Unhealthy Attitudes Towards the Ministry of the Lord

Commentary on Mark 12:1-2

By Daniel Amari

1 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country.

A.      “Jesus began speaking to them in parables.” Who are “them”?

They were the religious leaders, in particular, those who are responsible for the temple. They were religious. They preached the scriptures even though Jesus accused them that they actually did not really believe in them. They prided themselves that they followed the law and that they were more religious than others. Pride was the driving force behind everything they did and said. They did not like that Jesus cleansed the temple; so they challenged him. In response, Jesus told them these series of parables.

B.      “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower.” Let the real owner stand up!

This is huge amount of work accomplished by that man. He gets all the credit. The tenants were not the owners. They did not do the work. That man did the work. That man represents the Heavenly Father. He is behind all ministries.

First Unhealthy Attitude: The work is not needed. Some have the following attitude towards the ministry of the Lord. They feel it is not needed. They show their antagonism towards the ministry through different ways

·         They state that the ministry is not needed. They make their feelings clearly known that there is no need for this work; that the resources could have been better spent doing something else: such as working in the secular world  or helping the poor. It reminds us of what Judas said that this precious perfume is better spent to help the poor instead of being wasted on Jesus.

·         Their response is giving examples of other ministries. They do not directly say the ministry is not needed. But indirectly state that the ministry is a waste by giving examples of similar ministries. In response to an event, they mention similar events. In response to resources, they mentions similar resources. They keep doing that as if their hidden message is unclear. But it is as clear as if they stated directly that the ministry is not needed.

Yet, in this parable, we see how the Man spent all of this effort in building all of this. That man represent the Heavenly Father. It was his work.  The point is that the Lord has built the ministry. If it is not needed, then why would the Lord build it? Do we know better than the Lord? Do we require the Lord our permission before starting a ministry? Do we have better understanding than the Lord about what is most effective for his glory?

Second Unhealthy Attitude: We are the owners. It is very clear from the text that those tenants were not the owners. However, it is also clear that those tenants acted as if they were the owners. Some also show similar attitude towards other ministries through the following:

·         They state that the ministry would not have been possible without them. The humble attitude is to recognize that the Lord can easily build any ministry without our help. We are not the x-factor, God is.

·         They state that they are the owners of the field. If this ministry is targeting certain field, it has to go through us; because we think that we own that field. It is unthinkable that there is another ministry targeting the same field but not owned by us.

We are not the owners; the Lord is. We do not have a monopoly on any field. We have no right to destroy or limit a ministry.

C.      “And leased it to tenants.” It is very evident from the end of chapter 11 that those religious leaders did not believe in Jesus’ ministry. However, in this parable, Jesus made them tenants. The tenants were accountable to give fruits in its season.

Third Unhealthy Attitude: Apathy and Neutrality. This is displayed in the following manner:

·         They state that they are not opposed but they do not support: They stand on the sidelines and watch. They do not support but they do not oppose. They do not criticize but they do not encourage. They do not bad-mouth the ministry but they do not pray for it. Their logic is as follows, “If God told you to build this ministry, it is fine with us; but at the same time, it has nothing to do with us.”

·         They are late band-wagoners. They watch the ministry from far. They do not support. But if the ministry happened to become very huge success in the future, and if its success becomes so great that the ministry becomes unavoidable, then they would finally come and declare their support. They would say, “we were always supporters of the ministry.” However, the ministry needs support at the early stages. Supporting a ministry only when it is successful is a sign of lack of faith in what the Lord can do. It is driven by visible success not by the word and promises of the Lord.

Apathy is not neutral. In fact, there is no such thing as neutrality when it comes to spiritual life. This is why the Lord placed these religious leaders as tenants despite the fact they did not consider themselves as part of the ministry. A kind word of encouragement would suffice.

D.      “And went into another country.” We don’t know how long the trip is but it is clearly a long trip. Years could have passed by. Years without any ramifications could give the impression that we are entitled to have these prideful and unhealthy attitudes. But are there consequences for an attitude towards a certain ministry?

2 “When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.”

Despite the long time, there are consequences. We are held accountability to the ministries within our sphere of influence of our words, prayers and support. We tend to consider ourselves accountable only to those ministries we are in charge of; yet the Lord places in as accountable to those ministries that can we can choose to encourage, discourage or be neutral to. Pride tells us that if we are not in charge, then we are not accountable. But having a healthy attitude that the ministry belongs to the Lord and that we are ultimately accountable to him, places us in a position of humility and thankfulness to God. This position allows the Lord to use us to encourage, pray for, and support His work in the Kingdom.

Copyright 2017 by Daniel Amari. All Rights Reserved.

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