The goal of following Christ is not about doing the kinds of things Jesus did. Not alone. If we focus on what needs to be done, we end up in the trap of the Pharisees. It’s all about actions.

The goal of the Kingdom is to become the kind of person from which the deed of the Kingdom naturally flow. This is crucial in discipleship. It is why spiritual formation is so vitally important.

Too often we make it about conforming to some action. We need to see what Jesus is saying to us in the Sermon on the Mount. It’s about being the Kingdom person. It’s not about worrying about producing apples. It’s being the apple tree.

Sometimes we’re so caught up in the outward, how to “look Christian,” we end up taping apples on an orange tree. Then, we call it an apple tree. The Kingdom of God is about taking on the DNA of the Kingdom. THEN life flows.

It’s what Jesus takes us to in Matthew 5. If there is an irritation with someone, the old solution was just not murder that person. Under Kingdom DNA, it is about an intense desire to HELP that person. You don’t cultivate contempt and anger.

If there was an issue of inappropriate sexual attraction, the old law was don’t commit adultery. Under the Kingdom DNA it is making sure you don’t cultivate lust.

The INWARD is the focus. It’s not about hanging on for dear life and hoping we don’t goof things up. It is about changing the DNA so we are pouring out fruit of LIFE and not just avoiding works of death.