BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for April 14
Broaden ministry tent by overcoming obstacles
___Mark 7:1-8, 14-30
___1 The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and 2 saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were "unclean," that is, unwashed. 3 (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)
___5 So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, "Why don't your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with 'unclean' hands?"
___6 He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
___ 'These people honor me with their lips,
___ but their hearts are far from me.
___ 7 They worship me in vain;
___ their teachings are but rules taught by men.'
___8 "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men." ...
___14Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen to me, everyone, and understand this. 15Nothing outside a man can make him 'unclean' by going into him. Rather, it is what comes out of a man that makes him 'unclean.'" ...
___17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 "Are you so dull?" he asked. "Don't you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him 'unclean'? 19For it doesn't go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body." (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods "clean.")
___20 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'"
___24 Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25 In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
___27 "First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
___28 "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."
___29 Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."
___30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
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___By Joe Parker
___Two Texas gubernatorial candidates recently held a debate in both English and Spanish. Although it was said that a significant number of the eligible Hispanic voting population would prefer to speak in Spanish, reportedly many other Texans disagreed with holding the historical Spanish debate.
___Whether or not you agree with the Spanish debate, how would you react if the Bible had not been translated beyond the Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic languages? What if Jesus were available only to the Jews?
___Our focal passage helps us to see that Jesus came to save the whole world, irrespective of any circumstance or background. Mark shows us we sometimes categorize people and things as "sacred cows"--groupings between what is sacred and profane--that serve as barriers to having access to God's salvation through Jesus Christ.
___Jesus could readily see that people during his time were being spiritually disabled because human-made barriers had been established. Our lesson will help us to look at barriers to Jesus we have established.
___Broaden ministry by_determining tradition's proper place
___Tradition, something handed down from generation to generation, is not a bad thing. Knowing boundaries for the Christian life is important. But tradition should be kept in the proper place in our lives and churches. We should not give higher allegiance to tradition than to God and his commands.
___Misplaced tradition was a problem for religious leaders of Jesus' day. Jewish traditions were designed to keep Israel holy to the Lord and to help this holy nation avoid being tainted by pagan influences, assuming that God had ordained the details. In order to define what being a Jew meant, the Pharisees categorized what was sacred and what was not. They focused on external things, like the ritual for hand washing.
___In our text, Mark observes that the religious leaders wanted to know why Jesus' disciples ate food with unwashed hands. Their tradition taught that Jews did not eat unless they washed their hands ceremonially. But their concern had nothing to do with personal hygiene; rather, it was a way to keep from touching things and people, including some Jews, they considered unacceptable.
___As Jesus observed the practice of these traditions, he recognized that they were barriers to people having access to God's salvation. He was more concerned about internal sacredness, seen through a pure heart, than outer sacredness. He recognized that removing the barrier of tradition opened the door to evangelize beyond the Jews.
___If the Gentiles and non-practicing Jews could interact with Jewish Christians and not be required to change eating habits, it would provide greater opportunity for spreading the good news of Jesus. But when Jesus saw these leaders were committed more to man-made traditions than to direct commands of God, he called them hyprocrites.
___When God's people give priority to traditions over God and are more concerned about external things than a pure heart, they become fugitives from God's commands--hypocrites.
___What would Jesus call us if we insisted on defining who is a Christian or Texas Baptist by following certain traditions we hold sacred about worship, music or preaching styles, or how one does ministry or dresses to come to worship or the church building? What a great opportunity for spreading the gospel if we did not allow these types of external sacred matters to serve as barriers.
___Broaden ministry by dignifying God's image in all people
___Jesus respected people by honoring God's image in them. Consequently, he broadened his ministry and met people where they were--at their points of need.
___An example in Mark occurred when he crossed a racial barrier--between Jews and Gentiles--and ministered to the demon-possessed daughter of the Syrophoenician woman.
___Although the woman and her daughter were Gentiles and he a Jew, Jesus healed her. Jesus did not allow issues of gender or race to limit his ministry. In fact, he disregarded those barriers for the sake of extending the kingdom of God.
