“You’re a radical!” No one wants to be called that. It’s a word that makes us uncomfortable. It suggests extremes in viewpoints, habits, beliefs, lifestyles, or institutions. Radicals are people you want to stay away from! Most people find their comfort zone somewhere in the middle rather than the extremes.
In the United States, the 1960s was known as the radical decade. I know; I lived through it. Long-held traditions and social mores (mor-ayz) were vilified and cast aside. It was the decade that introduced “free love,” public nudity, hallucinogenic drugs, college campus anti-war riots, Woodstock, the modern “green” movement, the removal of the Bible from public education, the JFK assassination, and more.
While a few positive things resulted from this time, like the Civil Rights movement, most changes were negative. Widespread use of birth control, cohabitation, out-of-wedlock births, and a skyrocketing divorce rate all severely damaged the social, moral, spiritual, and physical health of the people and the nation. Unfortunately, much of the radicalism and its resulting ills have been exported to other parts of the world through industry and entertainment.
Many of these things are no longer considered radical; they have become part of the mainstream of culture and, sadly, the church. Today, those who make a sincere attempt to follow Jesus’ teachings and live them out are considered radical.
The English word radical comes from the Latin radix, which means root. It was initially applied in the 1800s as a political label. Later, it came to mean anybody whose opinions went to the roots and was steadfast in their commitment. As we learned last time, our core values or roots determine our lifestyle choices.
So, the radicals of the 1960s went to their roots. They were disciples of Satan, of the kingdom of darkness, and they lived out of those roots, his core values. As disciples of Jesus, we are called to live out his core values: anonymity, humility, and inclusivity. That’s radical discipleship. That’s my teaching subject from Mark 9:42-50, “Radical Discipleship.” Please follow carefully as I read Mark 9:42-50. This is God’s Word to us.
In these verses, Jesus teaches us the several essential QUALITIES of radical discipleship that identify us as His genuine followers.
As we begin our study, we must look back at what preceded the verses of our text. We do that to avoid wrong conclusions. Context plays a vital part in proper interpretation.
Verse 42 begins with the word but. It carries a warning about offending “one of these little ones.” That connects with verse 37. Jesus said, “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”
The First QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,
Radical Love
Think carefully about the meaning of what I just read a moment ago. By loving one of these “little children,” we love Jesus; if we love Jesus, we love God. In this context, Jesus showed the disciples how to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. It was the opposite of what they thought and expected!
How do we get radical love from this? First, remember that “little children” isn’t confined to actual children. In John’s epistles, he repeatedly refers to Believers as “my little children.” It’s a term of endearment and is also used for the spiritually immature. Remember, too, that Jesus said, “Unless (except) you are converted and become (like) little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” We pass this off too casually; it’s serious.
Jesus told the disciples, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” Jesus is zealous for our righteousness and the corporate righteousness of His church. Since Jesus lives in every believer, how we treat them is how we treat Christ, and how we treat Christ is how we treat God. When Saul was struck down on the road to Damascus, Jesus didn’t demand, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting the believers?” He said, “Why are you persecuting me?”
For many years, I read this verse and thought that the millstone around the neck was punishment for leading one of these little ones into sin. But I was wrong! It’s not punishment, it’s prevention. In other words, it would be better to take a large millstone (the kind that an animal turned), hang it around your neck, and cast yourself into the sea rather than risk offending one of these and jeopardizing your salvation! I believe Jesus’s statements are the basis for Paul’s teaching in First Corinthians 13. Sandwiched between chapters 12 and 14, the point is that you and I can have the most extraordinary gifts, yet if love is neglected, it is all for nothing. In First John 3, the apostle spends most of the chapter spelling out what radical love looks like. Paul wrote to the Galatians, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” We will refuse to lead others into sin if we genuinely love them.
