I don’t usually wade into a secular company’s bad behavior that other Christians are up in arms about, partly because of what I wrote yesterday. Believers could stand to be a bit more winsome in their interactions, I think.

That said, Netflix’s movie Cuties, which sexually exploits pre-teen girls (look it up if you haven’t seen this story) merits a mention. Interestingly, I can’t find any stories in the mainstream media supporting people’s concerns. The prevailing view is, “Just watch it. You’ll see it’s against the sexual exploitation of girls.”

But one can make a point without showing the behavior they’re supposedly against. My son Mark captured the issue well, I think, in his usual creative and concise style:

Whenever it was, a couple weeks ago, when the Cuties poster came out and people were up in arms, Netflix said, “Oh it’s a bad poster, sorry, that’s not what the movie is about, give it a chance.” Now we’re seeing the actual movie and it’s as bad or worse. If I were making a movie about how bad it is to burn puppies, I wouldn’t set puppies on fire with focused shots on the puppies going up in flames, scenes that would be huge hits with the puppy-burning community, and destruction of actual puppies in service of teaching us a broader lesson about the challenges faced by puppies as they face incineration. -Mark Ewell, on or about September 10, 2020, via Facebook

Unfortunately, the uproar has drawn more attention to the movie, and it was one of Netflix’s most-watched last week.

I generally don’t sign petitions telling companies what to do. I can (and did) cancel my subscription, however. 

With respect to petitions, one organizer of petitions, Steve Cleary of RevelationMedia wrote this insightful comment when asked whether or not such petitions were effective against a large company like Netflix:

For me, the question whether we can influence Netflix is far less important than the question of whether or not we can influence followers of Christ to safeguard their homes and stand for righteousness. – Steve Cleary, RevelationMedia.

That’s a good perspective!

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. (1 Peter 2.11, NKJV)

But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving…Therefore do not become partners with them. (Ephesians 5.3, 4, 7, ESV)

I saw something I hadn’t noticed before in Jesus’ instructions to the 70 he sent out in Luke 10:

Don’t feel the need to shift from one house to another, but stay put in one home during your time in that city. Eat and drink whatever they serve you. Receive their hospitality, for you are my harvester, and you deserve to be cared for. When you enter into a new town, and you have been welcomed by its people, follow these rules: Eat what is served you. (Luke 10.7, 8, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

Twice Jesus told them to eat what they were served. The Passion Translation has a note on that:

This instruction to “eat what is served” was given twice, for the Jewish dietary laws were not meant to be a hindrance in their ministry, nor were the disciples to demand certain foods.

The 70 were traveling teachers, men with some inherent respect in their own culture, but they were not to use that authority to demand either their preferences or to correct some violation of Kosher law as the Passion Translation note suggests.

I think as messengers of the gospel in this culture, we could go a long way by not always demanding our rights. We could stand to be more winsome and less in-your-face. 

Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives. Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government. (1 Peter 2.12 – 17, MSG)

We celebrated our 52nd anniversary, two weeks after the fact, at Mt Elbert Lodge, near Twin Lakes, Colorado. The leaves are turning out here. Here’s the view from our front porch. 

⁵  Your steadfast love, O LORD, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
⁶  Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O LORD.
⁷  How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
⁸  They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
⁹  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light. (Psalm 36.5 – 9, ESV)

Here’s another thought from Jesus’ sending out the 70 in Luke 10.

After this, the Lord Jesus formed thirty-five teams among the other disciples. Each team was two disciples, seventy in all, and he commissioned them to go ahead of him into every town he was about to visit. He released them with these instructions: “The harvest is huge and ripe. But there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in. As you go, plead with the Owner of the Harvest to drive out into his harvest fields many more workers. Now, off you go! I am sending you out even though you feel as vulnerable as lambs going into a pack of wolves. (Luke 10.1 – 3, Passion Translation)

70 men sent out on a successful mission:

When the seventy missionaries returned to Jesus, they were ecstatic with joy, telling him, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we commanded them in your name!” (Luke 10.17, Passion Translation)

70 men, and we don’t even know their names. Maybe they were among the 120 in Acts 1, but we don’t know their names either. Most of us will serve, as the hymn says, “unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown.”

And do you seek great things for yourself? Seek them not. Jeremiah 45.5, ESV)

I saw something intriguing in the Passion Translation of Luke 10.2:

The harvest is huge and ripe. But there are not enough harvesters to bring it all in. As you go, plead with the Owner of the Harvest to drive out into his harvest fields many more workers. (Emphasis mine)

Here’s the footnote on “drive out”:

This is the term used many times in the Gospels for driving out or casting out demons. The Lord of the Harvest must cast them forth.

Maybe that explains why some people MUST go into formal mission work. They are driven to it. Here’s what the Apostle Paul said:

For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! (1 Corinthians 9.16, ESV)

Maybe it also explains why more people aren’t involved in mission, even right where they are. We don’t have a labor shortage as many of us have often said. We have a prayer shortage.

