Our series in the Gospel of Mark continues this Sunday with Jesus appointing the twelve apostles. Crowds have begun to follow Jesus, so he appoints leaders. To us, it might just seem like a list of names, but it is fascinating to see the variety of backgrounds. While "diversity" has become a buzzword in our day, it was not a cultural value in Jesus' time. It's been said that there is no such thing as "diversity for diversity's sake." In other words, there always has to be an underlying reason to bring differing people together. When you consider how our society celebrates diversity yet has never seemed more polarized, it highlights that there are currently a lot of competing motivations for diversity. Ironically, it is the underlying motive that often divides. So what was Jesus' motive? And how does that change our approach today? Let's talk about the "New Community" that Jesus is building (Mark 3:6-19).
