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APPRENTICING OUR LIVES TO JESUS
D GROUPS | Apprenticing Our Lives to Jesus © Copyright 2019 Rodney J. Mills | Northway Church
2
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Master Schedule Apprenticing our Lives to Christ The Disciple’s Freedom Formula
The Kingdom: The Workplace of Apprenticeship The Disciple’s Priority
(Disciple’s Priority Card) Kingdom Character and Conduct in a Nutshell
The Role of the Holy Spirit Review 1
Fish Like Jesus (Lead Like Jesus) Loving Like Jesus
Full Love Like Jesus Circles Chart Compassion
Forbearance & Forgiveness Abiding: Practicing the Presence of Jesus
Review 2 Live Like Jesus | A Rule of Life
Spiritual Disciplines - The Fundamentals Spiritual Disciplines for a Pace of Peace
The Unencumbered Life The Elusiveness of Enough
The Least of These The Fellowship of One Anothering
Your Rule of Life Workshop Jesus Way Spiritual Disciplines Chart
Lead Like Jesus: Join The Sacred Order of the Towel Stay Salty and Shiny, My Friends.
Sharing the Kingdom Gospel Diagram for Sharing the Kingdom Gospel
Join the (Slow) Revolution! Final Review
Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Lesson 3 Lesson 4
Lesson 5 Lesson 6
Lesson 7 Lesson 8
Lesson 9 Lesson 10 Lesson 11
Lesson 12A Lesson 13 Lesson 14 Lesson 15 Lesson 16 Lesson 17 Lesson 18 Lesson 12B
Lesson 19 Lesson 20 Lesson 21
Lesson 22
4 7
15 21
29 36 37 45 54 55 63 71 73 81 91
98 99 111
123 137 145 155 163 173 175 177 185 191 197 199
208
4
D G
roup
Mas
ter S
ched
ule
THE
JESU
S W
AYW
KM
EM. V
ERSE
(S)
THEM
ERE
AD
ING
PLA
NSP
IRIT
UA
L D
ISCI
PLIN
E
PHA
SE 1:
Rig
ht R
elat
ions
hip
Wel
com
e an
d O
rien
tatio
n1
Less
on 1:
App
rent
ices
hip
2N
ON
EM
a!he
w 5
-7D
ivin
e D
ialo
gue
ALE
RT Jo
urna
l Pra
ctic
e3
Luke
9:2
3-24
Take
up
your
cro
ss -
Follo
wM
ark
1-4
4Lu
ke 9
:23-
24M
ark
5-8
5M
a!he
w 7
:24-
25W
ise
Man
On
The
Rock
Mar
k 9-
12
Less
on 2
: Fre
edom
For
mul
a6
John
8:3
1-32
Free
dom
For
mul
aM
ark
13-1
6
Less
on 3
: The
Kin
gdom
7M
ark
1:15
Repe
nt &
Bel
ieve
- K
ingd
omCo
loss
ians
1-4
Less
on 4
: Dis
cipl
e’s P
rior
ity8
Ma!
hew
6:3
3D
isci
ple’s
Prio
rity
John
1-4
Less
on 5
: Kin
gdom
Cha
ract
er9
Rom
ans 1
4:17
Righ
teou
snes
s, pe
ace,
& jo
y...
John
5-8
10Ja
mes
3:17
-18
Frui
t of r
ight
eous
ness
Jo
hn 9
-12
Less
on 6
: The
Hol
y Sp
irit
11Jo
hn 14
:25-
26Th
e St
reng
then
erJo
hn 13
-15
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 1-
1112
REVI
EWRE
VIEW
John
16-1
7
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
13Jo
hn 18
-21
Less
on 7
: Fis
h Li
ke Je
sus (
LEA
D li
ke Je
sus)
14M
a!he
w 4
:19-2
0Fi
sher
s of M
enM
a!he
w 1-
4D
isco
ver P
erso
n(s)
of
Peac
e
PHA
SE 2
: Lov
e Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t Lov
ing)
Less
on 8
: Lov
ing
Like
Jesu
s15
Mar
k 12
:29-
31G
reat
est C
omm
andm
ents
Jam
es 1-
2
16Jo
hn 13
:34-
35N
ew C
omm
andm
ent
Jam
es 3
-5
Less
on 9
: Com
pass
ion
17Lu
ke 10
:36-
37W
hich
of t
hese
thre
e w
as th
e ne
ighb
or?
1 Joh
n 1-
3H
ospi
talit
y Ev
ange
lism
181 J
ohn
4:9-
12Lo
ve is
mad
e co
mpl
ete.
1 J
ohn
4-5
Less
on 10
: For
give
ness
and
For
bear
ance
19Lu
ke 6
:27-
28Lo
ve y
our e
nem
ies
1 Pet
er 1-
3
201 C
or. 1
3:4-
7Th
e LO
VE
Chap
ter
1 Pet
er 4
-5
Less
on 11
: Abi
ding
: Pra
ctic
ing
the
Pres
ence
of G
od21
John
15:5
, 7, 1
0A
bidi
ng -
vine
& b
ranc
hes
Gal
atia
ns 1-
3M
omen
tary
Pra
yers
22G
alat
ians
5:2
2-23
Frui
t of t
he S
pirit
Gal
atia
ns 4
-6
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 14
-23
23RE
VIEW
REVI
EW1 T
imot
hy 1-
3
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
241 T
imot
hy 4
-6
PHA
SE 3
: Liv
e Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t Cha
ract
er)
Less
on 12
A: A
Rul
e of
Life
251 T
imot
hy 4
:7-8
Trai
n yo
urse
lf in
god
lines
sLu
ke 1-
4Sp
iritu
al In
vent
ory
Less
on 13
: Spi
ritu
al D
isci
plin
es: T
he
Fund
amen
tals
26M
a!he
w 6
:9-1
3M
odel
Pra
yer
Luke
5-8
Med
itatio
n/EX
AM
EN/
Gra
titud
e
Less
on 14
: Dis
cipl
ines
for a
Pac
e of
Pea
ce27
Ma!
hew
11:2
8-30
Easy
Yok
eLu
ke 9
-12
Slow
ing
Prac
tices
28Ps
alm
46:
10Be
Stil
lLu
ke 13
-16
Fast
ing
& S
abba
th
Less
on 15
: The
Une
ncum
bere
d Li
fe29
Heb
rew
s 12:
1-2
Lay
Asi
de E
very
Wei
ght
Luke
17-2
0Fr
ugal
ity (s
pend
ing
free
ze)
Less
on 16
: The
Elu
sive
ness
of E
noug
h30
Heb
rew
s 13:
5Be
con
tent
with
wha
t you
ha
veLu
ke 2
1-24
Less
on 17
: The
Lea
st o
f The
se31
Ma!
hew
6:2
4Ca
n’t s
erve
2 m
aste
rsEp
hesi
ans 1
-3
32M
a!he
w 2
5:40
Leas
t of t
hese
Ephe
sian
s 4-6
Sacr
ifici
al S
ervi
ng
Less
on 18
: The
Fel
low
ship
of O
ne
Ano
ther
ing
33H
ebre
ws 1
0:24
-25
Prov
oke
one
anot
her t
o lo
ve,
gath
er to
geth
erA
cts 1
-4
Less
on 12
B: W
ORK
SHO
P: Y
our R
ule
of
Life
34N
ON
ERu
le o
f Life
Wor
ksho
pRo
man
s 4, 6
, 8, 1
2
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
35SO
LITU
DE
RETR
EAT
Ma!
hew
5-7
Solit
ude
and
Sile
nce
PHA
SE 4
: Lea
d Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t-Se
!in
g A
ctiv
ity) S
erve
| Sa
lt | S
hare
Less
on 19
: The
Sac
red
Ord
er o
f the
Tow
el36
Mar
k 10
:43-
45Se
rvan
t Lea
ders
hip
John
13-1
6
Less
on 2
0: S
tay
Salty
and
Shi
ney
37Ph
ilipp
ians
2:5
-8A
dopt
the
sam
e m
inds
et a
s Ch
rist
Phili
ppia
ns 1-
4Lo
ve Y
our N
eigh
borh
ood
Less
on 2
1: Sh
arin
g th
e K
ingd
om G
ospe
l38
Phili
ppia
ns 2
:9-1
1M
a!he
w 8
-11
39N
ON
EPr
actic
e Sh
arin
g G
ospe
lM
a!he
w 12
-13,
15-1
6
Less
on 2
2: T
he S
low
Rev
olut
ion
40M
a!he
w 2
8:18
-20
Gre
at C
omm
issi
onM
a!he
w 18
, 20,
22-
23
FIN
AL
REVI
EW41
Full
Revi
ewG
roup
Ret
reat
(O
vern
ight
or D
ay T
rip)
Ma!
25-
28
THE
JESU
S W
AY
PHA
SE 1:
Rig
ht R
elat
ions
hip
Wel
com
e an
d O
rien
tatio
n
Less
on 1:
App
rent
ices
hip
ALE
RT Jo
urna
l Pra
ctic
e
Less
on 2
: Fre
edom
For
mul
a
Less
on 3
: The
Kin
gdom
Less
on 4
: Dis
cipl
e’s P
rior
ity
Less
on 5
: Kin
gdom
Cha
ract
er
Less
on 6
: The
Hol
y Sp
irit
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 1-
11
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
Less
on 7
: Fis
h Li
ke Je
sus (
LEA
D li
ke
Jesu
s)
PHA
SE 2
: Lov
e Li
ke Je
sus
Less
on 8
: Lov
ing
Like
Jesu
s
Less
on 9
: Com
pass
ion
Less
on 10
: For
give
ness
and
For
bear
ance
Less
on 11
: Abi
ding
: Pra
ctic
ing
the
Pres
ence
of G
od
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 14
-23
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
PHA
SE 3
: Liv
e Li
ke Je
sus
Less
on 12
A: A
Rul
e of
Life
Less
on 13
: Spi
ritu
al D
isci
plin
es: T
he
Fund
amen
tals
Less
on 14
: Dis
cipl
ines
for a
Pac
e of
Pe
ace
Less
on 15
: The
Une
ncum
bere
d Li
fe
Less
on 16
: The
Elu
sive
ness
of E
noug
h
Less
on 17
: The
Lea
st o
f The
se
Less
on 18
: The
Fel
low
ship
of O
ne
Ano
ther
ing
1
5
D G
roup
Mas
ter S
ched
ule
THE
JESU
S W
AYW
KM
EM. V
ERSE
(S)
THEM
ERE
AD
ING
PLA
NSP
IRIT
UA
L D
ISCI
PLIN
E
PHA
SE 1:
Rig
ht R
elat
ions
hip
Wel
com
e an
d O
rien
tatio
n1
Less
on 1:
App
rent
ices
hip
2N
ON
EM
a!he
w 5
-7D
ivin
e D
ialo
gue
ALE
RT Jo
urna
l Pra
ctic
e3
Luke
9:2
3-24
Take
up
your
cro
ss -
Follo
wM
ark
1-4
4Lu
ke 9
:23-
24M
ark
5-8
5M
a!he
w 7
:24-
25W
ise
Man
On
The
Rock
Mar
k 9-
12
Less
on 2
: Fre
edom
For
mul
a6
John
8:3
1-32
Free
dom
For
mul
aM
ark
13-1
6
Less
on 3
: The
Kin
gdom
7M
ark
1:15
Repe
nt &
Bel
ieve
- K
ingd
omCo
loss
ians
1-4
Less
on 4
: Dis
cipl
e’s P
rior
ity8
Ma!
hew
6:3
3D
isci
ple’s
Prio
rity
John
1-4
Less
on 5
: Kin
gdom
Cha
ract
er9
Rom
ans 1
4:17
Righ
teou
snes
s, pe
ace,
& jo
y...
John
5-8
10Ja
mes
3:17
-18
Frui
t of r
ight
eous
ness
Jo
hn 9
-12
Less
on 6
: The
Hol
y Sp
irit
11Jo
hn 14
:25-
26Th
e St
reng
then
erJo
hn 13
-15
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 1-
1112
REVI
EWRE
VIEW
John
16-1
7
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
13Jo
hn 18
-21
Less
on 7
: Fis
h Li
ke Je
sus (
LEA
D li
ke Je
sus)
14M
a!he
w 4
:19-2
0Fi
sher
s of M
enM
a!he
w 1-
4D
isco
ver P
erso
n(s)
of
Peac
e
PHA
SE 2
: Lov
e Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t Lov
ing)
Less
on 8
: Lov
ing
Like
Jesu
s15
Mar
k 12
:29-
31G
reat
est C
omm
andm
ents
Jam
es 1-
2
16Jo
hn 13
:34-
35N
ew C
omm
andm
ent
Jam
es 3
-5
Less
on 9
: Com
pass
ion
17Lu
ke 10
:36-
37W
hich
of t
hese
thre
e w
as th
e ne
ighb
or?
1 Joh
n 1-
3H
ospi
talit
y Ev
ange
lism
181 J
ohn
4:9-
12Lo
ve is
mad
e co
mpl
ete.
1 J
ohn
4-5
Less
on 10
: For
give
ness
and
For
bear
ance
19Lu
ke 6
:27-
28Lo
ve y
our e
nem
ies
1 Pet
er 1-
3
201 C
or. 1
3:4-
7Th
e LO
VE
Chap
ter
1 Pet
er 4
-5
Less
on 11
: Abi
ding
: Pra
ctic
ing
the
Pres
ence
of G
od21
John
15:5
, 7, 1
0A
bidi
ng -
vine
& b
ranc
hes
Gal
atia
ns 1-
3M
omen
tary
Pra
yers
22G
alat
ians
5:2
2-23
Frui
t of t
he S
pirit
Gal
atia
ns 4
-6
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 14
-23
23RE
VIEW
REVI
EW1 T
imot
hy 1-
3
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
241 T
imot
hy 4
-6
PHA
SE 3
: Liv
e Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t Cha
ract
er)
Less
on 12
A: A
Rul
e of
Life
251 T
imot
hy 4
:7-8
Trai
n yo
urse
lf in
god
lines
sLu
ke 1-
4Sp
iritu
al In
vent
ory
Less
on 13
: Spi
ritu
al D
isci
plin
es: T
he
Fund
amen
tals
26M
a!he
w 6
:9-1
3M
odel
Pra
yer
Luke
5-8
Med
itatio
n/EX
AM
EN/
Gra
titud
e
Less
on 14
: Dis
cipl
ines
for a
Pac
e of
Pea
ce27
Ma!
hew
11:2
8-30
Easy
Yok
eLu
ke 9
-12
Slow
ing
Prac
tices
28Ps
alm
46:
10Be
Stil
lLu
ke 13
-16
Fast
ing
& S
abba
th
Less
on 15
: The
Une
ncum
bere
d Li
fe29
Heb
rew
s 12:
1-2
Lay
Asi
de E
very
Wei
ght
Luke
17-2
0Fr
ugal
ity (s
pend
ing
free
ze)
Less
on 16
: The
Elu
sive
ness
of E
noug
h30
Heb
rew
s 13:
5Be
con
tent
with
wha
t you
ha
veLu
ke 2
1-24
Less
on 17
: The
Lea
st o
f The
se31
Ma!
hew
6:2
4Ca
n’t s
erve
2 m
aste
rsEp
hesi
ans 1
-3
32M
a!he
w 2
5:40
Leas
t of t
hese
Ephe
sian
s 4-6
Sacr
ifici
al S
ervi
ng
Less
on 18
: The
Fel
low
ship
of O
ne
Ano
ther
ing
33H
ebre
ws 1
0:24
-25
Prov
oke
one
anot
her t
o lo
ve,
gath
er to
geth
erA
cts 1
-4
Less
on 12
B: W
ORK
SHO
P: Y
our R
ule
of
Life
34N
ON
ERu
le o
f Life
Wor
ksho
pRo
man
s 4, 6
, 8, 1
2
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
35SO
LITU
DE
RETR
EAT
Ma!
hew
5-7
Solit
ude
and
Sile
nce
PHA
SE 4
: Lea
d Li
ke Je
sus (
Righ
t-Se
!in
g A
ctiv
ity) S
erve
| Sa
lt | S
hare
Less
on 19
: The
Sac
red
Ord
er o
f the
Tow
el36
Mar
k 10
:43-
45Se
rvan
t Lea
ders
hip
John
13-1
6
Less
on 2
0: S
tay
Salty
and
Shi
ney
37Ph
ilipp
ians
2:5
-8A
dopt
the
sam
e m
inds
et a
s Ch
rist
Phili
ppia
ns 1-
4Lo
ve Y
our N
eigh
borh
ood
Less
on 2
1: Sh
arin
g th
e K
ingd
om G
ospe
l38
Phili
ppia
ns 2
:9-1
1M
a!he
w 8
-11
39N
ON
EPr
actic
e Sh
arin
g G
ospe
lM
a!he
w 12
-13,
15-1
6
Less
on 2
2: T
he S
low
Rev
olut
ion
40M
a!he
w 2
8:18
-20
Gre
at C
omm
issi
onM
a!he
w 18
, 20,
22-
23
FIN
AL
REVI
EW41
Full
Revi
ewG
roup
Ret
reat
(O
vern
ight
or D
ay T
rip)
Ma!
25-
28
THE
JESU
S W
AY
PHA
SE 1:
Rig
ht R
elat
ions
hip
Wel
com
e an
d O
rien
tatio
n
Less
on 1:
App
rent
ices
hip
ALE
RT Jo
urna
l Pra
ctic
e
Less
on 2
: Fre
edom
For
mul
a
Less
on 3
: The
Kin
gdom
Less
on 4
: Dis
cipl
e’s P
rior
ity
Less
on 5
: Kin
gdom
Cha
ract
er
Less
on 6
: The
Hol
y Sp
irit
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 1-
11
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
Less
on 7
: Fis
h Li
ke Je
sus (
LEA
D li
ke
Jesu
s)
PHA
SE 2
: Lov
e Li
ke Je
sus
Less
on 8
: Lov
ing
Like
Jesu
s
Less
on 9
: Com
pass
ion
Less
on 10
: For
give
ness
and
For
bear
ance
Less
on 11
: Abi
ding
: Pra
ctic
ing
the
Pres
ence
of G
od
REVI
EW W
EEK
S 14
-23
— 1
WEE
K B
REA
K —
PHA
SE 3
: Liv
e Li
ke Je
sus
Less
on 12
A: A
Rul
e of
Life
Less
on 13
: Spi
ritu
al D
isci
plin
es: T
he
Fund
amen
tals
Less
on 14
: Dis
cipl
ines
for a
Pac
e of
Pe
ace
Less
on 15
: The
Une
ncum
bere
d Li
fe
Less
on 16
: The
Elu
sive
ness
of E
noug
h
Less
on 17
: The
Lea
st o
f The
se
Less
on 18
: The
Fel
low
ship
of O
ne
Ano
ther
ing
1
6
7
Lesson 1: Apprenticing our Lives to Christ
Big Idea: A disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
I fell in love with music at a very early age. I was immersed in church music of course. Congregational singing is one of my earliest memories, hearing my mom belt out the echoing alto parts of old hymns and what we called Convention Book songs. I started singing in church with my brother when I was in the fifth or sixth grade.
There were a lot of other musical influences in my life as well. I started playing trombone in the fourth grade and over the years developed a real love for instrumental music, particularly jazz and film scores. By the time I was a senior in high school, I was playing piano and even dabbling in writing and arranging music.
But probably no one influenced my music more than this guy you’ve probably never heard of. His name was Lari Goss. I didn’t even realize it for a long time, but so much of the Christian music I loved and listened to was produced by this legend. The older I got, the more I started reading his name on the liner notes of albums and cassette tapes. He was the producer of some of my favorite artists. He was the sound behind the artist. Sort of like the hitmaker, David Foster, you may be familiar with.
Lari had a very distinctive style of playing the piano and his arrangements and orchestrations were just so moving. I had listened to his music so much over the years that my own style began to take on characteristics of Lari. I didn’t realize it at first. It wasn’t even intentional for a long time. But people “in the know” started making comments about the chords I would use or the riffs I would play on the piano - that they sounded like Lari.
In time, as I continued to advance in my love for music and recording, I started being more intentional about learning from what I heard Lari produce. I intentionally studied his chords and mimicked his playing style. I got better because of it. As I arranged music for the churches I served in, I kept growing. I started doing recording projects with them. That led to producing other small time Christian artists. But I wanted to get even better. I wanted to master this craft.
I would listen to Lari’s music and know that at a level deeper than most people understand, he and I spoke the same language. He was much more fluent than me and I wanted to know even more. Kristie finally persuaded me to get in touch with Lari. Through some mutual acquaintances, I was able to track down his assistant and after several weeks of persistence, she was able to set up a breakfast.
That morning was incredible. I shared my heart, told him I just wanted to open a dialogue with someone who understood my heart and passion for music, but before the breakfast was over, it was clear we had made a connection. He looked at me and said, “Rodney, why don’t you come to Nashville and work with me. Just drive up one day a week and hang out with me in the studio. Watch and observe, we’ll go to lunch and you can ask me any question you like.” Are you kidding me?! Right there on the spot, without ever hearing any of my music, this legendary producer asked me to basically intern with him. I spent about the next year driving back and forth from North Georgia to Nashville, soaking in every moment, studying every note of music, watching him interact with some of the world’s greatest musicians, watching engineers do their magic. There was no school on earth that could have provided this kind of education.
That apprenticeship led to several years of arranging and producing and engineering and being published by the church world’s biggest names. My music was used in churches all over the planet. I’m telling you, it was an incredible season, doing things I had dreamed of all my life but had no idea God would allow me to do at such a level. Now, I don’t tell you this most important story from my life to brag. Rather I share it with you to introduce one of the most important concepts you’ll ever consider as a follower of Christ.
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This study is all about apprenticeship. Apprenticeship is a word that has captured my heart over the last few years. There is something uniquely relational about the word. Generally speaking, An apprentice is a person who submits or binds themselves to a master craftsman for the sake of learning a trade. It’s different than classroom learning in that it is immersive and hands on. It is experiential. And again, it’s relational.
You see, what I did with Lari was to immerse myself in his way of producing music. Even before I met him personally, I listened intensely to his music. I studied it. I put it into practice. But that wasn’t enough for me. I had to get even closer. I needed to ask him questions - watch how he actually created his signature sound from the inside out. I was able to apprentice myself to him and I was so blessed that he took me under his wing to allow it.
What I would like to submit to you is perhaps a change of perspective on what you may think the Christian life is all about. Actually, maybe it’s just more of a refocusing of what it’s all about.
To get us started, here’s a primary and basic truth: Jesus calls us to be his disciples so that we will lead others to be his disciples.
Let’s start our journey of discovery at the end of the first Gospel in Matthew 28. It may be the end of the story as far as Matthew’s Gospel is concerned. But of course, it was really only the beginning. Let’s look at some of Jesus’ very familiar final words he offered his closest followers as his time of being physically present was coming to an end.
Matthew 28:16-20 CSB 16 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Here we see it in black and white: Jesus calls His disciples to make disciples. Verse 16 tells us he was talking to his eleven original, primary disciples and His great Commission, in verse 19, commands those disciples to make disciples. This has been the mission of the church from that day forward. For all the other things we’ve tried to make the church to be, it always comes back to this. Jesus calls us to be his disciples so that we will lead others to be his disciples.
Since we have this commission given to us with such great clarity, we need to really understand what a disciple actually is - especially as it relates to being a disciple of Christ.
For those of you who have been in the church for a long time - many things may come to mind when you think of the term discipleship. Often, we think of it as some kind of training program - a series of classes - teaching biblical principles. But what did Jesus have in mind? Within the context of his time in history, what did it mean to be a disciple?
When we study the literature of Jesus’ day, we see that the term disciple was often used when people followed a great leader, emulating his life and ultimately passing along His teachings. But it was much more than the passing of information. It was imitating the teacher’s life and instilling and living out His values.
Aa an example, there is good evidence that boys up to age 13 were trained in the Torah (The Jewish Scriptures) in what we might think of as primary schools. If he wanted further training in order to one day become a scribe or a teacher or a rabbi, he might leave his home, seeking to study under a certain scholar. We see an example of this in the life of Paul who was from Tarsus but moved to Jerusalem to study under the famous rabbi Gamaliel.
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In this way, these teenage boys would not only continue learning the information, the interpretation of Scripture, but they would also immerse themselves into the life of the teacher, ultimately imitating the life and faith of their master.
The concept is similar to my experiences with my great mentor Lari Goss. I immersed my learning by being with him in the studio, watching him work, asking questions, soaking up every moment with the hopes that I could be a great arranger and producer. Likewise, to be a disciple in Jesus’ day was to immerse one’s self into the teachings, values, lifestyle, actions, and way of life of the Master in order to learn and absorb not just the knowledge and information, but so the Master’s ways would become a natural outflow of the apprentice. It was all-of-life transformational.
So when Jesus calls us to be his disciple, here’s what I think he has in mind. Pay close attention here to this Big Idea: A disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
Think about that for a moment. Is that how you would characterize your relationship to Christ? Have you, as the word apprentice means, submitted and bound yourself to the Master for the sake of learning and mastering His way of life? Not just part of your life, not just the sin-in-need-of-forgiveness part of your life, but your whole life? Are you truly a disciple of Christ? Are you apprenticing your whole life to Him?
To help answer those questions, let’s walk step by step through our Big Idea. First of all, a Disciple of Christ is a person who is willing…
1. …to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about.
Mark 1:14-15 CSB 14 After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God: 15 “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Now, we all have a very complex view of the world and how we fit into it. We don’t have near enough time to go into such a deep philosophical conversation. But suffice it to say, our childhood, our experiences, our parents, our environments, our teachers, our hurts and failures, our triumphs and victories, our families, our marriages, they all serve to shape what we think about life and our place within the world.
For the most part, many of us believe that the world revolves around us, even if not in a crazy, narcissistic kind of way. We think life is minimally about survival and at times mostly about winning. This seems normal because everyone around us is doing the same.
So when Jesus steps onto the scene with his initial invitation saying, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Believe the good news,” he’s declaring that there is a whole new way of experiencing life. Those are the first two words He uses to call people: Repent and Believe. The Kingdom of Heaven has come near and he is inviting us into it. That invitation begins with the word “repent,” and it is so important to grasp if you really want to apprentice your whole life to Christ.
The root of the Greek word translated repent is “metanoia.” It’s the combination of two greek words. “Meta” means overarching or total or even the big picture. Think metamorphosis - where the caterpillar doesn’t just change a little. It experiences total transformation. The second half of the Greek word is “noia.” It means knowledge. It’s related to how you think. So when you coming those two words you see that it means to have a radical transformation of outlook, to see something differently from a new angle, to have a fundamental change of thinking. Dallas Willard says it means, “Think about how you’ve been thinking.” And it’s not just any thinking
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you’re changing to. It’s his way of thinking. You’ll need to believe what He says is the truth - the right way to think.
So to be His disciple, you have to be willing for Christ as master to challenge every aspect of your thinking: what is right and just and fair, what are appropriate responses to life’s challenges and toughest people, your values, your moral virtues - every single worldview floating around in that incredible brain of yours. You have to be willing to give it all up - you can’t hold on to any of it if you’re going to apprentice yourself to Jesus. He’s the teacher - he’s the one with the right thinking and we have to be willing to experience a total reformation of our minds - to believe he is one with the words of life.
But not only does it require the giving up of our preconceived ideas of what life is all about, a Disciple of Christ is one who is willing…
2. …to abandon their previous way of living…
Let’s look now to Luke chapter 9. If you thought simply giving Christ 100% access to change your thinking and worldview was a lot, then think deeply about this next challenge.
Luke 9:23-25 CSB 23 Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it. 25 For what does it benefit someone if he gains the whole world, and yet loses or forfeits himself?
Now we see Jesus using this “extreme follower” kind of language. Most of us probably don’t think about how extreme he really was. In Luke 14 he said, and I paraphrase, to follow him we’ll need to hate our father and mother, our wife and children, brothers and sister - and even our own lives. These are some of the hardest sayings of Jesus. He even says,
Luke 14:33 CSB “…every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
Clearly Jesus was making a point that if you are really going to be one of his disciples, not only does it require you to see life differently, it has to take the utmost top priority in every facet of your life - from relationships to finances - you have to be willing to leave it all behind, using a word that should be easy to understand. He invites us to follow Him. So repent and believe, not follow completely.
Listen to how one of my mentors, the late Dallas Willard puts it,
“…becoming a disciple is a matter of giving up your life as you have understood it to that point…And without that ‘giving up,’ you cannot be his disciple, because you will still think you are in charge and just in need of a little help from Jesus for your project of a successful life. But our idea of a ‘successful life’ is precisely our problem.” (243) Renovation of the Heart - D. Willard
Being a disciple of Christ is all about giving up control and that’s one of the hardest things that any of us will ever have to do. But here’s the deal: we’re not just giving up control and abandoning the worldview we’ve had since our childhood. We’re replacing it with something even greater and more beautiful. Even though the letting go may be tough and even scary, it is actually full of security. It’s better wisdom for life’s toughest decisions, and a new perspective on people and our families and our jobs and our whole life. How do we discover that? That’s our next little bit of our Big Idea.
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A Disciple of Christ is one who is…
3…immersing themselves into the Way, the Truth, and the Life of the Master,
Remember that definition of the word apprentice I gave you earlier? An apprentice is a person who submits or binds themselves to a master craftsman for the sake of learning a trade. Well, here’s a perfect example of that as the very thing Jesus was inviting us into:
Matthew 4:18-20 ESV 18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
No doubt, these brothers had grown up in the family business. They had likely apprenticed to their father and we can surely believe that they knew their trade. They were probably masters at it. So when Jesus invites them into a new trade - that of fishing for men, it resonated with them. You’ve got to love the imagery too. They left their nets and followed. Think of what those nets might have represented: They left their security - their previous way of living - their sustenance - the only life they had probably ever know, to head out into a whole new adventure.
It might cause us to pause and think: What have we left behind? What nets are we willing to drop?
But what was Jesus’ promise? If you come follow me, stick with me, I’ll show you how to master this new “trade,” so to speak, this new way of living as a Kingdom citizen so that in turn, you too can introduce it to other people and train them in these ways.
The only way these disciples could fully grasp and understand what this Kingdom life that Jesus spoke of was all about was to fully immerse themselves into his Ways - to observe him day by day as he interacted with others, to watch him pull away for solitude and prayer, to touch the untouchable and love the unlovable, to freely go from home to home, dining with the riff-raff and hanging out with folks across the tracks. They hung onto every word of his Truth - wrestling with his parables - arguing about the interpretation of Old Testament passages. They immersed themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the master.
