Are you Growing in Gratitude or Judgment?

Two of Jesus closest disciples, James and John, had been walking with Jesus for years. They knew him. They knew the Law. They had a ton of understanding. In fact, in Mark 10 Jesus has just predicted his death for the third time. So on top of everything else, James and John know and understand that Jesus is going into his kingdom by way of suffering. And yet ... it's clear they’re still missing something. They demand seats of power from Jesus, seemingly over the other disciples.

James and John are being judgmental and entitled.

Contrary to these two disciples, is a man named Bartimaeus. He is blind. He has not been walking with Jesus. And it's really unclear how much he knows and understands. But his spiritual education is likely fairly basic. He most assuredly does not know or understanding the Law (he would not have been educated) nor the pending suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus like the disciples. And yet Mark shows us that rather than judgment and entitlement ... Bartimaeus demonstrates dependency and humility. He doesn't ask for a seat of power, he asks for his sight to be restored. Or perhaps more to the point, he asks for mercy. You see, it’s basic.

What do we learn from Mark 10?

We can be easily deceived by what we know and understanding. This deception leads entitlement and judgment. One of the ways to assess your own life, as to whether or not you're really believing the gospel is to consider whether or not you are growing more entitled and more judgmental. Do you regularly compare your life with others'? Are you often jealous of other people? Are you constantly critical about their decisions, simply if not only because they are different than yours? When we think we have special knowledge and understanding it breeds comparison and contempt. We see this in the lives of the Jewish people to whom Paul is writing in Romans 10:18-21 and in James and John. Does this describe your life?

The other thing we learn is that grace is sufficient. When we abide in the sufficiency of grace we become dependent and humble. We live with faith. We discern in ourselves and in others that we are building our lives on the real gospel when we are growing in dependency and humility. Are you becoming more humble ... less judgmental ... less entitled? Are you increasingly aware of your need for mercy and grace and forgiveness and help? Is grace sufficient for you? One of the primary markers of dependency and humility is gratitude. When we are grateful, we recognize our need and the supply, power, and love of another to meet our needs. When we are grateful, we recognize our undeserving. When we know we are not special, when we know we don't know and when we understand that we don't understand we respond to the outstretched arm of God. The Heavenly Father reminds us that, “All day long I have held out my hands ..." That's grace. And we see both the Gentiles in Romans and in Bartimaeus in Mark 10 receive this grace.

So, are you growing in gratitude? Or are you growing in judgment?