“John said to him, ’Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For the one who is not against us is for us.’” (John 9:38-40)
Mark’s gospel contains a curious incident that is reminiscent of Numbers 11:34. The disciples complained to Jesus about some man casting out demons in Jesus’ Name, one who was not one of the disciples. Jesus told them that if he was doing it successfully in Jesus’s Name, he was acting in the Lord’s authority. And then He blasted religious hypocrites who were claiming to act in God’s authority but lacked it. They lacked such authority because they lacked the love, compassion and mercy of God and were overly concerned with adherence to man-made rules and regulations. They deserved the punishment of Hell because they were leading others away from the truth.
In the Christian world these days we have a Church that is split into multiple factions and denominations, all claiming to speak for God. Though we should seek unity with other churches, we must be very cautious. We can find common ground with other believers as we agree on the fundamentals of the faith as well as the common goal of leading the lost to Christ. But many churches and preachers have abandoned both and replaced the gospel with a form of pluralistic universalism or define salvation in terms of prosperity, or personal, socio-economic or political well-being, not as judgment of sin and reconciliation with God by faith in Christ Jesus. We must be wary of judging the faithfulness of a church in terms of numbers, finances, signs, miracles and wonders. None of these factors are accurate indicators of the validity of the professions of the believers or the teaching of the preachers. Faithfulness is manifested by humble obedience to the will of God and loving service to all as well as adherence to the truth of the gospel no matter how difficult that may be.