And that’s exactly what he was looking for. He said,
Matthew 11:28-29 CSB “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take up my yoke and learn from me, because I am lowly and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’
Eugene Peterson puts verse 29 like this:
Matthew 11:29 MSG “Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.”
To apprentice your whole life to Jesus is to remain present to him, interacting, fellowshipping with Him, which leads to an intimate knowledge of who he really is and how he works. This is our aim.
These disciples did just that - watching his life as He demonstrated his love all the way to cross, showing just how far this Kingdom Way can take those who live it to the fullest. Paul would later say…
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Philippians 3:10 CSB My goal is to know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death… Did you catch that? My goal is to know Him in every way. Why? What is the ultimate purpose in all of this change of worldview, this abandoning our old life, and immersing ourselves into his Kingdom Way? It is…
4.…in order to be like Christ.
This is it, friend. To be like Jesus. This is our goal - the aim of our life is to be like Christ. You might even want to say that out loud: The aim of my life is to be like Christ. This is our destiny - the very life we were meant to live. Paul said…
Romans 8:29 CSB 'For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.’
That’s what God has in mind for you - what he has always had in mind for you: The aim of your life is to be like Christ. If you’ve been wondering just what your life is all about, where you can find true meaning and purpose, this is it.
Jesus said it himself:
Luke 6:40 CSB A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
Do you see it? We can have so many ideas about what being a Christian is all about. Attending church, giving to good causes, studying the bible, going to heaven, being on the right side of social issues, and a long, long list of other very good and noble things. All of which may be included in Jesus’ proposition. But at the end of the day, we can simplify all of that down to one thing and this is it: the aim of my life is to be like Christ.
In one of the most beautiful pictures you will ever see in the Bible, at the last supper, just hours before he will be beaten, mocked and scorned, Jesus, the King of kings, kneels down in front of his disciples to do the most menial of tasks and washes their feet. Listen to his explanation of why he would do such a thing:
John 13:12-15 CSB 12 When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, “Do you know what I have done for you? (Has Jesus ever asked a more important question? Do you know what I’ve done for you? Do you understand what this is all about?) 13 You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. 14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. 16 “Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
You also should do just as I have done for you. He’s saying obey me. Surely they remember from a scene some time earlier, when they heard him say that the truth can set them free when, he told them, “If you live by what I say, (if you obey my teachings) you are truly my disciples.” (John 8:31) And that’s our fourth word of invitation from Jesus: Repent, Believe, Follow and Obey.
This foot washing scene is happening at the last time Jesus has all of his disciples together. In that way I view it as his final summary statement of everything he’s taught them for the last 3 and a half years. You might even call it his Commencement Address.
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Perhaps his disciples reflect on the early days with Jesus, when he walked by their fishing boats or their tax collector booth and he invited them to come follow him. They walked away from their previous lives. They’ve immersed their lives into his - watching his every subtle and radical way of loving anyone who would receive Him. They’ve listened intensely to his teaching. They’ve been sent out on little practice missions with the Gospel and returned to hear his feedback. They’ve seen great miracles of healing. They’ve even watched him not only calm the wind and waves but even walk on the water. And here they are in this little room, and Jesus has washed their feet and says, “Do you know what I’ve done for you? I’ve given you an example. Now boys, it’s time for you to go live it out.”
How do you define your relationship to Christ in one word? I think it’s been made abundantly clear. There’s really only one proper way to describe it. I am a disciple of - I am apprentice to Jesus. No matter what you’ve thought it was all about, from this moment forward, Jesus is saying come follow me. Walk with me. Work with me. Watch how I do it. His invitation to you this is, “Will you be my disciple?” That’s the word that should define your relationship. I’m challenging you today, friend. Refocus your life to be centered and focused on this one thing - to be his disciple. Accept his call to abandon your old worldview of self-centeredness, be willing to abandon your old life, to let go of your safety nets, and immerse yourself into his way and into his truth and into his life. Make the aim of your life to be like Christ. Repent, believe, follow and obey. Let’s apprentice ourselves to him and learn to love, live, and lead like Jesus.
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Lesson 1 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 2: The Disciple’s Freedom Formula
The Big Idea: True freedom comes from knowing Christ’s teachings through first hand experience.
From The Jesus Way Chart: Follow King Jesus with Full Allegiance & Obey All That He Commanded
We spent the entire first session breaking down our first Big Idea. Here’s my declaration: A disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
Did you get that? In order to be like Christ. That’s the goal. You might remember our mantra: The aim of my life is to be like Christ; To love, live, and lead like Jesus. This is our destiny - the very life we were meant to live. You’ll remember that Paul said…
Romans 8:29 CSB 'For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…’
That’s what God has in mind for you—what he has always had in mind for you: The aim of your life is to be like Christ. If you’ve been wondering just what your life is all about, where you can find true meaning and purpose, this is it. In that way, this is the life you were meant to live.
Now, I have to admit, the challenge I offered in the last session really sets the bar high. But those are really Jesus’ words, not mine. His invitation is to repent, believe, follow and obey. Deny yourself, take up your cross, follow me. These sound like words of heavy effort and maybe even a life of drudgery. But it’s really quite the opposite.
You might also remember how we talked about “the easy yoke.” Jesus’ challenge to us was to come to him, walk with him, work with him, watch how he does it. He says that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Not heavy at all. As we’ll see here today in John 8, this giving ourselves over completely is not binding and burdensome at all. It is actually how we find freedom. So let’s jump in to today’s Big Idea and discover what I call The Disciple’s Freedom Formula.
This study is about becoming a disciple of Christ. That’s our aim - to apprentice our lives to Jesus. So today, let’s find an answer to a very important question: How do you know if you actually are a disciple of Jesus? We could come up with a few answers of our own, I’m sure. But why don’t we just ask Jesus what He thinks. Let’s listen in on a conversation Jesus was having with those who were starting to follow Him, starting to believe in some of His teachings. Jesus lets them know very clearly what it takes to be His disciple:
John 8:30-36 CSB 30 As he was saying these things, many believed in him. 31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 “We are descendants of Abraham,” they answered him, “and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus responded, “Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.
Out of this passage we can see what we’ll call The Disciple’s Freedom Formula. Jesus was answering these Jews by saying that you’re not in need of freedom because you are literally a slave. You’re in need of freedom because of you are a slave to sin. That’s the first part of the Disciple’s Freedom Formula:
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1. Sin is what enslaves us. John 8:34 CSB
“…everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.”
When we trace it back, sin is always the problem. When we sin, we put ourselves on the throne of our own little kingdom and we say we know what’s best for our lives. Sin literally means “to miss the mark.” In other words, sin keeps us from living the life God has in mind for us - the life we were meant to live.
Now here’s what happens: We are people of habit. When we do things enough times over and over, our brain frees up bandwidth to do other tasks that require more thinking power. And so, as we keep missing the mark over and over from God’s original design, whether through lust or anger or pleasure or pride or whatever other selfish means, we become enslaved or virtually powerless against our own sin because we are living that way on virtual autopilot.
And so we do things that are hurtful to others, we do things that are hurtful to ourselves, we do things that are certainly hurtful to God. Why? We are slaves to it. We can’t seem to shake it on our own. It holds dominion over us. Like chains that bind us in slavery - keeping us from living the life we were meant to live.
Unforgiveness, bitterness, pride, the need to be right, lust, the need to be accepted, greed, discontent, fear, worry, selfish ambition, and a long list of many other issues that hold us captive. It matters not what home you come from, how rich or poor, black, white, yellow, or brown, or even how righteous your parents may have been, we are all susceptible.
Thankfully, Christ invites us as his disciples to a different way of living. He invites us to BE His disciples - to learn to live the way he lives. He offers us freedom from that bondage. Jesus very famously says…
“You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(John 8:32 CSB) That leads us right into our second part of The Freedom Formula:
2. Freedom comes from knowing the truth.
That’s the second part of the Disciple’s Freedom formula. Now what “truth” is he speaking of? You have to go back just one verse to pick this up - to really understand. He says, and this is so important to get here:
John 8:31 CSB Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue (abide) in my word (teachings), you really are my disciples.”
What truth sets us free? Jesus says His word is truth. “Continue in my word” or ”my teachings.” “Continue,” or as your Bible may translate, “abide in my Words - in the things I’m teaching - in all these Kingdom life lessons I’m teaching.”
Now, in one understanding, to abide means “to make yourself at home.” This is where you live. You know, like your house is your abode. You abide there. I remember when we were living in Eastern North Carolina, when someone wanted to know where you live, they asked, “Where do you stay?” That’s what it means to abide - to remain in - to stay - to live in His Words - his teachings - his commands, and that’s how you will know the truth. We’ll come back to this in a moment.
Here’s something to think about. Jesus talks a lot about knowing and believing. It’s the second primary word of his invitation to repent, believe, follow and obey. Of course the most famous is probably John 3:16 - For God so
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loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Here are a few definitions of the word believe: One is simply, “To accept something as true.”Another is similar, “To be confident about something.”
So, we could say a part of knowing the truth is to believe the facts about Jesus: his virgin birth, his radical miracles, his resurrection. If you think about it - that’s a pretty big leap of…faith: another form of knowing and believing, no doubt. So you accept the facts of Jesus to be true, even if they seem hard to believe.
Another way to think of believing is how we speak to those we love when we say, “I believe in you. You can do it!” In the moment, it’s a way of encouraging and building confidence in someone—that they are capable of succeeding at what they’ve set their mind to do. But why would be say that to them? It is because we have faith, or maybe confidence, in their abilities and potential.
And yet another definition of “believe” is, “To follow a credo: a statement of the beliefs that guide someone's actions.”
If we put all of that together, when we say to Christ, “I believe in You,” what we should mean is, “I’ve looked at the qualities and character and power of your life and teachings, and I believe in them so fully, I’m entrusting my entire way of thinking and living to you.”
We’re saying, as His true disciple, that we’re not just believing the facts of his life to be true, but we’re saying to Him, “the life you’ve outlined through your own example and teachings are now going to guide the actions of my life.”
Here is another way to put it: To say I am be-lieving, is to say, “I must be-living as Jesus lived and taught, and I also must be-loving as Jesus loved.” Listen friend, it is not enough to just believe that Jesus was a real person - or even that He was God. He’s calling his true disciples to live by His words.
Think about that for a few moments: What does believing in Jesus mean to you? Did you realize it means more than just believing the facts of his life to be true?
This leads us to the third step in the Disciple’s Freedom Formula:
3. Fully knowing the truth comes from the experience of “doing.”
Look again at verse 31: “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32 CSB)
This phrase, “continue in my word” means to take the words you’ve heard Him teach and put them into practice continually. That’s how you will know the truth in a way that is liberating. Other translations actually put this as “if you obey my commands or my teachings.” Are you seeing this? Repent, believe, follow and obey. Pastor Peterson does such an excellent job here rephrasing these two verses to get to the heart of what Jesus meant:
John 8:31-32, MSG “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”
This is a radical understanding here. Knowledge, knowing and believing in the way Christ is proposing here, is about testing the statements of Christ, putting them into practice and finding out first hand for yourself that
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they are in fact, true. Not just agreeing to them in theory - not just going along with the rest of the crowd who raised their hands to agree - but closely observing for yourself the life and teachings of the Master, taking that knowledge out into the streets and into your home and into your workplace, putting it into practice, obeying what He said to do, and having this amazing discovery that He knows exactly what he’s talking about. It then radically transforms your life.
And I absolutely love how Paul would come to understand and express this transformation:
Romans 6:17-18 NIV 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Here’s what I’m trying to get you to see: In the last lesson, our primary focus was to realize that Christ’s true call to us is to be his disciples. That is no small thing. It is a call to leave behind your previous ways of thinking and living and to submerse yourself into his way, truth, and life. It was about the call to apprenticeship.
In this lesson, we’re beginning to clarify what it means to actually be his disciple. To apprentice our lives to him is a life of listening and learning, no doubt. But it’s even more about putting it into practice. That’s how Jesus says we are his disciples for sure.
You’re not just forgiven for your past, as wonderful as that may be. But as you apprentice your life to Him, you begin the process of radical transformation into his likeness - one little practice session at a time. And that’s how you experience His freedom.
After all, you’ve got years of habitual lifestyles that tend to stand against much of what Jesus proposes. Deprogramming and rewiring your heart and mind does not often come in an instant. Jesus is saying that as you truly apprentice your life to his, you’ll experience freedom from that old self. But only if you remain in His words, living out His teachings. Forgiveness is given in a moment. Freedom is found in living a life of obedience.
Now, there’s one final point that we must approach in our Disciple’s Freedom Formula. Let’s review where we’ve come from so far:
1. Sin is what enslaves us. 2. Freedom comes from knowing the truth. 3. Fully knowing the truth comes from the experience of “doing.”
So if this kind of knowing comes from experience, what is it that Jesus has told us to do? What do we need to do? This is our last and somewhat obvious part of the Disciple’s Freedom Formula.
4. Knowing what to do is learned in Christ’s teachings.
Let’s look at it one more time: Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.” (John 8:31 NLT)
Remember, Christ is speaking to his audience who claim to be believers. He’s assuming they have been around him long enough to know the essence of His teachings. In other words, they have the information - the instructions.
So it stands to reason, if we’re to experience the power of this Freedom Formula - we too had better know the teachings of Christ. Remember, our great commission tells us that as his disciples, we’re to make disciples with a
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specific mandate to instruct them in the practice of everything I’ve commanded. Train them in this way of life. The Jesus Way. And that is precisely what we’ve set out to do in this study: to examine the teachings and the life of Christ and to discover just what it means to love, live, and lead like Jesus.
We will launch into that in our next lesson by talking about one of Jesus’ primary topics: The Kingdom Of God. What we’re going to discover in the weeks ahead is that we can actually live life free from anger, lust, jealousy, worry about finances or how we look. Freedom is not just being freed from the penalty of sin, it is freedom to live a life peace and joy.
I’m praying for you this week, friend. You’re doing an awesome thing devoting your life to this kind of apprenticeship. I’m praying God strengthens you through His Spirit to live out the teachings of Jesus for yourself. Test his words, prove to yourself they’re absolutely true. And just watch as you begin to experience his freedom in your life.
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Lesson 2 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 3: The Kingdom: The Workplace of Apprenticeship
Big Idea: Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and join with His activity in your everyday traffic patterns of life as you develop the attitude and character of Christ.
As I was exploring the idea of apprenticeship, I tried to find some other contemporary models that we might could compare what it was like to be an apprentice of Jesus. I interviewed a young man in my church who had recently graduated from college and served in an internship with Exxon, headquartered here in the Houston area. Following the internship, Exxon kept him around and gave him a job where his career is flourishing. Here’s a brief summary of what we discovered about the process:
Guys like Jake are invited to apply and be a part of the internship program. During the program, they’re assigned to different mentors and departments to learn the ropes. They’re not always working in areas that use their specific skills learned in college - though that was included to a certain degree for Jake. There was also an immersion into the overall culture and life of the organization. In other words, the interns are learning that it’s not just about what you’re going to do when you get there, it’s about where you’re going to work. What the organization stands for - their mission - their purpose - their values - their culture.
Now, within this context - companies are probably looking the interns over to make sure they were a good fit. Certainly, every intern didn’t end up with a job at the company. Only the creme of the crop like Jake survive! The good news for us is that when God invites us into his Kingdom partnership, he already knows everything there is to know about us and in spite of that, he still invites us in to be his apprentices!
Certainly, there is a lot about this internship analogy that doesn’t work out just perfectly. But what I’m trying to help us see is that apprenticeship to Jesus is more than just learning a few skills. That’s included for sure as we will see in the lessons ahead. At the onset, at the beginning of Jesus’ actual invitation is a very prominent piece of information. We find it in Matthew chapter 4. Before we begin to fully explore WHAT it means to love, live, and lead like Jesus, we need to first get a good sense of WHERE it is he invites us to work and walk with Him. Let’s talk about a big picture element of following Christ - let’s talk about The Kingdom.
Both Mark and Matthew tell us that once Jesus’ cousin, John the baptizer, was arrested, Jesus launches his ministry. “From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.’” (Matthew 4:17 CSB)
Verses 18 through 22 tells us of the calling of the first disciples, the first apprentices if you will. Then look at verse 23: “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:23 ESV)
Just what is the Kingdom of the Heavens? And what is this Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus preached? That’s what we aim to clarify in this session. Because if you’re going to be an apprentice to Jesus, the Kingdom is where that happens. Let’s get to know our workplace!
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When Jesus announces that the Kingdom of the Heavens has come near, is this something new to the Jewish people? Would they have been taken aback by that? Actually, we find that…
The Kingdom of God is a concept that finds its roots in the Old Testament. Listen to Psalm 145.
Psalm 145:8-13 CSB 8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in faithful love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made. 10 All you have made will thank you, Lord; the faithful will bless you. 11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom and will declare your might, 12 informing all people of your mighty acts and of the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; your rule is for all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his actions.
Isn’t that a beautiful Psalm? How encouraging! But it doesn’t take much of a theologian to see the everlasting Kingdom of God on display. The Kingdom of God is not some far off place for a future people. His kingdom rule is available to all generations. That rule is seen in God’s faithfulness to His words and the graciousness of His actions toward His people.
In fact, a careful reading reveals to us that the baseline understanding and “teaching about God in the Old Testament is His dominion over all creation forever and His immediate presence to all who call upon Him.”
You see, in even simpler terms, the Kingdom of God is where God is at work. God in action. From time to time, the people of God would catch glimpses of what it meant to truly live under the rule of God.
If you use this lens to read the Old Testament, you will see it everywhere. Even Psalm 23 is a kingdom psalm; it’s about what life is like in the kingdom of God. “The Lord is my shepherd - he makes me lie down in green pastures - by still waters - he restores my soul - he comforts me.” This is what God intended for the world. “His presence available to all - to everyone and everything on earth immersed in His loving care.”
We see it repeated throughout God’s word:
Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never allow the righteous to be shaken. (Ps 55:22 CSB)
The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry for help. (Psalm 34:15 CSB)
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But as for me, God’s presence is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, so I can tell about all you do. (Psalm 73:28 CSB)
Peter would use similar language: …casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. (1 Pet. 5:7 CSB)
God in action. Not distant. Not passive. God who is powerful enough to sustain the whole universe, and yet is immensely loving enough to engage directly and personally in the lives of anyone who chooses to live under his rule. That is the center of God’s Word. God is at work for those who live under his rule.
And so, as you look at the history of Israel, you can see from their Psalms, their history books, and their prophets, that they would recognize that regardless of life’s circumstances, God is still God and he rules from the heavens. He is the King of glory and will step in for his people at any time.
In a few places, like Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah, the writers even start using the phrase or alluding to the Kingdom of the Heavens. Over the next few centuries, it gains steam and so by the time of the Gospel writers, Matthew, who is writing primarily to a Jewish audience, uses the phrase Kingdom of the Heavens even more emphatically. Like the writers of centuries past, this phrase Kingdom of the Heavens is about the direct and immediate availability of God to those who call upon Him.
Most of us as Gentiles take this for granted and don’t consider it very deeply: Jesus steps into the world at precisely the right moment in history from among God’s chosen people. He came to a people that had been prepared by their experience to understand what the kingdom of the heavens and the kingdom of God are all about.
Even prior to Jesus’ own teaching, John the baptizer is preaching this very message to God’s covenant people. Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Now certainly, Jesus would bring clarity to what Kingdom living is all about, but John’s message is clear and compelling, and quite successful I might add as people from all over the country were coming out to hear Him preach and to be baptized.
Remember, John was the one spoken of in prophecy to go before the Christ, to prepare the way. Is it any wonder that the core of his message was repentance and the Kingdom of the Heavens? He was stoking the fire of this Kingdom message and the King Himself was about to step onto the scene.
Let me say it again - what John was saying: God’s Kingdom - or that realm where God reigns and is in action for the good of His people - is available to anyone who calls upon Him. You can live a life in this Kingdom of the heavens in the here and now. It’s going to take a radical reorientation of how you’ve been thinking though. Metanoia! Repent!
And so, Jesus, after John is arrested, launches into His own ministry, picking up right where John left off, almost word for word to begin with. Here it is again: “From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17 CSB) “And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” (Matthew 4:23 ESV)
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One of the greatest speeches ever delivered on American soil was Martin Luther King’s powerful talk often referred to as “I Have a Dream.” Now certainly, the speech was delivered in one of the highest profile marches on Washington the nation has ever seen. But what most people don’t realize is that Dr. King had been using that speech in countless other locations leading up to that momentous occasion. It was his core message, shared over and over. It found its biggest platform and clearest clarion call in that culminating day, but you could not separate the message from the man. It was just who he was.
Likewise, and perhaps even more clearly, that’s what we see here in Matthew 4:17 and 23. Everywhere Jesus went, he was proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom. It was not just one of many sermons. I would argue it was the whole point of every sermon, either explicit or implied. The Gospel of the Kingdom was THE message of Christ.
Now, as we have seen, this idea and concept and even message of the Kingdom of Heavens was nothing totally new to the Jewish people. But here’s the thing about Jesus preaching this Kingdom news to the people of Israel: They might have been familiar with the concept, but Jesus was announcing that it is available beyond all their current assumptions. It was no longer primarily for the people of Israel and especially not just for the religious elite.
Paul, the great missionary to the Gentiles, would later refer to this glorious unveiling of the kingdom of God to the whole world as “…the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.” (Colossians 1:26 CSB)
Dallas Willard put it like this. To this point, “the people of Israel had been appointed to be what you might call the ‘street address’ of the kingdom of God on earth. He was always beyond Israel, of course, but they had a special calling…God intended to bring the kingdom to earth through the people of Israel - and he did just that1.”
But again, the radical shift in Jesus’ message about the Kingdom was how open this kingdom was to anyone and everyone. He rattled the religious elite by suggesting that this Kingdom message was available to those who were rejected, unacceptable - people unclean because of their sicknesses and diseases, those who were thought to be cursed because they were poor.
In fact, the first recorded sermon of Jesus in Dr. Luke’s gospel gives us his biblical text for His Kingdom Message. He reads from the prophet Isaiah:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on him. He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.” (Luke 4:18-21 CSB)
It is fulfilled today. The kingdom of heaven is at hand - or more precisely - has come near. He’s announcing the availability of God’s loving action to all those who call upon the Lord. Not some distant day in the future - but today as you listen. It has come near for the poor, the diseased, the exiled slaves, the forgotten and oppressed - the ones society takes advantage of and the ones at whom they look down their noses.
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To put it even more clearly, The Gospel of the Kingdom is: “…the availability of life now in the kingdom of God by placing our confidence in Jesus as Lord of all.” This was the sermon Jesus came preaching. The kingdom is available to anyone - starting with the least of these.
He didn’t just preach it, either. He lived it out completely. From prostitutes to lepers, from little children to poor widows, from tax collectors to Roman soldiers, from a Samaritan woman to his worst enemies, Jesus showed just how available the King of glory is to those who call upon his name. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It’s here now. You don’t have to wait any longer.
Jesus was even teaching us these principles when he gave us the model prayer, or what’s more commonly known as the Lord’s Prayer.
There’s a story from back in the heyday when the Chicago Bears were coached by Mike Ditka. They were having a chapel service and the chaplain asked Refrigerator Perry to lead the Lord’s Prayer. Ditka leaned over to the chaplain and said, “I bet you twenty bucks he doesn’t even know the Lord’s prayer.” Of course, the chaplain thought it was kind of weird to be betting on the Lord’s Prayer, but he said, “OK.” (He was clearly not a Baptist chaplain.) So Refrigerator Perry asks everyone to bow their heads and to recite the Lord’s Prayer with him. He started right in, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep…” After the prayer, Ditka was shaking his head. He pulled out his wallet and gave the chaplain a $20 bill and said, “I was just sure he wouldn’t know the Lord’s Prayer!”
Chances are some of you reading or listening to this are looking around thinking, “What’s so funny about that?” Think about the real words of the Lord’s Prayer, which by the way was a teaching point right in the heart of Jesus’ most famous Sermon on the Mount. Here it is from the classic King James Version:
Matthew 6:9-10 KJV Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Do you see it? The message Jesus gives to us about the kingdom of Heaven is not primarily about the afterlife. It’s about the availability of the Kingdom of God in the here and now. You see, The kingdom of God is where what God wants done is being done. Where the will of God - the loving action of God on behalf of His people, is made manifest in the world. We are to even make this a primary focus of our prayer life. Be sure to download this week’s transcript for a bit of an exercise you can do during your prayer time this week.
And so we see, this Gospel of the Kingdom is precisely what Jesus preached. It is the same Gospel preached by the apostles and disciples who would continue His message.
In Acts chapter 8, we see the success of one of the early church preachers: “But when they believed Philip, as he proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized.” (Acts 8:12 CSB)
If we were to walk slowly through the stories of Acts, we would see the gospel of the Kingdom from beginning to end, including the very last verse: “Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” (Acts 28:30-31 CSB)
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Now, why is all of this discussion about the Kingdom so important? Why am I taking so much time to describe it and trace its history? Understand, the Kingdom of God is the realm to which Christ invites you to come and join Him in His work. This is the place of our internship, our apprenticeship, our partnership with Jesus.
You see what he started some 2,000 years ago was nothing short of a revolution. He gathered those disciples on hillsides and in upper rooms, those who would take seriously to heart his words and his life, and he told them to go out to every ethnic group on the planet and begin to apprentice everyone in this new way of life. The aim of this ongoing revolution will be to eventually bring all of life on earth under his complete dominion - his wisdom, his goodness and power, under the care of this great King. This, church, is his eternal plan into which you have not only been invited into to be blessed but to be a blessing to others.
God has chosen, through the ongoing power of His word and the anointing and grace of His Holy Spirit, to use his own students, his apprentices, his disciples to accomplish His great revolution. That’s us ladies and gentlemen. God uses us, at least in part, to advance this Kingdom Revolution. As an apprentice to Jesus, we are living with Him, learning to live in the Kingdom of God as He lived in the Kingdom of God. He invites us in, shows us and empowers us to have the kind of character we need, so that we might be bright lights in the world, offering to those we encounter the word of life.
Jesus challenges us to change our every priority to fall in line with his Kingdom. You’re so familiar with it, you might not even grasp the message of the Disciple’s Priority: “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33 CSB).
Now, seeking the Kingdom is not like you set off on a journey to find this foreign kingdom - only to think your mission is accomplished once you cross through the border gate. It is then an ongoing seeking of all that the kingdom of God may hold. Remember, the Kingdom of God is where God is at work for the good of his people. We’re invited into the life of Christ to be His followers - to learn from Him as he is active in us and around us.
Here’s a paraphrase of seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness: Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and join with His activity in your everyday traffic patterns of life as you develop the attitude and character of Christ. This is the life you were meant to live.
Seek His Kingdom first. More than anything else, aim to bring your life in alignment with the rightness and goodness characterized by His Kingdom. We’ll talk about that a whole lot more next week.
His kingdom is from everlasting to everlasting. Spoken of and experienced by saints of the ages, the place where God is at work on behalf of His people, the place where what he wants done gets done. It is the very message of Christ Himself. And today, He is still inviting people in to not only experience his loving care, but to partner with Him. To be reshaped from the inside out, to be conformed and transformed into His image, and to serve as an ambassador of the Message, to be bright lights in the midst of the darkness, inviting others into this forever Kingdom.
Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and let’s watch what God will do in and through us as he accomplishes His majestic mission.
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Optional Exercise
At some point this week, consider using those two lines from the Model Prayer to do some self evaluation:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-10 KJV)
There’s certainly a universal application of praying for God’s will and his Kingdom to be revealed in the earth. But as a model prayer - Jesus was teaching us the kinds of things worth praying about. Perhaps you could change the words a bit to say:
1. Your kingdom come, your will be done in my heart - as it is in heaven. (Or) 2. Your kingdom come, your will be done through my life - as it is in heaven.
In other words, as an apprentice to Jesus, what needs to change within my heart to allow God’s will to be done through my life? Ultimately, that’s the outcome Jesus is looking for in your life as His apprentice. Living the Kingdom Lifestyle in a way that brings it out in the open for more to experience - that the whole earth will know of the glory of the Lord.
1 Much of the thoughts expressed in this teaching are formed by the teachings and writings of Dallas Willard. Particularly: “Living in Christ’s Presence” & “The Divine Conspiracy”
Lesson 3 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 4: The Disciple’s Priority
THE BIG IDEA: As your heart is captured by the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom, righteousness becomes our active response.
Let’s recap just a bit our journey so far. This is a journey of apprenticeship. We’re putting ourselves in what Jesus called the easy yoke. We’ve connected ourselves to him. We’re walking with him, working with Him, watching how He does it. Ultimately, this is our goal: The aim of my life is to be like Christ. So we are looking closely at the Gospels, looking for clues, observing intently on what we might discover in his teachings all the ways our life might be conformed to the image of Christ.
But we also found that as important as observing and listening to Jesus is, actual learning is found in putting it into practice. We know the truth and it sets us free as we live it out for ourselves. That’s the Disciple’s Freedom Formula. That’s why in our Alert Journals using the HEAR method, it’s so important to apply and respond by committing to action.
Then last week, we began this conversation around the Gospel of the Kingdom. This is the central message of everything Jesus taught. Abundant life is available now to anyone who places their confidence in Jesus. The kingdom is where God is at work on behalf of his people - where what God wants to be done is being done. Thy kingdom come - thy will be done. This is the workplace of our apprenticeship.
As a part of that Kingdom discussion, I introduced the Disciple’s Priority found in Matthew 6:33. Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. I summarized it with our Big Idea from last week: Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and join with His activity in your everyday traffic patterns of life as you develop the attitude and character of Christ.
This Disciple’s Priority is so important I wanted to spend an entire session talking about the context from which it comes as Jesus was preaching the Sermon on the Mount. Let’s approach this central truth again. Let’s go even deeper on The Disciple’s Priority.
Jesus is trying to help his disciples understand what’s really important in life and so he tackles first of all those things which are most likely to distract us:
Matthew 6:19-21 CSB 19 “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus says we have two choices here: Treasures on earth - not a great choice. Treasure in heaven - that’s the way to go. Seems pretty simple. Right? But what does it mean? Treasure in heaven.
One of my goals is to help expand our understanding of heaven as Jesus speaks of it. Most of us have a picture of heaven as a place we go to after we die. There are many images given to us by the writers of Scripture that certainly affirm that idea. Catching up with some close friends of mine few months back, guys I hadn’t talked with for quite a few months, we realized all of us had lost people very close to us this year - a father, my sister, a mother-in-law. But we took comfort in knowing that heaven in the afterlife is a reality. I’ll bet many of you do too.
