Mark 9:38
And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.
John reported to Jesus that he and his fellow disciples had stopped a man who was driving out demons in Jesus' name, for the reason that the man did not follow along with them. James was with John at the time in the course of their early evangelistic labors, the man was not an acknowledged follower of Christ, and they forbade him because he did not at once join their company.
The disciples supposed they were right and were defending the honor of Jesus, yet their action rested on mistaken judgment and a narrow, exclusive, possessive spirit. Their checking of the worker came not from true zeal for Christ but from jealousy for their own standing and desire for self-preferment, marked by egotism, bigotry, and contempt. Their objection reflected self-sufficiency, acting as if they could decide who belonged in their company and should be allowed to work, wanting to choose who would be added to their number and to stand as leaders.
John brought the matter to Jesus with sincere, childlike willingness, and James and John and the others saw their error, acknowledged it, and accepted His reproof. Jesus reproved and rebuked that spirit and taught that such a worker must not be forbidden. No one who does a miracle in His name will lightly speak evil of Him, so doing such a miracle is inconsistent with speaking against Him. Whoever is not against Christ is on His side and for the disciples. Those who are not against His followers are on their side, so no one who shows himself in any way friendly to Christ is to be repulsed.
The verse warns against rejecting or discouraging someone who serves God simply because he does not conform to personal ideas, follow one's plans, or belong to one's group or circle. Disciples must not presume to judge motives they cannot read, but must manifest the same broad, far-reaching sympathy seen in their Master toward those whom God makes willing channels of His love. People outside one's faith may serve God according to the light they have and may be more favored by God than those with greater light who fail to live by it, so they should be treated with tenderness and forbearance because their souls are precious to God. Those who do a work for God without formal education or ordination must not be forbidden, for as Christ took fishermen-disciples to Himself without putting them in a school, so today men will go straight from the churches to hunt and fish for souls in the harvest field even if hands of ordination have never been laid on them.