Mark 16:17-18 — the signs follow believers as a community/historically, not as individual mandates for every Christian

The five signs: casting out demons, speaking in tongues, taking up serpents, drinking poison without harm, laying hands on the sick. Mike argues these are communal/historical signs following the believing church across history — not personal prescriptions every individual Christian must perform. Proof: no one actually drinks poison as a faith test. Paul's snake bite in Acts 28 fulfills the serpent sign circumstantially (not intentionally). Healings happen but not universally. The signs are markers of genuine Christianity's presence in the world, not spiritual checklists. He also notes the textual debate about whether Mark 16:9-20 is original.