38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. Mark 9:38-41

D.L Moody once remarked when criticized about his preaching, “My way of evangelizing is better than your way of not evangelizing.” It’s easy to become critical about methods when it comes to the Gospel message.

Did the disciples want to be in control or was there something else going on here? Jesus set them straight and let them know others do things their way and it’s fine as long as the Gospel is being preached.

God speaks to different people in different ways concerning the Gospel. Some need to hear it forcefully through street preaching while others need to read it through literature or on the radio. Some use billboards while others use the spoken word.

Different Strokes for Different Folks.

No need to condemn or criticize. No need to badmouth just because you don’t like the way it’s being done.

In fact, we should be grateful that God uses different people with their different means to teach and preach. If everyone did it the same way, how boring would that be!

That’s where grace comes in. This an area we definitely need it in.