All are Welcome

There are many themes in Mark 9:38-50 that are ripe for discussion: Jesus' tolerance for an unknown exorcist and his apparent criticism of his disciples' desire for exclusivism; the danger of being a “stumbling block” to others, and the concern for loss of identity.

Clearly, the disciples view their relationship with Jesus as exclusively theirs. Jesus instructs them that anyone who offers another a cup of water in his name is doing it in the name of the One who sent him. As it was then and is now, the followers of Jesus do not belong to an exclusive club; the love of God has no boundaries and cannot be confined to the four walls of any church or denomination

At the time of Mark’s writing, “Christianity” had yet to be named as such and although the relatively small number of Jesus’ followers were in the midst of persecution, they were struggling for an identity of their own. At that time they were considered as “non-Jews” or Gentiles. Today, we still reference people who are not part of our group as non-Christian or non-Catholic, etc. Richard Rohr speaks about those who need to be identified in some exclusive way so as to be recognized as a member of a group. He refers to people’s use of religious “sign posts” so that they can be recognized as members of an organization or specific denomination. However, all too often institutional “church-club” membership exists as an end in itself and not as the basis for following Jesus. Group membership is commendable as a means to self-identify and as a means to express communal pride and fraternity, but it’s not when it is used to exclude or suggest a sense of elitism or superiority.

Commentators tell us that the Greek word, skandalon, is defined as an obstacle that people trip over and gets in the way. It has been colloquially translated as a “stumbling block.” Today the word scandal denotes a decidedly moralistic tone. In the context of this gospel, Jesus’ reference to stumbling block has nothing to do with scandal as we know it. Rather, he was quite clear that his warning was directed to anyone who would lead his followers astray: Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. In other words anyone or anything that got in the way of a follower’s relationship with God was a stumbling block.

By extension, Jesus refers to the awesome responsibility that those closest to him have as leaders. It’s interesting that in these verses Jesus lays bare the minefield of the church and the real dangers within the Christian community then and now. Those most vulnerable “little ones” within the Body of Christ may be impressionable and susceptible to irreparable damage as a result of stumbling blocks caused by careless discipleship.

In this gospel, stumbling blocks can come disguised as precious body parts that can be so “dangerous” that they must be severed. The violence in Jesus' use of hyperbole here is inescapable. He purposely uses this over-the-top language to get the disciples', and our, attention. We are likely to think there's nothing worse than losing a hand, a foot, or an eye. But Jesus says there is…the consequences of causing another to stumble are far worse than self-maiming.

Jesus asks us to examine not only those stumbling blocks that get in the way of our faith, but those that we place, wittingly or not, in the way of others. Here he includes the Church community and individuals within. Jesus does not confine his attention to Church leaders, its hierarchy and priests, but is speaking to each to one of us who are in a position to influence the “little ones,” young and old.