But heaven should also be understood as the realm of God’s Kingdom in the here and now. Remember, it is the Kingdom of the Heavens that Jesus preaches about. He actually invites us into it. It is not just a transaction that we make today and then cash in on it when we die. It is a very present reality. I’ve sometimes referred to it as
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living the Eternal Lifestyle. Eternity has already begun for us, thus we’re already thinking and behaving in alignment with that reality. The kingdom of heaven on earth is the very project we've partnered with Jesus to bring about.
Much of what Jesus is trying to teach is about how to live in that reality. And of course, what He has to start with is helping us to unlearn our wrong patterns of thinking and acting that might have served us well when our focus was on our own kingdom - when our attention, affection, and allegiance was misplaced.
In that old way of thinking, life tends to revolve minimally around self survival and ultimately on the pursuit of personal happiness and fulfillment, or what we’ll call success. At any cost.
Survival leads to patterns of protectionism - we are defensive toward our perceived enemies, we become resentful toward others, holding grudges, stereotyping the world into categories so we can quickly identify those we can trust and those we can’t. We fall into the trap that most can not be trusted. They are out to get us. Jesus undoes all of that when he says “pray for those who persecute you, love your enemies, bless those who spitefully use you. Blessed are the peacemakers, not the gun slingers.” This is quite a different reality than we normally live. Right?
But it’s not just survival and protectionism against the enemies of life, we’re also seeking to be affirmed, accepted, and approved - at any cost. We look for social circles to fit into. Maybe we dress a certain way or act in ways that make people think better of us. Jesus says we’re potentially guilty of that even in our church circles - using religious activity to appear a certain way to others. But again, the psychological root of our instinct is that we don’t want to be rejected. We have a craving, a longing to belong somewhere. Hypocrisy is a small price to pay if I can feel the reward of acceptance.
These are some of the issues Jesus is addressing at the end of Matthew chapter 5 and the first half of chapter 6. He’s challenging our old ways of thinking and inviting us to see the world differently - through the eyes of the Kingdom of the Heavens.
But it’s not just the relationship issues that need a Kingdom rethinking, it’s how we view the material world. Jesus talks about finances and materialism more than nearly any other subject throughout the gospels. He addresses it from the same two sides. Survival and Success.
A survival mentality leads to a worry and fear that I won’t have enough. And the success mentality says I need more stuff to feel better about life - I still don’t have quite enough. It can be subtle or outright greed. Thus we place our confidence in the material, in money and possessions. We think it has the power to keep us secure and also the power to make us feel so much better about life. It thus holds our attention, allegiance, and even our affection.
In other words, it’s what we treasure. What we treasure is what we hold to be most dear - worth protecting - even putting it in a safe, so to speak. They are the things we love. They are special to us. They are the things which hold the most value.
But notice what Jesus is doing here. He’s again trying to move us into Kingdom of the Heavens reality. Thus He reminds us that earthly treasures are not such a good investment. They don’t last. They may be here today, but who knows about tomorrow? Rust - moths - even thieves. Rather, He says there are better things to invest in. Heavenly or Kingdom treasures.
Then he just comes right out and says it like it is: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In other words, “The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” (MSG)
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It begs the question: where do YOU want to be? Where is your heart? The issue Jesus is getting at is as much about destination as it is about treasure. Evidently what we treasure leads to where we’re going in life.
This is a critically important point and we’re going to come back to it in much more detail in a few moments, but for now, it’s important to understand that Jesus is trying to help you clarify a very important question: Where do you want to be? He’s trying to get us to see that the choices we make with our affections and attention today are going to lead us somewhere. Those choices, those treasurings actually reflect our life path, either intentionally or haphazardly. So take just a moment and reflect on that. Where do you want to be? Envision for a moment where you want to end up in life. Not just after death, but in this life.
Now hold that thought because we’re coming back to it. Let’s move on to verse 22. Jesus says,
Matthew 6:22-23 CSB 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how deep is that darkness!
These seem like a strange couple of verses, but it really underlines our premise for the session. That there is a different way of viewing the world. Perhaps we could say it this way, “Your eyes are windows into your [soul]. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your [soul] fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your [soul] is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!” (MSG)
You see, “the person who treasures what lies within the kingdom sees everything [the way God sees it]. The person who treasures what is ‘on earth,’ by contrast, sees everything from a perspective that distorts it and systematically [misuses it] in practice1.”
How do you see the world? Are you using Kingdom eyes? This is what Jesus is challenging us to do. How do you view people and possessions? Through earthly eyes of distrust and greed, our souls grow cold and dreary. If we use people and possessions primarily for the purpose of survival and success, it’s like pulling the blinds down to the bright light of God’s Kingdom. Even worse, we can deceive ourselves into thinking we are Christ followers, when the reality is, our attention, allegiance, and affection lies elsewhere. Look at verse 24:
Matthew 6:24 CSB “No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
The New Living Translation says it like this: You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. (NLT)
You know how easy it is to become enslaved to money, don’t you? You worry about not having enough. You believe you deserve more than you can afford, thus your largest monthly expense is related to debt. Some of us lie in bed at night worried about how we’re going to pay for the kids college tuition or how we will be able to save enough for retirement. It's a fact that financial burdens are one of the number one causes of divorce, depression, and life disorientation. It’s no wonder Jesus says we are enslaved by our ideas about money and possessions. Greed is not the only dynamic of money’s ability to lord over us.
Jesus wants to set the record straight on what a Kingdom oriented perspective looks like. If enslavement to money brings about worry, fear, and greed, those negative and destructive forces that darken our view of the world, pulling the shades down over our souls, what is the alternative? After all, material needs are very real. Bills do have to be paid, right?
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Well, Jesus goes on to paint a beautiful picture of what the unencumbered life in the Kingdom might be like. Look at verse 25:
Matthew 6:25-32 CSB 25 “Therefore I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?
Here's the shift between earthly and kingdom perspectives. Yes, food, drink, and clothing are essential to living, but not what's really important. There's far more to your life than all of that. Verse 26:
26 Consider the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?
Oh friend, don't you know how valued you are by God? What a treasure you are to Him? He goes on:
27 Can any of you add one moment to his life-span by worrying? (Listen closely friends. He's talking about a cure for your anxiety here.) 28 And why do you worry about clothes? Observe how the wildflowers of the field grow: They don’t labor or spin thread. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these. 30 If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t he do much more for you—you of little faith? (Little faith is a nickname he gives to his growing apprentices as they're transitioning from earthly perspective to true kingdom perspective. We've all been there but you DO NOT have to stay there! Jesus gives not a suggestion but a command here.)
31 So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles (by that he means people that don't know God and how he works) eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Oh my goodness! Did you hear all of that? Don't worry about your life. Your Heavenly Father knows what you need. The lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. All I have needed, thy hand hath provided. Hey you little faiths! Raise the blinds on the window to your soul. Trust the providing heart of your Father. Change your focus from worrying about your needs or obsessing over your wants and start shifting it to the treasures of the Kingdom.
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?” This my friends is what life in the Kingdom can be like. Jesus is saying, “What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving.” (MSG)
If there is a more stress-reducing perspective on the Father’s loving care for us, I don’t know where it is in the Bible. It's just so comforting.
And while Jesus is describing the freedom from stress that comes from shedding our little-faith nickname, we can't forget his real point. Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is, where you end up going. What you treasure today determines the very trajectory of your life. He’s challenging us to stop and think about what we’re doing and where we’re going and how we’re suppose to get there.
So, as a grand-poppa, it’s quite common for the TV at my house to get tuned into children’s programming. One of the movies that played quite frequently for a while was Disney’s story of Moana. She’s the young Polynesian island princess who is repeatedly told that her people stay on the island - even though her soul is drawn to the great sea. When food sources start drying up, she sets out on a journey to find a solution for her people. One of her first lessons she has to learn is that she can’t just randomly just drift with the winds and currents. She has to use the stars to navigate. She holds up her hands, framing certain stars and using them as coordinates. For
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centuries, this was the way sailors navigated thousands of miles of oceans and seas. Without a point of reference, their journeys could easily spiral into being at the mercy of the winds and currents, drifting along. Choosing the wrong point of reference might still lead them somewhere, but to the wrong destination.
This, my friends, is exactly the problem Jesus came to solve. He says it clearly in so many different ways: “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost - the disoriented. The ones who are navigating life by the wrong coordinates. The ones who are drifting along aimlessly through life without meaning. The ones who have missed the mark completely, whose journeys have led to shipwreck and ruin. I’ve come to show them the Way. I’ve come to give them the true point of reference that leads to the life they were meant to live.”
Here’s what he’s saying in chapter 6. If what you treasure in life is survival and success, acceptance and fulfillment through things like the approval of others, financial security, and the acquisition of material things, then you have established your points of reference. Therefore, that’s where your heart is longing to be. You’re like a sailor seeking the treasure. You navigate life by those coordinates. But those goals will almost invariably lead to thoughts and behaviors that don’t align with God’s wishes. On the survival end of it, you end up worrying and stressing about your financial condition. Or on the other end where you’re seeking fulfillment and success, you get sucked into the acquisition and consumption economy - where it never quite seems like you have enough. Relationally, you worry about what people are thinking about you. You try to measure up - you try to fit in. Or you go the other way and get cynical and distrusting, bitter, resentful and unforgiving. This is not the life God wants for you. You’re way off course.
So again, Jesus brings this discussion in Matthew 6 to a climax and offers a clear set of coordinates. If you want to know how to navigate life the way God intended, you need look no further than Matthew 6:33, what we’ve called The Disciple’s Priority.
Matthew 6:33 CSB But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
This is the entire teaching of Jesus summarized in one verse. This is the Disciple’s Priority. Make the longings of your heart, the things you treasure the most, be His Kingdom and His Righteousness. More than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants.
To “seek”, as the familiar translation says, means much more than to simply look for it. It means to sink your life into the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom. It means to get really clear in your understanding of the Kingdom as you apprentice your life to Jesus and thereby allow it to capture your heart. You treasure it. In fact, a little bit later in his ministry, Jesus comes back to this treasure metaphor. This is Matthew chapter 13:
Matthew 13:44 CSB “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.”
You can sense the thrill. He’s so enraptured by what he’s found, he joyfully sells everything else in order to buy the field and experience the treasure of the Kingdom. Nothing else matters. It’s his new priority. Quite literally where his treasure is - his heart is.
And of course (and this is our Big Idea for the week by the way) as your heart is captured by the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom, righteousness becomes our active response. Next week, we’re going to go really deep into what Jesus means about righteousness. One of the definitions we’ll offer up is this: Righteousness is living out God’s ideal for Kingdom character and conduct. In other words, we’ve been captured by the vision of it - now we’re living it out, moment by moment.
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And so now we can bring it all together. We have two points of navigation that become the priority of our lives. There’s no question about it. Those two points are the Kingdom of the Heavens and Kingdom Righteousness. These are the two things we should treasure most. And as we treasure them, that’s where our heart is - that’s the destination of abundant life today. Not after we die. Right here and now.
Review of The Disciple’s Priority Card (You can find that at the end of this transcript).
Matthew 6:33 is our foundational passage. Seek first the Kingdom and Righteousness. I’ve paraphrased it like this: Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and join with His activity in your everyday traffic patterns of life as you develop the attitude and character of Christ. His Kingdom and Kingdom righteousness are our two coordinates that enable us to know where we’re going and how to get there.
Let’s take a closer look at these two coordinates starting with the Kingdom. The Kingdom is where what God wants to be done is being done - most often in partnership with His followers. (Thy Kingdom Come - Thy Will Be Done.)
By studying intensely through the Gospels, you’re learning the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom as Jesus has so clearly presented it. In doing so, you’re like that man who joyfully sold everything he had to own the treasure of the Kingdom. It is a passionate pursuit - digging through his parables and preaching and teaching to uncover every nugget of gold. Remember, the clearer the vision the more power it has to pull you out of your old thinking into Kingdom Thinking.
I often use Eugene Peterson’s three point description of the Kingdom as a quick way to explain it to people. God Reality, God Initiative, and God Provision.
God Reality: The kingdom is everywhere you live as a follower of the King. He is present and you are His representative. So practice the presence of God throughout your day. Maybe even offer up this little prayer every hour or two: “Thank you, Father, for your presence. Help me to know and do your will in each circumstance.” Use your smartphone reminders if you have to until this becomes a heart habit.
God Initiative: The Kingdom is not a passive location. God is active and at work, both within us and through us. God is longing to set things right. Notice His activity in your own life. Be on the lookout for how you can partner with Him in the lives of others. I would even suggest keeping a written record in a journal.
God Provision: In the Kingdom, the righteous are never forsaken. Practice trusting him for everything. Remember, under the Shepherd’s care, you lack for nothing. He never gives you an assignment that he doesn’t also provide the resources.
So as you get a clear grasp on the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom, you’re now to ready to respond in action - you’re treasuring righteousness or right living. And we’ll talk a whole lot more about that next week. I encourage you to download this week’s transcript and at the end of it, you’ll see I’ve added some probing questions that might help you pray through what we’ve talked about here.
Oh friends, there’s no getting around it. His Kingdom and His righteousness are to be the treasures of our hearts. Remember, He said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. He said unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees we won’t even be able to see the Kingdom. But when we long for it, prioritize it, treasure it in our hearts, we are promised that it will come to pass. Oh, it’s so clarifying and even liberating to me to hold the simplicity of this message in my heart.
It’s amazing how disoriented to the message and mission of Christ we become, even as long time believers. But let this be our North Star, our guiding light of love, to set every other idea of religiosity aside and focus wholly
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and completely on these coordinates. Let’s not get distracted by the fear of not having enough nor by the attractive nature of acquisition and consumption. After all, we have the blessed promise that the loving care of our precious Heavenly Father will supply all of our needs according to His riches in glory.
Let’s live in the reality of His Kingdom, watching for his initiative, trusting him for our provision. Let’s hunger and thirst for right character, saturated and overflowing in His loving compassion, partnering with him to set things right in the world. Let’s pursue his Kingdom agenda, doing our part in reorienting others to the life they were meant to live. Let the all consuming prayer of our hearts and the alignment of our actions be Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
1 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. 206
Potential Prayer Points
• Do I treasure anything above my devotion to Christ and His Kingdom? (Approval and acceptance, material acquisition, career, hobbies, leisure, etc.)
• Am I guilty of worrying and being fearful about my well being - financially and otherwise? Do I hold resentment toward others or feel the victim of life being “unfair.”
• Take time to reflect on how God has taken care of you - how He has been at work in your life? Thank Him for it.
• Commit yourself to Kingdom Righteousness. Make a list of your specific next actions steps.
Lesson 4 Study/Discussion Questions
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…SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS…
MATTHEW 6:33 CSB
ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE, PURSUE GOD’S KINGDOM AGENDA AND JOIN WITH HIS ACTIVITY IN YOUR EVERYDAY TRAFFIC PATTERNS OF LIFE
AS YOU DEVELOP THE ATTITUDE AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS Learning to Live His Way.
Right Character: This begins with a reformation of the heart. Character is the outflow of who you are. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Spiritual disciplines such as self examination up against meditative reading of God’s word, especially the Gospels, transforms our hearts and minds and thus, His character is revealed from the inside out.
Right Loving: Our supreme treasuring is found in the Greatest Commandments. Love God & Love People. Agape Love is our pursuit, defined by C.S. Lewis as “a selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.” Regular meditative prayer on the following passages is a good start:
1 Corinthians 13 John 13:34-45 Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 5:43-48 1 John 4 John 15:13 Matthew 22:36-40
Right-Setting Activity: We should direct our actions toward making a difference in the realm of His Kingdom activity. We should invest our lives in what God is doing.
Invest in your relationship to Jesus and through Him to the Father.
Invest in your own soul through spiritual disciplines.
Devote yourself to the good of other people: your circles of influence, strangers, those who have been sinned against, the least of these, orphans, widows, prisoners, the forgotten, the cast out, etc.
Things are not as they should be in the world and as His Kingdom partners, we devote our lives to setting things right.
Definitions of Righteousness
Righteousness is a one word description of who God is and thus, what He does.
Righteousness is living out God’s ideal for Kingdom character and conduct.
Righteousness is living as a reflection of God’s loving heart.
Righteousness is wanting what God wants.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD The Kingdom is where what God wants to be done
is being done - most often in partnership with His followers.
(Thy Kingdom Come - Thy Will Be Done.)
Study intensely through the Gospels to grasp the virtues, values, and vision of the Kingdom
so clearly presented by Jesus. Treasure these findings above all else!
God Reality: The kingdom is everywhere you live as a follower of the King. He is present and you are His representative. So practice the presence of God throughout your day. “Thank you, Father, for your presence. Help me to know and do your will in each circumstance.”
God Initiative: The Kingdom is not a passive location. God is active and at work, both within us and through us. God is longing to set things right. Notice His activity in your own life. Be on the lookout for how you can partner with Him in the lives of others.
God Provision: In the Kingdom, the righteous are never forsaken. Practice trusting Him for everything. Remember, under the Shepherd’s care, you lack for nothing. He never gives you an assignment that He doesn’t also provide the resources.
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Lesson 5: Kingdom Character and Conduct in a Nutshell
Big Idea: Kingdom righteousness begins with right character, is motivated by right loving, and is expressed in right-setting activity.
We’ve processed Jesus’ initial invitation of Metanoia - Repent - Take on a whole new way of Thinking that leads to a whole new way of living. The second half of his invitation is to not only to repent, but to believe the Gospel of the Kingdom. We took some time to think about that word believe. That it doesn’t just mean to agree with the facts - but it actually means to be living and to be loving and Jesus lived and loved. It is putting to the test all that Jesus taught, and finding it for ourselves to be absolutely true. When we know from experience, not just head knowledge, that’s the kind of truth that sets us free. The Disciple’s Freedom Formula.
Then, over the last couple of sessions, we dug deep into what this Gospel of the Kingdom really is. The kingdom is God is at work on behalf of His people, where what He wants done is actually being done. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done - on earth - in my family - in my workplace - in my heart.
We’ve also been talking about the Kingdom within the context of what we call the Disciple’s Priority. It’s based on Matthew 6:33 and I’m sure you can quote it with me: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” You might remember from last week, that our big idea was As your heart is captured by the values, virtues, and vision of the Kingdom, righteousness becomes our active response.
So let’s jump in to this week’s subject of righteousness. What is it? Even if we figure out what it is, is it possible for us to actually live it out? I hope to clear that up for you this week and help to get our hearts and mind ready for right living. You might want to grab that card from last week called The Disciple Priority. We’re going to be working our way through the backside of the card as we tackle Kingdom Character and Conduct in a Nutshell.
I want to kick off our discussion about this second half of the Disciple’s Priority by referencing the fourth beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount. It’s found in Matthew chapter 5 verse 6.
Matthew 5:6 ESV “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Now, this word righteousness is a very familiar word for us church goers. So familiar that we may take its meaning for granted. Or we may have a shallow understanding of such a complex word. Let’s talk about it for a few moments.
There are potentially four aspects of righteousness for which a disciple should hunger and thirst1.
First is our pursuit of personal righteousness. Some of our discussion around repentance is where this process begins. We recognize our disoriented living, our spiritual poverty. When we are truly honest with ourselves and with God and see how far we’ve missed the mark, that often leads to a brokenness and sorrow over the chaos and destruction our selfishness has led to. That brings us to a place where we humble ourselves before the Lord - we become a submitted servant to the Lord, reorienting our character and behavior to align with what God expects from us.
We have a major part to play in this process, but we also know that God is at work, bringing about a cleansing and renewing of our hearts and minds. This is what is known as sanctification. It is related to the pursuit of holiness. But where we might simply say that holiness describes the absence of sin, righteousness is what sin is replaced with. So holiness and righteousness are related, but they are not the same thing.
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So, sin is wrong behavior that contributes to the brokenness of our owns lives, the lives of others, and ultimately the brokenness in the world. We’re the ones doing this wrong behavior, causing the brokenness. No one is making us do it. We may be tempted by the enemy, but we’re the ones who are behaving badly. And so, if we’re capable of behaving badly of our own will, then it stands to reason that we can also choose to behave rightly. Personal righteousness, then, in this sense of the word, is our right behavior that sets things right in our own lives, the lives of others, and ultimately contributes to the right-setting of society and the world. Which leads us to our next biblical understanding of righteousness.
Secondly, apprentices to Jesus should long for social righteousness. When we look at the world through the eyes of our leader and King, we see that things are not the way they should be and we are compelled to engage in setting things right. You’ve got to get this church. We are not individualists. We are not isolationists. We are not brought out of darkness into his light simply for our own sake. We are to partner with God in his work of right-setting in the world. This includes all the spheres of influence to which God gives us: our families, our workplace, education, politics, the arts, our communities. In this way, righteousness is seeing the broken world the way God sees it and being compelled to do something about it.
Now there is also what theologians call alien righteousness. Paul contributes to this more than any other New Testament writer. While, as we will see in a few moments, righteousness is the goal to which Christ calls his apprentices, the challenge is that in our current human form, we will almost always fall short. As such, through another theological idea called justification, our faith and allegiance to Christ gives us a right standing before the Father in the courtroom of his judgement. In other words, the righteousness of Jesus makes us “right” as well. That’s good news, don’t you think? So, alien righteousness - a righteousness from outside of us that is still counted as our own righteousness.
Now the fourth longing, for eternal righteousness, is similar to the second in that we long for the day when Jesus returns and reconciles all things back to himself - when everything is finally and eternally set right - when He truly makes all things new. Eternal righteousness is the final completion of all three of the other kinds of righteousness.
Now, the way Jesus uses righteousness throughout the Gospels, is more related to the first and second kinds of righteousness - personal and social righteousness. So when he says we should hunger and thirst for righteousness, keep that in mind. I know for a fact that this is one of those tension points among Christians. Paul’s emphasis on our right-standing before the righteous Judge because of Christ’s redemptive work, what we called alien righteousness, tends to be the dominant concept for the word in the minds of some believers. Therefore, whenever the word is used, we may tend to think only of that meaning. But every way Jesus talks about it, particularly in the sermon on the mount, is in one way or another related to our personal character and conduct. He’s laying out a framework for how we are to live and act. How to BE a kingdom citizen.
Let me show you even further what I mean. The Greek word for righteousness is dikaiosune. It was used centuries before the New Testament by the famous philosopher, Plato. He was dealing with how the way we are on the inside can make a really good person, or “what the human soul must be in order for human beings to live well and manage to do what is right.” He used this word dikaiosune or righteousness.
Even before the time of Christ, when scholars were translating the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, they settled on dikaiosune to translate Hebrew Scriptures I’m sure you’re familiar: Verses like, “And Abram believed God, and it was counted to him for dikaiosune (righteousness).” And Isaiah says, “All our dikaiosune is like filthy rags.”
One scholar says the “best translation of dikaiosune would be a paraphrase something like ‘what it is about a person that makes him or her really right or good.’ For short we might say “true inner goodness2.’”
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Jesus steps onto the scene and this term dikaiosune emerges as the central theme of the Kingdom and salvation. Jesus gives us the Disciple’s Priority: Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. The New Living Translation says, “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously…” We pick up on the nuance of personal righteousness here: making the personal choice to live righteously. The Amplified Bible clarifies it even further: But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God] It’s quite obvious that what Jesus had in mind is that we would pursue right living, right character, right loving. That we DO what is right. Adopting His character, his attitude, and that showing up in how we live out our faithfulness to Him and His teachings.
So here’s our first definition of righteousness for this lesson: Righteousness is living out God’s ideal for Kingdom character and conduct. This multifaceted concept of righteousness is the underlying theme of Jesus’ teaching on how to live. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness” he says. “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness,” he says. He even says, “You’re blessed when you are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”
Whether things are settled for you personally for all of eternity through alien righteousness is not Jesus’ point here. He’s teaching us a lesson on what we should be doing, how we should be behaving, the kind of character we should exhibit in the here and now. What is your goal for this life? What should you be longing for - hungering for - thirsting for? Clearly, he says righteousness is the goal. But what does he really mean by that? Well, let’s keep digging and figure that out. Let’s think through this next definition:
Righteousness is a one word description of who God is and thus, what he does. And by looking at it from that perspective, we don’t have to guess at what Jesus means when he says his apprentices should hunger and thirst for righteousness, for God the father himself embodies it in His loving character and conduct. Here’s a 2 minute background on the righteousness of God reflected in the Old Testament - the understanding that Jesus and the people listening to him would have had at the time of his teaching in the first century.
First of all, Yaweh is righteous: He speaks and acts according to the purity of his own nature. Additionally, because of the special relationship He had with His people Israel, He acted in agreement with his covenant with them. So Yahweh is righteous in his character and conduct to his covenant people.
Likewise, the Old Testament Jews understood that God’s covenant people are called to live righteously - in conformity to God’s will. God lays that out for them in what we know as The Law. Yet prophets and poets like Hosea and David would also tie righteousness to mercy, loving kindness, and justice. You see, the people of God are to reflect the righteousness of God. So to make it even more clear, God’s intention was not just rule-keeping, though he certainly laid out parameters of conduct within the law that reflect righteousness. But rather, righteousness is living as a reflection of God’s loving heart. This is what He wanted them to see. It’s what he wants us to see as well. Read Isaiah 58 if you want to see the difference between religious rule-keeping and what God is really looking for in our hearts.
And so into this context of history and understanding, Jesus comes teaching about Kingdom righteousness. He too, as the King and Messiah, is the righteous one. He is the one who sets things right. The Kingdom and salvation of God are in Him and come through Him. And, as we see all throughout His teachings, he also lays out for us the parameters that Kingdom citizens live by to be a reflection of the righteous King. It’s what we call the new covenant available to all people. Those who are Kingdom citizens are taught about the new and right way of thinking, feeling, speaking, and behavior and are fully expected to pursue it. And in fact, as we are studying today, Jesus says we should hunger and thirst for it.
Hunger and thirst suggests a kind of desperateness - a craving and longing for things to be different - not just personally, though that is certainly included, but also in the world. I believe Jesus is calling us to a passionate pursuit of right setting in the world. And so let’s get right to the very heart of it with our Big Idea for this lesson:
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Kingdom righteousness begins with right character, is motivated by right loving, and is expressed in right-setting activity. That’s the best definition I can come up with for the kind of Kingdom righteousness that Jesus is talking about here. So let’s break that down a moment. Let’s talk about…
Right character. If you hunger and thirst for righteousness, don’t start with right behavior, start with right character. That’s the problem the Pharisees were plagued with. They were only focused on religious activities. You see, character is the outflow of the inner person that the world sees. How would your family describe your character? How about your co-workers? Listen church, righteousness begins within. Right acting flows from a right heart. If you want to change your character, you’ll need to work on your heart. We’ll be talking much more about how to go about doing that in the weeks ahead.
Let’s look at how James shows this process - of how right character comes first:
James 3:16-18 CSB 16 For where there is envy and selfish ambition, there is disorder and every evil practice. (Notice what comes first: envy and selfish ambition. Those are internal issues that define your character. Disorder and evil practices follow. So what should be in it’s place?) 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without pretense. (And look at this:) 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who cultivate peace.
The fruit of righteousness. Inner righteousness produces a certain kind of fruit. The references to fruit by Jesus and James and Paul and others are too numerous to list today. But surely you’re at least familiar with them. Here’s the essence as Jesus was trying to get through to the Pharisees. This is in Matthew 12:
Matthew 12:33-35 CSB 33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. (That’s character.) 34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.
Oh friend, do you long for, are you hungry and thirsty for the kind of heart Jesus is talking about? A storeroom of good, producing good things? After all, that’s the character of God toward you. God is good. God is so good. And because he is so good, God is love. God is loving. And when you begin to fill your storehouse with God’s good fruit, nothing tops the list like God’s love that can flow through you. That’s the second dynamic of Kingdom righteousness: right loving.
You see love is at the core of everything the entire Bible is about. Listen to the familiar exchange between Jesus as the tricky lawyer:
Matthew 22:36-40 NLT 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
You see, your right-setting behavior should be motivated by right loving. There is no greater expression of the character of God than love. It’s what motivates God into action. His great love comes to the aid of those who are poor in spirit. His great compassion is what drives him to comfort those of us who are mourning. And likewise, love becomes the motivating factor in our lives as well, leading us to a third dynamic of Kingdom righteousness: Right-setting activity.
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Here’s another definition to take note of: Righteousness is wanting what God wants. And I believe this is where the difference between holiness and righteousness comes in. Whereas holiness is the absence of sin, of bad behavior, righteousness is the presence of right-setting behavior. Righteousness is not just the absence of conflict, it is actively working at bringing God’s will to each situation and circumstance of life. Friends, we are change agents, actively engaged in extraordinary acts of love and justice. From big needs of social justice in our community, to surprising reactions of grace and mercy even when people get angry with us and try to hurt us. Why? Kingdom righteousness demands that we want what God wants. In fact, the New Living Translation puts this beatitude a slightly different way:
Matthew 5:6 NLT God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.
Jesus is saying that if we hunger and thirst for it, make it our goal, we will be filled - we will be satisfied. God says righteousness is possible. God says right character is attainable. He says if we long for right loving - he will fill us with His love. He says that if we make right-setting activity our goal, our life purpose even, we will see it come to pass - we will be filled and satisfied.
There’s a special kind of grammar happening here in the Greek. When the passage says “they will be filled,” who is doing the filling? God is. This is called a “divine passive.” There’s no need to state His name, for it is implied and understood.
“When Jesus blesses the disciples who hunger and thirst for righteousness, he blesses those who make righteousness their goal. [This] divine passive reminds us that he is also present in our quest. He will comfort, satisfy, and show mercy to his sons and daughters as they pursue their goal3.” Make no mistake: He is with us!
You’re blessed when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, friends. Who are the ones that hunger and thirst for righteousness? These are the ones who long for things to be set right. Perhaps it is in their own life. Perhaps the person longs to be set right in God’s eyes - to experience the forgiveness and restoration only God can give. Perhaps that person has been wronged. They stand there before God, abused or neglected or ridiculed or forgotten, and they know they need things in life to be set right. This is not how life is suppose to be and the “kingdom of the heavens has a chemistry that can transform even the past and make the terrible, irretrievable losses that human beings experience seem insignificant in the greatness of God. He restores our souls and fills us with the goodness of rightness4.” Or perhaps their hearts break and they mourn for the injustice of the world, for the brokenness of people cast aside by society - the unloved ones, the forgotten and forsaken ones. Can I tell you one more time friend, if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, God is at work - God is at work to satisfy and give us success.
