Mark 6:7–13 (ESV)
7 And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. 8 He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— 9 but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. 10 And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. 11 And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” 12 So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. 13 And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to go to the movies and see some of my favorite characters come to life on the big screen. However, the key to a great movie experience back then was to get there early enough to see the previews of movies that were “coming soon.” Action movies, dramas, comedies, romantic comedies, and science fiction. At the end of the trailer, there was always one last note letting us all know when the movie would arrive: this Christmas, this summer, or the summer of the following year, and worst of all, no date listed, which I think left people curious and somewhat desperate to find out when the movie would arrive.
I was thinking about those movie previews as I read this passage. In the passage, Jesus sends His disciples out in pairs into the surrounding community to proclaim the arrival of the kingdom of God as they called people to repentance. Unlike movie previews, which announced what was coming, the disciples are proclaiming that the kingdom of God has already arrived in Jesus. The kingdom is here, now, and it’s available to all who will simply come.
As evidence of this, Jesus gives the disciples authority over the unclean spirits, and they heal people in Jesus’ name.
We need to be careful not to understand this passage as our blueprint to follow regarding how we should live and share our faith with others, but there is a general principle that we need to grasp.
As Jim Edwards notes in his commentary on the passage, the disciples are given the authority to act. Here as elsewhere in early Christianity there is no proclamation of the gospel without powerful deeds, and no powerful deeds without proclamation of the Gospel.
As I reflect on this passage, I’m struck by the emphasis on the relationship between action and proclamation of the Gospel. The two go hand in hand. In James’ letter, he calls believers to be “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1.22) and a little later on he states that, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2.17).
The point James is making is that true faith is one that translates into Jesus-shaped action. In other words, true faith, the real thing, is one that impacts every aspect of a person’s life and the world around them. Our faith in Jesus is to be proclaimed and lived out in the world. It’s not just a matter of intellectual assent. Our faith is to be authentic and exposed for all to see.
James 2:18
But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
God bless you and know that you are constantly in my prayers!
Scott