: “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” We want our listeners and readers to develop into passionate followers of Jesus Christ with visible fruit of holy living.
Our commitment to excellence means we apply a biblical standard of ethics in all business, ministry, and relationship matters. We choose integrity over appearance and strive to do our best for the glory of God. It’s not just about doing our best but about constantly growing. We are committed to growth in our spiritual, emotional, relational, and vocational spheres, which gives us encouragement and hope.
What we do communicates our core values. Our actions speak louder than our words. As we continue studying Jesus’ life in Mark’s Gospel, we observe Jesus’ core values. In today’s text, Jesus uses words and deeds to communicate kingdom values to His followers. Our text is Mark 9:30-41. The title for my teaching is “Kingdom Values.”
In this text, Jesus instructs His disciples in several important kingdom VALUES. Understanding and embracing these values can transform our service to Christ.
The First Kingdom VALUE is,
Anonymity
In our previous exposition from Mark’s Gospel, we examined the various kinds of faith present in the dramatic healing of the demon-possessed boy. Immediately after that notable miracle, Jesus leaves the region with His disciples, avoiding contact with the crowds and keeping their whereabouts secret.
Why did Jesus respond this way? The reason for His secrecy was twofold: uninterrupted teaching time with the Twelve and renewed predictions of His death in Jerusalem. “He taught His disciples and said to them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.” Notice that Jesus used the present tense, “the Son of Man is being delivered…” Even though the event is still in the future, Jesus realizes it is already present.
As in earlier predictions of His death, He reiterates the rising on the third day. The Twelve were agnostics on the subjects of His death and resurrection, even the three who were on the Mount of Transfiguration with Him. And just like their descent from Mount Hermon, they continued being afraid to ask Him what He meant. These things were concealed from them, Luke 9:45, at least partially by their preconceived ideas and prejudices.
We have now entered the record of the final months of Jesus’ earthly life. His public ministry is, for the most part, over. His primary focus is teaching and preparing the Twelve for what lies ahead. This is the value of anonymity.
Maybe you think the concept of anonymity is misplaced, especially applied to Jesus. After all, He attracted massive crowds of people wherever He went. People were drawn to Him like moths to a light. But did you ever stop to think that Jesus never did things intentionally so others would notice Him?
Isaiah the prophet wrote, “Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street” Isaiah 42:1 and 2.
Jesus’ physical appearance also tended toward anonymity. How can I say that? Here are more words from Isaiah. “For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him…” Isaiah 53:2 and 3.
Jesus didn’t stand out in the crowd because He was physically attractive. When the soldiers came to arrest Him, Judas told them, “The one that I kiss, He’s the one you need to arrest.” Jesus evidently blended in with those around Him in appearance and dress. His goal was to point people to His Father, not to Himself.
Our bent toward sin and selfishness make us, unlike Jesus. We put a lot of emphasis on physical beauty, even though it is fleeting and is something we don’t choose. Many of us don’t like the physical frame God has designed for us, so we try to fix it according to our specifications.
Physical beauty is often used to manipulate people into serving us. People should be attracted to our character more than our physical appearance. The radiance of our countenance should immediately draw people’s attention to our faces. I believe that is what attracted people to Jesus.
When we do something noteworthy, we want people to notice. We like the attention, approval, and applause of people. It feeds our ego and makes us feel good about ourselves. That’s the problem: these decisions take the focus off Jesus and put it on us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with the maxim, “There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” Can you and I embrace the kingdom value of anonymity?
Another Kingdom VALUE is,
Humility
In our unredeemed human condition, humility is not considered a virtue. Instead, it is often misunderstood as a weakness. We are born with a bent toward pride and self-promotion; only a genuine encounter with Christ can change that tendency.
Humility is closely related to the previous value of anonymity. Would you have struggled to exercise humility if you were a follower of a miracle-working Rabbi? I would have! After all, Jesus has many followers, but He picked me as one of His small group of twelve. I must be exceptional! And what about Peter, James, and John, the inner circle?
When the disciples and Jesus arrived at the house of Peter in Capernaum, Jesus had a question for them. “What were you men arguing about among yourselves as we traveled?” You would think they would have discussed what Jesus meant when He spoke of His death and resurrection. They had forsaken everything to follow Him, and now He’s talking about dying!
Notice how the Twelve responded; they remained silent. Most likely, they were ashamed that Jesus had discovered their jealous rivalry about who would be the greatest in His kingdom. Did this dispute arise because of the special privilege afforded to Peter, James, and John? That’s very possible, even likely.
