Category Archives: Discipleship/Spiritual Formation

We Don’t Have It All Figured Out

We should really come to the realization that Christians just don’t have it all figured out.

What we DO know is the One who HAS figured it all out. He may tell us a few things along the way. He may not reveal everything. The thing is this: we follow Christ. And we do it as best we can. Warts and all.

Discipleship and evangelism are all part of the messy process. It’s not some nice and neat package that says, “This is where you make your decision and this is where you begin to work in discipleship.”

It’s a huge mess and we should stop trying to figure out when one stops and another begins. It’s a great journey. Let’s just do it together.

I don’t have all the answers. But I am attached to the Master Teacher. I am his apprentice. I stay with him. I listen to him. I follow his instructions. And my walk gets a bit steadier every day.

As long as I am walking with Christ and walking with others, those I walk with are also following Christ. It just may be at a different distance.

It’s a lifelong process. I don’t have it all figured out. Join me in this journey.

What Holds You Back?

Two books I’ve read lately are stirring me from my complacency.

Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream

Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible

The question is this: “What holds me back?”

In Mark 10 the wealthy man comes to Jesus to ask what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus ticks off some of the commandments. This is good for this man, and Jesus knows it. We’re good at lists. We’re good at ticking off some of the easy doctrines and the easy do’s and don’ts.

But Jesus goes to his heart:

 21 Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” 22 But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions. (Mark 10:21-22, CEB)

Jesus loved him. Because of that love he wanted what was best for this man.

Jesus looks at me and loves me. (Actually, he told me I’m his favorite.) ;)

But Jesus does look at me and love me. He wants his best for me. And that means he can see what is getting in the way.

For the wealthy man, it was his possessions. For others, there will be different things that Jesus will lovingly say to us, “Look, if you want to really follow, this is the baggage to leave behind…”

What holds you back?

How to Be Labeled Insane

   We carry labels in our lives. We like to slap labels on others.

Jesus had some labels of his own. They weren’t ones he necessarily put on voluntarily.

“Insane” was one of those labels.

20 Jesus entered a house. A crowd gathered again so that it was impossible for him and his followers even to eat. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they came to take control of him. They were saying, “He’s out of his mind!” (Mark 3:20-21, CEB)

When your own family is labeling you insane, it might be time for a vacation.

22 The legal experts came down from Jerusalem. Over and over they charged, “He’s possessed by Beelzebul. He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.”

When religious experts start calling you demon-possessed… you can probably ignore it. (The voices in your head may be normal after all!)

Two labels: Insane. Demon-possessed.

And Jesus was guilty of what? Doing the will of his father.

Jesus did not hide the cost of apprenticeship. And in this season of Lent, it is good to reflect on the cost of following Jesus.

Please remember: There is a cost TO following Jesus. There is also a cost to NOT follow Jesus. Those things need to be weighed before you really apprentice yourself to him.

But in Lent it is good to remember the cost.

49 “I came to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish that it was already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism I must experience. How I am distressed until it’s completed! 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, I have come instead to bring division. 52 From now on, a household of five will be divided—three against two and two against three. 53 Father will square off against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; and mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53, CEB)

It may mean you get an extra label or two from some who don’t understand.

Disciples vs. Followers

13 Jesus went out beside the lake again. The whole crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he continued along, he saw Levi, Alphaeus’ son, sitting at a kiosk for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Levi got up and followed him. (Mark 2:13-14, CEB)

My wife takes Tai Chi classes. For the past two years we have gone to a Chinese New Year celebration where two masters of Tai Chi hold demonstrations with their classes on the different forms of Tai Chi. This year one of the teachers was honored for 30 years of learning and teaching these methods. I am not going to pretend to understand any of the forms, but what I did find interesting was that longevity was rewarded.

My wife bought a book that gives some of the lessons from one of the older masters of a certain form of Tai Chi. She was reading that this particular master featured in the book would claim to have many followers, but only two disciples. In other words, he taught hundreds of people over his many years in the art, but only two truly learned from him.

