Getting Away from the Crowd to Experience Christ

Mark 7 to 8 unveils some very basic principles of pursuing a genuine spiritual life in Christ. They all involve a common theme—getting away from our daily routine to experience the reality of Christ. Are you ready? In Part 1 we saw Jesus getting us away from traditions, and in Part 2 we saw the Lord expose our tribalism, both of which frustrate the genuine experience of God. Now in Part 3, we see how important it is to get away from the crowd.

In this portion, the Lord Jesus was brought a deaf mute. Notice what the Lord did:

”He took him aside from the crowd, privately, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat, and touched his tongue.” (Mark 7:33)

Jesus took him away from the crowd. There is always a crowd around Jesus. We call this Christianity. While it can be a great thing to gather with hundred and even thousands of believers at a church service, it is quite possible to go through the motions without intimately touching Jesus, or even have a spiritual relationship with other believers. We all need daily, intimate, personal, away from the crowd contact with Jesus.

There are many ways to get away from the crowd to touch Christ. It could be a private time with the Lord every morning. It also can be facilitated by an intimate home-group gathering with other believers. The early church met from “house to house” (Acts 2:46), not from “church building to church building.” This was not just an accident of history. God’s design is that the majority of our church life be composed of intimate small gatherings. Yes, the larger “church” experience can be useful and edifying, but you may still be deaf, and not able to speak spiritually speaking if most of your experience of church is with a big Sunday-morning service. Consider one of the few portions of the word which teach us how to have church:

“What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification” (1 Cor 14:26).

In a small gathering, everyone can speak: by praise, prayer, teaching, or simply sharing an experience of Christ. In a typical big Sunday service, the preacher speaks and prays, the choir sings, and most are just watching. This is a recipe for staying deaf and mute. The "mega church" movement has produced a flock of church goers who are passive bystanders.

Allow Jesus to touch you today. Gather with believers in a home and open up your heart to the Lord and to others. Exercise your spirit to speak for the Lord. Your experience of Christ will be enlarged!

“Looking up to heaven, he sighed, and said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was released, and he spoke clearly. He commanded them that they should tell no one, but the more he commanded them, so much the more widely they proclaimed it. They were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He makes even the deaf hear, and the mute speak!”” (Mark 7:34-37)