___Jesus also knew all people were created in the image of God and they should be treated with dignity because of that image. How do we relate to people who are of a different race, culture, ethnic group or gender? Are we dishonoring the image of God in them? Do we allow those distinctions to limit our ministry opportunities?
___Broaden ministry by dispelling the existence of forbidden places
___Jesus was willing to go into Gentile territory, even though Jews were not to have contact with Gentiles who were seen as unclean. In the minds of the Gentiles, Jesus' journey into the vicinity of Tyre and the region of the Decapolis was a home invasion. Indeed, Tyre was deemed a wealthy place where Jews had been oppressed and Gentiles were privileged.
___Being in the Decapolis region and feeding the 4,000 people who likely included Gentiles was forbidden. Jesus did not belong there. But through the presence of Jesus, the Holy had now gone into unholy places.
___For the sake of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, we must be willing to go into forbidden places. For the sake of Jesus, we must be willing to invade worldly places where sinners can be found. We must be willing to go to all parts of town to share his message. In the workplace, where others may not share our faith, we must be willing to engage in uncomfortable conversations and dialogues. There are no forbidden places where ministry should not go for the cause of Christ.
___Broaden ministry by defying disabilities
___I recently learned that American Sign Language, which has its own grammar, syntax and idioms, satisfies the foreign language requirement at Stanford University. Some would say the inability to speak words is a disability, but this is from the vantage point of a speaking person. A person who uses sign language as the primary way to communicate might say that sign language is as valid a way to communicate as using spoken words.
___Jesus did not consider the inability to speak, hear or see as disabilities. In his hands these circumstances merely presented additional opportunities to present the power of God.
___When Jesus was in the region of the Decapolis and some people brought to him a deaf man who could hardly speak, he saw it as an opportunity to broaden his ministry. He did not allow the man--possibly a Gentile, who was deaf and having difficulty speaking--to serve as a barrier.
___Jesus decided to touch the man's ears and tongue; and with one touch his life changed forever--he was able to hear and speak clearly. Those who heard about the healing could not stop talking about it.
___People who are spiritually disabled need someone to bring them to Jesus so he can touch their disabilities with healing. Their disability is not a barrier, but an opportunity for God's people to broaden their ministry. Jesus wants to open their ears so they can hear what God is saying to them. He wants to loosen their tongues so they can speak clearly what God would have them say.
___Perhaps we need to use the universal sign language of love to touch people so they can clearly hear, see and feel the message of Jesus. When people see the healing that comes from God's love, they will not be able to stop talking about it.
___If we follow Jesus' example of broadening his ministry by totally disregarding man-made barriers that are apart from the will of God, we will discover the absolute truth of the Lord's revelation to Bart Pierce as he started a church in Baltimore: "If you will take care of the ones nobody wants, I will send you the ones everybody is after."
Questions for thought and discussion
___ How can traditions in our churches and personal lives become obstacles to the unchurched people who are responding to God's call on their lives?
___ What traditions are you reluctant to give up even though you realize they are not scripturally based, but just personal preferences?
___ How do we allow racial or cultural differences to limit our ministry opportunities? What can be done to alleviate these things? Once they are gone, how does the community know that anything has changed?
___ How can geographical areas and our workplaces serve as opportunities, and not barriers, to the spreading of the good news of Jesus Christ? How can we discover new places to take the gospel of Christ?
___ How do you share the message of Jesus Christ if you work in a place where there are people of different faiths, no spiritual faith or who are antagonistic toward Christian faith?___
___ How can the church be receptive and sensitive to ministering to people with physical disabilities?
___ Do you feel a real burden to broaden your ministry, or are you comfortable with what you are already doing?
___ Do you feel called to overcome a particular type of barrier? Has God laid it on your heart to reach out to people of races or cultures? People with physical differences? People who are of a different socio-economic strata? What are you going to do about it? When will you begin?
___
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