Every once in a while you hear about someone on the news who gets caught streaking. What a weird thing to do when bored. What is this, amateur hour? I prefer playing video games or watching a movie. News flash: streaking is biblical. There is a story at the end of the Gospel of Mark about a streaker. No information is given about him except that he accidentally went streaking one night. Some think that the streaker is Mark himself. None of the other Gospels tell this story, perhaps because they were embarrassed for Mark.
This story is told on the night of Jesus' betrayal and arrest. Jesus is taken into custody by a mob and his disciples scatter. This scantily clad bro happened to be with Jesus in the crew when this happens: "A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind" (Mark 14:51-52).
That's it. The streaker boy is never mentioned again in the entire Bible. Imagine going down in history as being the dude who went streaking while Jesus was getting arrested. I bet he didn't stop there, I bet he did a lap around the Temple just to be the talk of the town. The disciples probably gave him a hard time for years about this.
Despite its randomness, I think there is a tasty nugget of spiritual truth embedded in this story. I hope you thought that it was strange that this dude was wearing nothing bet a bed sheet while hanging out with his crew late at night. In Jesus' day, after someone was baptized, they received a white sheet to cover themselves. It represented clothing themselves with a new life in Christ. Most likely, this bro was a new follower of Jesus and was just baptized.
Unfortunately, when the going got tough, he left his newly found faith behind and ran away naked. I'm glad that Mark told this embarrassing story (possibly about himself) because we do the same thing. It is easy to follow Jesus when all is well. It is easy to leave our faith and run off naked when we face temptation. It is easy to leave our faith in the dust and run off naked when we should make the unpopular decision even though it is the correct one. It is easy to leave our faith behind and run off naked when the stress of life bog us down. I'm glad that Mark told us this embarrassing story. It is better to be clothed with Jesus during a tough time then take the easy way out and eventually get caught naked. When the going gets tough, don't be a streaker.
Thomas this is really great stuff. I love how you broke down an obscure story and retold it with today's application! Really excited about your role on our team and your work with the next generation of Christ Followers. It amazes me that you applied the fact that we "run from our new clothing and life in Christ". this is so applicable to a new follower who might easily get tempted to fall into their old ways. Thanks for the post and your wisdom today!
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