Ever look around the congregation in your church. Hopefully what you see are people of all ages and backgrounds and social stations. Hopefully, you also see people at various levels of Christian maturity, babes amid the mature, milk-drinkers alongside meat-eaters! People should be coming from every and all directions.
That’s exactly what Mark reported in his opening chapter. Jesus had gathered disciples around him, Simon, Andrew, James and John. He had cast an evil spirit out of a man in a synagogue, healed Simon’s mother-in-law of a fever and spent that evening healing all the sick and demon-possessed who were brought to him. The next day he began to travel through Galilee, peaching and healing.
As people witnessed the work of the LORD in their midst, they began to flock to Him. Mark reports, “they came to [Jesus] from every direction.” [Mark 1:45 NKJV]
I’ve been told repeatedly that the church needs to utilize more and varied methods and means to reach people, that people won’t just come to a church anymore. While I acknowledge that may be true, I can’t help but wonder why. Is it because people have changed … or is it because the church has changed?
I look around at our world, at our society, and I don’t think it is because people have changed. They still age, still suffer sickness, accidents and traumas. They are anxious, nervous, addicted, rebellious, and perverted (to name just a few conditions). In other words, they are the same fallen human beings they have been since the Garden.
So then, if people aren’t coming to church to find relief, healing, and freedom from what plagues them, it must be because the church has changed … perhaps it is because we’ve driven the true Jesus and the revolutionary power of His Spirit out of our midst. When Jesus has been banned, there’s really no reason to come to church. But, when Jesus is present and allowed to move among us, people will be drawn to Him “from every direction”.
