Mark 6:1-6, The Message

He left there and returned to his hometown. His disciples came along. On the Sabbath, he gave a lecture in the meeting place. He made a real hit, impressing everyone. "We had no idea he was this good!" they said. "How did he get so wise all of a sudden, get such ability?"

But in the next breath they were cutting him down: "He's just a carpenter—Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid. We know his brothers, James, Justus, Jude, and Simon, and his sisters. Who does he think he is?" They tripped over what little they knew about him and fell, sprawling. And they never got any further.

Jesus told them, "A prophet has little honor in his hometown, among his relatives, on the streets he played in as a child." Jesus wasn't able to do much of anything there—he laid hands on a few sick people and healed them, that's all. He couldn't get over their stubbornness. He left and made a circuit of the other villages, teaching.

Sometimes I catch myself longing to be somewhere, anywhere but here. I have a full life, a great life, a blessed life. But it's hard to be in my "hometown" sometimes. The thrill is gone, the excitement is tamed, the shine has worn off. I don't mean any disrespect or offense -- it's just that it's nice to explore new places and people and customs and cultures. And, from the spiritual/ministry side, it's often most difficult to minister in familiar surroundings.

Jesus knows what I mean. In these verses He is attempting to share the good news and show God's glory through miracles and all he gets are scoffs, doubt, and ridicule. Their unbelief was a hindrance in His ministry. Oh it's true he healed the sick and taught, but they wouldn't hear it. Jesus knew it was obviously not going to sink in for them, not yet. So He moved on to where the harvest was ready.

This passage makes me think of a couple things. One, the struggles of speaking truth and being bold in ministry in your hometown. Several obvious disadvantages are the fact that many people will know your past, your secrets, your weaknesses. It might be hard to be taken seriously, or with any sort of credibility, if people know all that about it. When I spent a year in Ireland learning so much from God and realizing things that need to change in our world, I wanted to tell as many people as I could. I wanted to stay in Belfast and be a part of what God was doing there. But what God told me was to apply what I learned to my hometown. Go minister in Dallas. So thought a job/career in full time ministry was ahead of me. Well no jobs came up in that field. It's discouraging to realize I'm in a cubicle, not always feeling as though I'm making a big difference. But this is the challenge -- can I still take a stand and teach and preach to those who don't want to have their nice lives disrupted by new, seemingly "radical" ideas by their friend's daughter or their best friend's sister or their neighbor? It's so hard, and these verses comfort me knowing that Christ found His ministry on earth and endured the same.

Secondly, these verses make me wonder if I have been a hindrance to someones ministry here? Has someone ever done or said what I knew to be right and true but because it made me feel convicted or bad about my own actions, I chose to mock them instead of thank them for their insight? I'm humbled to admit that I have. I've become the stubborn voice of unbelief in the ministry of truth from a "neighbor," someone I should stand by and trust more than others. This is where hypocrisy creeps into our lives, and cynicism. It's an ugly thing. I don't want to be a part of it.

So I think I need to pray for more boldness and endurance to work towards the finish line of my current placement in Dallas. It could be another year, or forever, but I won't let the excuse of the opposition of those familiar faces to become my reason to give up and blend in. Also, I'll be work on becoming the friend/neighbor who is excited to hear about what God is teaching my friends. Even if I disagree or feel shamed by the words they may speak, I'll realize that sometimes God tells me the difficult things from the last person on earth you want to hear it from. We're all in this as a family and as a Body. Let's not get in each other's way and thus delay the ministry of God in our hometown.