There were many that followed Jesus, but he called a few.

We can follow Jesus from afar. We can admire what he does. We can watch his actions. It is another thing entirely to drop our other priorities and sit at his feet to learn from him. When we are his disciples, there will be times when he will look to us and say, “Okay, you go do what I just did.”

I notice Jesus said that to his disciples, not his followers.

I’d love your thoughts. Don’t forget, if you comment on my blogposts during Lent you will be in the running for a new Common English Bible translation!

The Advantage of Adversity

The old saying goes, “Live and learn.”

I have found that isn’t necessarily true. There was a friend in college who just didn’t really understand the purpose of the speed limit. Not understanding the speed limit in Wisconsin in those days was costly. He was winging his way through Wisconsin one year with some friends he was dropping off in Chicago when the Wisconsin State Police pulled him over to educate him on the purpose of the speed limit.

The rule in Wisconsin was you pay the fine right then or you go to jail… right then. Six college students in the van, so of course they didn’t have enough money to pay the fine between them. All six were sitting in the county jail because the van couldn’t go anywhere. One of the students called his dad to get the money. The dad agreed to wire the money and said to his son (about our mutual friend), “Well, live and learn.”

To which the student said (about our mutual friend), “Well, he’s living, but I don’t think he’s learning.”

So, “live and learn” is not a hard and fast rule. However, it is a good general rule. Or, it should be. Life teaches us lessons. It can’t all be good. We want it to be all good, but it’s not always the case. The key to is to learn in any situation.

We would prefer, in our culture, not to have the adversity. We would like to drug our way out of any painful scenario. We would, quite frankly, like to pray our way out of any painful scenario. (Having battled the flu the last few days, I can attest to this statement.)

But tests come. Hard times happen.

Do we gripe? Do we moan, “Why me?”

Do we accept it as fate?

Do we learn?

When it comes to our faith, we need testing. One of the key teachings I try to bring to my church on a consistent basis is the need to understand what it is to live our faith in a world where WE are the minority. In America we have been blessed to be the majority. But it has made us lazy. We don’t know tested faith very well. And when tests come, it causes a lot of people to fold up and go home quickly.

We need a faith than endures. That faith comes through testing. It’s not comfortable. It’s not all thrills. It’s just life.

2 My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. 3 After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4, CEB)

Take the advantage of adversity and use it to grow!

 

NOTE: I am continuing on the Common English Bible Blog Tour. I have been given permission to give copies away of the CEB. It will be a soft cover standard CEB (meaning no Apocrypha). If you would like a chance to win, simply COMMENT on my blog posts at some time. If I get enough comments, I will pick a winner every week through January. (Link this in your Facebook or on your blog to get more people active, so I can have some numbers to choose from!)

Decisions or Disciples

What did Jesus call us to? Get people to a decision… or call on us to follow him?

Scot McKnight is highlighting this powerfully in his book, The King Jesus Gospel, but Dallas Willard was doing so before. And for some reason… we’re still not paying attention.

I was in a very uncomfortable conversation yesterday because it revolved around the issue of just getting people to a decision and then let whatever happen after that.

This post helps explain my thoughts much better. Then, this thought:

The soterian gospel is aimed at a decision; the missional approach at a radical change in life. One creates the saved, the other creates kingdom people. The crying need today is an evangelism strategy that focuses on the latter and says good-bye to the former.

Let HIS Kingdom come… and let’s quit our counting game.

 

Salt and Subversiveness

The call of Jesus is to be the salt of the earth. Bonhoeffer has some insightful thoughts on salt in Discipleship. They are some good reminders for us.

Too often, as conservative evangelicals (my “tribe”, so to speak), the focus has been on heaven. Basically it’s an attitude of “Just get me out of here!”

Salt penetrates the earth. We don’t lose sight of heaven. But we have a mission on earth. Jesus calls his disciples to be salt. It is not Jesus himself, but the presence of his disciples. We are to live transformed lives in this world.

The community of disciples must remain what Christ’s call made them. That will be their true efficacy on earth and their preserving strength.