In fact, Who hungers and thirsts for righteousness the most? I’ll tell you who. It starts at the top. God himself longs for things to be set right. In fact, the cross is the ultimate example of how far God will go to set things right. And I love the way John puts it so plainly in his first letter:
1 John 2:29 MSG Once you're convinced that [Jesus] is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.
Kingdom righteousness begins with right character, is motivated by right loving, and is expressed in right-setting activity. Jesus says to pursue this kind of living with your whole being. Make it your priority. Trust the Holy Spirit to be with you and empower you to live it out. Not just holiness - not just the absence of sin and selfishness - but let’s replace the wrong behavior with acts of love that flows from a transformed heart.
Be sure to download this week’s transcript as it has a few suggestions for ways you can pray your way through this commitment to Kingdom Righteousness. I’m praying for you, friend. God is faithful. He is reshaping your
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life to look more like His. Keep going. Don’t give up or give in. Without God - this would be impossible. But with God - all things are possible. So go make a difference in the world!
In addition to using the Disciple’s Priority card as a tool for processing your commitments for action, here are a few simple prayers and meditations:
1. Give me clarity of my current righteousness. 2. If not righteousness, then what occupies the longings of my heart? Success, acceptance, consumerism, etc. 3. Increase my desire - my hunger and thirst for righteousness in my life and in the world. 4. Give me courage to set things right, both the big and small - in my life, my family, & in the world. 5. Thank Him for the grace and strength He has promised to help you reach your goal. With God all things are possible.
1 Daniel M. Doriani. The Sermon of the Mount. 22-23 2 This entire discussion around dikaiosune is summarized from Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. 144-146 3 Daniel M. Doriani. The Sermon of the Mount. 27 4 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. 117
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…SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS…
MATTHEW 6:33 CSB
ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE, PURSUE GOD’S KINGDOM AGENDA AND JOIN WITH HIS ACTIVITY IN YOUR EVERYDAY TRAFFIC PATTERNS OF LIFE
AS YOU DEVELOP THE ATTITUDE AND CHARACTER OF CHRIST.
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS Learning to Live His Way.
Right Character: This begins with a reformation of the heart. Character is the outflow of who you are. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
Spiritual disciplines such as self examination up against meditative reading of God’s word, especially the Gospels, transforms our hearts and minds and thus, His character is revealed from the inside out.
Right Loving: Our supreme treasuring is found in the Greatest Commandments. Love God & Love People. Agape Love is our pursuit, defined by C.S. Lewis as “a selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.” Regular meditative prayer on the following passages is a good start:
1 Corinthians 13 John 13:34-45 Romans 12:9-21 Matthew 5:43-48 1 John 4 John 15:13 Matthew 22:36-40
Right-Setting Activity: We should direct our actions toward making a difference in the realm of His Kingdom activity. We should invest our lives in what God is doing.
Invest in your relationship to Jesus and through Him to the Father.
Invest in your own soul through spiritual disciplines.
Devote yourself to the good of other people: your circles of influence, strangers, those who have been sinned against, the least of these, orphans, widows, prisoners, the forgotten, the cast out, etc.
Things are not as they should be in the world and as His Kingdom partners, we devote our lives to setting things right.
Definitions of Righteousness
Righteousness is a one word description of who God is and thus, what He does.
Righteousness is living out God’s ideal for Kingdom character and conduct.
Righteousness is living as a reflection of God’s loving heart.
Righteousness is wanting what God wants.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD The Kingdom is where what God wants to be done
is being done - most often in partnership with His followers.
(Thy Kingdom Come - Thy Will Be Done.)
Study intensely through the Gospels to grasp the virtues, values, and vision of the Kingdom
so clearly presented by Jesus. Treasure these findings above all else!
God Reality: The kingdom is everywhere you live as a follower of the King. He is present and you are His representative. So practice the presence of God throughout your day. “Thank you, Father, for your presence. Help me to know and do your will in each circumstance.”
God Initiative: The Kingdom is not a passive location. God is active and at work, both within us and through us. God is longing to set things right. Notice His activity in your own life. Be on the lookout for how you can partner with Him in the lives of others.
God Provision: In the Kingdom, the righteous are never forsaken. Practice trusting Him for everything. Remember, under the Shepherd’s care, you lack for nothing. He never gives you an assignment that He doesn’t also provide the resources.
Lesson 5 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 6: The Role of the Holy Spirit
The Big Idea: The Holy Spirit brings us from death to life, teaches and coaches us to be like Christ, and empowers us to be His witnesses, leading disoriented people into the Kingdom.
So far, as we’ve been laying the groundwork for Apprenticeship to Jesus, we’ve perhaps made it seem as though it’s going to take a lot of effort on your part to get there. And in many ways, that is absolutely true. You simply must take responsibility for growth. And in the weeks ahead, we’ll be exploring many different practices that will give assist you with an action plan. But the reality is you’re not alone in this quest.
Now you might think I’m just talking about the other members of your D Group, and of course, I do believe that those relationships are very important in your development. But I’m actually talking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus has promised us and provided us this amazing third partner of the Trinity to empower us and to strengthen us. So let’s talk about the Role of the Holy Spirit in our life and development as dedicated disciples of Jesus.
As you may already know, Kristie and I were both raised in Pentecostal preacher’s houses. We were identified as Pentecostal as we took quite literally the supernatural occurrences that happened on the day of Pentecost found in Acts chapter 2 as evidence of a Spirit-filled life. I mean, just listen to this:
Acts 2:1- 4 CSB 1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.
That sounds like quite the scene, doesn’t it? Can you imagine being a part of something so far-fetched and out of the ordinary? Well, Kristie and I can. We were right in the middle of these kinds of experiences, pretty much every Sunday night! Whether we were misguided or had our theology out of balance, I’m still debating. But in those circles, the Holy Spirit often took center stage. I might have misunderstood all that was taught about the Spirit, but my general take away from all those years of upbringing and experience is that The Holy Spirit is given to us to empower and enable us to do extraordinary things that we could never do in ourselves.
And as we’ll see this in this lesson, I still believe the root of that teaching. In those circles, how that played out in our church life tended to focus on what some would call the manifestation gifts of the Holy Spirit and expecting euphoric, supernatural encounters. Those tended to be the pinnacle and purpose of the Holy Spirit. Now, I don’t want to over stereotype those churches, nor am I even remotely condemning them. They contain some incredibly passionate people doing extraordinary kingdom work and sometimes I’d give anything to see just 10% of their zeal for the presence of God in other churches. And in fact, Pentecostal denominations are the fastest growing in the world right now.
But when we left that particular stream of Christianity some 15 years ago, I eventually had to do some real soul searching and scripture hunting to understand what the Holy Spirit is all about, beyond all the exuberance and hype of my upbringing. What else does the Bible have to say about Him? Is there more to Him than speaking in tongues and healings and prophecy? This lesson is a bit of a culmination of that study, though there is so much to learn it may take a lifetime to fully understand.
What we’re looking for is what Jesus had to say about the subject. Let’s let Him teach us and I’m starting in the fourteenth chapter of John.
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John 14:15-17 CSB [15] "If you love me, you will keep my commands. (So he starts with the familiar idea of obedience. But pay attention to what comes next. He’s saying that for those of us who love Jesus, trust Him fully, evidenced by our obedience to His commands, there is a special gift He’s sending to us. Verse 16…)
[16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.
Now, we’re going to go further in our conversation about the Trinity in the lessons ahead but let’s start the conversation here. It is a difficult subject to fully grasp, three persons of the godhead as we say. Three in one. We have centuries of study from written Scripture, particularly the New Testament, where we find outlines of it everywhere. However, you’ve got to imagine how difficult it would have been for the Jews to have perceived Jesus to actually be God. For centuries, they declared the Shemah, “Hear oh Israel. The Lord our God is one.” And to their understanding, the Spirit of God was simply the influence of God, not necessarily a person.
For example, The Spirit would come upon someone to accomplish a great task,
Judges 6:34 CSB The Spirit of the Lord enveloped Gideon, and he blew the ram’s horn and the Abiezrites rallied behind him.
So the Spirit was seen as an influence from God that imparted special abilities for particular moments. As another example, at one point, Samuel was giving some instructions to King Saul. Samuel told Saul,
1 Samuel 10:6 CSB The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully on you, you will prophesy with them, and you will be transformed.
So to the Jews, the Spirit of God was perceived to be an influential force of God, a power booster for God’s special projects, but not necessarily a separate person from the Father.
Within this context and background, it’s understandable that they didn’t understand all that Jesus was saying and teaching. The Trinity was a totally unknown concept to them. It was even blasphemous as far as they were concerned.
And yet we see it distinctly here in John 14:16: JESUS will ask the FATHER to send the SPIRIT. Now the particular word Jesus uses for the Spirit here is Paraclete. (And no, that’s not what athletes wear on their feet onto the ball field!) There is not a perfect English word to use in our translation of the word Paraclete. There are connotations in the word Counselor that aren’t really present in the Greek. He’s not like a camp counselor or a marriage counselor. The secular meaning of a Paraclete was more like a legal counselor, but even that conjures up the idea that He is simply a modern day defense attorney. That’s not quite right either. Other translations use the word Advocate. Peterson even translates it as Friend. The best understanding I’ve found in my studies is found in the verb form of the word, parakaleo, which means “to call alongside and therefore to encourage or to strengthen.” So I’ve come to think of Jesus’ promise as Him sending us an Encourager or Helper or perhaps even best, Strengthener.
But as we’ll see, this is a very specific kind of strengthening. And there are good reasons the advocate and counselor and friend ideas come into play. But what is also important to point out is that Jesus is not just referring to the Holy Spirit as some kind of invisible power source, like a battery pack or like a 5 Hour energy drink, or especially not like being given some kind of magical powers. Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit as a person. “I will ask the Father to send you a Friend, an encourager and strengthener to be with you forever.” In fact, look at verse 17:
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[17] He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn't see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
Make no mistake about it, the Holy Spirit is a person. HE will be with us and in us and remains or stays with us. “The Spirit of God had come on Old Testament believers temporarily to give them strength, but normally He did not remain with them. What Jesus spoke of here was an abiding relationship in which the Spirit remained with believers for the rest of their lives.”
This is not the first time Jesus talked about the Holy Spirit coming to take up residence within us. Earlier in John’s Gospel, back in chapter 8, we see..
John 8:37-39 CSB 37 …“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 The one who believes in me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.” 39 He said this about the Spirit. Those who believed in Jesus were going to receive the Spirit, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Those who entrust their lives to Jesus are given the Holy Spirit who in turn brings us new and abundant life from the inside out. As Jesus said back in chapter 14, the Spirit will be with us and will be in us. And as we believe in His truth, life will flow from within us. This is one of the first clues Jesus gives us about the purpose of the Holy Spirit in the life of His followers: He is the agent of Christ’s promised regeneration - the power that brings our spiritually dead lives to life - streams of living water flowing from deep within.
We don’t have time to give this a full treatment, but if you study Paul’s writings to the Romans in chapter 8, you’ll get an even clearer picture of this life-giving of the Holy Spirit. Paul said,
Romans 8:9-11 NLT 9 …you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
What an incredible statement. The same supernatural, wonder-working power that rose Jesus from the dead lives within us!
Now, notice Paul uses these interchangeable titles: the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. So which is it? Christ or the Holy Spirit? Or is it both? Well again, this speaks to the mystery of the Trinity. Three separate but always united entities. The Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of Christ are one and the same, yet also different. To me, this reference to the Spirit of Christ that Paul uses throughout His letters is so helpful to me and I think in great alignment with what Jesus is teaching, as we will see in just a moment. The Holy Spirit is not a separate department of the Godhead out to get us to do some new and different thing from the mission of Jesus. No, He is the Spirit of Christ working within us to bring about all that Jesus taught and promised related to His Kingdom Revolution.
Let’s get back to the Upper Room and let me show you what I mean. Jesus said,
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John 14:25-26 CSB [25] "I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. [26] But the Counselor (or Strengthener or Helper), the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
Now again, it would be just about impossible to miss the Trinity here: The Father sends to us the Holy Spirit in the name of, or as the expressed representative - the agent of the Son. So this name Paul uses so often, The Spirit of Christ, is quite appropriate. We don’t have the bodily presence of Jesus with us, but since the Holy Spirit and the Son are one, we do have Christ’s Spirit with us and in us, bringing us to new life. And secondly we see here another purpose of the Holy Spirit: He teaches us and reminds us of everything Jesus taught.
This is so central and important for true followers of Christ. You should remember from the Great Commission, our marching orders, what Jesus said to us: “Go to every ethnic group on the planet and make apprentices to Jesus. Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” And this last little bit often gets left out: “Teach them to obey everything I commanded.” This is the mission of the church and therefore the Holy Spirit is there to assist us in the mission Jesus gave us.
Now over to chapter 16 verse 12, Jesus says:
[12] "I still have many things to tell you, but you can't bear them now. [13] When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.
Jesus is saying, “Even after I’m gone, the Spirit will continue to clarify things I’ve said.” Have you been noticing this other title for the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of truth? You might have noticed over the years that often when I offer a prayer before the preaching of the Word, I include this very line, “Holy Spirit come and guide us into all truth.” We see that here in verse 13, and what I take it to mean is a way of saying, “Show us how things really are. Specifically, based on what Jesus taught us about life in the Kingdom, help us to know it completely as a reality for ourselves. Guide us into it.”
And like an ever present coach and tutor, especially as we engage in various spiritual disciplines like prayer and scripture reading and memory and fasting, The Spirit continually builds us up with wisdom and confidence, reminding us over and over of the fundamentals of the Jesus Way, encouraging, prodding, even cheering us on.
What Jesus had said with His Freedom Formula in John 8:31-32, “If you continue to follow my teaching you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” is ultimately realized through the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Jesus’ followers as the Spirit “strengthens” them to live it out for themselves. Freedom from the effects of sin. Anger and bitterness, worry and fear, discouragement and despair. All these chains are broken - we are freed from them - as the Spirit guides us into the truth that sets us free, so we can truly love, live, and lead like Jesus.
Look friends, “The presence of the Holy Spirit can always be recognized by the way He moves us toward what Jesus would be and do. When we inwardly experience the heavenly sweetness and power of life—the love, joy, and peace—that Jesus knew, that is the work of the Spirit in us1.”
Remember, the same power that rose Jesus from the grave, the power that overcame the domain of darkness, lives in us, freeing us from the grip of our own spiritual death traps, moving us toward vibrant Christlikeness. We’ll talk even more about this in the weeks ahead as we explore the great metaphor of abiding in the Vine and bearing much fruit - fruit of the Spirit such as love, joy, and peace.
Now, it should be obvious to you by now that the Holy Spirit has not come to bring a spotlight on himself, but rather to bring all attention and allegiance to Jesus. Jesus, as the head of His church takes center stage, not the
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Spirit. But the Spirit is the empowering agent of Jesus’ work in the world through His church. Listen to the next half of verse 13:
John 16:13-15 CSB [13b] For he will not speak on his own, but he will speak whatever he hears. He will also declare to you what is to come. (The Spirit is speaking on behalf of Jesus, relaying truth. And look how he brings attention to Jesus…) [14] He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. [15] Everything the Father has is mine. This is why I told you that he takes from what is mine and will declare it to you.
So again, the Spirit is the activating, truth messenger, gift-giving agent of Jesus both in us individually and through the church for the purpose of accomplishing the mission of Jesus. Go back to chapter 15, verse 26. There’s even more of this Spirit giving attention to Jesus here:
John 15:26-27 CSB [26] "When the Counselor (or the Strengthener and Friend) comes, the one I will send to you from the Father-the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father-he will testify about me. [27] You also will testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.
He will testify about Christ. He will bear witness or declare the truth of Christ. This is such an important point to make here. In order for the world to know this good news of life from above in the Kingdom of God, someone has to speak up. Someone has to “take the stand,” so to speak, and tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Someone who knows firsthand. Of course, the Holy Spirit is that great someone - the Great Witness. But now, how does the Spirit actually do that? Well before we get to that, let’s address the last of the Holy Spirit teaching Jesus gave us in His farewell address. Back to chapter 16, verse 7:
John 16:7-11 CSB [7] Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don't go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you. [8] When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, righteousness, and judgment: [9] About sin, because they do not believe in me; [10] about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; [11] and about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.
This is a complex and deep little section but let’s break it down just a bit. First of all, we see that the Spirit will “convict” the world. Your translation might say “prove the world wrong.” The word means “to bring to light, to expose, and to find fault with.” So we could say, “The Spirit will expose the error of the godless world’s view of sin, righteousness, and judgment.” The intention is to expose the error for the sake of helping people make the necessary course corrections, to help them change their thinking and worldview - to experience metanoia - to come to a place of repentance. Jesus outlines three primary errors the Holy Spirit will work to expose:
• Sin: He’ll show people that their refusal to believe in Jesus is their basic sin • Righteousness: Righteousness ultimately comes from above - not simply by works of human goodness. • Judgement: Judgment takes place as the ruler of this godless world is brought to trial and convicted. The
resurrection of Jesus constituted a condemnation of the devil. Paul tells us in Colossians 2, “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and disgraced them publicly; he triumphed over them in him. (Col. 2:15). Since the ruler of the world stands condemned, those who belong to the world can expect the same treatment unless they believe in Jesus.
So here’s the progression: “When a spiritually disoriented person is under conviction, he sees the error and evil of unbelief; he will confess that he does not measure up to the righteousness of Christ; and he will realize that he is under condemnation because he belongs to the world’s value system. Conversion is preceded by conviction, and conviction comes as the Spirit of God uses the Word of God and the witness of the child of God2.”
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See how that works? Remember, Jesus said the Counselor would be the Great Witness. Jesus also said to those 11 disciples that they too would be his witnesses - “You also will testify.” This is how Jesus uses His followers. He gives them the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit speaks the truth through them. This is precisely what Jesus said in his very last words just before His ascension. Here’s Dr. Luke’s retelling of it:
Acts 1:4-5, 8 CSB 4 While [Jesus] was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” 8 …you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and (here it is) you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
He empowers His church to boldly live out the way, truth, and life. And he empowers us to be His witnesses. “It is important to note that the Spirit comes to the church and not to the world. He works in and through the church…Just as the Son of God had to have a body in order to do His work on earth, so the Spirit of God needs a body to accomplish His work; and that body is the church. . . . The Holy Spirit works through the people in whom He lives3.”
Oh, there’s so much more that could be said about the Holy Spirit even though we’ve covered an awful lot of ground today. So let me see if I can help us take this extensive amount of teaching and condense it into simple to understand terms. Again, I’m a visual learner so maybe this can help you too. According to Jesus’,
1. The Holy Spirit is the agent of Christ’s promised regeneration - the power that brings our spiritually dead lives to new and abundant life. It’s the very moment the life we were meant to live begins. Next…
2. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, teaches and reminds us of all Jesus taught, guiding us into all truth, coaching us toward Christlikeness in both character and conduct; Kingdom Righteousness evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit in us personally, what He’s doing to renew our lives individually. But remember, there’s a work within the broken world the Holy Spirit is helping us to accomplish.
3. The Holy Spirit is the Great Witness, testifying of Jesus. He draws attention and allegiance toward Jesus the King.
4. And thus, He empowers us for the same purpose - to be living examples and bold witnesses of the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
5. Through the church, the Holy Spirit continues the “convicting” work of Jesus: Calling people to repentance - to give their allegiance to Jesus the King.
And so it’s like I said at the very beginning, the Holy Spirit is given to us to empower and enable us to do extraordinary things that we could never do in ourselves. He’s the one that brings the righteousness of Christ into reality, something we could never do for ourselves. He’s the one that comes along side us to encourage and strengthen us in our quest toward Christlikeness, something we could never achieve on our own. And he’s the one who empowered that first little band of believers of mostly uneducated people and with little position and influence to cause an explosion of Kingdom growth that continues right up to this very day. The same power that rose Jesus from the grave is alive in us. May we recognize this awesome gift and allow the Holy Spirit to continue His transforming work in our hearts and lives, in our church, and to the utter most parts of the earth, to the glory of our matchless lord and savior Jesus Christ! The reality is, “No true believer in Jesus lacks the Spirit. Yet we can all have deeper and more transforming experiences of the Spirit. The question for the believer is not, “Do I have the Spirit?” but rather, “How much of me does the Spirit have?” The more we surrender ourselves to God, the more we seek him, the more the Spirit of God will renew us and empower us for the ministry of Christ4.”
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Remember, the Holy Spirit is our strengthener and teacher. Christlikeness is not automatic. It is a partnership between yourself and the Holy Spirit. As you surrender your life daily to His will, engaging in spiritual disciplines like studying His Word and the life and message of Jesus, and seeking Divine Intimacy through prayer, the Spirit comes along side you to give you success. So this week, let your prayers be that of surrender. Lean on the power of the Spirit. Invite Him to open your eyes and to teach and coach you throughout every circumstance of your life. And let him empower you to be an effective witness of the abundant life Jesus promised.
1 Dallas Willard. The Great Omission. P. 27. 2 Wiersbe. 3 Wiersbe. 4 Mark Roberts. You Have the Spirit of Christ. https://www.theologyofwork.org/the-high-calling/daily-reflection/you-have-spirit-christ-0
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Lesson 6 Study and Discussion Questions
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First Big Review!
Be prepared to recite all scripture memory verses.
Be prepared with the following answers: • What is a disciple of Christ as we have defined it? • What does repent mean? • What does Believe really mean? • What is the definition of agape love? • What is The Disciple’s Freedom Formula? • What is the Disciple’s Priority? • What are the three aspects of the Kingdom we’ve outlined? Describe what they mean.
(God Reality, Initiative, Provision) • What are the three primary aspects of Kingdom Righteousness as we’ve outlined?
Describe what they mean. (Right Character, Right Loving, Right Setting Activity) • What are our definitions of righteousness? (See the bottom of the disciple’s priority card) • Describe the role of the Holy Spirit within the life of an individual believer. • What is the role of the Holy Spirit in world? Who does He use and what are the effects?
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Lesson 7: Fish Like Jesus (Lead Like Jesus)
Big Idea: To fish like Jesus, we may need to need to spend ample time eating with disreputable guests, going to where the people who need Him the most are located!
I don’t know if know much about me or not, but I absolutely love food. I mean, I know we all have at least a common interest in food because it is necessary for life and all, but my affection for it goes way beyond the practical application. To me, eating good food with good folks is just about as good as it gets in this life.
I’ve kind of always been that way too. Back when my metabolism rate was about 10 times better than it is now, I use to say my four favorite words are all you can eat. I have such a fond remembrance of Huntsville, Alabama because when I was in the 9th grade, a guy in our church asked if I had ever had Krispy Kreme doughnuts. When he found out I hadn’t, he loaded me up and we headed over to Huntsville. He ordered up 2 dozen hot ones and handed a box back to me in the back seat. Within just a few minutes I said, “You got any more?” I had finished the whole dozen! There are so many of these stories.
The first pastor I worked for came with a pick up truck and the smallest U Haul trailer to move me and Kristie to Sevierville, TN. On the way up, we stopped at Cracker Barrel and he told me to get the big ole Uncle Herschel’s breakfast. I finished that off and he said, “Do you want another one?” I said, “Would that be alright?” He said, “Sure.” They all had to sit there and wait on me to finish off another round!
But the best story, and perhaps a bit embarrassing, is when Kerry and Elaine Skinner and Kristie and I went to Pappasito’s to celebrate our birthdays. Man, I love that place. We’re sitting there and I’m just in heaven and I’m taking those bacon wrapped shrimp brochette stuffed with cheese and just a sliver jalapeño and baptizing them in the montequilla sauce. I was so overwhelmed that I actually began to weep. No kidding, tears of joy. Oh man, I’ll never live it down. I’m telling ya’, food is a spiritual experience for me. I’ll bet at least of few of you are like that, too.
Well I think we’re in very good company. In fact, as strange as it may sound, that’s what we’re going to talk about today as we learn what it means to Fish Like Jesus
Let me ask you how you would finish this statement: “The Son of Man came ________?” What might we say? Preaching the word? Establishing the kingdom? To die on a cross?
Well, there are actually three ways the Gospel writers finish that statement:
• “…the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 ESV
• “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:10 ESV • “The Son of Man came eating and drinking…” Matthew 11:19 ESV
This is really important here. Those first two clarify Jesus’ purpose. They define WHY he came. He came to serve, to give his life, to seek and to save. If you’ve ever really wondered what His mission was, you’ll find it in those first two statements. But the third statement is about his method. HOW did Jesus come? He came eating and drinking.
The dinner table was central to the method of his serving and seeking and saving. Of course, this is why the religious elite struggled with him. They expected the Son of Man, a title from the prophetic book of Daniel, to come with an army of angels or on clouds of heaven, in a blaze of glory. But how does Jesus come? Eating and
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drinking. I’m telling you, the way he loved the dinner table, I just know He and I would have gotten along just fine!
You see, when Jesus commissioned His disciples in Matthew 28 to Go and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them, teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded, he wasn’t asking them to do something he hadn’t fully prepared them to do. He had modeled, step by step, how to do it. And He had promised his disciples from the very beginning that if they stuck with Him, not only would they know how to do it, but that they would be tremendously successful.
In fact, why don’t we go back to the beginning of their story in Luke 5 and see just how this unfolded. This is very early in Jesus’ ministry. He’s begun preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God in a few synagogues and he’s performed a couple of miraculous healings. The crowd is really beginning to build. Luke 5 verse 1:
[1] As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God's word, he was standing by Lake Gennesaret. [2] He saw two boats at the edge of the lake; the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. [3] He got into one of the boats, which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then he sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat. [4] When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch." [5] "Master," Simon replied, "we've worked hard all night long and caught nothing. But if you say so, I'll let down the nets." [6] When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets began to tear. [7] So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. [8] When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus's knees and said, "Go away from me, because I'm a sinful man, Lord!" [9] For he and all those with him were amazed at the catch of fish they had taken, [10] and so were James and John, Zebedee's sons, who were Simon's partners. "Don't be afraid," Jesus told Simon. "From now on you will be catching people." [11] Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him. Luke 5:1-11 CSB
What a special story. “From now on you will be catching people.” Jesus was saying in a language and lingo that these fishermen would have understood that there’s a new goal for your life. He was inviting them to come fish like him. That’s our subject for today, “Fish like Jesus!”
Mark relays this interaction in a bit of a different way. We were reading this passage together in our D Group coaches training one night and Brad noticed something in the New American Standard Translation that caught his attention. Listen to this subtle difference:
17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Mark 1:17-18 NASB
Those of us who’ve been in the faith for a long time might recall that to say, “I’ll make you fishers of men.” But if this translation is more accurate, that Jesus will make us to become fishers of men, it means instead of Jesus just automatically making you into a new fisherman, there is a process we go through to actually become a fisherman. This is why following Jesus is so important. Why observing His patterns, His choices of who to be with, the way He talks about spiritual things, is so important.
I’ve never been a fisherman. My first pastor that I mentioned earlier was an avid fisherman and one of the first things he wanted to do with me was get me out on the lake in his bass boat. I didn’t know the first thing about it, but he did. He taught me, step by step how to do it. How to use the right “bait”, how to cast it, how to patiently work it, reeling it in slowly. Then repeating. To be honest, I don’t remember catching anything that day, but had I stuck with him, I would have learned it because he was really quite good at it.
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So again, Jesus’ point was come follow me and I will make you to become fishers of men. His intention was to equip them for the Great Commission. This is why we use the language of apprenticeship. Jesus was bringing those disciples around him so he could have close personal interaction with them, so they could watch His methods. So let’s follow Jesus along with them a bit and see what we discover.
As we’ve already seen, Jesus has called his first few disciples to apprentice with Him. Both Mark and Luke record for us the calling of Matthew or Levi as Jesus’ next disciple. We’re in Mark 2 now. Look how this unfolds. I love the plain language used here in the New Living Translation:
Mark 2:13-17 NLT [13] Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. [14] As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him.
I love how these guys just responded so immediately and completely. Net droppers and Tax booth abandoners. I wonder sometimes, have we done that? Have we gone all in like that? It really is a powerful first step. Let’s keep watching though…
[15] Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers.)
You’ve just got to love this. Many disreputable people were among his followers. Jesus didn’t try to keep his own reputation clean. He went to where the people needed Him. And of course, here we find him very early in his ministry, modeling for his disciples that the dinner table is the perfect place to meet with sinners. He didn’t invite them down to the synagogue. He accepted the invitation to hang out with them on their turf. In a non-religious atmosphere. Of course, that’s not what good church going folks would do. Don’t let your good be evil spoken of and all of that. Listen to what they say…
[16] But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat with such scum?" [17] When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."
This is such an important lesson. It’s so radical. What Jesus is modeling for his apprentices is that He didn’t come just to hang out in the church. Watch his ministry. He’s almost always out in public somewhere. He did do some important things in the temple, preaching there from time to time. Yet he spent the majority of his time out in the streets, on the hillsides, and especially around the dinner table. Why? That’s where the people who need him most are found.
So many churches, and I’ve certainly been guilty of this over the years, we think the answer to reaching more people is to plan more events at the church. We get so inward focused. More Bible studies, more fellowships, more church services. Believe it or not, that’s not really the Jesus Way. His way is to go where the people are, especially the disreputable, and simply have dinner. The more activities a church plans for itself, the less time they have for actually fishing like Jesus.
Luke’s Gospel is full of stories of Jesus eating with people:
The story we just read of Jesus eating with Levi is found in Luke 5. In Luke 7, Jesus is anointed at the home of Simon the Pharisee during a meal. In Luke 9, Jesus feeds 5,000. In Luke 10 Jesus sends 72 of his disciples out on mission. Their instruction is to go two by two and discover a person of peace where they can stay and do their work. Here’s how it reads specifically:
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[5] Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.' [6] If a person of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. (Notice what he says next.) [7] Remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they offer, for the worker is worthy of his wages. Don't move from house to house. [8] When you enter any town, and they welcome you, (here it is again) eat the things set before you. [9] Heal the sick who are there, and tell them, 'The kingdom of God has come near you.' Luke 10:5-9 CSB
This is such an important concept so let’s take a sidebar here to talk about. I reference it a lot, this person of peace. We usually talk about it in terms of someone who is not currently a Christ follower, but could be. A person of peace is someone who is open to you. Someone who is not resistant. I think of it as someone with whom I have something in common or just have a rapport with. Through that natural connection you seem to have, it gives us the pathways to talk about faith and eventually even help that person discover the life they were meant to live.
