What would it profit a person…?

In the gospel of Mark 8:36 (it is also recorded in Matthew and Luke) it says, “What would it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their soul?”

Jesus speaks these words in a pericope dealing with being faithful to him and his words (teachings) and not denying him or his words in the face of confrontation. Jesus is informing his disciples of his confrontation and crucifixion by the Imperial powers of Rome and the domination system, and he is indicating that following him means they, too, will have to confront those same Imperial powers.

Jesus thus in this verse is warning against the lure of profit that will be dangled before them to deny him and his way. There is no profit in denying him because one’s very soul is on the line. The domination system according to Jesus will use any means to trick, lure and seduce people to its side and to turn away from that which is welcoming, compassionate and loving. 

The domination system seeks to dominate people in order to gain power, profit, position and prestige. It is a system that will take land and resources from indigenous people, reduce them to servants and slaves by military might and then falsely claim that God told them to do it. It is a system that will impose its own beliefs on other people, be those beliefs religious or political. It is a system that will deny the human right of women to make medical choices about their own bodies and then falsely claim that God told them that this is right. 

It is a system that will absolve wealthy men of abhorrent behavior because they serve its purpose of domination while seeking to denigrate those who are the have-nots who challenge hypocrisy. The domination system will inculcate false narratives about its origins and existence while at the same time burning and banning books that tell the truth about how it gained its position and wealth. 

The domination system will create a hateful narrative about certain people entering its borders while welcoming others who freely enter at other borders and who are of a different hue in order to create a climate of fear and competition between the working class. The domination system uses violence or the threat of violence to prevent the masses of people from seeking justice in a society of gross inequity.

The domination system requires that one forfeit their soul to be aligned with it.

Jesus is giving his disciples a heads-up about his confrontation with the domination system of Imperial power and showing them that they, too, will face the same confrontation following him and his teachings (words). Therefore, to prepare them for how the domination system will try to lure them to ignore his words with the seduction of financial profit, he says, “what would it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their soul?”

The way of Jesus is not a way of vengeance. The way of Jesus is not a way of violence. The way of Jesus is not to invade land that was already occupied by other people and then systematically commit apartheid on those people. The way of Jesus is not a way of repetitive lying to create fear in people. The way of Jesus is not a way of profit over people. The way of Jesus is not blaming immigrants as a means to gain votes or popularity. The way of Jesus is not to force everybody to a certain bastardized version of Christianity. “What would it profit a person to gain the whole world and lose their very soul?”

I saw a social media meme that said, “Beware of any Christian movement that acts as though the world is full of enemies to be destroyed rather than full of neighbors to be loved. Beware of any Christian movement that demands the government be an instrument of God’s wrath but never a source of God’s mercy, generosity, or compassion.”  

Jesus confronted imperial powers with another way that created community rather than competition and warned those who claimed to follow him “What would it profit a person to gain the whole world but lose their soul?”

Think about it and be well, be authentic and be encouraged. Uhuru Sassa!

Rev. Dr. John E. Jackson, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ-Gary, 1276 W. 20th Ave. in Gary. “We are not just another church but we are a culturally conscious, Christ-centered church, committed to the community; we are unashamedly Black and unapologetically Christian.” Contact the church by email at [email protected] or by phone at 219-944-0500.