In First Corinthians 8:13, after discussing meat offered to idols, Paul says, “Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.” Must I voluntarily limit my freedom so another person doesn’t stumble? What a radical idea! What’s the alternative? Again, Paul wrote, “And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?” Am I willing to risk someone’s eternal loss so I can indulge in my desires? Wow, that hits hard! Maybe my choices aren’t so harmless after all.
Radical love focuses not on what I want but on what benefits the other person. In our previous study, I highlighted Jesus’ humility as described in chapter two of Philippians. However, His love is evident there, too. He laid aside His divine prerogatives and loved you and me to the point of death! That’s radical love, the example we are called to follow.
Another QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,
Radical Purity
Here, the focus shifts from my actions causing others to sin to the things that cause me to sin. Jesus’ use of the hand, the foot, and the eye emphasize that our battle against sin includes all aspects of our lives. What we do, where we go, and what we look at tremendously impact our spiritual health. We too often fail to understand the seriousness of what we might call minor sins or slight offenses. We don’t comprehend how our sin offends God’s holiness. No other attribute of God is stressed like “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts.”
It is important to note that the verb, causes, in each of these verses is in the present tense. We could translate it as “If your hand is causing you to sin…” That means this is an ongoing struggle against temptation and sin.
What is the remedy? It is radical. Jesus said that if our hand, foot, or eye is causing us to sin, we need to amputate them! Some might say Jesus was speaking metaphorically. If you take that path, the first command about drowning must also be metaphorical. I’d be very cautious in going down that road. I admit these commands can be applied to amputating things other than body parts, but there is no way to soften them, and we are not free to disregard them. Jesus calls us to take radical, severe action against anything that hinders our pursuit of holiness, righteousness, and purity throughout our Christian life.
I acknowledge that cutting off part of your body will not completely solve the problem of temptation or sin. Some misguided ascetics of centuries past foolishly assumed the way to victory was self-mutilation. But they discovered that sin remained in their hearts after that painful process. Our minds and the desires of our physical bodies control our hands, feet, and eyes. As Jesus said in Mark 7:23, all evil things proceed from within a man and cause him to be defiled.
Our problem is that we want to soften the call to radical purity that Jesus demands here. We don’t like it; it’s too extreme. We want to be “middle of the road” Christ-followers. However, Jesus said it is better to enter into life with a damaged body than to suffer eternal punishment.
If we refuse the command, and in the original, the commands for amputation are imperatives, what is the result? Jesus said we will “be cast into hell where the worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.”
Our English word hell is translated from the Greek Gehenna and refers to the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem. The Old Testament prophets called it Tophet. Scholars define Tophet as coming from the Hebrew toph, “a drum,” because the noise of such an instrument drowned the cries of children sacrificed by the priests of Moloch.
Judah’s wicked king, Manasseh, “caused his sons to pass through the fire in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom; he practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft and sorcery, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger.”
It is significant that of the twelve times Gehenna appears in the New Testament, all but one are used by Jesus. They all refer to the eternal hell, the lake of fire, never to the place of the dead in general, identified by the word hades.
Because the Valley of Hinnom had been desecrated by the sacrifice of children to Moloch, it was an accursed place; it was used as the city garbage dump, where worms gnawed and fires burned. Thus, it is a vivid picture of eternal punishment.
The fire is unquenchable in this place of torment, and the worm doesn’t die. The worm is just what you might think: maggots or worms that prey explicitly on dead bodies. It’s a revolting picture. The word also carries the ideas of gnawing and anguish. If this is a literal worm, it eats without consuming its prey. Could the torment include the gnawing of the conscious mind that knows this fate could have been avoided?
As bad as these word pictures are, they cannot equal the dread reality of what Jesus describes. The prophet Isaiah wrote these words. “And they shall go forth and look upon the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm does not die, and their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh,” Isaiah 66:24.
Hopefully, now you understand why radical purity is necessary for the followers of Jesus.