Missionaries often use this technique when they go into an unreached people group. Once they’ve discovered a person of peace, God uses that initial relationship as an open door for that person’s own circle of influence. The point is, Always be on the lookout for your persons of peace.
But Luke keeps the dinner table stories going: Also in chapter 10, we see Jesus eating with Mary and Martha. In chapter 11, Jesus condemns the Pharisees and the teachers of the law at a meal. In chapter 14, he urges people to invite the poor to their meals rather than just their friends. That’s also the same chapter where Jesus tells the parable of how the Master sent the servant out to the highways and hedges to bring in all kinds of guests, that his house may be full for the dinner party he had prepared.
And who could forget Zacchaeus in chapter 19, the man enshrined forever as the wee little man. Jesus invites himself over to his house for dinner. And then, as Jesus’ earthly life is nearing the end, we see Him in chapter 22 at the last supper with his disciples. Finally, following the resurrection, the risen Christ has a meal with the two disciples in Emmaus, and then later eats fish with the disciples in Jerusalem. One writer said, “In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal1.”
Now on one hand, we could say, “Of course Jesus was eating meals. We all have to eat to survive.” But the real point is noticing what’s going on as the writers are describing mealtime. It’s who he’s with and the conversations that are taking place. And really, it is the very nature of how he’s operating. Look at how Jesus repeats what the religious elite were saying about him and even how they compared him to John the Baptizer:
Matthew 11:18-19 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’
John was marked by his abstinence - Jesus by his regular gatherings around the dinner table. I love the way Tim Chester puts this in his book “Meals With Jesus:”
“This is why eating and drinking were so important in the mission of Jesus: they were a sign of his friendship with tax collectors and sinners. His ‘excess’ of food and his ‘excess’ of grace are linked. In the ministry of Jesus, meals were enacted grace, community, and mission.
So the meals of Jesus represent something bigger. They represent a new world, a new kingdom, a new outlook. But they give that new reality substance. Jesus’s meals are not just symbols; they’re also application. They’re not just pictures; they’re the real thing in miniature…They represent friendship, community, and welcome2.”
Here it is even more plainly: If you truly apprentice your life to fish like Jesus, if you really walk with him and work with him, watching how he does it, much of what you experience will be around the dinner table. The Son of Man came eating and drinking. It’s not complicated. True, it’s not always easy, it involves people invading
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your space or going to places where you don’t feel comfortable. But it’s not complicated. If you share a meal three or four times a week and you have a passion for Jesus, then you will be building up the Christian community and reaching out in mission. You’ll be fishing like Jesus.
Well, the Pharisees are truly stumped by the way Jesus is going about his ministry. Back at the story with Levi, in Luke 5 they make this statement: [33] “John’s disciples fast often and say prayers, and those of the Pharisees do the same, but yours eat and drink.” You see, the Jews fasted to call upon God to come in mercy to liberate the nation. But what if God’s Messiah, full of mercy, is here, sitting at the table with the tax collectors?
But then in verses 36-39 Jesus makes it explicit. He says something radically new is happening. It’s not just an amendment to an old system. You don’t sew a new patch on an old garment or put new wine in old wineskins. Grace can’t be integrated with self-righteousness and self-importance. It’s radically different, radically new. And this is the new way Jesus is calling us to, as well.
Think about it: the new way is gracious rather than religious, inclusive rather than exclusive, welcoming rather than unwelcoming. It is characterized by feasting rather than fasting, rejoicing rather than grumbling. It recognizes its need and finds hope in the Savior rather than feeling self-righteous and therefore rejecting a Savior. Compare those two lists. Are you living as someone who belongs to the new way?
This is how Jesus explains himself: [31] “It is not those who are healthy who need a doctor, but those who are sick. [32] I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” The Pharisees are asking Jesus to behave like a doctor who avoids sick people. Such a doctor clearly couldn’t do his work. Jesus the Savior can’t do his work unless he’s with sinful people.
And listen to me, friend: It’s the same for those who follow Jesus. We can’t do our work of pointing sinners to the Savior unless we spend time with them. The first thing Levi does after following Jesus is to throw a party. Not a fellowship for his new small group at church, but for his sin-sick friends and fellow swindlers. You see, when Jesus eats with Levi, the message is clear: Jesus has come for losers, people on the margins, people who’ve made a mess of their lives, people who are ordinary.
I’m afraid too many of us have lost our zeal for our disreputable friends. Or more likely, maybe we’ve gotten so use to being with our church friends, we don’t even have any good, disreputable friends. Maybe our church schedules have left us little time for it. Maybe our new behavior makes it hard to hang out with old friends. Maybe we’ve been warned of the influence they might have on us. But listen closely, friends: those who avoid the contamination of sinners are like the Pharisees. Those who earn the label “friend of sinners” are like their Savior.
This is what it truly means to fish like Jesus. Fishermen go to where the fish are, they don’t wait for the fish to come to them. And if we return to the beginning of the story, where Jesus has stepped into the boat with Peter and Andrew, we see that Jesus was so confident of his disciple’s success. He gave them the instructions to put out into the deep water. To cast their nets. Oh, it didn’t make much sense to them. They’d been fishing these waters all night and caught nothing. But when Jesus gets involved in the fishing expedition, something
THE NEW WAY • Gracious • Inclusive • Welcoming • Feasting • Rejoicing • Recognizes its need and
finds hope in the Savior
THE OLD WAY • Religious • Exclusive • Unwelcoming • Fasting • Grumbling • Feels self-righteous and
therefore rejects a Savior
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extraordinary happens. “Cast your nets, Peter.” And what was the result? Just about more fish than they could handle. What a metaphor for the life a disciple of Christ.
Friends, don’t get weary. Perhaps many of us have never caught a single fish. We’ve never had success at bringing someone into the faith. But we have to ask ourselves, Is that because we don’t have faith to believe what Jesus tells us? Have we docked our fishing boat on the shoreline because we just don’t believe there are any fish left? Have we cast the net a time or two and it came back empty?
Oh friend, let’s hear the voice of the master! For once, let’s get off of dry land and go to where the fish are. Let’s push on out into the deep water, let’s take some risk, let’s do the uncomfortable and even what may seem questionable to some. Let’s hang out with the disreputable. Let’s find our persons of peace. Let’s follow Jesus’ example of eating and drinking with sinners. Let’s learn to fish like Jesus and who knows? Just maybe the nets will be bursting and our boats barely able to handle the numbers of people who discover the life they were meant to live.
Well as we bring this challenge to a close, I don’t want to just leave you simply inspired, I want to also offer some practical steps to help you put it into action. I’m not going to go deeply into detail, but take a look at this with me. First of all, there are three things you need to get clear about. Number one…
Get clear about what you have received and are experiencing: How would you describe it? What difference has Jesus made in your life. New Life? Living Water? Forgiveness and Hope? This is why it’s so important to keep your relationship with Jesus alive enough to spark contagious conversation. (It might even help to write it out.) Next…
Get clear about what we have to offer: People are radically disoriented. That’s why one of the ways the Gospel writers described Jesus’ purpose was that He came to seek and to save the lost - the disoriented. So that’s what we have to offer as well. We’re helping people discover the life they were meant to live. So, get clear about what you’ve received and are experiencing, get clear about what we have to offer, and also…
Get clear about your assignment: Jesus said He’d make us to become fishers of men. He showed us the way, too. At Northway, we say the first part of our assignment to make disciples is to Build Relationships and Bridges to Unchurched Friends. In other words, our assignment is to fish like Jesus.
That’s our role. Paul put it so clearly to the Corinthians:
And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20)
That’s our assignment - ambassadors, messengers of reconciliation, bridge builders to unchurched friends, pleading with them, “Come back to God! Discover the life you were meant to live!”
Now last of all, let me offer up what we might call the 5 Habits of Highly Effective Fishers of Men. It’s not an exact science. It’s not meant to be a no-fail formula. These are just ways to help us to stay consistently on task. Habit number one…
Discover Your Persons of Peace. This is why being salt and light like we talked about in our last session is so important. It builds your credibility in your spheres of influence. Again, persons of peace are people who seem open to relationship. You’ve hit it off with them at work or at your kid’s ball practice. And so you say something like, “Let’s get together sometime. I’d love to hear more of your story.” That leads us to our second habit:
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Practice Hospitality Evangelism. The meal table or the coffee table is a perfect place to build relationships. That’s what you’re doing. Building friendships. And like Jesus, you’re doing that by simply being together - whether it’s in a restaurant or even your house. Remember, for some people, the door to the Kingdom might just be the front door of your home. Or how about doing like Matthew and consider throwing a Party with a Purpose? Now as you’re building these relationships, be sure to practice this third habit…
Always be Listening for Disoriented Life Signals. These clues to disoriented living will give you the open door to helping people discover the life they were meant to live. I heard Andy Stanley talk about this and it seems really easy to pick up on. You can think of them as three nots… 1. Not Going Well… Times of difficulty and unsettledness. A lack of peace and joy. Uncertainty. Those kinds of things indicate that for your friend, life is not going well. Or maybe it’s more of a life crisis and you hear them say that they were… 2. Not Prepared For… Maybe it is the loss of a loved one or loss of a job. Divorce or some tragic event. They need direction. And along the way, you’ll probably also hear them confess that they are… 3. Not in Church. That’s pretty self explanatory, I know. That person may have never been in church or even heard much about the life Jesus has to offer. Still, many of them probably have been in church at some point, and a few of them may even have been Christ followers in the past. But if they’re not in church, it’s not likely that they’re following the Jesus Way.
When you hear that kind of language—not going well, not prepared for or not in church—chances are pretty good that they’re in need of direction in life. So what do you do if you hear it? You keep inviting. That’s the fourth habit. It is simply…
Invite. Invite. Invite. Continue to invite people to take the next step in relationship. Invite them, in a sense, to follow you in this journey. You’re like a Trail Guide on the Disciple’s Trail. You’re inviting them to follow you. Oh, it might not be explicit at first. But as you follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, you’re taking initiative to metaphorically extend your hand of invitation down the trail. So you invite them to coffee, then to lunch, then into your home, and then to a Northway EZ Invite event, and of course, habit five is to…
Bring Your Unchurched Friends to Church. You’re like the Samaritan lady at the well who ran back to the village after her encounter with Jesus. She said, “Come see a man!” And sure enough, those friends became believers and followers of Jesus as well. She was a Person of Peace that Jesus discovered and then she turned her village upside down. Now, Sunday church is certainly not the only place a person makes their decision to follow Christ. In fact, in our next session, we’ll be talking about some ways for you to share that particular invitation yourself. But we all know there is something special that happens in church. God’s presence is experienced. The Fellowship of One Anothering is on display. The sermons inspire and provoke deeper spiritual thinking. And as a person is challenged to not stay as they are, but to find their hope and peace in Jesus, often times, life changing decisions are made in that environment or at least because of something they experienced there. So build your relationships through hospitality evangelism and EZ Invite Events, but at some point, bring your friend to church.
Jesus said, “I will make you to become fishers of men.” I believe He meant what He said. So let’s follow His patterns. Let’s go where the fish are. Let’s take time to understand who they are and where they are in life. Let’s see ourselves as trail guides on The Disciple’s Trail, and let’s trust God and His Holy Spirit to give us success as His ambassadors, his messengers of reconciliation. Start this week. Be watching and listening closely. Discover your persons of peace. Develop those fishing habits we talked about. And let’s get busy, fishing like Jesus.
1 Robert J. Karris. Eating You away through Luke’s Gospel. P. 14 2 Tim Chester. Meals With Jesus. P 14
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Lesson 7 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 8: Loving Like Jesus: Fully Participating in Trinitarian Agape Love
The Big Idea: Trinitarian agape’ love is made complete in us as we love others the way He loves us.
Here’s our premise: A disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said it like this, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” That sounds like a negative proposition, but it’s truly not. It is a call to die to the old self - and to be brought alive in Christ as we follow and learn from him.
You might remember we said it this way, that an apprentice is a person who submits or binds themselves to a master craftsman for the sake of learning a trade. That’s what we’re committing to. Learning from the master how to do life in the Kingdom of God.
Paul believed this was our destiny, the life we were meant to live and said so in no uncertain terms:
Romans 8:29 CSB 'For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…
That simply means that God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who follow him along the same lines as the life of his Son. This is the life you were meant to live.
That’s why our theme as a Christ follower is quite simply, “The aim of my life is to be like Christ.” Now the way I see it, as much of a challenge as that may sound, it really simplifies things. I simply need to be a student of the life and teachings of Christ. We discovered this a couple of weeks ago as we talked about the Disciple’s Freedom Formula. Jesus said,
John 8:31-32, MSG “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”
You will know the truth. Remember, “knowing” in the Biblical sense is almost always referring to an experiential practice or an interactive relationship - not just head knowledge. You know it because you’ve experienced it for yourself and now you know for yourself that it’s true. And Jesus says, because you’re putting HIS specific teachings into practice, you are a disciple of Christ, for sure.
So that’s what we’re doing. We’re looking closely at how Jesus lived and what Jesus taught. As we hear it, observe it, then put it into practice, we will experience his freedom now as we begin living out our eternal lives in the Kingdom of the Heavens. Learning to love, live, and lead like Jesus.
So let’s jump in. Let’s begin looking closely at what it looks like to love like Jesus.
Now, in the earliest stages of my thought process around these lessons, as I was conceptualizing what we would discuss, I thought it would primarily be about taking some snapshots of Jesus’ life, looking in on the narratives, catching him in action so to speak, and then identifying the specific activities we need to emulate. “Jesus acted loving in this particular way, so we should too.” And we will absolutely do some of that before we’re finished.
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But there is a deeper truth we need to get to first. If we are to do the ACTS of love like Jesus did, we first need to understand HOW Jesus loves. Not just the outward manifestation, but the internal love. What kind of love motivated him to act the way he did? Remember, we’re not just after behavior modification. We’re after inner transformation. So let’s try to get to the heart of Jesus. Because, if you’re going to love like Jesus, it starts with Heart.
I want to begin today with what may seem to be a somewhat aloof and theological discussion. It’s a subject I had not paid enough attention to over the years because of the difficulty of understanding it. It is the Trinity. The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Particularly what I want to speak to is trinitarian love. So hang in there with me. We’re going deep for a few minutes - but it’s so powerful.
The word trinity doesn’t actually appear in the Bible, but even though the word might not be explicitly stated, there are a number of passages where it is actually seen. The early church came to grips with the reality of the trinity fairly early on - and by the early third century, Tertullian one of the early church fathers started using the term and teaching the principles. We’ve been wrestling with it ever since.
We see subtle and explicit references that lead to the ida of the Trinity. For example:
2 Corinthians 13:13 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The Great Commission to which we’ve been referring in these lessons is another verse that references the trinity as well.
Matthew 28:19-20 CSB 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.
The trinity. Three in one. Now, the real question I’d like to present today is not so much to completely grasp the complexity of the Trinity, but what is the significance of the Trinity? If we are to understand the love of Jesus, and even how to love LIKE Jesus, I think you’ll see that this is where we must begin.
“God has made known to us His threefold reality via the names Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - names that signify dynamic relationships within the Trinity. The one true God is a community of three divine persons existing in one infinite spirit being. As an early church father stated, “The Trinity self is a sweet society.”
St. Augustine read in 1 John 4:16 that “God is love.” He proposed the idea that love requires a lover, a beloved, and the spirit of love that flows between them. He then concluded that God the Father is lover, God the Son is the Beloved, and the Holy Spirit is the personal Love that connects them. When we look closely, we see that “the Trinity is love revealed, demonstrating the self-forgetting, self-giving compassion often missing in the world today.”
Let’s dig deeper for a moment, though, and try to get a handle on the KIND of love that is flowing back and forth among the Trinity.
If we are to really understand the specific kind of love Jesus taught and revealed to us, we need better language, maybe more words, to distinguish different kinds of love – something the ancient Greeks definitely had. You’ve probably heard some of this along the way in your faith walk:
One kind of love is Eros: an intimate or sensual love; physical love. We derive our word erotic from this word.
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Perhaps less familiar to you is Storge: a family kind of love; A love between parents and children more specifically.
Thirdly, the Greeks used another word for love called Phileo: a friendship type love; BFFs or even husband and wife; mutual compatibility. Philadelphia comes from this word - the city of brotherly love.
But last on our list is the greatest love word, Agape’: Selfless love.
As a Believer, you’ve probably heard this word many times. The word agape’ was certainly a word within the Greek language prior to the time of Christ, but the new Christians embraced and infused it with even more meaning. They implied that this kind of love is of Divine nature. This is, in fact, the most dominant word used for love in the New Testament, used nearly 120 times. I would contend that it finds its best example and demonstration within the Trinity as we will see in a few moments.
One classic theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas defined agape’ love as love that has the desire to see others succeed.
C.S. Lewis wrote of The Four Loves and defined this biblical love as “a selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.”
Most of the time, when you see the word love in the New Testament - that’s the kind of love it’s referring to. And agape love is at the heart of the Trinitarian relationship. Here’s a working definition for this session: Trinitarian agape love is characterized by self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other, and sheer delight at being together1. Notice how love and joy go hand in hand. Pay close attention to that as we move forward.
As a quick illustration, my wife, Kristie and I, probably like many other couples, took a moment during our wedding ceremony to merge two candles into one larger candle - symbolizing the two becoming one flesh. But of course, that act is only a symbol. She and I know and experience the reality of it, getting a glimpse and taste of the Trinity because agape love for us, when we’re living it out like we should and often do, is represented by self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other, and sheer delight at being together.
Kristie and I don’t always get this right. I blow it a lot more often than she does. But I can tell you this, and probably every couple would agree, the times I think our marriage is struggling the most is usually when I’m self-focused and self-absorbed and not self-giving and promoting what’s best for her. But because we’ve really worked at this over the years, most of the time, there is a mutual back and forth of admiring one another, proud of each other’s accomplishments, taking joy in the successes we each experience. When we’re firing on all cylinders with this kind of selfless love, there is absolutely nowhere else I want to be. I can tell you, love and joy go hand in hand. Kristie even had this cushion made to remind us. “Together is our favorite place to be.” It’s kind of sappy, I know. But it’s so true.
By the way, this is how God intended marriage to be from the very beginning. Notice the trinitarian reference…
Genesis 1:26-27 CSB 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness…27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.
In what way were we created in the image of Trinity? Let US make man in OUR image. Well, Jesus would later reiterate it for us…
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Mark 10:6-9 CSB 6…from the beginning of creation God made them male and female. 7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother 8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Like the Trinity is three in one, married couples are to become two in one. It’s certainly not a perfect illustration, but maybe it helps us to see that this is what Jesus has been experiencing for eternities past. The Trinity, living in perfect community, the relational existence of an eternal dance of agape love.
Now, that all may seem fine and dandy in the supernatural world of the heavens, but remember, Jesus’ life and ministry on earth flowed from His life in the Trinity. He was still a member of the Trinity though he was also fully man. We see evidence of this everywhere in the Gospels:
Jesus said, “the Father is in me, and I in the Father.” (John 10:38) Even in human flesh, Jesus the Son said things like, “If I glorify myself, my glory means nothing…” (John 8:54 CSB) He said, “The Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) He said that he came to serve, not to be served. After his baptism, he submitted to the Holy Spirit, being led into the wilderness, like a child submitting to parents by taking their hands and going where they are led. And who could forget what may be the greatest word in the whole Bible, nevertheless, as Jesus prayed to the Father in the garden, nevertheless, not my will but your will be done. Self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other.
And the Father, we hear his voice booming in the Gospels, once at Jesus’ baptism and the other at the Mount of Transfiguration. John Ortberg says, in effect, the father was saying, “This is my priceless Son. I am so pleased with him. Listen to him. Pay attention to him. Love him. Follow him.” The father doesn’t draw attention to himself. All the focus is on his great admiration for His son and he wants everyone to know. Self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other.
And think about the Holy Spirit for a moment. Jesus says,
John 14:26 CSB But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
In other words, the Holy Spirit doesn’t exist in order to draw attention to himself, he wants to get people to focus on Jesus. Self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other.
I love the way Dale Bruner puts it, “It’s often been said that the Holy Spirit is the ‘Cinderella of the Trinity,’ the great neglected Person of Godhead. But the Holy Spirit’s desire and work is that we be overcome again, thrilled again, excited and gripped again by the wonder, the majesty, the relevance of Jesus. The Holy Spirit does not mind being the Cinderella outside the ballroom if the Prince is honored inside his Kingdom.”
Oh, and there is so much more we could say. But again, I can hear you saying it, “that’s all great to think about, Rodney. But what difference does it make? What’s the significance of the Trinity, particularly as it relates to apprenticing our lives to Christ?” Well, let me offer up an illustration of sorts that may help us.
First, we see that… The Trinity exists in an eternal state of Agape love. We’ve made this point fairly clear so far: self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other, and sheer delight at being together.
PERFECT AGAPE LOVE
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But in the fullness of time, Jesus brings perfect Trinitarian Agape Love to dwell among us. Agape is first seen in the Gospel story as the kind of love God the Father has for us. “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son...” (John 3:16) I can’t imagine giving up my son. That kind of selfless and sacrificial act of the Father is virtually incomprehensible. But what could be the motivation for such an act? The Father so loved the world - He loved us.
But we see it in Jesus as well. Paul tells us that Jesus, “…made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (Philippians 2:7 KJV). Self-giving, unconditional loving, promoting our welfare. Desiring God’s best for us. He demonstrated it day in and day out, “dealing patiently and compassionately with the Samaritan woman who resisted His efforts to lead her to the truth; patiently nurturing his disciples, who were spiritually dull, strong willed, self-confident to the point of arrogance…and yet, he demonstrated extraordinary humility and love by washing their feet. He deals lovingly and nonjudgmental with the woman caught in adultery. He loved the lowly, the unlovely, the outcasts, and the marginalized in society.” An extraordinary demonstration of perfect Trinitarian agape love comes to earth to dwell among us, “affirming, encouraging, blessing, and releasing the good in others3.”
But he doesn’t just come to demonstrate the special kind of love to us. Listen friend,
Jesus extends an invitation to participate in this perfect Trinitarian agape love. We see this in John 15. When Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God has come near, he’s announcing the availability of God - access to the Trinity - to this everlasting perfect agape love. This, my friends, is where Jesus invites you to be his disciple, to apprentice your life to his. Look at this invitation in our primary text for today:
John 15:9 CSB “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love.”
Do you see it? An invitation into the Trinity’s community of love? “As the Father loved me, I have also loved you. Now remain in my love. Experience the eternal, ongoing, interconnectedness of self-giving, mutual affirmation, unconditional loving of God.” Remember, this phrase “to remain,” or “to abide” as it may say in your translation, means to “make yourself at home.” Jesus is saying, “The father loves me and I love you, now Make yourself at home in my love.”
And perhaps, not unlike St. Augustine’s understanding of the Trinity that the Father was the lover, the Son the beloved, and the Holy Spirit the personal love that connects them, Paul extends our trinitarian understanding of this invitation in Romas 5, ’This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.’ Romans 5:5 CSB
So Jesus commands us to remain in His love. But how do we know if we are remaining, abiding, making ourselves at home in His love? Well, Jesus clarifies that for us quite well. Look at verse 10 of John 15:
John 15:10 CSB If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
Do you see the submission and self-giving on display? Jesus, an equal third of the Trinity, says that he keeps his Father’s commands - that’s how He remains in his love. The Son loves the Father so intimately, he doesn’t obey out of obligation or duty or with resentment. On the contrary, it is the Son’s great love and admiration and
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affirmation of the Father that causes Him to obey. The same should go for us. Keeping his commands is the natural outflow of our great love for Him. Loving God completely comes first - abiding in His love - and then obedience is the natural response. Love first and obedience will follow.
It stands to reason next, then, that we should know what commands we are to obey - right? So Jesus doesn’t leave us in the dark here either. He doesn’t make us decipher some cryptic message. He spells it out for us in black and white.
John 15:12 CSB “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.” This leads us to our next major point:
Trinitarian agape love is made complete in us as we love each other the way He loves us.
Much of what we’re talking about in this session comes out of an epiphany of sorts I had during prayer. We’re in the early stages of developing some one-on-one discipleship materials similar to these D Groups and one of our assignments each week was also a memory verse. Our first memory verse so resonated with me that I wasn’t able to stop thinking about it. It’s found in 1 John 4.
Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we should also love one another. No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:10-12.
Memorizing and meditating on that verse is what triggered this illustration I’ve been using here. I started drawing this sort of double 8 figure in my journal. The word that stood out to me was the word complete - his love is made complete in us. Your version may say perfect. But as I pondered this word complete - it made me think that without this others-focused heart condition in my life - perhaps my experience of God’s love would be incomplete. If we love one another - God not only remains in us - His love is made complete in us. The Double Eight illustration is thus made complete.
The trinity exists in an eternal state of self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other, and sheer delight at being together. Perfect Trinitarian agape love is brought to earth as the Father loves us so much he surrenders His Son for our sake. The Son surrenders his will to the Father to show his great love for us. The Holy Spirit brings the reality of it to our hearts. And Jesus tells us to abide in his love. As wonderful as all of that may be, you would think that that’s enough. But Jesus says it’s not. His love is made complete only when we love one another.
This is too powerful to let go of here, folks. We spend so much time focusing on the personal relationship dynamic of God’s saving work in our lives. And rightly so. But could the reason we don’t understand why life doesn’t change very much even though we attend church, pray, even read the bible and tithe, is that we have yet to truly embrace this final condition for perfect and complete love?
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He put it very plainly back in chapter 13:
John 13:34-35 NLT 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.
A new commandment? The commandments to love God and to love our neighbors had been around for a long time. What made it new is that it was brought to life in the person of Jesus Christ. And this is no ordinary love. This is Trinitarian agape’ love. And notice what he says, “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” And the way He loves us, brings a revolutionary new meaning to whole concept of love.
Now, a quick sidebar here related to this illustration. This is an illustration of how Christ’s love is made complete or made perfect. Jesus is speaking to his disciples here. The understanding is that we will love one another. That I will love you like Jesus loves me. And you will love me like Jesus loves you.
This principle should apply to us and our love for each other. As his apprentices, we should be working with all diligence to live our lives in this way. Most of the time, it appears we’re doing ok with it - avoiding much of the drama we would expect to experience in the world with those who are NOT his disciples. But do we go far enough? Do we just tolerate one another? Do we consider the absence of conflict to be a representation of what Jesus is talking about? Or should we be actively engaged in Self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of the other? Oh, I think we know the answer.
I’ve discovered the truth of this principle in my own life as I have pursued loving the people of my local fellowship more. My affection and admiration has grown for them, and my desire to be with them and encourage them for their unique and special gifts has grown as well. And what’s happening in my heart as I open myself up to letting his love flow through me to others is another proof of this truth. Love and Joy go hand in hand.
Let’s go back to verse 11 of John 15 and wrap this up:
John 15:11 CSB “I have told you these things (Again, those things he told us are his commandments to remain in his love and to love one another; for what reason?) so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”
Love and joy go hand in hand. Think about those statements - He said our love is made complete as we love one anther and thus our joy will be made complete. If you’re not fully experiencing the JOY of Christ, could it be you’re not fully obeying the COMMAND of Christ to love one another? Remember a couple weeks ago as we talked about the Disciple’s Freedom Formula, Jesus said,
John 8:31-32, MSG “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you [keep my commandments - abide in my words - remaining faithful to my teachings], you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.”
This, my friends, truly is the very heart of the matter. If you want to know the secret ingredient to the Freedom Formula - it’s not about your success or your prosperity. True Freedom is not even about protecting your rights as most Americans have been indoctrinated to believe. No, the kind of joy-filled freedom Jesus offers is found in selfless, sacrificial loving, the kind of love he showed us over and over with his life and demonstrated to us fully by dying on the cross.
With great boldness and confidence, I would contend that until we fully embrace love as our first and foremost rule of life, we will never really experience true freedom that is full of joy. We’ll just be faking our way through, living a life of pious religiosity - maybe staying out of trouble but never really being free - the kind of free Jesus
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promises. This is lesson one for the apprentice of Jesus, rule number one for life in the Kingdom - “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.”
My friend, if you’re struggling with agape, if you’re struggling to express this kind of selfless, sacrificial love toward others, then take a moment and consider how God feels toward you. He looks down at what others may see as imperfect and flawed. He sees past all of your brokenness and self-induced corruption. He looks past all of that to express His love for you. Think of it: While we were yet sinners, virtual enemies of God, Christ died for us. Oh love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong.
And then, when you consider how grace oriented his love is toward you, when you are fully captured by it, caught up in His Trinitarian love, then loving others, who are just as flawed and imperfect as you, will simply be a matter of seeing them the way God looks at us all. You’ll see them as his unique creation, his handiwork, his artwork, his prized possession. Oh friends, let’s apprentice our lives to Christ. Let’s practice self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare each other. And just maybe we will learn to love like Jesus.
1 Bruce Demarest, The Kingdom Life, p.232 2 Bruce Demarest, The Kingdom Life, p.232 3 Bruce Demarest, The Kingdom Life, pp. 234-235
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Lesson 8 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 9: Compassion: A Great Convergence of the Greatest Commandments and the Great Commission
The Big Idea: Compassion is triggered by seeing what Jesus sees the way he sees it, and responding immediately with appropriate resources.
This is a season of growth for people who are discovering the life they were meant to live, apprenticing their lives to Jesus. We’re experiencing metanoia - a radical reorientation to the way we use to think - realigning our worldview to the values, virtues, and vision His Kingdom. In fact, we’ve committed ourselves to the Disciple’s Priority - seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness - developing right character, going about our lives with right-setting activity, motivated by His right loving. We’ve also discovered the Disciple’s Freedom Formula - experiencing His freedom as we live out His truth for ourselves.
At the heart of it all, we’re first learning what it means to love like Jesus. So let’s continue our discussion around this important topic. Let’s talk about another critical dimension of love.
Remember from our last session the primary command Jesus gave us:
John 15:12 CSB “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.”
And so it stands to reason, if Jesus said, “love one another AS I have loved you,” we need to pay close attention to the ways Jesus loved. If as his apprentice we have solidified our ambition as “The aim of my life is to be like Christ,” we need to look closely at his life and teachings to find out how to love like Jesus.
Now certainly, we’ve already talked about last week the dynamic of perfect, Trinitarian, agape love: self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare of each other. That’s the underlying selfless love that characterizes the Trinity, Jesus’ love toward us, and the love we are to have for one another. Agape love: a selfless love that is passionately committed to the well-being and success of others. This is at the root of the way we are to love like Jesus.
