Kingdom Authority and Illegitimate Borders Text: Luke 9:49-50
Introduction: The Folly of Sectarian Fences
We come now to a brief but potent interaction that reveals a persistent temptation for the people of God in every generation. It is the temptation of brand management, the sin of zealous tribalism. The disciples, having just witnessed the glory of the transfiguration and having just failed spectacularly to cast out a demon themselves, are now confronted with a man who is successfully doing the very thing they could not, and doing it in Jesus' name. Their reaction is not joy that the kingdom is advancing, but suspicion and prohibition. Why? Because he was not part of their traveling band. He was not "with us."
This is a profound lesson for us. The church has always been plagued by a spirit that wants to draw the circle of fellowship too tightly, based on secondary or tertiary matters. It is a spirit that confuses our particular camp with the whole kingdom of God. We see it in the Corinthians, with their factions: "I am of Paul," or "I am of Apollos" (1 Cor. 1:12). And as is always the case, the most dangerous faction is the one that says, with a pious sniff, "I am of Christ," as though this were a trump card to end all discussion. This is precisely what John is doing here. He is not acting out of loyalty to Christ so much as loyalty to his own clique, his own in-group.
This incident forces us to ask some hard questions. Where do we draw the lines of fellowship and cooperation? What is the difference between a faithful defense of the gospel and a carnal, sectarian spirit? When does doctrinal precision become Pharisaical pride? Jesus' response to John is a bucket of cold water on all such partisan zeal. He gives us a crucial principle for recognizing the true work of God, even when it appears outside our own well-manicured ecclesiastical fences.
We must understand that the kingdom of God is far larger than our denomination, our presbytery, or our local congregation. Christ is building His church, and He often uses workers who haven't filled out our membership forms. Our job is not to be the kingdom's bouncers, checking credentials at the door. Our job is to be faithful where God has placed us, and to rejoice wherever the name of Christ is glorified and His power is displayed, regardless of who gets the credit.
The Text
And John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.”
But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him, for he who is not against you is for you.”
(Luke 9:49-50 LSB)
The Sectarian Complaint (v. 49)
We begin with John's report, which he seems to think will earn him a commendation from the Master.
"And John answered and said, 'Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.'" (Luke 9:49)
John, one of the "sons of thunder," speaks up. Notice the context. The disciples have just been squabbling about who among them would be the greatest. Jesus rebuked them by placing a child in their midst, teaching them that the greatest in the kingdom is the one who becomes a servant. John's comment here shows that the lesson has not yet sunk in. His concern is still about status, position, and who is in the "official" group.
He reports seeing a man "casting out demons in Your name." Let us not miss the significance of this. This is not a small thing. This is a direct assault on the kingdom of Satan. This is a display of the power of the kingdom of God. And it is being done successfully, in the name of Jesus. This means the man had some measure of faith in the authority and power resident in the name of Jesus. He was doing the very work Jesus had commissioned the twelve to do. And yet, what is John's reaction? Not, "Master, isn't it wonderful? The kingdom is advancing on another front!" No, his reaction is to shut it down. "We tried to hinder him."
And what is the justification for this? It is not doctrinal heresy. It is not moral failure. The only reason given is this: "because he does not follow along with us." The sin, in John's eyes, was non-conformity to their particular group. This man was an independent operator. He wasn't on the team roster. He hadn't been to the team meetings. He was an outsider, and therefore, his success was illegitimate.
This is a perpetual temptation. We establish our ministries, our churches, our institutions, and we can subtly begin to believe that the work of God is coterminous with the boundaries of our organization. We can become suspicious of any work of the Spirit that happens "out there," among people who don't have our theological pedigree or who don't use our approved methods. This is the spirit of Diotrephes, "who loves to have the preeminence among them" (3 John 9) and who refuses to receive the brethren. It is a carnal desire for control masquerading as zeal for order.
The Kingdom Principle (v. 50)
Jesus' reply is swift and decisive. He corrects John's misguided zeal and establishes a principle of kingdom discernment.
"But Jesus said to him, 'Do not hinder him, for he who is not against you is for you.'" (Luke 9:50 LSB)
Jesus' command is simple: "Do not hinder him." Stop getting in the way. Stop being an obstacle to the work of God. This is a sharp rebuke. The disciples, who should have been facilitating the advance of the kingdom, were instead obstructing it. It is a solemn warning to us. It is possible to be so fastidious about our own programs and procedures that we end up quenching the Spirit.
The principle Jesus lays down is this: "he who is not against you is for you." Now, we must be careful here. This is not a call for a mushy, lowest-common-denominator ecumenism that papers over essential doctrinal differences. Jesus Himself elsewhere says, "He who is not with Me is against Me" (Matthew 12:30). These two statements are not contradictory; they are two sides of the same coin, applied in different contexts.
The statement in Matthew, "he who is not with Me is against Me," refers to the central, non-negotiable issue of Christ's own identity and authority. When it comes to the person and work of Jesus Christ, there is no neutral ground. You are either for Him or against Him. You cannot be a conscientious objector in this war. This is the line of demarcation for the Christian faith itself.
But the statement here in Luke, "he who is not against you is for you," is given to the disciples and concerns matters of association and cooperation among those who are already fundamentally "for" Christ. The man was casting out demons in Jesus' name. He was clearly not "against" Jesus. He was on the same side of the ultimate battle line. His only fault was that he wasn't formally enlisted in John's particular platoon. Jesus is teaching His disciples to have a more generous and expansive view of His kingdom. The test is not, "Is he one of us?" The test is, "Is he opposing us? Is he working against the kingdom?" If not, then in this great spiritual war, he should be considered an ally.
This is the same spirit we see in Moses when Joshua, in a similar fit of youthful zeal, wanted to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying in the camp. Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!" (Numbers 11:29). Moses had a kingdom mindset, not a tribal one. Paul displays the same attitude in Philippians. Even when some were preaching Christ out of envy and selfish ambition, hoping to cause him distress, Paul's response was, "What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice" (Philippians 1:18). The central issue was the proclamation of Christ. Compared to that, the impure motives of the preachers were a secondary concern.
Conclusion: A Generous Orthodoxy
So what is the takeaway for us? This passage calls us to cultivate a generous orthodoxy. We must be fiercely committed to the central truths of the gospel, the non-negotiables articulated in the great creeds of our faith. On the person of Christ, the authority of Scripture, the reality of the resurrection, and justification by faith alone, there can be no compromise. He who is not with Christ in these matters is against Him.
But on that solid foundation, we must learn to be generous with those who are fighting the same enemy, even if they are in a different regiment and wear a different uniform. We must distinguish between the essentials of the faith and the distinctives of our tribe. We can be robustly Presbyterian, or Baptist, or Anglican, and hold to our convictions with integrity, without assuming that the kingdom of God is confined to our own camp. The kingdom is catholic, which means universal. It is bigger than our brand.
The key is the fruit. What was the man doing? He was casting out demons. He was producing kingdom fruit. The name of Jesus was being glorified and the powers of darkness were being routed. Jesus tells us to judge a tree by its fruit. John was trying to judge the tree by the label on the pot. We must learn to recognize the work of the Spirit of God wherever it appears. When we see demons being cast out, whether the demon of abortion, or pornography, or godless secularism, we should rejoice, not ask for the exorcist's denominational credentials.
Let us, therefore, repent of all sectarian pride. Let us repent of the impulse to hinder any good work simply because it is not our good work. Let us ask God for the grace to rejoice whenever and wherever Christ is named, sin is defeated, and the kingdom advances. For the battle is the Lord's, the kingdom is His, and He is gathering His people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and sometimes, even from outside our own little band of followers.