The closing section of Mark 9 exposes a kind of spiritual nearsightedness in the disciples—a blindness we often share. They had just been arguing about who was the greatest, and now they try to stop a faithful believer from casting out demons simply because he wasn’t part of their group. Jesus responds by widening their vision: “Do not stop him… For the one who is not against us is for us.” The disciples had shrunk the Kingdom down to the size of their own tribe, assuming God only works through people who think and act like they do. Jesus refuses to let them draw lines He has not drawn. His Kingdom is far bigger than our preferences, our traditions, or our circles of comfort. And if we’re honest, we can easily fall into the same spiritually nearsighted posture—celebrating what God is doing in our own church, while ignoring or even resenting gospe ...