Whose interests are you concerned about?

Among the many interesting tidbits about Jesus’ life and ministry record by St. Mark is this one found in Mark 8:

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Here is the question of the hour: Do you and I ever get in the way of God’s plans because we are more concerned about “human concerns” than God’s concerns?

I have to say that I have met many people like this. They will try and talk the young couple who wants to follow Jesus out of buying or renting a house in the poor part of town because “do you really want to raise your children there?” Or they will try to discourage the graduating high school student from giving a year of service in a mission because “you will be behind your class.”

Many years ago a leading pastor in the denomination I was serving at the time told my wife and me that we should leave our pastoral role of a racially mixed congregation because our sons may grow up and marry a black girl.

To all of this Jesus says, “Get behind me, Satan!”

Ronald Friesen © 2015