Plead with the Owner of the Harvest to drive out into the harvest fields many more workers. (Luke 10.2, Passion Translation)

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9.37, 38, ESV, emphasis mine)

Jesus goes from rebuker to challenger at the close of Luke 9:

Jesus then turned to another and said, “Come be my disciple.” He replied, “Someday I will, Lord, but allow me first to fulfill my duty as a good son and wait until my father passes away.” Jesus told him, “Don’t wait for your father’s burial. Let those who are already dead wait for death. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere that God’s kingdom has arrived.” Still another said to him, “Lord, I want to follow you too. But first let me go home and say good-bye to my entire family.” Jesus responded, “Why do you keep looking backward to your past and have second thoughts about following me? When you turn back you are useless to God’s kingdom realm.” (Luke 9.59 – 62, Passion Translation)

What does Jesus challenge in both cases? “But first…” I’ll do it, just not right now this minute. I called this but first attitude Labanizing back in 2016. These guys could be putting Jesus off indefinitely – don’t say no, but never get around to following Jesus.

OR, they could have every good intention. Just like I do some mornings. I’ll have my time with God. But first let me….

• Check my email
• Catch up on the news
• Finish this crossword puzzle

And some days, after I’ve done the but firsts, there’s no time left. Oops.

You always have time for that which you put first. -Debbie Friley, The Navigators

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up. (Psalm 5.3, ESV)

Here’s the final story in our series on Jesus rebuking the disciples in Luke 9, and it’s very fitting for our day and age. The disciples wanted to exercise outrage…

Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village. (Luke 9.51 – 56, NKJV)

Wow. These disciples, the same ones who couldn’t cast out a demon just a little earlier, want to exercise real power by calling down fire to consume the people of a Samaritan village. What could be more fun than taking out people you don’t like anyway but in the name of defending Jesus’ honor?

Outrage. The great American pastime these days. Someone posted an insightful comment on one of my blogs about this:

Recreational outrage is America’s most popular indoor sport. I think it also ties to what the Bible says about revenge. A lot of this stuff is people satisfying their desire to see other people “get theirs”. That’s real tempting, so long as I don’t ever have to get mine, right? Who was his neighbor? The one who showed mercy on him. Go and do likewise. – Mark E, commenting on a February 3, 2019, blog

I love the simple ending to this story. “And they went to another village.” It wasn’t the end of the world that one village wouldn’t let Jesus in. He just went to another one. Most issues are not let’s draw a line in the sand, life or death issues. Jesus came not to destroy but to save.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3.16, 17, NKJV)

We’re looking at what Jesus rebuked the disciples for in Luke 9. This time, he rebukes them for wanting to rebuke someone else!

“Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.” (Luke 9.49, NIV)

In the footnote, the translator of The Passion Translation attributes the disciples’ behavior to jealousy:

Jealousy blinds our hearts. Nine disciples combined could not cast out a demon spirit, (Luke 9.40) and they were jealous of this one who did.

Jesus simply tells them to cut it out:

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” (Luke 9.50, NIV)

The lesson is simple: recognize and applaud others’ effectiveness.

They don’t get in each other’s way. Each one knows his job and does it. (Joel 2.8, MSG, from Lessons from Locusts that I’ve written about before)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. (1 Corinthians 12.4 – 6, ESV)

So tend to your knitting. You’ve got your hands full just taking care of your own life before God. (Romans 14.12, MSG)

We are exploring Jesus rebuking the disciples for various behaviors in Luke 9. Here’s the second one:

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. (Luke 9.46, ESV)

You have to love it. The disciples having just been royally chewed out for their lack of faith are now arguing about which of them was the greatest! This time, Jesus takes a gentler approach:

But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” (Luke 9.47, 48, ESV, emphasis mine)

It’s not the only time Jesus had this conversation with them:

They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9.33 – 35, NIV)

When the ten heard about [James and John wanting the top positions], they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10.41 – 45, NIV)

Jesus stayed with this lesson until the very end.

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him… When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. (John 13.3 – 5, 12 – 15, NIV)

Yesterday I introduced us to four rebuking incidents from Luke 9. Let’s explore the first one in more detail:

The next day, when they came down from the mountain, a massive crowd was waiting there to meet them. And a man in the crowd shouted desperately, “Please, Teacher, I beg of you, do something about my boy. He’s my only child. He’s possessed by an evil spirit that makes him scream out in torment and hardly ever leaves him alone. It throws him into convulsions and he foams at the mouth. And when it finally does leave him, he’s left with horrible bruises. I begged your disciples to drive it out of him, but they didn’t have enough power to do it.” Jesus responded, “You are an unbelieving people with no faith! Your lives are twisted with lies that have turned you away from doing what is right. How much longer should I remain here, offering you hope?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son to me.” (Luke 9.37 – 41, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

As I write this, the Internet writing assistance program Grammarly rightly diagnosed Jesus as angry.

What was Jesus angry about? It’s clear: “you are an unbelieving people…” It sounds harsh, but he’s talking to the disciples here.

The gospels record that Jesus “marveled” only twice. Once was at the faith of the centurion:

For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” (Luke 7.8, 9, ESV)

The other was for the people of Nazareth’s lack of faith:

And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. (Mark 6.4 – 6, ESV)

Here his reaction is anger. Why? These are the same disciples who just returned from a successful ministry trip that involved healing people and casting out demons. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago. Now they can’t cast out a demon, and Jesus tells them, “You are an unbelieving people with no faith! Your lives are twisted with lies that have turned you away from doing what is right.” What lies? That this demon was too strong for them? That since they weren’t on an official mission trip the power they had before wasn’t there? We don’t know. But Jesus was not pleased.

I believe he simply wanted them to believe in and exercise the power that Jesus had given them.

 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11.6, ESV)

[Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. (Romans 4.20, 21, NKJV)