Jesus and diversity

Mark tells the story of Jesus making a visit to Gerasa, which was South of the Sea of Galilee. Upon his arrival, Jesus was approached by a demon-possessed man. The man was a lunatic, to the degree that all of the people in the village he lived were afraid of him. They wanted nothing to do with him. They had even tried to restrain him with chains, yet the man simply broke free.

When Jesus arrived, the demons inside the man immediately recognized him, and were afraid. They begged Jesus for mercy, asking him not to torture them. Instead of the punishment they anticipated from him, the demons pleaded with Jesus to allow them to go into the herd of pigs that was grazing nearby. Jesus allowed this to occur, so the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The pigs then rushed into a nearby lake and drowned.

This story is pretty amazing, resulting in a couple of observations. First, let's consider the man and the demons. The man was possessed by thousands of demons, yet they couldn't keep him from approaching Jesus. Remember, the demons were afraid of Jesus. They thought Jesus was going to torture them. As such, they would have done whatever they could to avoid being in his presence. Yet, they couldn't keep this lonely man away from him. What does it say about the man? It tells me that he had a tremendous amount of faith. His faith allowed him to overcome the grasp and strength of these demons and approach Jesus. The demons were strong - they had previously helped the man break free from chains and irons on his feet - but as strong as they may have been, they were weak when compared with the strength of the man's faith.

The story also speaks to the power of Jesus, at least when we place our faith in him. If we trust Jesus and place our faith in him to heal us, to protect us, does Satan have any chance to succeed? The demons were afraid of Jesus, so much so that they would rather be cast into pigs and drown than face the power of God's only Son.

But here's my primary observation, often lost in this dramatic event. Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee to pay a visit to Gerasa. The Gerasenes were Gentiles. We know this because they were herding pigs, something Jews would not be doing. But Jesus was a Jew. Jews and Gentiles didn't typically hang out together. Most Jews looked down on the Gentiles. But as in so many examples from his life, Jesus took a different path, had his own approach. Jesus was out "in the world" healing, spreading the good news. He didn't stay within his small village and simply teach to those he knew, he ventured out, speaking to and hanging out with people who were different. He went to Tyre and Sidon. He spoke with Samaritans and Canaanites. He reached out to all sinners, not just those in his own home town. He didn't wait for the people to come to him, but he went out to the people. In this story, he crossed the Sea of Galilee and met with Gentiles - on their turf.

What can we learn from this about our mission? Jesus instructs us to "...go and make disciples of ALL nations..." (Mt. 28:19) He doesn't say to teach only your neighbors and friends, as if his message were meant for a select few. He doesn't imply in any way we should stay close to home, within our comfort zone. He doesn't say go to your local church and wait for the sick to come to be healed. He says go, venture out, make disciples of people in all cities and lands. He knew that doing so would mean we would be interacting with people that were different from us. They'd have funny accents, dress differently than we do, and in all likelihood look different. Go and make disciples of all nations...

Why did Jesus instruct us to share the Gospel with everyone? Quite simply because he intended the message of salvation to be heard by everyone. God loves all of us, and wants all of us saved, not just a select few. He doesn't believe that only those attending a mega-church are worthy of salvation. He wants ALL of us, every single one of us unworthy, sinful people, to join him in paradise.

Healing the demon-possessed man is a pretty cool story. The visual of 2,000 pigs rushing off a cliff into a lake - it sure puts a different perspective on the phrase "when pigs fly." But to heal this man, Jesus first had to leave his home, leave his local community, and get out to other neighborhoods, to other cities.

Jesus is teaching a diversity message, whether we get it or not. And as with much of his teaching, he first provided an example in how he lived. The question to ask yourself is...are you out in the world? Are we living as Jesus taught us?