We must also remember that these men had absorbed the teachings of the scribes and Pharisees that there would be “ranks” in the kingdom of heaven. The whole religious system of their day rested on this understanding. So, let’s be gracious with the Twelve as they sort these things out. They were in the midst of a massive paradigm shift.
So, Jesus takes deliberate action to handle a delicate situation. Like teachers of that day, He sits down and gathers His followers around Him. Once He has their attention, He says to them, “If anyone wishes to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Imagine how that might have jarred their thinking. In their minds, and ours, too, if you want to be first, you must push yourself forward: look out for number one! Jesus’ kingdom is genuinely an upside-down kingdom.
Then, to illustrate His point with a powerful object lesson, He invites a child into their privileged circle. We know from Matthew 19:13-15 that the Twelve didn’t consider children important. Here, Jesus picks up the child, making him the center of attention. Picture the child sitting on Jesus’ lap, oblivious to prideful thoughts or actions. He’s grateful to be cared for in the arms of the Savior! What a rebuke to the attitudes and actions of the Twelve.
And it is this humble, unpretentious, simple trust that is the condition for entering the kingdom. “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven,” Matthew 18:3. Then, from our text, He added, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” Do you value the children in your sphere of influence? Does their unfeigned humility challenge you?
Are you willing to be seen as the last or the least in heaven’s kingdom and serve without recognition and acclaim? I think of the fantastic words of Philippians 2:5-8 and appreciate the NIV’s clarity. “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross!”
Think about it! Jesus, God in the flesh, who had every right to be first and every expectation of being treated as royalty, died on a Roman cross like a common criminal, freely giving His life to atone for my sins and yours. Oh, the irony! The perfect, spotless Lamb of God is lowering Himself to redeem the wretched, hopeless sinner. This is the kingdom value of humility incarnate. Without it, our salvation could never have been accomplished. And it leads us naturally to the final kingdom value in our text.
Another Kingdom VALUE is,
Inclusivity
Before you turn me off, I’m not talking about part of DEI, diversity, equity, and inclusion. That’s the world’s way of detailing grievances and assigning victimhood. We call it “wokeness.” Stay with me; we’ll see that inclusivity is a kingdom value.
As Jesus teaches the Twelve, and they view the child on Jesus’ lap, I imagine the wheels turning in John’s mind. Something is bothering him, and to his credit, he’s willing to expose it. “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.” He may have initially hoped Jesus would praise his zeal for protecting His turf, but Jesus’ comments in verse 37 may have also raised doubt about his narrowness of mind.
Jesus responded to John’s statement: “Stop hindering him because no one who works a miracle in my name will carelessly speak evil against me. Because the one that is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
This is the kingdom value of inclusivity. It is the universal brotherhood of all genuine Believers. It crosses all barriers of race, class, sex, economic status, and more. Every service done in the name of Christ for His glory will receive a reward, no matter how small.
If the church of Jesus Christ is to be victorious as He planned, all Believers must work together. Paul wrote in Romans 12, “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,so we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them…”
How human of us to be like John, to want to protect our turf! I find it a continuing challenge to embrace my biblical convictions and applications wholeheartedly and without apology while humbly admitting that I don’t have a corner on truth. While I may disagree with some of the details about how you live out your faith in Jesus, I know God uses diverse people to accomplish His plans and purposes. If your methods don’t violate clear biblical principles and commands, I must accept them as legitimate. That is the message Jesus is giving us in this text.
In summary, we must be as inclusive as possible while maintaining the exclusivity the Scriptures and Jesus demand.
So, what about you and me? Are we in tune with the kingdom values Jesus teaches in this portion of His Word? Are we willing to be “unknown” in the eyes of the world or even in the community of Christ-followers? Or do we seek attention, prominence, and the limelight?
Are we willing to adopt the ethos of Jesus when He said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life a ransom for many?” Are we willing to confess with John the Baptist, “He must increase, I must decrease?”
Are we willing to accept the diversity of the global Body of Christ and recognize that all who genuinely embrace faith in Him have a role in building His church? Are we willing to celebrate the efforts of others to share the Gospel, even when those efforts may overshadow our own?
If you and I can understand and embrace these kingdom values, our service to Christ will be authentic, powerful, and effective. May God help us to become more like Jesus!
Heralds of Hope is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit
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