Disciple or Admirer

Studying: Mark 6-7
Thoughts: Good

"And his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it." - Mark 7:35-36

It's a mystery that sometimes Jesus told those whom he healed to go and tell others, and sometimes he told them to keep silent. The reasons for this are not always obvious from scripture, and I've heard numerous commentators try to give various explanations. But all pragmatism aside, there's one thing that I cannot get past, that disobedience to Christ, no matter how well-intentioned, is still disobedience.

I don't want to read too much into this passage here. The man who was deaf and dumb was indeed healed by Christ, but the fact remains that Jesus kept ordering him not to tell anyone what he had done, but he just kept doing it. Hendriksen takes a pretty strong view of the man when he says,

"...it takes more than admiration and enthusiasm to be a true follower of Christ. Many Christ-admirers are lost. The true mark of discipleship is revealed in John 15:14, 'You are my friends if you do what I bid you.' The people were doing just the opposite."

Such an illustration is cause for self-examination. Am I a Christ-follower or simply a Christ-admirer?