And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.
COMMENTARY
And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name
And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us
During my mission I met a Christian of another sect. We had a brief conversation, and each of us expressed a curiosity to know how the other had come to follow the sect that they belonged to. We each shared our conversion experience, how we had felt God manifest to us the right path to follow. We congratulated one another on their discovery, and parted amicably.
And in the end, both of us still believed in the rightness of our own path. It is extremely easy for us to jump to the conclusion “if God told me to follow this path, then no other path can truly be following Him.” This line of thought leads one to judge others as foolish or deceived by evil.
For a moment, let us suppose that your particular niche of faith, whatever it might be, is the single, penultimate truth that God wishes for all of us to follow. Under this scenario, then yes, the variations in my belief would be detrimental, and they would be limiting me from my full potential. And yes, you would be well-justified in inviting me to a higher truth.
But that would not be the same as saying that I am against you. Because in the end, I am still trying to cast out devils. I am fighting against the forces of violence, lust, greed, and selfishness. And I am doing this in the name of Jesus Christ. I attest that he is the only one with power to defeat these evils and reclaim our souls.
Therefore, even if you think I am somewhat misaligned, Jesus has affirmed that I am misaligned in his general direction. He has recognized that I am for him. And even if I think you are a little misaligned, I do also appreciate that you are for him, too.