Whose Side Are You On?

Here’s a story from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, that feels like it could have happened just today. John, one of Jesus’ disciples, ran to him with a complaint. Someone was helping others—what people then described as driving out demons—and doing it in Jesus’ name.  The problem was that this person wasn’t part of Jesus’ group, so John and his friends tried to stop them. “They’re not one of us,” they said.

Expecting Jesus to praise them for protecting “the brand”, they were surprised when, instead, Jesus told them to let it go. After all, Jesus said, someone acting in his name couldn’t turn right around and speak against him. Then he said words that have echoed for centuries: “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

This story challenges us today. How do we respond to people who care for others, work for justice, or live out their faith—but do it differently than we do? Do we ignore them, compete with them, or try to stop them? Jesus’ answer is simple but radical: recognize the good in others, even when it comes from outside your circle. 

And we’re not just talking about faith communities. Conflicts in families, neighborhoods, nations, and around the world often start just because we draw strict lines between “us” and “them.” Yet Jesus calls us to focus on what we share rather than what separates us.

The theologian William Barclay once said that true tolerance comes from recognizing that we can never fully know God’s truth. Our perspective is limited; our understanding always incomplete. Accepting our limits frees us to celebrate the good we see in others —­ even when it flows from a different path, a different denomination, or even a different faith.

Barclay’s insight invites us to hold our convictions firmly, but never arrogantly. It reminds us that God’s truth is larger than any one of us can contain. When we realize that, we begin to see allies where we once saw rivals, and partners where we once drew boundaries.

This story reminds us that doing good together matters more than who belongs to which group. It challenges us to act with humility and openness, to see God’s work in unexpected places, and to appreciate the ways people—inside and outside our circles—bring love into the world.
Whose side are you on?  Turns out goodness itself knows no sides.