But as we look at the life of Christ, we something additional at play. There is another dimension of this kind of love that not only transforms the heart - the way we’ve been thinking and even feeling - but causes us to act in extraordinary ways. That love dynamic is compassion.
Mark’s Gospel is unique in that he seems in such a hurry to get to the heart of the story of Christ. In his first chapter alone, he gives us a virtual summary of the life and ministry of Christ. He wastes no time in getting us into Jesus’ life-rhythms of preaching, healing, discipling, delivering, praying, and solitude. You could get so much of your apprenticeship out of just this chapter if you walk through it carefully.
But what I want to pay close attention to first of all is this encounter Jesus has with a leper in these early stages of his ministry.
Mark 1:40-42 CSB 40 Then a man with leprosy came to him and, on his knees, begged him: “If you are willing, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched him. “I am willing,” he told him. “Be made clean.” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean.
If we’re not careful, we might think the main lesson in a story like this is God’s power to heal. Certainly we have to know that God is able to do such incredible things. No doubt, Jesus’ many miracles were evidence that he was
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truly the Son of God. But I think the deeper story is not just the power of God to heal, but his motivation to do so. As we apprentice our lives to his, let’s quickly notice four things that happened through the eyes and heart and hands of Jesus. First of all we see that:
1. He clearly saw the need. In this particular story, it’s pretty obvious why he would have seen the need - the leper came to him, on his knees begging no less. It would have been pretty hard to miss. But as we’ll be seeing as we move forward, for the apprentice of Jesus, practicing what Jesus did, seeing the need can not be understated here. But he didn’t just see the need, secondly…
2. He was moved with compassion. This is the pivotal moment. The need of the leper, the desperation of this man, the physical condition of his ravaged flesh, the humility he expressed falling to his knees stirred up within the heart of Jesus an already present agape love into something more. Something more intense. This was the impetus, the motivation. For this man, in this moment, Jesus determined to set things right. We’ll come back to talk much more deeply about this word compassion in a moment. But for now I want you to see the progression here as it lays out a pattern elsewhere. Thirdly we see that… 3. He reached out his hand. Jesus made the move. This inner experience of an intense love, this compassion could not be contained. He had to act. He made his move toward the one in need. He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t care about what other Jews were thinking of him interacting with someone as unclean and undeserving as a leper. He just acted. Compassion says, “I must do something.” But he didn’t just make a move toward the leper, fourthly…
4. He actually touched him. Compassion not only causes us to move toward a person’s greatest need, it causes us to set aside our own selfish worries about what will happen to us. Others might think, “What will happen to me if I touch this leper? What will other people think about me? What’s it going to cost? Do I have time for this?” But true compassion moves us to get involved, to not just feel sorry for or to take pity, but to actually get involved in the right setting of another person’s life.
So here we see a simple pattern: Seeing the need, being moved with compassion, which leads to not only moving toward the need, but actively engaging in the solution regardless of the cost or sacrifice involved. At the heart of it is, of course, compassion, so let’s think even a little more deeply about this word, this concept.
Now, this word compassion here in the original Greek has to do with a feeling you get in your gut. It could even refer to the contracting of muscles in your abdomen. In other words, the writers used it to express something more than just a feeling of the heart. It goes deeper than that. It triggers an internal, almost physical reaction. That’s actually the original language here in Mark 1: Jesus was moved with compassion. And as we’ll see in a moment, every place we see that Jesus felt compassion, there was a movement of compassion that surged out of Him to meet the needs of people.
So for just a few moments, let’s take a look at just a few of the places we see the compassion of Christ in action. We see in Matthew 14 that…
Matthew 14:14 CSB When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd, had compassion on them, and healed their sick.
This is similar to our first story in Mark 1 - Jesus saw the need, was moved with compassion, and took action. Notice these actions are related to meeting the physical needs of those who are hurting and wounded. Jesus supernaturally heals them. But compassion moves him to even greater acts. Listen to this story in Luke 7:
Luke 7:12-15 CSB
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12 Just as he neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said, “Don’t weep.” 14 Then he came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And he said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!” 15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Incredible. Right? But again, look at the progression: Verse 13 “When the Lord saw her…he had compassion…he came up and touched the open coffin.” Seeing the need, moved with compassion, moving toward the need, taking direct action.
Now I know what you might be thinking. “This is Jesus, the Son of God. He is the Miracle Man. Raising people from the dead is pretty intense. Is that what I should expect in my own life?” Well, for one thing, I wouldn’t rule it out! Jesus said we would do even greater things in His name. But the real point we are trying to see is that Godly compassion should always produce action.
One more quick example before we move on. In Matthew 15,
Matthew 15:32, 37 CSB Jesus called his disciples and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they've already stayed with me three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, otherwise they might collapse on the way.” This is the story of Jesus feeding the 4,000. We are pretty familiar with the miracle that happens next. But look at the result: 37 They all ate and were satisfied.
He saw the need, he was moved with compassion, he took action to set things right.
These are but a few cases where we see Jesus being moved with compassion. By this observation we see that Compassion should be common for the disciple of Christ.
Now, many times we think of compassion primarily as it might relate to the physical needs of others. Rightly so as we’ve seen here already. Jesus met the needs of the sick and hurting, the hungry and thirsty. I believe with my whole heart that Christ cares about the whole person. Followers of Christ should absolutely be engaged with the least of these, the prisoner, the widow, the orphans, and the list goes on.
But of course, if God cares about the whole person, that means his compassion certainly extends to the spirit of man. The heart condition of man, the broken hearted, the confused, the lonely, those wandering through life disoriented to the life they were meant to live. Listen to this in Matthew 9:
Matthew 9:35-38 CSB 35 Jesus continued going around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.
Oh, now we’re seeing the bigger picture of Jesus’ mission in the world to set things right. Here we see the pattern of compassion again. Jesus saw the crowds. But what did he see in them this time? He’s not focused on physical needs so much this time. He sees that they were distressed and dejected. Here are just a few other translations of what Jesus saw: Dispirited and distressed; confused and worried; the ESV says harassed and helpless; aimless; hurting; deeply distraught and heart-broken. We often use the term disoriented to describe it.
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Boy, if you look at that list, it sure sounds like many of the people we encounter in our everyday walking around lives, doesn’t it? We don’t have to just visit the homeless camps under the interstate, we don’t have to go out of our way to visit the hospital or nursing home to see the kind of brokenness that Jesus saw as he looked at the crowds. They’re everywhere. The harvest is abundant, as he said. And what was Jesus’ response this time? He said, “We don’t have enough people on mission yet. Something has to be done. It’s going to take a lot more help. Pray that God will give us people ready to work, ready to engage in this great mission. We need people who see what I’m seeing here and will be moved with compassion to give their lives away to accomplish this great work.”
Now get this. This is one part of our Big Idea for this session:
Compassion is triggered by seeing what Jesus sees the Way Jesus sees it. Sure, there’s a reason those commercials for child sponsorships show us such graphic images. When we are subjected to seeing such things, our hearts naturally break. We feel that life shouldn’t be that way for anyone. If something can be done, then it should. And so some of us pick up the phone or go online to do our part. Many folks at Northway have done that for our own dear friends at Acres of Hope in Uganda. It is what you see. Our videos and testimonies we bring home with us stir up your compassion to action.
But listen friends. There are people we are dealing with every day that are dispirited and distressed; confused or worried, harassed and helpless; confused and aimless; hurting; deeply distraught and heart-broken. And we are the harvest hands that Jesus and his disciples prayed for. You and I.
These people may be the ones we interact with every day. Coworkers, family members, fellow parents at tee-ball and dance, classmates and team members. They are not in some far off country experiencing famine or unjust wars. They are among us, everywhere, and are simply disoriented to the life they were meant to live.
Perhaps they’re that cranky coworker that no one can get along with. Maybe they’re the kid that dresses weird and listens to strange music. Maybe they’re that person that’s just sour toward life and you’d just rather not be around.
And how often do we see their actions as a nuisance or an inconvenience or an annoyance? How often do we let them frustrate us or even anger us? You see, the problem most of us have is that we don’t see them the way Jesus sees them. Our hearts should break for the things that break the heart of God.
This is why having a deeper understanding of repentance is so important. Metanoia: Think about how you’ve been thinking. Experience a fundamental transformation of how you look at life, how you look at other people, how you look at God. Apprenticing your life to Christ is about transforming your vision, to see life in the Kingdom the way Jesus sees it. Let me say that again. Apprenticing your life to Christ is about transforming your vision, to see life in the Kingdom the way Jesus sees it. Not just as a utopian place for you to enjoy in eternity, but to see those living around you the way he does, and to always be on mission with him to do something about it, driven by a deep compassion.
You see, Compassion is God’s loving heart being moved into action. It is central to the Gospel of the Kingdom. Now, of course, we all should be very familiar with the two primary rules of the Kingdom. They’re revealed to us several times throughout the Gospel accounts. I find one particular account to be so compelling. It’s found in Luke chapter 10.
Luke 10:25-29 NLT 25 One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” 27 The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 28 “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!”
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So there’s no question about it. Love is THE central theme for the disciple of Christ. Loving God and loving people. I think we would all agree on that, at least in theory. But what does it look like? What is expected of us? Look at verse 29: The man wanted to justify his actions, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Now I know we’re very familiar with it, but let’s listen in on Jesus’ response:
30 Jesus replied with a story: “A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
31 “By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. (Notice the first phase of potential compassion - he saw the man there - but didn’t even make a move toward him.) 32 A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side. (He got a little closer - he saw the great need and he even walked over closer to him - but he still passed by.)
33 “Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. 34 Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. (Do you see it? He saw him - he felt compassion - we went over to him - he engaged in the action of setting things right.) Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. 35 The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
36 “Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked. 37 The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.” Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.”
What an incredible parable. You’ve heard it told and preached about so many times. We could say so much about it if we had time. Things like this: - Don’t let your busy, judgmental religion get in the way of your first responsibility and calling to love. - Your neighbor may not look like you. They may not even believe like you do. They might be of a completely different ethnicity and religion. - Bottom line: when it comes to compassionate love, you don’t get to prequalify your neighbor.
But here’s the bigger point from this familiar story from today’s perspective:
Compassion is recognizing the wounded and/or disoriented and immediately responding with the appropriate resources. This Samaritan should have never stopped for a Jew. But he didn’t hesitate. He saw the real problem, was moved with compassion, reached in his bag and pulled out just what was needed for the wounded man’s need. He didn’t think about the cost, he didn’t think about how much time it would take, he didn’t worry about what other Samaritans might think of him for helping a Jew.
You see, we take on the role of Good Samaritan every morning when we wake up and embark on our responsibilities for the day. We’re on the lookout for the wounded and hurting, the distressed and disoriented. If you’ll just slow down to see them the way Jesus sees them, you’ll find them everywhere.
Here’s a clue: If someone’s behavior frustrates you, disrupts your emotions, makes you feel uncomfortable, causes you to want to get out of their way, chances are pretty strong that the reasons behind their behavior is either woundedness or disorientation. Now, in the moment, you might not be able to bring complete healing, but what do you have available? Sure, you could jump right back in their face and argue. You could try to get the upper hand with insults and intimidation. Worse yet, you could simply avoid them all together, passing by on the other side of the road.
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Or, as an apprentice to Jesus, you could reach in your bag to see what Christ has to offer. If you’ve truly been abiding in His love, he has been reshaping your heart to be more like his. He’s been refocusing your vision to recognize what’s really going on. He’s been filling you with his Spirit and as such, you have at your disposal all the “oil and wine” you need for this moment. Paul actually calls it the fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 CSB 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.
I would submit to you that the primary purpose of the fruit of the spirit is not just for your benefit. They’re formed within us for the sake of others. Think about it. What’s the point of the apple tree? To produce apples. Perhaps. But is the apple for the sake of the tree? Who is the apple for? Someone else to experience, right? The fruit is a product from the tree but the fruit is for someone else to enjoy. And to take it one step further - what is the potential purpose of the apple? Yes, it’s to be enjoyed by someone else - but what is at the core of the apple? That’s right - the seed.
So when you recognize what’s really going on in the lives of the wounded and disoriented people of your world, God’s compassion should kick in and you reach in your bag for perhaps a little patience, not for your sake, not so you’re more at peace, but for the sake of the one who is hurting or disoriented. For that kid sitting all alone at the cafeteria table, compassion compels you to pull out a little kindness and goodness and go sit with them - no matter what anybody else thinks. For that angry coworker, you see past their red face and foul language, and instead of getting into a shouting match, you pull out gentleness and self control. And maybe, just maybe, your willingness to offer even just a bit of compassionate love in these moments will be the seeds of Christ’s love being planted in their lives.
You see, I believe that compassion is the Great Convergence of the Greatest Commandments - to love God and to love people - and the Great Commission - to go and make disciples. Because when we see the people in our world the way Christ does, our hearts swell with compassion, we’ll make our move toward them and take action. Like Jesus looking at the crowd - seeing them as dejected, distressed, aimless and heartbroken - compassion is the motivation for evangelism and discipleship.
Now let’s see all of this fits together. You may remember from our discussion in the last session about perfect trinitarian agape love. If you download this week’s transcript, you’ll see the Love Diagram displayed there. You might want to have that in front of you as I remind you of it. At the top, we see The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in an eternal dance of self-giving, unconditional loving, mutual affirmation, promoting the welfare each other. In the center of the diagram, we see that Jesus invites us to join the experience of this community of love, encouraging us to abide in his love as he abides in the father’s love. And the final point in our last session was that God’s love is made complete or perfect within us as we love one another as his disciples.
So we have this vertical, double 8 figure of God’s perfect love, agape love, selfless sacrificial love that desires to see the best for others. But we’ve also been invited to partner with Christ, to be his harvest hands, so to speak, to be on mission with him, seeing the world the way he does. Today, we see to the right hand side of the diagram this dimension of compassion, God’s love in action: seeing the wounded and the disoriented the way he does,
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moving toward the need and into action to meet the need. Ultimately, compassion is the motivation to invite others into God’s great love, to become a citizen of the Kingdom, the great convergence of the greatest commandments and the great commission. What a powerful display of learning to love like Jesus.
Now, keep in mind that at the center of it all is to abide in the love of Christ. We’ll be talking even more about what that means in the weeks ahead. But for now just realize that it is this abiding, this ongoing, intentional connection to His heart that is critical to the outflow of His love to others. It is not just something we manufacture on our own. But through Divine Intimacy, our hearts and lives are reshaped from the inside out. That’s where spiritual disciplines and the grace of the Holy Spirit comes into play. But then again, remember that only when we give His radical, agape love away is love made complete within us.
I’m praying for you this week. Greet each new day with eyes of compassion. See the needs around you. Don’t ignore them but allow his love to move you with compassion - to reach out and touch those that need his love the most. Don’t pass by on the other side. Get involved and get engaged. Let us truly Love Like Jesus.
Ways to Pray This Week: • Fill me with your agape love. Make me more like you. • Help me to see others the way you see them. Clarify my vision. • Cause the fruit of your Spirit to be obvious in my life and freely available to all. • Give me boldness and courage to do acts of compassion, meeting to physical needs and sharing my
faith with others, inviting them to experience your perfect love.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
COMPASSIONFORGIVENESS &FORBEARANCE
KOINONIA
ABIDE IN HIS
LOVE & WORD
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”“Love your enemy.”
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
AGAPE
AGAPE LOVE: “a selfless love,
a love that is passionately committed to the well-
being of others.”
Lesson 9 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 10: Forbearance & Forgiveness: The Keys to Loving Our Enemies (Overcome Evil with Good)
The Big Idea: The power to forbear and forgive others comes from abiding in the forgiving and affirming love of Christ.
Here’s a quick recap of our journey so far in this series as we’re learning what it means to apprentice our lives to Christ: Our working definition of a disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ. This is his real invitation. Come follow me. Come join me in my Kingdom. He challenges us to make it first - to seek first the Kingdom.
I paraphrased The Disciple’s Priority, Jesus’ commandment to seek first the Kingdom this way: Above anything else, pursue God’s Kingdom agenda and join with His activity in your everyday traffic patterns of life as you develop the attitude and character of Christ. In one sense, that’s the purpose statement for your apprenticeship.
You might remember I said, “To be His disciple, you have to be willing for Christ as master to challenge every aspect of your thinking, what is right and just and fair, what are appropriate responses to life’s challenges and toughest people, your values, your moral virtues - every single worldview floating around in that incredible brain of yours. You have to be willing to give it all up - you can’t hold on to any of it if you’re going to apprentice yourself to Jesus. He’s the teacher. He’s the one with the right thinking and we have to be willing to experience a total reformation of our minds.”
Nowhere is this more challenging than in the area of what to do with those difficult people of our lives that seem to come against us. You see, for these opponents in life, Jesus offers his most radical teaching of all. He doesn’t teach us meditative coping skills, anger management, or diversity training. No - he goes completely against our natural way of thinking and calls for a transformation like no other. As we are learning to love like Jesus, let’s jump into our big idea for today and learn to love even our enemies.
A reporter was interviewing an old man on his 100th birthday. The reporter asked, “What are you most proud of in your long life?” The old guy thought about it a few seconds and came back with his answer. "Well, I don't have an enemy in the world." The reporter was just moved by the answer and said, “What a beautiful thought! How inspirational!" To which the old guys laughed and said, “Yep, I outlived every last one of them."
Can you think of someone in your life with whom you have been arguing or has made you angry? Do you have someone or multiple people who are right now actively engaged in making your life difficult, whether they realize it or not? Chances are you had to answer yes to those questions. Whether or not you’ve thought of it this way, in a sense, those people are your enemies. What are your thoughts and actions toward them suppose to be? What does Jesus expect from his apprentices?
We turn to Luke’s gospel for this lesson. This is Luke chapter 6.
Luke 6:27-36 CSB 27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don’t hold back your shirt either. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and from someone who takes your things, don’t ask for them back. 31 Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. 32 If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33 If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to
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be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. For he is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.
Wow. You talk about some radical teaching! I mean - for most of us, we’d probably rather our text for today on how to deal with our enemies to be more like David’s prayer of frustration in Psalm 109. Listen to how he prayed to God about his enemy:
Psalm 109: 8-13 NLT 8 Let his years be few; let someone else take his position. 9 May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow. 10 May his children wander as beggars and be driven from their ruined homes. 11 May creditors seize his entire estate, and strangers take all he has earned. 12 Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. 13 May all his offspring die. May his family name be blotted out in the next generation.
Ever prayed a prayer like that? Man, that’s pretty intense, huh? But we’ve all been there, right? Some people just get to us. And our old way of thinking kicks in so easily in these situations. It seems justifiable to fight back, to defend, to get even or offer payback. And yet, this radical rabbi from Nazareth to whom you’ve determined to bind your life to in order to master his trade offers up such opposite teaching that it almost seems preposterous. What did he say? Love your enemy?
So let’s do some apprenticing. Let’s take the first couple verses of our text and use it as an outline.
Luke 6:27-28 CSB 27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Let’s start with the first phrase,
1. Love your enemies. You might remember from our last session as we were studying the greatest commandments, one of which is to love your neighbor as your self, the tricky religion scholar asks Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” Well perhaps for this session we might ask the opposite question, “Who is my enemy?”
Here are some dictionary definitions: one that is antagonistic to another; a person hostile or opposed to a policy, cause, person, or group; an opponent
That gets the ball rolling a bit on who we might consider to be our enemy. I mean, we’ve probably all had people in our lives from time to time that we thought were just out to get us - had it in for us. Those are easily identifiable. But I would suggest that your enemy might not always be just those with whom you are in an all out war. Here are some examples:
• Those who attack us. Certainly on the spectrum of enemies, these people are the most vicious and easily identifiable as our enemies.
• Those who wrong us. They hurt our feelings. They gossip about us. Some of it may be intentional, but at other times they may not even know.
• Those with whom we argue. In the moment, perhaps they are our enemy. It is a battle of words, of who is right or wrong, often escalating as someone tries to win.
• Those who stand in opposition to our values and convictions - regardless of whether we’ve ever talked to them face to face. If you’re a republican you might feel as though the democrats are your enemy and vice versa. For some people, Colin Kapernick might have triggered a movement that stirs up anger because you think they violate a value and conviction. You don’t even know them and yet what they stand for, or kneel for, is so wrong to you, whether you want to admit it or not, they, and anyone who dares to agree with them, have
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become an enemy to you. Now, you know me, I’m not here to stir up controversy or pick sides. I’m just trying to broaden the scope of who your enemies might be so you can allow Jesus to reshape your thinking and response to them.
• Your enemy might also be someone in your past. Maybe your experience with them was such that you have yet to let go of the feelings of anger and bitterness. We’ll deal with that before the session is over as well.
And yet, Jesus gives us clear instructions on what our response toward these enemies should be. He says to love them. Now, remember, the love Jesus speaks of is in the original Greek language as the word agape. You might remember C.S. Lewis’ definition: Selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others. And so when Jesus says we are to love our enemies, he’s not just saying it’s just the absence of conflict - it’s a commitment to their well-being. It’s rooted in the Kingdom principle of the Great Reversal: The first being last and the last being first. It doesn’t mean you agree with them. It doesn’t mean you condone their behavior or validate their opposing views. It’s setting aside your instinct to retaliate and defend yourself for the sake of God’s love toward that person. Next he says,
2. Do what is good to those who hate you. This runs in such opposition to the old man, doesn’t it? But this part of the command is clearly rooted in agape - being passionately committed to the well-being of others. Now, similar to last week when we talked about compassion as a dynamic of agape love, this week I want to present two more dynamics of agape love. The first is the dynamic of Forbearance. Forbearance is withholding retaliation or demand for payment. It could also be defined as patient self-control. Long-suffering is a King James way of saying it.
So the beginning of doing good to your enemies is simply forbearance, patiently withholding retaliation for the sake of love. Paul would teach us about this later in Romans 12:
Romans 12:17-19 CSB 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. 18 If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord.
Notice that forbearance is not to say that the one who has brought harm into your life will be off the hook forever. You’re just leaving the vengeance to someone much more capable. David had the opportunity to retaliate against Saul. He could’ve easily taken matters into his own hands. But what did he say?
1 Samuel 24:12 May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.
As we go about observing the life of Christ, apprenticing our lives to his example living, we see that Jesus himself demonstrated incredible longsuffering and forbearance,
Matthew 27:12-14 NIV 12 When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?” 14 But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor.
Forbearance. Being patient and long-suffering. And remember, at some point - all will be reconciled - either through the cross or the judgement.
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But doing good is not just withholding retaliation, it goes much further. We continue with Paul in Romans 12 for a moment:
Romans 12:20-21 ESV 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is how we get through to our enemies. Not by shouting matches. Not by winning arguments. Not by retaliation and vengeance - but through goodness and kindness. This leads us to Jesus third part of the command:
3. Bless those who curse you. - To truly bless someone is “the projection of good into the life of another1.” We sometimes use the phrase, “God bless you.” And that’s really what Christ-like blessing is all about. We are calling on God on behalf of the individual to support the good that we are willing into their life. And get this, blessing someone is certainly not just a verbal performance. It is a prayerful spirit of calling for God’s best. It is not excusing wrong or immoral behavior. You’re not asking God to ignore it. You’re asking God to show them His love in spite of it. Again, he’ll handle the cleansing and judging in His way and in his time. He is God, you know? Leave the judging to Him.
Jesus says a bit later in this Sermon on the Plain, in verse 37:
Luke 6:37-42 CSB 37 “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38 Give, and it will be given to you; a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over—will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
This language of reciprocity is used by Jesus all the time. It’s the sowing and reaping language. When we exercise God’s loving ways, God makes sure it comes back to us. Granted, it won’t always come back from your enemies, but He promises it will come back to you, even it’s from God Himself.
So Forbearance: withholding retaliation, showing grace and mercy, kindness and goodness. But there’s one other part of his command. He says to…
4. Pray for those who mistreat you. How do we pray for our enemies? I mean, we often think of prayer as asking for something good in our own lives or at least in the lives of our loved ones. Jesus himself encourages us to pray with faith for positive outcomes. Listen to this from Mark 11:
Mark 11:22-25 CSB 22 Jesus replied to them, “Have faith in God. 23 Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, everything you pray and ask for—believe that you have received it and it will be yours.
That’s pretty awesome, huh? And Jesus says to use that same kind of faith-based, positive outcome prayer for your enemies as well. But it wouldn’t be right to stop reading there. Jesus also says next,
25 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you your wrongdoing.”
This right here, this is how we pray for our enemies. Forgiveness. This is the second dynamic of agape love we have to cover. Forgiveness. We return again to the Lord’s Prayer:
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Matthew 6:12, 14-15 NLT …forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
After he concluded the model prayer, he went even further with the discussion on forgiveness:
14 “If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 15 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Now - these sort of conditional forgiveness statements are not uncommon in Jesus’ teaching. They’re even a bit confusing since we’ve been taught unconditional forgiveness, don’t they? Here’s my best shot at helping us to understand.
You see, to seek forgiveness from God for you own sins while withholding forgiveness from others is hypocritical. He’s saying you can’t walk in true fellowship with me if you refuse to forgive others. Living with unforgiveness is living in disobedience to God. He teaches the depth of this principle in response to one of Peter’s most famous questions:
Matthew 18:21-35 CSB 21 Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” 22 “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven. 23 “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
Here we go. Jesus says, “Life in the Kingdom of Heaven in the here and now looks like this.” And so the story goes that a servant is brought in who owes the king a lot of money. At first, the king says, go sell everything you have to pay it. The servant falls down, begs for mercy, and the king compassionately forgives the loan. But the servant immediately goes right out and tracks down the guy who owes him just a little bit of money. He chokes him around the neck, demanding payment. When the guy can’t pay, he has him thrown in prison. Word gets back to the king and he’s infuriated. Listen to what he says,
32 …‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’
Jesus is saying a primary rule in the kingdom is to forgive as you have been forgiven. Paul goes on to reiterate this principle:
Ephesians 4:32 ESV 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, (but how far should we go?) as God in Christ forgave you.
That’s our model, friends. Forgive others as much as God has forgiven you through Christ. Here’s a question you can ask yourself: How can I reflect the heart God has for me toward others? It’s the line from the Lord’s prayer: Forgive my wrongdoing as I am forgiving those who have wronged me.
But can we really forgive someone if they haven’t asked for it? Boy, that’s a great question and here’s how I’ve come to think of it: There’s a difference between forgiveness (letting go of bitterness, resentment, and the need for repayment) and reconciliation (only possible if repentance is present). The writer of Hebrews says,
Hebrews 12:14-15 ESV 14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
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Unforgiveness and bitterness go hand in hand. And the writer says that if it takes root in your heart, it affects not just you, but others - “many become defiled.” Your bitterness spreads throughout your home, your workplace, your classroom. Another translation calls it the “poison of bitterness.” It poisons your heart and soul. For some of us, there’s unforgiveness for some truly terrible injustices in our past. But by in large, for most of us, it’s a series of smaller enemies over our lifetime. Little wrongs against us that have been the seeds of bitterness that have taken root.
Now, 1 Corinthians 13 is called the love chapter for a reason. I’d like to challenge you to take a day this week to reflect on it carefully, but take a look at verse 4-7 here. See how useful these descriptors might be at helping you to love your enemy. I’m reading from the New Living Translation.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT 4 Love is patient and kind. (That’s forbearance.) Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
It keeps no record of being wronged. That’s the way most modern translations interpret the end of verse 5. Keeping record is like planting seeds of bitterness in your heart. But forgiveness is about digging up those weeds that choke out God’s love, keep it from being able to flow through your life.
If you went seeking repentance from every one who has hurt you or sinned against you - it might seem hopeless. But again, we’re not necessarily talking about reconciliation. We’re talking about forgiveness. In the original Greek the word actually has the connotation of “letting it go.” It’s not approval of wrongdoing. It’s not condoning it. It’s the commitment to not hold on to it - to not let the effects of it take root in our heart. And here’s a lesson you can’t miss:
Forgiveness is trusting God for the outcome. We’ve already mentioned leaving the judgement and penalty and reconciliation for the offender in God’s hands. But what about our own lives? We’re trusting him for the best and brightest outcomes as well.
Remember we talked about this a few weeks ago: as his apprentice, Jesus invites us to take on His yoke, to bind ourselves to him. He’s carrying the load with us, he’s there at every turn as we learn to do life in the Kingdom with Him. “What we must learn in his yoke, beyond acting WITH him, is to abandon outcomes to God, accepting that we do not have in our selves the wherewithal to make this come out right, whatever “this” is2.” You see, to abandon outcomes is to give up self-sufficiency and to abide in the circle of sufficiency we find in Christ’s love. And forgiveness toward your enemies is one of the ultimate practices in God-dependance.
You remember Joseph’s story, right? His jealous brothers sell him off into slavery. His life goes through radical ups and downs because of it. But he ends up a mighty ruler in Egypt. The family has been reunited, their father Isaac dies and now the brothers are afraid Joseph is going to get back at them. They cook up a story that Isaac told them to tell Joseph to forgive them for the suffering they caused him. I pick it up here in verse 17
Genesis 50:16-21 CSB 17 …Joseph wept when their message came to him. 18 His brothers also came to him, bowed down before him, and said, “We are your slaves!” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? (Boy - that’s a good one, isn’t it? We sure act like we’re in the place of God a lot, don’t we?) 20 You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. 21 Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
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My friend, can I just tell you this that God is in control of your outcomes. He can take the worst assault of your life, the broken pieces of a lifetime of woundedness and turn it it something extraordinary. Your fate - your outcome in life is not in the hands of those who would come against you. Your destiny is found in the life God wants for you. Joseph’s response was to love his enemies - to comfort them - to speak kindly to them. Listen,
Romans 8:28 NLT …we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Friend, if you’re still struggling with enemies from your past, let it go. Don’t hold onto it any longer. Join with Paul. Quit looking in the rearview mirror.
Philippians 3:13 ESV 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead…
In our own strength, this kind of forbearance and forgiveness isn’t possible. What we’ve got to remember is that this kind of loving, rooted in selfless and sacrificial agape love, the compassion for the hurting and disoriented we talked about last week, and forbearance and forgiveness toward our enemies, while it is a choice to live that way, it is only enabled through abiding in the love and grace of Christ. It’s going to take the transformational power of God in our hearts.
Let me say it again: The power to forbear and forgive others comes from abiding in the forgiving and affirming love of Christ. I’m convinced that this is what John was talking about. God’s love is made complete in us only when it flows through us into other’s lives.