The Final QUALITY (of radical discipleship) is,
Radical Obedience
The meaning of verse 49 is cryptic. We gain some insight if we examine the portions of Scripture where salt and fire are mentioned together. Salt and fire are connected with the Old Testament sacrifices. Salt, a preservative, was added to the sacrifices when burned as a symbol of God’s enduring covenant.
Leviticus 2:13 reads, “And every offering of your grain offering you shall season with salt; you shall not allow the salt of the covenant of your God to be lacking from your grain offering. With all your offerings, you shall offer salt.”
The grain offering was a consecration offering. It symbolized total devotion to the Lord, which is most likely why Jesus used it as an illustration in His teaching on radical discipleship. According to the Levitical Law, no one is fit to offer himself or any other sacrifice unless it has been appropriately salted, a symbol of incorruption.
Jesus said, “Salt is good.” Homer called it “divine,” and Plato called it “a substance dear to the gods.” In ancient times, special salt rations were sometimes given to Roman soldiers as “Solarium Argentums,” the forerunner of the English word “salary.”
But what happens if the salt loses its ability to season or preserve? Jesus asked, “If the salt becomes unsalty, who will make it salty again?”
Chemically, salt is very stable and doesn’t degrade quickly. But not all salt is of the same quality. Around the Dead Sea, some salt is contaminated with gypsum. If it isn’t processed correctly, it can lose its effectiveness. Once that happens, Jesus said in Luke 14:35 that it is unfit for the soil or the manure pile. Tasteless salt is like an exploded shell, a burnt-out crater, a spent force. In other words, it is worthless.
Then Jesus added, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” The command to have salt in yourselves is a call to radical obedience, to a holy life preserved by righteousness. Immediately, Jesus practically applied what a salty life looks like. He said, “Be at peace with one another.” The context tells us why Jesus made this statement. Before this, the Twelve argued about who would be the greatest.
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.” “Salt of the earth” today describes “an individual or group considered representative of the best or noblest elements of society.” That is what all Christ-followers should be.
Unfortunately, too many of us have allowed the impurities of the world and its systems to corrupt the purity of our salt. Thus, we lose our ability to preserve the culture around us. As believers, we should bring positive, transformative, and preserving influences on the world, making it a better place through our actions, attitudes, and values. This underscores the idea that followers of Jesus should be a source of positive change and impact in the societies they inhabit.
How do preservation and positive change occur? When, by the grace of God and the enabling of the Holy Spirit, we practice radical love, radical purity, and radical obedience.
Jesus said, “By this, all will know that you are my disciples if you love each other.” The love Jesus was speaking about wasn’t a warm, fuzzy feeling. It wasn’t “I love you, and you love me, and we’ll get along quite famously.” No, it is a love that invests in others, sometimes at a significant personal cost. It is the kind of love that motivated Jesus to go to the cross for us to purchase our redemption and to pay the penalty for our sins. That is radical love.
Radical purity calls us to remove from our lives those things that would lead us into temptation and sin. It makes no sense for a Christ-follower struggling with pornography addiction to carry a smartphone or subscribe to a streaming service that pumps filth into their home. As a typical, red-blooded male, I refuse to go to a beach crowded with nearly nude bodies. I refuse to watch R and X-rated movies. Maybe I’m just weak, but I don’t need the temptation those things bring with them. You, too, would be wise to discover your weaknesses and protect yourself. Most failures among those professing to follow Jesus begin with little compromises.
The activities we choose for us and our family, the places we go, and the things we prefer to watch or look at all prove that our purity isn’t as radical as we think.
And finally, radical obedience. If you’re a Christian, does the world know that by observing how you live? Or are you like them? Do they see your love for your fellow believers and wish they could experience it, too? Do you bring positive, transformative, and preserving influences to your community and your sphere of influence? Is your salt still salty?
If you’re feeling uncomfortable or convicted, good, I am, too. Let’s commit to radical discipleship to express our love for Jesus and gratitude for all He’s done for us!
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