The call is be salt. You can’t “do” salt. You have the Kingdom DNA and live it out. As we live out the power of the Kingdom of God in this world, the world is preserved. The world will have a preservation only the Body of Christ can bring it.

This is also an area of great debate. Do we make Christian governments? Do we make secular governments behave in some Christian way? (This is something both “liberal” and “conservative” Christians try in our country.)

Here is what is necessary to remember: The Kingdom of God is powerful no matter what the government. Jesus lived under the oppression of the Roman Empire. Our Chinese brothers and sister today live under a totalitarian regime. Salt is salt. It is not dependent on what kind of government on this earth rules over it. But when salt IS salt, no form of government can stop it.

I think when we allow our views of what government should do in some “Christian” way (liberal or conservative), we are asking the government to be something it is not. And as a result, we, as the Body of Christ, as backing away from being what we are called to BE: Salt.

Joseph, Esther, Daniel…. Paul… serve as examples of salt in places that didn’t act very God-like. They serve as incredible examples of being the preserving agent to a world that so desperately needs help.

BE salt.

Following Jesus… Let the Negotiations Begin!

In Discipleship by Bonhoeffer, the focus is on obedience. Jesus calls… respond.

We hear the call of Jesus and we want him to get in touch with our legal department.

One classic parable on the call to obedience and the human desire to negotiate is the parable of the rich young ruler. He wants to follow Jesus, but not exactly follow Jesus.

(It reminds me of a great comic strip once where a lady was saying, “Well, I haven’t actually died to sin, but I did feel faint once.”)

Jesus lets the man know keeping the commandments, obedience, was essential. The guy is feeling pretty good, because he’s done what he can to follow the Law. But, then, the lawyer in him rose up.

“Which ones?” (Lord, could you specifically delineate in this addendum to the contract precisely which ones will help keep me on the road to heaven? Then, could you initial here… here… and here…)

Bonhoeffer takes off on the question of “Which ones?”

Satan himself is hiding in that question. This was the only possible way out for someone who felt himself trapped. Of course the young man knew the commandments, but who should know which commandment is meant just for him, just for right then, out of the full number of commandments?

Here is our problem: We don’t want to follow Jesus. Not really. We want to follow our image of Jesus.

Following Jesus is just about, well, following him. He commands or directs, we get after it. We don’t follow when we’re good and ready.

We allow negotiations to begin and then double-minded thinking takes over. That is not the place of discipleship.

 

Christless Christianity — Bonhoeffer

Christianity isn’t about adhering to a set of doctrinal beliefs as much as it is simply following Christ.

“Discipleship is commitment to Christ, because Christ exists, he must be followed.”

Bonhoeffer saw a Christless Christianity in his day. He came to recognize that following Christ was the very root of true Christianity

“…a Christianity without discipleship is always a Christianity without Jesus Christ.”

To say one is a Christian without actually following Christ in obedience is simply one choosing their own path. There can’t be a gap between Jesus and obedience. If he bids you come, the response is to come!

Bonhoeffer lays out the call to discipleship. First is the response. The call comes from Christ and you go. When you step toward Christ you create a separation between Christ and your former existence. You are truly stepping into a new situation.

The second step is to realize this is a situation where faith isn’t made by human hands. Discipleship is not a human offer. Then, the disciple understands the call alone creates the situation. You didn’t do this on your own. Christ called you. Faith alone created the situation. Faith alone enabled a response.

But there must be a response. When Jesus called his disciples, they responded. They didn’t always know what they were getting into, but they responded. The offer came, their hearts knew it was something they needed, faith arose and they followed.

Only the obedient believe. A concrete commandment has to be obeyed, in order to come to believe. A first step of obedience has to be taken, so that faith does not become pious self-deception, cheap grace. The first step is crucial. It is qualitatively different from all others that follow.

We need that urgency to obey Christ again. Create that first step separation that makes all the difference. It is Peter leaving his nets, Matthew closing up the tax booth, or Saul going into Damascus and waiting. That first step of obedience opens up the door for new direction.