It also means we’re ok if love for our enemies is not reciprocated because our sufficiency, all the love we need, is found as we abide in Christ’s love for us. And thus, as he has promised, joy and peace are made complete as well. Love, joy, and peace should be our default disposition if we are abiding in Christ. And isn’t that the life you long for, anyway? Can I just tell you that if we truly apprentice our whole lives to Christ, this is what we can fully expect. Friend, this is the life you were meant to live. Accepting his invitation into the community of love represented in the Trinity, trusting in him alone as your sole sufficiency, selflessly loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, compassionately giving to the hurting and disoriented, even extending loving forbearance and forgiveness to your enemies, past and present. This is what it looks like to love like Jesus. The goal and ambition of our life with Him. “The aim of our life is to be like Christ.”
Be sure to use the questions and points of prayer I’ve listed at the end of the transcript. You may also want to study that diagram of circles related to how Trinitarian agape love flows to us and through us. And one day this week, be sure to pull out 1 Corinthians 13, especially verses 4 through 7 and process your own interactions with the people in your life through Paul’s description and standards of Christ-like love. I’m proud of you. Keep going. Your mind is being transformed. Now go out and practice what you’ve learned. Let’s go Love Like Jesus!
Footnotes: 1 Dallas Willard, Living in Christ’s Presence P. 163 2 Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, P. 209.
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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
COMPASSIONFORGIVENESS &FORBEARANCE
KOINONIA
ABIDE IN HIS
LOVE & WORD
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”“Love your enemy.”
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
AGAPE
AGAPE LOVE: “a selfless love,
a love that is passionately committed to the well-
being of others.”
Questions to ask yourself:
• How often do you let arguments go much further than they should? Where you know you said things you shouldn't have?
• If you are truly honest with yourself, do you often feel the need to defend yourself? • Have I contributed to the situation with my enemies? Do I need to also repent to the other party? • Here’s a one question test to determine whether or not you’ve forgiven someone: “Are you still talking about
it?” Do you bring it up with friends and family? Chances are you haven’t really forgiven that person.
Here’s a process for praying through the answers to those questions. Use this as a guide for reflection and repentance.
• Ask the Lord to search your heart for lingering unforgiveness and bitterness. • Repent to the Lord if you need to. • Ask him to fill you with His love. • Pray for your enemies by name. Forgive them if you need to. • Ask God to heal your wounds and restore your joy and peace as you abide in His love. • Determine how you will “bless” or “do good” for your enemies in the days ahead.
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Lesson 10 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 11: Abiding: Practicing the Presence of Jesus
Sermon in a Sentence: To abide in Jesus is to be constantly in tune with and listening to and responding to His word and His love as we interact with the world.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve focused intensely on the love dynamic. We’ve been using a diagram of multiple circles in double 8 patterns to try to illustrate Jesus’ teachings about it, so you might want to pull that out and look it over as I give a quick synopsis before we get to the big idea for the day. It’s in this episode’s transcript so you can download it there if don’t already have a copy.
First of all we have to remember that the Trinity has existed eternally in a state of perfect, agape love. The Father, Son, and Spirit in an unending, ceaseless dance of admiration and sheer delight in one another.
The Father so loved the world that He gave us His only Son. Now you’ve got to get this: the Son invites us into this fellowship of the Trinity, to experience the fullness of this selfless love, where everyone involved is passionately committed to the well being of one another. Union and unity, nothing separating or stopping the flow of this love. Forgiveness is offered up as we are turning away from our selfish - non-loving attitudes and conduct. The outcome the Father was after in sending the Son to us was that we might live a life of love - experiencing His love for us and in turn, we are to give that love away freely and generously.
John told us that God’s love for us is made perfect or complete in us as we love others the way Jesus loves us. And thus, joy and peace will be experienced even in the face of adversity because of His great love - we have nothing to fear - we don’t have to worry about anything. And wrongs will be set right as we truly love others the way He loves us. Compassion will flow from our hearts for those who are wounded and hurting. Forgiveness and forbearance become our ongoing responses to even the worst enemies that come against us.
This is the vision God has for us - this is life in the Kingdom of the heavens - the life we were meant to live.
In outline form, you have basically 4 love commandments listed by Jesus. It starts with the Greatest Commandments:
• Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. The second is like it… • Love your neighbor as yourself. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said some had heard the “Love
your neighbor” command but added it’s counterpart to “Hate your enemy.” He cleared that up and gave us our third love command…
• Love your enemy. Pray for those that persecute you. And then fourthly, during his final address to the disciples in the upper room on the night before His death, he added his new, fourth love command…
• Love one another the way I have loved you.
So we have these 4 great love commands. And then listen to what Jesus would go on to say that night in the upper room about these commands and their connection to our overall relationship with Him. He said…
14:21 The one who has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. And the one who loves me will be loved by my Father. I also will love him and will reveal myself to him."
Now reading it just for what it says, clearly obedience is the evidence of our love for Jesus: the one who has my commands and keeps them is the one that loves me. But again, there’s this accompanying promise that keeping those commands leads to this deeply loving relationship between us and the Father and Jesus himself. Listen to what He goes on to emphasize it…
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John 14:23-24 CSB [23] …”If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Now this is just beautiful language to me. It’s so personal and intimate. And I think it goes right back to that invitation the Father extends to us through Jesus to come and experience that unity and community that the Trinity has experience from eternity past. A deeply personal connection to this divine source of selfless love and friendship and loyalty and admiration.
So let’s talk about this idea of making ourselves at home in Jesus and in the love of God. Let’s talk about what it means to Abide in Him.
SEGMENT 2
In John chapter 15, Jesus goes on to introduce another metaphor to show us what He means about this direct connection. He says,
John 15:1-8 CSB [1] "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
Jesus begins painting a picture of what our lives will look like if we remain faithful to His commands. He uses the imagery of a grapevine with the goal to be a lush and fruitful garden. Now, can you just picture the way the gardener walks through the vineyard, carefully shaping each branch to produce maximum fruitfulness? That’s the purpose of the garden after all - maximum fruitfulness. Remember, the Father’s goal is that the world might experience His love for them, demonstrated in and through the life and teachings of His son. So Jesus continues the metaphor of the Father’s desire that the world experience the fruit of His love.
[2] Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.
Now again, the goal of the Father, the gardener, is to maximize the fruitfulness of the vine. So he’s pruning and cutting back. How does He do that? I think it’s found in verse 3:
[3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. This is an interesting choice of words, saying that the disciples are “clean,” but what he’s saying to them is that, “You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.” See the connection to the previous teaching? Obey by commands, my words, my teachings? In other words, “I’ve taught you about all the life adjustments you need to make. My teachings show you the way to get rid of those things which keep you from living the life you were meant to live, those things that ultimately prevent fruitfulness. You’re following my commands so you are already being pruned.” But He wants us to really flourish. So next he says,
[4] Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. [5] I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
Now, this word “remain” or as it might say in your translation, “abide,” occurs 11 times in the first 16 verses of John 15. Obviously it is a very important word. In fact, I’d say it is one of the most important words in all of the New Testament. To go right alongside other favorites like metanoia for repent or change the way you think, agape for selfless, sacrificial love, dikaiosune for Kingdom righteousness, and makarios for the blessed life, is this Greek word meno - remain, abide, stay. Here are a few definitions:
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1. Related to a place: to stay and not leave; abide. Think about it. Abide and the word abode have their root in the same word. An abode is somewhere you live. You might remember, Jesus said that in His Father’s house are many rooms, room enough for all of us orphans to be adopted. So perhaps to abide is to make ourselves at home in Him. It is like back in chapter 14 verse 23 where Jesus said that He and the Father would come and make their home with us. Similarly, it can also mean… 2. To continue to be present. When we think of it this way, it’s not so much like a place, such as going to church or another sacred place to experience his presence, though I do think those are powerfully useful in the growing process, it means we actually practice the presence of Jesus wherever we are. We are really never absent from Him, but it is an uninterrupted, conscious awareness of Him. Another meaning is… 3. To stay in relationship. Now this makes good sense for sure. Maybe you have some people in your life you use to hang out with all the time and now you hardly ever even think about them. Jesus is saying to never let that happen with Him. And as we cultivate that relationship with him, fruit should begin to emerge almost automatically. One more definition of this word abide: 4. To remain as one. There’s a subtle but powerful difference happening as we transition through these definitions. As wonderful as it is to be WITH Jesus, there’s even a deeper level possible. He is telling us to remain IN him. There is a union and unity that can be experienced. It’s like the transition from acquaintance to best of friend. Where you know Him deeply and intimately. I’ve come to describe this simply as Divine Intimacy.
So Jesus is saying that He is the vine and we as the branches are to remain connected to Him. And as we do that, He assures us that we will live fruitful lives. Abide in Him. This is such an important concept. He also says in verse 9,
9 “As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain (abide) in my love. 10 If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
So he says, abide in me and abide in my love. And earlier in his ministry, abiding was the subject of another very familiar and famous lesson we studied a few weeks back related to the Disciple’s Freedom Formula. Check this out:
John 8:31-31 ESV 31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
So now we have three things in which we need to abide. Abide in me, in my love, and in my word. 1. Abide in Me. (“Share in my life. Make your home in me. Apart from me you can do nothing.”) 2. Abide in my Love. (That’s His invitation to participate in perfect Trinitarian agape love.) 3. Abide in my Word. (Stay faithful to my commands and teachings.)
So back to the vine and branches metaphor, we can just imagine how his word or his teachings and His love serve as the very life source flowing into us and through us, yielding the fruit of His Spirit. And when I am in Him, He is in me - it is virtually impossible to see where the vine stops and the branch starts - they are in each other. And then, His Word is in me - his teaching and his truth influences my every decision. And His love abides in me, influencing my every interaction with others.
And without that connection, we wither, we become lifeless, and certainly we are fruitless. That’s not what the Father wants for us. The Phillips translation puts verse 6 like this:
John 15:6 PHILLIPS The man who does not share my life is like a branch that is broken off and withers away. He becomes just like the dry sticks that men pick up and use for the firewood.
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Staying connected to the vine and abiding in His word and in his love is the key to not ending up as dead, dried up sticks. I’ve seen plenty of people like this in the church. I’ve even been that way at times. Attending church once a week won’t likely do it. That’s not abiding. That’s visiting. And the reason many people don’t have ongoing joy and peace and love is that they’re trying to get by without staying connected to the vine. Remember, the ultimate goal for the Father, this nurturing gardener, is that we should be a fruitful garden. And Jesus says, “The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” Jesus takes it so far to even say,
John 15:8 CSB My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.
Fruit is the evidence of a life connected to the vine with His word and His love flowing into you daily. You just can’t fake it. Not for long anyway.
Now what fruit is Jesus talking about? Well I believe He’s talking about the outward evidence of an inner transformation. Paul called it the fruit of the Spirit and gave examples of it as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are probably not all but simply a representation of the kind of Christlike characteristics that are obvious and plentiful in the life of someone who is abiding in Christ, in his word, and in his love. You see, abiding is what brings about new “automatic responses” to life. We are a hot mess of old habits and instinctive reactions. Metanoia - this radical transformation of the way we think - is an ongoing process as His Word and Love are like an I.V. connected to our veins, working their healing and corrective processes in our hearts and minds. Breaking down the diseases of bitterness and unforgiveness, prejudices and judgmentalisms, and reactions like anger and contempt. Then this inflow rebuilds our wrong thinking and decision making into His way of thinking. Disconnect the IV and the transformation stops.
SEGMENT 3
So our main task is to abide - to make ourselves at home in him. “Trying” to love or “trying” to be a patient and kind person most often doesn’t work. Abiding in Christ is where we must put our effort and love, joy, peace, and patience are the natural result.
You see, “The fruit of the Spirit…gives a sure sign of transformed character. When our deepest attitudes and dispositions are those of Jesus, it is because we have learned to let the Spirit foster his life in us. The fruit are the result…of the presence of Christ’s Spirit in our lives. What brings about our transformation into Christlikeness is our direct, personal interaction with Christ through the Spirit. The Spirit makes Christ present to us and draws us toward his likeness1.” The Holy Spirit is the agent that uses the word of Jesus and the love of Jesus to transform us to be like Jesus.
You see, these last few weeks we’ve talked about the importance of loving our neighbors with compassion and loving our enemies with forgiveness and forbearance and loving each other the way Jesus loved us. But the true secret to actually living that way is found right here in Jesus’ lesson: “Abide in me, because without me, you can do nothing.”
I’ve come to think of this idea of abiding or making myself at home in Jesus with a phrase used often by many of my spiritual mentors. They call it simply, “Practicing the Presence of God.”
And so the big question of the day, then, is HOW do we abide in Jesus and in His Word and in His Love? How do we remain in Him, make ourselves at home in Him? How do we practice His presence? There is no silver bullet here. There’s not a quick fix. It requires intentionality, time, sacrifice, and yes, even what some might call
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work. All the spiritual practices that Jesus and the saints of the ages have used are useful in realigning your attentions and affections.
In our next session, we’ll begin our discussion about developing a Rule of Life, an ongoing rhythm of spiritual disciplines that you engage to enable you to do what you currently cannot naturally do, like some of the practices we’ve already incorporated here in our D Groups. From the typical practices of prayer and scripture reading to fasting and solitude and silence, even to a commitment to a life of simplicity, spiritual practices can be used of the Holy Spirit to infuse the Words and Love of Christ into your mind and heart, producing the fruitfulness of a loving character. You may choose to memorize and meditate on Scripture. Or you might spend the last 10 minutes of the day in gratitude, asking Jesus, “How could you be this good?” There’s a huge list of possibilities.
In fact, one little method we’ll be talking about in a couple of weeks might be a really great place to start. I call it Momentary Prayers. Basically, you’ll designate moments throughout your day to briefly acknowledge the Presence of God. Something like this: “Thank you Lord for your presence. Your kingdom come and will be done right here in my life.” And that’s it. Just 5 seconds to pray that prayer. But what you’re doing is developing a habit of conscious awareness of God’s presence and yielding your life to his direction. Now to build this habit, you may need to set reminders on your smart phone. How frequent is up to you but several times would be a great goal. I want to encourage your entire D Group to do this for the next few weeks and hold each other accountable as you experiment with it for your selves.
Now that’s just one of many different ways to practice His presence. Please don’t misunderstand me. Spiritual practices are not for the purpose of earning salvation. They simply create the ongoing space and time to make your home in Christ, to bask in his overwhelming love, to engraft His word into your soul, giving access to the Holy Spirit to bring about newer life and bountiful fruit.
Again, there is no one perfect formula, but by daily practicing the presence of Jesus in whatever methods you and the Spirit work out together, you will find yourself turning your mind and heart toward Jesus throughout your days, speaking with Him, laughing with him, crying out to Him, and referencing what you’ve learned from him for the decisions and choices you must make in your everyday traffic patterns of life, as if He truly is that constant companion, influencing your every move.
I was standing in the ocean one day. The deeper I went, not only was I in the water, but also the more influence the currents had on my body. I was standing there thinking, “Here I am in this ocean. I am still fully myself, yet I am fully under its sway. I no longer have full control myself.” Now, I don’t know exactly how it plays out, but to be in Christ, to abide in Him is to be at all times under his influence, under his sway. I am still myself, but more and more, it is obvious that it is Christ who lives in me. And in Him, I live and move and breath and have my being.
Here’s our Big Idea for today: To abide in Jesus is to be constantly in tune with and listening to and responding to His word and His love. Like being in the ocean, you are under the sway of the reality of His presence as you are IN Christ. This is Divine Intimacy.
And like you see in the center of that love diagram we’ve been using, the purest outcome of all of this abiding naturally flows into a life of absolute love. Always remember that the truest test for the apprentice of Jesus whose life pursuit is Christlikeness is not how much you know, but how much you love, evidenced in the fruit, such as joy and peace. Patience and kindness and gentleness become automatic, not forced. You’ll find yourself more in control of your emotional responses and your carnal impulses. Compassion floods your heart for the broken and wounded and disoriented. A strange and almost unexplainable thing happens as you come to truly want what’s best even for your enemies. Love rules. Love wins. Ultimately, love, the Father’s love for the world, the love demonstrated in the life and teachings of His Son Jesus, the love that flows through Him as the vine
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“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.”
COMPASSIONFORGIVENESS &FORBEARANCE
KOINONIA
ABIDE IN HIS
LOVE & WORD“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“Love your enemy.”
“Love one another as I have loved you.”
AGAPE
AGAPE LOVE: “a selfless love,
a love that is passionately committed to the well-
being of others.”
and into those of us who abide as branches, that love is the fruit God uses to change the world, to redeem the world, and to set things right in the world.
Let’s go back to John 15 where Jesus ties all of this together. Just listen to the Master for a few moments. Let these words sink deep into your spirit. Clear your mind and meditate. Verse 9:
John 15:9-17 CSB [9] "As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. [10] If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. [11] "I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. [12] "This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. (And then He hints toward his own demonstration of what that love should look like:) [13] No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you. (In other words, I was always pursuing you, chasing you down. And then he says,) I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. [17] "This is what I command you: Love one another.
I think it’s just incredible that of all the things Jesus could have said that night in the Upper room, in this last important conversation with His disciples, He didn’t go into a deep intellectual, doctrinal symposium. He simply reminded them of how they are to live. Serve humbly, Obey completely, and Love extravagantly out of the unending life flow of love from the Father, the words of Jesus, and the strengthening of the Holy Spirit. Hear the voice of Jesus, friend: “Abide in Me. Build your life on my words and upon my love. Practice my presence and just watch what I’ll do through your life of love.”
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Lesson 11 Study and Discussion Questions
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Second Big Review!
Be prepared to recite all scripture memory verses.
Be prepared with the following answers: • What is a disciple of Christ as we have defined it? • What does repent mean? • What does Believe really mean? • What is the definition of agape love? • What is The Disciple’s Freedom Formula? • What is the Disciple’s Priority? • What are the three aspects of the Kingdom we’ve outlined? Describe what they mean.
(God Reality, Initiative, Provision) • What are the three primary aspects of Kingdom Righteousness as we’ve outlined?
Describe what they mean. (Right Character, Right Loving, Right Setting Activity) • What are our definitions of righteousness? (See the bottom of the disciple’s priority card) • What are the Four Love Commands given to us by Jesus? • Define Compassion. • What two aspects of agape love are to be used with our enemies? • BIG ONE: Be prepared to draw and explain the Love Circles Diagram from memory!
• Add any appropriate memory verses as well
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Lesson 12A: Live Like Jesus | A Rule of Life
Big Idea: Spiritual Transformation happens as we do our cooperative work with the Holy Spirit to be internally transformed, so that our automatic outward responses to life are in alignment with Christ.
Over the last many weeks, we’ve been challenged to the core on what it means to be a disciple of Christ - to apprentice our lives to him. This is his invitation to us and the commandment he gave to all of us. We are called to be his disciples so we can make more disciples. I do hope you’re beginning to think that way - that you are at some point in the not so distant future going to disciple others.
We first looked closely at the Gospel accounts and determined that a disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
I’ve taken a week by week process of laying out a vision of what the life of a disciple can look like. Let’s reflect on that vision for a moment as a refresher. You’ll remember perhaps most importantly that Jesus’ invitation to us is to Citizenship in His Kingdom. This was his Gospel message.
God’s Kingdom - or that realm where God reigns and is in action for the good of His people - is available to anyone who calls upon Him. You can live a life in this Kingdom of the heavens in the here and now. It’s going to take a radical reorientation of how you’ve been thinking though. Repent!
The kingdom of God is where what God wants done is being done. Where the will of God - the loving action of God on behalf of His people, is made manifest in the world. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
The radical shift in Jesus’ message about the Kingdom was how open this kingdom was to anyone and everyone. He rattled the religious elite by suggesting that this Kingdom message was available to those who were rejected, unacceptable - people unclean because of their sicknesses and diseases, those who were thought to be cursed because they were poor.
He didn’t just preach it, either. He lived it out completely. From prostitutes to lepers, from little children to poor widows, from tax collectors to Roman soldiers, from a Samaritan woman to his worst enemies, Jesus showed just how available the King of glory is to those who call upon his name. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It’s here now. You don’t have to wait any longer.
In a nutshell, the Gospel of the Kingdom is: “…the availability of life now in the kingdom of God by placing our confidence in Jesus as Lord of all.”
So what does “life now in the Kingdom” look like? That’s what we’re learning - to love, live, and lead like Jesus. He’s the master - we’re learning from Him.
We’ve spent the last few weeks talking about what it means to love like Jesus. Rooted in perfect Trinitarian agape love, we’ve been invited into a whole new way of relating to the people in our lives and in the world. Master your understanding of that word agape’, friend. That “selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.”
We went on to present the idea that love, joy, and peace should be our default disposition if we are abiding in Christ. That compassion should fill our hearts as we begin to see people the way Christ sees them. And that forbearance and forgiveness should be the dominant dimensions of agape love, even with our enemies.
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I’ve presented a model to visualize what this ever flowing stream of love looks like. Accepting his invitation into the community of love represented in the Trinity, trusting in him alone as your sole sufficiency, selflessly loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, compassionately giving to the hurting and disoriented, even extending loving forbearance and forgiveness to your enemies, past and present. This is what it looks like to love like Jesus.
In one way or another, everyone in your life - from family to fellow classmates to coworkers - from the people easiest to love to the ones hardest to even like - they are all represented here. And selfless agape love, a love that desires the best for everyone of them is to become the characterizing quality of our interactions with them as we live out our lives under the reign of Christ - abiding in his love and in his word.
So we have this powerful vision of the Kingdom of God that is made available to us now. And as we’ve observed the life and teachings of Jesus, we have a clear vision of how life in the Kingdom is to be lived out - Loving God and loving people.
But - it is one thing to have a vision of the Kingdom, to know that the aim of our life SHOULD be characterized by selfless and sacrificial love; but it is a very different thing to actually live it out. Our responses to our enemies are often not very loving. We do pass by on the other side of the road far too often and don’t slow down with compassion for those who are wounded. We actually don’t engage enough with those who are disoriented to God’s way of living so we can show them the way. Our light is not very bright and our salt doesn’t do much for changing the flavor of life for very many people.
Clearly there is often a disconnect between the beautiful vision of life in the Kingdom that Jesus presents and the one we actually live. So what gives? Why is it so hard?
Well, we need look no further than to our Master Teacher to show us the way. He doesn’t leave us hanging here. If we are apprenticing our whole lives to Him, then by observing the way he lived his life, by studying the rhythms and patterns of his life, we can identify the source of his success and strength in living out the Kingdom vision. He actually shows us, almost step by step, how to abide in the Father’s love and in His word. He is the ultimate example in teaching how to practice the presence of God. Go with me on a journey through the Gospels for a few moments and let’s see what we might discover about how to live like Jesus.
JESUS’ LIFE RHYTHMS
In Luke 4 we see how one Sunday, Jesus had an incredibly full day of ministry. From early in the morning until the evening he was teaching in the synagogue, healing Simon’s mother-in-law and performing many miracles. On Monday morning, Jesus went out for a time of solitude and silence. Verse 42: Luke 4:42 - Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them.
Mark records that for us as well but gives us more details about what Jesus was doing out there in isolation: Mark 1:35 - Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. (NLT)
In Matthew 14, when Jesus heard of the death of his cousin, John the Baptizer, he left by boat to be alone in what the ESV calls a desolate place. The crowds heard about him and they followed him on foot. This is the scene where Jesus has great compassion on them and he performed many miracles. By evening, there’s nothing to eat and we get the story of the feeding of the 5,000. So again, a long and emotionally draining day. Matthew records Jesus next movements for us:
Matt. 14:22, 23 - As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.
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In Luke 5, Jesus heals a leper and tells him not to say anything about it. It didn’t do much good. Luke says…
Luke 5:15-17 CSB 15 But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.
Pastor Peterson interprets it that… Luke 5:17 MSG As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.
The closer we look, the more it all starts to add up. You can see a definite rhythm to how Jesus lived his life. The Gospel writers make sure we know not just about all of his powerful teachings and miracles. We don’t hear just about walking on water and raising people from the dead. We see that in between all the work of spreading the Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus has a rhythm of spiritual practices. Interestingly, we often see them preceding or immediately after times of intense ministry. It was as if these practices of solitude, silence, and prayer actually connected the ministry times together - that they were even key to sustaining and fueling Jesus to do the work of the ministry.
You see, if we are truly going to apprentice our lives to Jesus, we not only need to understand what to do in public, but perhaps even more importantly, we have to learn to live as he did in private and behind the scenes.
Solitude, silence, and prayer aren’t the only practices we see him engaging in either.
In Luke chapter 4, we see one of the most important scenes in Jesus life. This is the widely known story of the Temptation of Christ. It happens immediately after his baptism and just prior to the launching of his public ministry - so it is an absolute crucial and pivotal moment in his life. You’re probably pretty familiar with the story but let’s make a few key observations. Verse 1 of Luke 4:
Luke 4:1-2 CSB 1 Then Jesus left the Jordan, full of the Holy Spirit, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness 2 for forty days to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry.
The first thing we notice is that…Before Jesus went about doing His work, even He went into spiritual preparation (or training). Now, Jesus is the Son of God, right? He is one of three persons making up the Trinity itself. And yet, we see Him going into a season of preparation.
Could it be that the reason we struggle to live the Kingdom life to it’s fullest is that we step out into the world unprepared? We know we’re suppose to be loving and forgiving and kind. We know we should set aside anger and malice - that we should have no part in gossip or lying. We know we are not to retaliate with our enemies and we are to be on the lookout for those in need to offer sacrificial compassion - and yet that is not the way our lives would appear to onlookers. Could it be that we try to run the marathon without putting in the necessary training? Oh we may have our perfectly matched outfit. We may think we have the best running shoes money can buy. We may have even attended a few workshops on the benefits of running. And yet, we’ve not put in the training which is the only thing that can ensure an even remote possibility of finishing the race.
The Gospel writers have let us in on what I believe to be one of the most important dynamics of Kingdom Living. Jesus himself demonstrates for us how important these spiritual practices are for fruitful living. Notice a few more important points here in this story in the wilderness:
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We see that he was led by the Spirit and full of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual practices are something we do but are only made effective as the Spirit works within us. We’ll come back to this in a few moments.
We also pick up on a couple of other important spiritual practices here. It would be hard not to notice that a part of his training was that he fasted. Fasting is, as Richard Foster puts it, “a reminder of the source of all nourishment.” Jesus assumed we would follow his example. In Matthew 6 he’s giving instructions about how to fast. He says two times, “When you fast…” not IF you fast.
Of course, at the end of his fast, Satan comes to tempt Jesus.
Luke 4:2-4 CSB 2…He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4 But Jesus answered him, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone.”
Satan goes on to tempt Him two more times and Jesus responds all three times by quoting Scripture. Here we can see that long before He was tempted, Jesus filled his mind with Scripture. This shows that Jesus stayed ready and prepared by memorizing and meditating on Scripture. Friend, the decision to resist temptation is made long before the temptation is faced. And the power to resist comes from readying yourself long before the temptation comes. This is the difference between trying to do the right thing versus training to do the right thing.
Notice this little verse near the end of the storytelling:
Luke 4:13 NIV When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Evidently, the enemy looks for times of weakness in our lives. That’s why it’s important to always stay ready. And what was the outcome of this season of preparation and training? Look at verse 14:
Luke 4:14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.
So we see that, After spiritual training, Jesus was empowered by the Spirit.
This is key. Strength on the field at game time is gained in the weeks and months before the game. In the gym. Repeating the necessary training to build muscle and endurance. And Jesus shows us the way to live in his strength. By placing our lives in his hands through repeated spiritual practices, his Spirit empowers us to live out the lives we were meant to live.
We can learn so much about these practices if we just pay close attention to the life of Christ. Very quickly just a few more observations:
Before Jesus made his biggest decisions, he went into a time of intense prayer.
Luke 6:12-13 NLT One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
How much prayer do we devote to our big decisions? Really? Do we ever pray all night? I know this is a particularly big decision for Jesus. After all the disciples are the ones responsible for us being here today. Still, can we learn to apprentice our prayer lives to Jesus?
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We can also see that after intense seasons of work, He went into spiritual recovery.
Mark 6:30, 31 NLT The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
Yes, rest and quiet is a spiritual practice. And Jesus says that rest may even include times with our friends - perhaps a retreat is what we would call it in our time.
Oh can you see it? Jesus had a rhythm to his life. Yes, it was a life rhythm that included the spectacular and riveting display of God’s Glorious Gospel, demonstrations of lovingkindness to whosoever will may come, healing the broken, wounded, and hurting. But it was also a rhythm that included the quiet, the restoration of solitude, the healing of rest with friends, an intimacy with the Father through extended seasons of prayer and fasting, the meditation on the life giving words of the bible, and much more.
The question is, will we accept his invitation to give our lives over completely to his way - to his rhythm - to his spiritual practices that lead to life giving fruitfulness? It is possible, you know? You may resist the notion in our fast-paced 21st century world. But it is completely doable. Remember one of our key verses in this study,
Luke 6:40 CSB A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher.
As a disciple of Christ, apprenticing our whole lives to him, we learn to be like him as we go into training. And this rhythm of life we see in Jesus is a major part of the training process. Paul would talk about this later in his encouragement to Timothy:
1 Timothy 4:7-8 CSB Rather, train yourself in godliness. 8 For the training of the body has limited benefit, but godliness is beneficial in every way, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.
Train yourself in godliness. Listen to Pastor Peterson’s take:
1 Timothy 4:7-8 MSG Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever.
That’s a powerful way of saying it: “Exercise daily in God…A disciplined life in God.”
Keep in mind, though, that the objective is to engage in a rhythm of practices that allow God to do the inner work of transformation. He’s the one that does the work. We’re simply giving him access to our inner life to do the work. I love the way Ruth Haley Barton puts it. You’ve likely heard me use this quote before:
“In the end, this is the most hopeful thing any of us can say about spiritual transformation: I cannot transform myself, or anyone else for that matter. What I can do is create the conditions in which spiritual transformation can take place, by developing and maintaining a rhythm of spiritual practices that keep me open and available to God.”
Now, here’s our objective in this conversation today: Spiritual Transformation happens as we do our cooperative work with the Holy Spirit to be internally transformed so that our automatic outward responses to life are in alignment with Christ. That’s our Big Idea for this week. Let me say it again. Spiritual Transformation happens
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as we do our cooperative work with the Holy Spirit to be internally transformed so that our automatic outward responses to life are in alignment with Christ. Remember what Jesus said in Luke 6… Luke 6:45 CSB A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
Ever get in a pressured situation or maybe an argument and quickly say things we wish you hadn’t? Ever wonder where they come from? Jesus says it comes from your heart. And actually I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to suggest that ALL of our automatic responses to life flow from the heart. Your attitudes, your work ethic, your patience or impatience, your submission to authority, all of these and so much more flow from your inner life whether you realize it or not. And spiritual practices combined with the work of the Holy Spirit is the path Jesus lays out for us that leads to transformation of your heart, ultimately leading to deeper levels of agape love for God and other people. The end result is a transformation of Character into Christlikeness.
