A story from Mark's gospel about working for Jesus
(From Chapter 9, verses 38 to 50)
One day, a long time ago, when Jesus was still living on the earth, two friends were walking together in a village. These two men loved Jesus very much and they were trying to live the way he did – loving God and loving people – and to teach others about doing that, too. Suddenly one of them grabbed the other and said, "Look over there!"
They saw a man they did not recognize praying with someone who was crying and very upset. The stranger had his hands on the sad person's shoulders and was saying, "In the name of Jesus, I pray that you will be free from what troubles you! In the name of Jesus, I pray that you will feel healed, and not broken down. In the name of Jesus, I pray that you will feel hopeful again and not discouraged."
Jesus' two friends looked at each other and frowned.
"I don't know that man, do you?" one asked the other.
"No, I've never seen that guy before. He shouldn't be using Jesus' name like that. He doesn't belong to Jesus' group like we do. We've got to do something!"
Jesus' two friends ran over to the praying man. "Stop!" they said. "We belong to Jesus' group of friends, and you don't. You can't use Jesus' name. Stop doing that right now!"
But the stranger kept right on praying for the man who was so upset.
So the two friends went to find Jesus. "Jesus," they told him. "Someone in the village is using your name, but he's not a member of our group. Make him stop now!"
Jesus listened carefully to them. He could tell that they were very upset, too. When they were finished talking, he surprised them both with what he said.
"No," Jesus said. "I'm not going to make him stop. Even if he doesn't follow you and I around everyday and do things exactly the way we do them, he is still doing God's work, too."
"But you have to make him do things the right way," one of them said. "You have to make him do things our way."
"No," said Jesus again. "He is doing God's work, too, just the way he is. That's all right. All people who do what I teach are doing God's work."
"All people?" asked Jesus' friends.
"Yes," said Jesus. "Just the way they are. All people. Here's my advice to you: Season your friendship with care for one another, just like you would put salt on a meal to make it taste better. Have the salt of friendship among yourselves, and live in peace with one another."
The way we work for Jesus is to help those in need. What are some ways that you can help others and work for Jesus?