BSFL Sunday School Commentary for the week of October 11, 2009

The Hero Doing Battle          Mark 12

I love the movie "Wyatt Earp" starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, and Gene Hackman. Of course, I just love westerns, but this is one of my all-time favorites. Costner plays Wyatt Earp, who is portrayed as a man standing for the law, and protecting his family. He does battle with numerous villains and stays true to a concept introduced to him by his father early in the movie: "No one counts as much as family; the rest are just strangers".  

As believers, we fight a battle between right and wrong every day. When we are serious about living out our faith, we will often find ourselves in a face-off with the world. As believers, we do not need to be torn between two allegiances. While we are to respect our government (vote, pay taxes, support the political process), we are to give ultimate allegiance only to God in order to live a victorious Christian life. Our main priorities are to be loving and serving Jesus; everything else is secondary. Only then will we present a genuine model of grace and truth to the world that will accurately point them to Christ.

Allegiances to lesser things and prioritizing according to the fickle whims of the culture will lead us away from God best for us. Christians struggle daily with issues like honesty in our financial dealings (taxes), modesty in how we dress our bodies, giving to the church, how we use our 'free time', who to vote for, to drink alcohol or not to drink alcohol, and how often we should attend church, just to name a few.

Is has been wisely noted that in order to determine what is most important in our lives, one only need look in two places: our date book and our checkbook. How we use our time and our treasure spills the beans as to where our allegiance and priorities lie.

Through some passages in Mark 12 Jesus answers questions regarding allegiances and priorities that were posed by His harshest critics. They sought to trap Him in words, to get Him into trouble. But Jesus answers them wisely, and in His answers are the most fundamental guidelines for putting God first in our lives.

Read the questions and Jesus' responses in Mark 12:13-17; 28-31; 38-40. This commentary is short, because Jesus' words really need no explanation. After reading the passages above, answer the following questions:

• What things are competing for my allegiance?
• What is the result of divided allegiance?
• How is choosing anything but obedience to God settling for second-best?
• What do my date book and my checkbook reveal about my priorities?
• What needs to be changed?
• How do you battle hypocrisy in your own life?