Friend, if you’re tired of all the ups an downs in your walk of faith, if you know the way you’re suppose to selflessly and sacrificially love and yet you don’t, if your life is still characterized by anger and insults, a lack of patience, a lack of peace, if your eyes still wander in lust, if you still lack self control, the answer is not to simply try harder, it is to train smarter. You’re in need of a reformation of the heart that comes from cultivating a disciplined life in God.
Here are the questions you have to ask yourself: “How bad do I want it? Am I willing to rearrange my life for what my heart most wants?”
Look. I get it. Life can be crazy busy. We have a lot of obligations. Our everyday activities are physically and mentally taxing. So to think about adding even more items into our schedule seems daunting and maybe even hopeless. But listen, “One of the great temptations of the spiritual life is to believe that if I were in another season of life, I could be more spiritual.”
But if your aim in life is to be like Christ, if you’ve chosen to seek first the Kingdom of God, if you’ve chosen the narrow gate that leads to life, then following the lead of Christ, rebuild the rhythms of your life to match.
Now, it’s pretty safe to assume that as you’ve been a part of these D Groups, you’ve already been developing what we’ve called a Rule of Life. You already have a rhythm of reflective Bible based prayer. You probably are pretty committed to Sunday morning attendance, worshiping with your church family. Whether you’ve really even thought about it, you already have a rhythm to your Christ Life.
But I want to challenge you to take it even further and maybe even formalize your Rule of Life in the weeks ahead. Next week I’m going to take some time to review just a few of the more common Spiritual Practices used throughout the ages. There really is no complete list. In your groups over the next few weeks, your leaders will also be giving out some assignments to experiment with some of those practices one or two at a time. After all of that, you’ll be able to craft a document of sort that outlines what you think will be your typical daily, weekly, monthly, and even annual intentions for practicing the presence of God in a wide variety of ways.
But for this week, I want to challenge you to download what we’re calling a Spiritual Inventory. You’ll find it with the show notes for this episode. What you’ll be doing is keeping a daily record for the next week or so of every activity you participate in that you would consider a spiritual practice of some kind. Of course, that includes your daily prayer times and attending church, but don’t rule out other less obvious things as well. Even an evening with friends or family could be considered a spiritual activity if you are intentional to consider how God is present, how his grace is active, how His agape love is obvious as you exchange laughter and conversation.
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I’ve included a sample of my own from a few years back so maybe that will help. This exercise is not meant to be a burden, I just want you to see all the activities you're already engaged with as we move forward toward developing our Rule of Life.
I’m praying for you this week. I’m so proud of your commitment. Just keep pressing on toward the prize of the high calling we have in Christ. Let His Spirit continue to reshape your heart so your automatic response to life look more and more like Jesus.
A RULE OF LIFE - A POTENTIAL PLACE TO BEGIN
The Rule of Life seeks to answer two questions: Who do I want to be? How do I want to live? Or, put more correctly, How do I want to live so I can be who I want to be? The following is a potential outline of what your Rule of Life could look like:
• Make space for God at the beginning and end of each day. • Read through the Gospels in small 2 to 3 chapter segments, and memorize key passages as you
apprentice your life to Christ. • Hospitality - Fellowship weekly with believers and at least monthly with people outside the church. • Sabbath - A weekly period of Celebration, Quiet and Rest. • Live within your means and give away more than 10% of your income. • Bless someone outside the church every week through a purposeful demonstration of love. • Incorporate other practices as your journey grows, or as needed in particular seasons of life.
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Personal Spiritual Inventory Weekly Chart of Activity
For the next seven days, record your daily spiritual activities. This will, of course, include your daily quiet time but should also include other moments of Awareness of God’s presence: moments of gratitude, worship services, special times with friends, Grace Moments, and God’s Right-Se!ing. (Print several copies of Page 1 and keep them with you to record your activities.)
Day/Time Activity Response and ReflectionMonday - 5:45 a.m. QT The Beatitudes: wow - there really is a Kingdom way
of looking at even the toughest situations in life!
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Personal Spiritual Inventory Weekly Chart of Activity (EXAMPLE)
Day/Time Activity Response and ReflectionMonday 7:30 am Daily Quiet Time Reflected on The self-control Christ exhibited during
His cruel trials by the religious leading up to His crucifixion.
Monday 8:00 am Continued working through book 2 of MasterLife focusing on The Disciple’s Personality. I’m finishing up with week 3.
This week we’ve been studying our emotions and how to be aware of improper reactions to life and how to improve. It’s been great! I’ve been really working on my struggles with discouragement and boredom.
Monday 8:15 a.m. Recited memory verses I’ve been working on recently
Romans 12:1-2; Galatians 5:22-23; Philippians 2:13 – These are coming along! Should be good by the end of the week!
Monday 11:45 am Hospital Visitation A normally dreaded aspect of my job, I prayed for the love of Jesus to permeate my visits. He did! These were some of the most meaningful visits I’ve ever had. A husband who has an incredible peace as his wife is breathing here final breathes. A sister of a lady dying of cancer, on the one-year anniversary of her husbands death. What incredible comfort filled the room as we prayed together.
Monday 12:15 A pause of gratitude in solitude. Spent 15 minutes in the 12th floor waiting room of the hospital. (One of my favorite spots in all of Mobile.) Just God and I, as I thanked Him for his incredible blessing of life and family. Truly a God moment.
Tuesday 7:15 am Daily QT James 3:1-12 helped me to remember the power of my words. I prayed for my conversation to be pleasing to Him, motivational to others, life changing even.
Tuesday 8:00 am MasterLife study Began a new memory verse for the week as I began studying “presenting my body” as a living sacrifice; that this body is His temple.
Tuesday 11:00 am Lunch with my wife What a precious gi!. I “feel God’s pleasure” anytime I am with her. I tried to cherish the moment, but alas, I have to admit, I was a bit preoccupied with work. Must do be"er.
Wednesday 7:00 am I served my time slot on the Watchman wall
I do this weekly on Wednesday mornings as we pray through all the ministries of our church through a monthly published “Alert”. I thanked God especially to be a part of a fellowship hungry for a move of God and commi"ed to church-wide prayer.
Wednesday 7:45 am Daily QT Acts 16:25-34 Paul & Silas and the “jailhouse rock”. My prayer was for God’s power to be obvious in my life to the lost to the point of astonishment and surrender.
Wednesday 8:00 Masterlife Study on how to deal with the flesh. A great study!
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Wednesday 7:37 pm The Encounter Our final young adult worship experience for the semester. All music and worship. How refreshing it was to just sit back and worship!
Thursday 8:10 Daily QT I focused on thanksgiving for an incredible year of ministry to young adults.
Thursday 8:30 MasterLife Learning to rule the body. Studied Samson and Delilah. Found plenty of valuable lessons, but also questioned why God would empower Samson’s revenge and the outcome of mass murder, and not forgiveness. (Still praying through some of these type issues. God help me understand.)
Thursday 11:00 am Lunch with Kristie (my wife) Tried harder to focus on practicing the presence of Jesus during our time together for lunch. A definite improvement.
Thursday 3:00 pm Reflective reading In our backyard, we have a pool, a perfect place to begin really understanding where Ortberg is headed. Responding to the leading of the Holy Spirit, I’m commi!ed to leading my young adults into “The Deep Season”, taking advantage of their summer “down-time” to understand falling in love with Christ exploring the spiritual disciplines.
Friday 7:45 am Daily QT Focused on John 20:1-18 (the realization of the resurrection) Remembered the verse to the hymn “He Lives” and declared that as a ma!er of faith – I know He is alive by His presence within my heart. I contemplated the depths of “The Exchanged Life” facet. Wow.
Friday 8:15 MasterLife Romans 12:1-2 – Transformation is in one way our responsibility – we renew the mind – God renews the heart. Great study.
Friday a"ernoon An a"ernoon alone – reading What a Sabbath time of refreshing and rest. These books for this class are just great!
Friday evening A farewell party The discipline of Celebration – what joy it is to fellowship with other believers as we sent one of our group members o# to Memphis to serve her residency as a new doctor!
Saturday 7:30 am Daily QT Phil. 2:13 – God’s will is not down the road – He is working it within me today!
Saturday Morning Hangin’ out with Kristie I guess it was the fact that I knew I had to do this inventory, so it heightened my awareness of God moments that happen all the time. Even shopping with Kristie reveals God’s great love to me! (Sorry for being so sappy!)
Saturday a"ernoon Sunday Morning bible study prep.
While studying for my SS class, on the subject of Character, God helped me to develop a study on courage using Joshua and Caleb’s positive spy-report. I prayed for that kind of courage in my daily walk.
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Saturday night Family Fellowship My kids are the greatest. Again, as we interacted, I internally thanked God for their every word.
Sunday 7:00 No QT Because of lack of planning, I had forgo!en some things that needed to be done before church and missed my QT. I need to reread Ordering Your Private World!
Sunday 8:00 am Sta" Prayer As we prayed for the day’s services I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for my church and the brotherhood of our sta".
Sunday 9:00 am Bible study God anointed me to teach with conviction. I could “feel His pleasure”! This is what I am created to do!
Sunday 10:30 am Worship Celebration God anointed my playing and our worship! We’ve come a long way in the last 2 1/2 years! Still, I’m longing for the day when our people are open to the surprising nature of the Holy Spirit. Wind Blow!
Sunday a#ernoon/evening
Family Fellowship Kristie’s sister and brother-in-law were in town for the holiday. We started with a prayer of thanksgiving for our country and those who have died and fight for us today. The fellowship time was needed – just an incredible day of God’s peace. I could feel his love shining down.
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Lesson 13: Spiritual Disciplines - The Fundamentals
Big Idea: Through spiritual disciplines, we experience Divine Intimacy, Spiritual Transformation, and become more Loving toward Others.
In this lesson, we’re continuing our discussion around what it means to Live Like Jesus. As we pointed out last week, Jesus had a rhythm to his life that not only included his work, his miracles, his teaching to both the crowds and his disciples. It also included a rhythm of spiritual practices. From solitude and silence to early morning prayer times to fasting and scripture memory, we see that it was a pattern, a rhythm that I believe was his sustaining power and direct source of hearing from the Father.
It stands to reason that if He was the Son of God and felt the compelled to engage in these kinds of practices, how much more do you and I need them for our lives? This truly is one of the primary ways we learn to live like Jesus.
I hope you took the time last week to do that Spiritual Inventory. Perhaps you can see that your life already has a bit of a spiritual rhythm to it as well. And we’re encouraging you to get even more intentional with it - to further develop it. I’ve come to think of developing this rhythm as a Rule of Life
St. Benedict was one of the first to develop the Rule of Life, helping his monks order their lives around a very specific set of monk-like practices. Specifically for them it was prayer, work, study, and serving.
For us, the Rule of Life seeks to answer two questions: Who do I want to be? How do I want to live? Or, put more correctly, How do I want to live so I can be who I want to be? Ultimately, I believe there are three primary goals and outcomes of spiritual disciplines. The first is what I call Divine Intimacy, the second is Spiritual Transformation, and the third is Others Reorientation.
Divine Intimacy simply means learning to love God more. To get to a place where God is not just some big spirit out there in the universe, but to cultivate a personal and intimate relationship with him. Listen to these scriptures:
Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. 2 Peter 1:3 MSG.
Divine Intimacy is truly possible. Listen to His words to you: “When you come looking for me, you’ll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” Jer. 29:13-14
So spiritual practices lead us to that place of intimacy with Him. And then secondly, in that place of face to face intimacy, we give him access to bring about Radical Life Change, or Spiritual Transformation. This is where the work is done, His chisel shaping us to be what He wants.
And thirdly, the outcome of that radical life change is that spiritual practices lead us to Others Reorientation. In other words, spiritual practices ultimately lead us to loving others more. All the Bible knowledge and memorization in the world is useless if you don’t have love. Spiritual practices should begin to shape the answer to the question, “How am I doing at loving the people God has given me?” Loving God more. Loving people more. That’s the kind of person we’re longing to become. Not more successful. Not more popular. Just more like Jesus. Now one thing is for sure, developing a rhythm of spiritual practices takes time. What we do is explore varieties of experiences. Then we arrange them to fit our life schedule. It’s personal. Yours may or may not be like anyone else, though it is likely to contain many similarities, especially those practices most obvious in the life of Christ.
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However, all the disciplines that we’ll talk about and more may be needed by everyone at different stages of life and at varying levels of intensity. And I think we need to find balance between practices that come easy to us and those that stretch us. Also, as Ruth Haley Barton says, “One of the great temptations of the spiritual life is to believe that if I were in another season of life, I could be more spiritual.”
It may take even radically rearranging your life to become the person you long to become. Here’s the big question: “How bad do I want it? Am I willing to rearrange my life for what my heart most wants?” Do you want it like this Psalmist did?
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul (my inner self) thirsts for God, for the living God; (NASB) Ps. 42:1-2
If the desire is there, then absolutely - Divine Intimacy is possible!
But at the same time, I don’t want you to think that there is some kind of bare minimum requirement., that only if you devote half of your waking hours to spiritual disciplines will you ever become a super saint. That’s certainly not our goal. Remember, the objective is to engage in a rhythm of practices that allow God to do an inner work of transformation. He’s the one that does the work. We’re simply giving him access to our life to do the work, to help us become more like Him.
And finally, before we get to the practices themselves, flexibility is important as well. Don’t become too rigid. For example, one of our primary goals is to learn to abide in Him, to practice His presence. As you actually learn to do that throughout your day, as natural as breathing, then when you have a day or two for whatever reason where you don’t engage in your usual morning prayer or bible reflection, you may be disappointed but it doesn’t mean you should feel guilty and less of a follower of Christ. You’re still conversing with him throughout the day - praying without ceasing as Paul put it. Luke tells us that “As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places for prayer.” (Luke 5:16 MSG) It doesn’t say that he got up every morning and did a regimented quiet time. It simply says often. So don’t let anyone guilt you into submission over these issues.
This is not about proving to God how good you are. It’s about training to be the best you can be. And yes, that will take discipline, especially in the early going. Yes, it will require dedicating time to giving the Spirit access and undivided attention. But in time, as all of this becomes more natural and you see the effects it has on your everyday walking around lives, your interactions with others, the peace and joy you begin to experience, the courage and boldness you have with your faith, and the priceless reward of truly learning to love and serve others, hopefully you won’t feel such guilt if your Rule of Life isn’t practiced with precision from time to time.
Now as we introduce the following Spiritual Practices, keep in mind that there really is no complete list of all the different ways saints of the scriptures and throughout the ages have engaged in practices that sought to give God more access to our inner lives and thus make us to be more like Him as light and love to the world.
I’m going to be hitting the highlights, ones that seem to be used most often by many people, especially when you read biographies of great saints and mystics. You will likely find many other practices if you read the many great books out there around the subject. I encourage you to keep researching, keep pursuing. You may find that the ones we discuss are enough. But stay thirsty, my friends. Don’t get in a rut. Just keep pressing forward.
Well alright, let’s jump in to our first set of Spiritual Practices. First of all, we need to cover the basics or maybe even more appropriately we could call in The Fundamental Spiritual Disciplines. That would be Prayer and Bible Interaction. Now it sounds rather straightforward on the surface but as we know, prayer and Bible interaction can take on many forms.
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I struggled with prayer for a long time. Raised in a pentecostal preacher’s home, my mom, who was just an incredible prayer warrior, was a loud pray-er. I thought I was suppose to pray like her. But when I would try, it didn’t flow the same for me. Then I discovered journaling and the idea of writing out my prayers. That was just what I needed. Now here’s the deal: even though we’ve challenged you to write in your D Group journals as a discipline for this season of discipleship, there is no single way of praying that is more correct than others. I doubt seriously that Jesus had pen and paper in hand when he went off to pray.
How you pray is one thing but what we should pray is quite another. I like the way Dallas Willard defines prayer: Prayer is conversing with God about what we’re experiencing and doing together1. This idea of conversing is one that really transformed my life of prayer. Prayer doesn’t have to be a monologue where I do all the talking and God is just listening. Rather it should be a dialogue. In fact, similar to the way I talk about Divine Intimacy, I think of prayer as Divine Dialogue. That is a primary reason we teach the ALERT and HEAR methods of praying. God will often speak to us through His Word and so we regularly open the Scripture to have a dialogue with Him. He speaks to us, we listen, we respond.
Now, we also have the wonderful gift of Jesus actually outlining for us what prayer should look like for His apprentices. It is found in the Model Prayer or what’s known traditionally as the Lord’s Prayer. We’ve provided an outline of that in the front of your D Group journal. In His prayer we see how we are worshiping and honoring the Father, making requests for practical needs, seeking God’s Kingdom will for our lives, forgiving enemies, confession of our own sins, and more.
Similarly, what we’ve done with the ALERT model is to create a structured form of prayer to guide us into a more thorough time of interaction with God. Like Jesus’ Model Prayer, and you can see them compared side by side in that ALERT chart in your D Group Journal, we cover a range of topics with Jesus as we center our life in Him through Divine Dialogue. I know you’re very familiar with it by now, but the acrostic for ALERT helps us to remember to include worship, listening for His voice through Scripture, an examination of our life which leads to confession and repentance, a time for personal requests and a few moments of gratitude at the end.
By no means is it meant to be rigid and regarded as the only way. That would never be my goal. But perhaps even when you’re finished with this particular season of discipleship, it will serve you well in the years ahead to have trained you in a deep form of prayer.
Now of course, prayer is not just a thing you do in the morning and then you’re done. That’s just the pulling away for prayer as often as possible that we see in the life of Jesus. Really - prayer is a lifestyle. It’s the difference between having a prayer life and a life of prayer. We’ll talk more about that later when we do a review of the Spiritual Discipline of Practicing the Presence.
Now, what we’ve done with the ALERT model is to combine four spiritual disciplines into one: Prayer, Bible Interaction, Self Examination, and Gratitude. So let’s break those out a bit more to discuss them.
As I mentioned, the second basic spiritual discipline is Bible Interaction. It has so many different facets that we could probably write an entire book. But to keep it brief and simple, let’s just review a few categories.
First, there is Bible Reading. In reading, you’re taking a disciplined approach to making your way through Scripture. You’re not necessarily studying, you’re just getting the overview, familiarizing yourself with the storylines, taking in the breadth of Scripture, not necessarily the depth, though for sure you would experience some of that along the way. You might choose a predesigned reading plan to get your through the whole bible in a year, similar to how we’re working our way through most of the New Testament in a year.
The next Bible interaction slows down and enters into Bible Study. Now you’re digging for context, seeking out a deeper understanding of smaller passages. You might use commentaries and concordances or even just the
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notes in a study bible. I’ve added a quick form of bible study using the HEAR method to the end of our show notes and it’s really just a bit of an expansion of the Listen section of our ALERT prayer model. Of course, you could go much, much deeper in study if you wanted. I think of Bible Study as the form of interaction that most engages the mind. But I want to remind you that the goal of any spiritual practice is heart transformation - does it lead you to love God and love people more? Be careful to not make it exclusively an intellectual exercise. Remember, Paul cautions us that knowledge puffs up. It can even lead you to deceive yourself that because you know so much, you’re a better Christian than other people. You don’t want to just be smarter about the information in the Bible. You want it to lead to Biblical wisdom and Kingdom Character.
Next on the list with Bible interaction is Biblical Meditation. That in and of itself is a pretty big subject, worthy of another episode perhaps, but here’s a quick overview. Meditation is not just an Eastern Religion kind of practice. Eastern meditation seeks to empty the mind where as Biblical meditation is meant to fill the mind with God’s truth. God told Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” (Joshua 1:8 NIV)
We’ve already introduced you to the idea of meditation in a sense. At the core of it is slow, reflective Scripture reading and we’re doing that with the ALERT model. But I want to challenge you to take it further. Here’s an outline for meditation I learned from Robert Morgan2, based on three P’s. First of all…
Ponder: Much like we’ve taught you with the ALERT method, read the Scripture(s) attentively, perhaps aloud. Imagine the Lord speaking these words to you in a personal way. Take time to focus your attention on each word and seek to understand what the passage means. Again, discovering a passage to meditate upon could come from the Listening section of ALERT. Next…
Personalize: Now consider what this passage means to you. Read it meditatively, changing pronouns to personalize the verse directly to yourself. Let God speak to your heart as you mull over the verses He’s given you in Scripture. If Jesus were sitting down beside you and speaking these words audibly to you, what verse, phrase, word, truth, command, or promise would affect you most deeply? Now, the Ponder and Personalize parts align pretty well with our ALERT model, but the third P is to…
Practice: At the end of your time, jot down that verse or phrase to take with you into the day. We’ve taught you to write your highlighted verse in your journal, but don’t just leave it there. You might write it on an index card, a sticky note, or even save it as the lock screen on your phone so you’ll see it throughout the day. Review it all day, as you shower, drive, walk, work, or rest. Try sharing it with someone. Put into practice and do whatever it says. Think about it as you fall asleep at night.
These are ways that we get rid of the lines between our prayer life and the rest of our life. Prayer and bible reflecting are not just a once a day practices for the apprentice of Jesus.
Now before I move on to the next Spiritual Practice, I want to encourage you to read the brief article I’ve written about a practice called Centering Prayer or what some people refer to it as Breath Prayer. It is another form of meditation that saints through the ages have engaged for the purpose of stillness and silence. It uses the repetition of brief passages of scripture or phrases that allow you to enter into a period of simply being with God, meditating on his goodness, resting in His presence. It is incredibly effective at calming a stressed out soul. Take the time to read that at the end of this transcript.
Now the final Biblical Interaction discipline we can talk about is Scripture Memorization, which is itself another form of meditation.
The blessed man, who is so well described in the first Psalm, is one whose “delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law he habitually meditates by day and by night.” Using the term “habit” suggests that there
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is a discipline and rhythm, a repetition of sorts that makes this meditation somewhat automatic. He has memorized the Scripture. Like God said to the Israelites… “Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads” — Deuteronomy 11:18 (NIV) And of course, we’ve already seen how the memory of Scripture was used by Jesus as he faced his temptations in the dessert.
I have to admit, I am not really that great at memorizing Scripture word-for-word. For some reason, I especially struggle with exact references. So for me, it’s not so much about rigidness or exact perfection. Somehow, I don’t think I am going to be judged by God because I memorized a Scripture with one or two words out of order. (as long as I don’t change the meaning!) And then, who gets to decide if we are to memorize in the KJV, ESV, NIV, or KFC? My point is, I think many people avoid Scripture memorization because they have nightmares of standing in front of a classroom, attempting to recite a poem or preamble word-for-word and it just wasn’t their gift. They’ve given up on Scripture memorization before they’ve even tried.
It’s the Spirit of the law, not the letter of the law that matters most in this case. If you’re good at word-for-word memorization, great! But don’t get so caught up in perfection that you miss out on the life change that Scripture can bring to your heart. On the other hand, don’t let yourself off the hook either. Do your very best to get as close as possible, even striving for perfection. And be sure to be able to convey the context from where the verse came and be able to explain what it means and why it’s important. Memorizing Scripture is another powerful way to take it with you all day long, meditating on it long after you’ve left your “quiet time” behind.
Also, the Scripture memory we’ve implemented so far with our D Groups have been related primarily to what it means to be an apprentice of Jesus. You will, of course, come to the place where you will memorize passages related to other areas of life. Especially the things you struggle with. Fear, doubt, worry… God’s word has so much to say about those issues - many promises to which you can hold. You can always google any subject you’re dealing with to come up with dozens of lists from which you can pull key verses.
Now I want to include just 2 more spiritual practices before we wrap up our session for today, the disciplines of Self Examination and Gratitude.
Self Examination. As the old management axiom goes, “You can only expect what you inspect.” That goes for self management as well. Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living as a human being.” And if you intend to be a person that exhibits Kingdom character, then you need to be regularly inspecting your life to see if you are truly living up to that standard.
I know personally that when I implemented this discipline into my life, that’s when spiritual maturity accelerated. I really do believe it’s just about the most important discipline any believer can engage. If you look closely at the Lord’s Prayer, you’ll see it. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who’ve sinned against us.” This is not meant to be a generic, blanket statement. We’re trusting the Father to bring to our minds the areas of our life where we’ve missed the mark. We’re reflecting on interactions with other people and releasing our anger and bitterness toward them.
This is repentance. This is taking a look at how you’re thinking and behaving and making daily course corrections. It’s a partnership with the Holy Spirit to regularly hold up a mirror to your life, confessing and correcting your wrong attitudes and behaviors. Like the Psalmist said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.” Psalm 139:23 KJV Or like David prayed in his repentant Psalm: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV
Now again, we’ve already taught you ways to implement this discipline into your prayer life. With the ALERT model, we’ve taught you to Examine your life up against the Scripture you’re reading each day. “How does my life line up to what I’m reading?” But examination goes beyond that. We should take time each day to intentionally reflect on our specific thoughts and behaviors. That makes the second question, “How am I doing at loving the people God as given me to love?”
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Saint Ignatius Loyola was encouraging his Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to practice daily self-examinations some 500 years ago through what he called The Examen. I’ve written some additional explanation of it at the end of today’s transcript, but let me give you a brief introduction here.
Think of the Examen as a specific type of prayer that allows you to focus on the previous 24 hours. It’s a reflection on your behaviors, attitudes, successes, failures, emotions, etc. The focus is also on heightening your awareness of God’s activity and your response (or lack thereof) to that activity. As you’ll see, it works well to do this at the end of your day.
The heart of the prayer time is divided into two parts, often referred to as the Examen of Consciousness and Conscience. The first part is to answer the question, “In what ways was God present with me today?” There is a helpful list of questions in the article at the end of the notes to help you process that. The second part, that of Conscience, is the examination of your thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. This prayer time doesn’t have to take very long at all. Again, there are a few extra details in the article.
When it comes to the spiritual discipline of self examination, my recommendation is to minimally implement it into your daily prayer rhythm with something like the ALERT model we’ve taught. But as you’re developing a rule of life, you may want to move this critical discipline to the end of your day.
Lastly for today, let’s briefly talk about the Spiritual Discipline of Gratitude. You might not think of Gratitude as a discipline but I want to encourage you to change your mindset. As we’ll see later when we talk about the disciplines that lead to an unencumbered life, gratitude is what changes what we have into enough.
I love the way Brett McKay puts it: “Gratitude turns our gaze outward instead of inward, helping us recognize realities outside ourselves. We recognize that we are not completely self-sufficient and independent and instead exist in a web of interconnected relationships. We recognize the help (human and divine) that’s gotten us to where we are today, and the help we continue to rely on to sustain our lives. In this, gratitude allows us to appreciate and affirm the worth and value of the people, structures, and supernatural powers around us rather than taking them for granted.”
Now once again, we’ve taught you to implement a simple, daily practice of gratitude implemented in the ALERT model as we close our prayers with thanksgiving, expressing our thanks for what God has done. But as with other practices we’ve talked about today, I want to encourage you to take this even further. Here are a couple of ideas: One is to keep an entire section of your journal designated for gratitude. 2 or 3 times a week, take a few moments at the end of your day to reflect on things you have noticed. Not just the big things, but even the small things. Not just the way God has blessed you, but how you’ve seen others bless people you love. So a Gratitude Journal. But the other way is to work it into your daily life. The rule is to say thank you to just about everyone for just about everything. Make it a habit.
Boy we’ve covered an awful lot today. And we’re only about a third of the way through the list we’re planning to teach you. But the idea is not to overwhelm you and think you have to do every discipline everyday for extended periods of time. Right now we’re just introducing the principles and as you go along in your journey, you’ll implement the disciplines that work for you into your Rule of life.
Now, to a limited degree, almost all of the disciplines we’ve talked about today we’ve worked into the ALERT model, our bible reading plan, and our weekly scripture memorization. But this week I want to encourage you to try three additional things - two assignments practicing three of these disciplines.
ASSIGNMENTS
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First of all, I want to encourage you to simply…
1. Take your Scripture passage or phrase on which you feel you need to meditate with you into each day this week. Get some index cards or sticky notes and try to keep them visible often throughout the day. Review the “Practice” section from the Meditation part of the transcript to refresh your memory on how to do that. Secondly, I want to encourage you to…
2. Take some time at the end of several days this week to do one of two things: either write in your Gratitude journal or practice the Examen. Neither one of these needs to take more than a few minutes so I do hope it won’t be overly burdensome to you. Again, review those sections in the transcript to help you know better what to do.
Well that’s about it for this week. Study through what we’ve talked about today. Be thinking about the rhythms of your life. Determine what adjustments you may or may not need to make in your life to implement these practices that bring about Divine Intimacy, Spiritual Transformation, and Greater Love for Others.
NOTES: 1 Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. 2 Robert J. Morgan. Reclaiming the Lost Art of Biblical Meditation.
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Lesson 13 Study and Discussion Questions
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HEAR: A Lightweight Bible Study Method
The acronym H.E.A.R. stands for Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. Each of these four steps contributes to creating an atmosphere to hear God speak.
Before reading the text, pause to sincerely ask God to speak to you. It may seem trite, but it is absolutely imperative that we seek God’s guidance in order to understand His Word (1 Corinthians 2:12-14). Every time we open our Bibles, we should pray the simple prayer that David prayed: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law (Word)” (Psalm 119:18).
In the course of your daily reading plan, one or two verses will usually stand out and speak to you. After reading the passage of Scripture, HIGHLIGHT each verse that speaks to you and make a note of the reference in your journal. You may even consider writing out the verse in your journal.
After you have highlighted the passage, write the letter “E” under the previous entry. At this stage you will EXPLAIN what the text means. By asking some simple questions, with the help of God’s Spirit, you can understand the meaning of a passage or verse. Here are a few questions to get you started:
Why was this written? To whom was it originally written? How does it fit with the verses before and after it? Why did the Holy Spirit include this passage in the book? What is He intending to communicate through this text?
At this point, you are beginning the process of discovering the specific and personal word that God has for you from His Word. What is important is that you are engaging the text and wrestling with its meaning.
After writing a short summary of what you think the text means, you’re ready to APPLY it. This application is the heart of the process. Everything you have done so far culminates under this heading. As you have done before, answer a series of questions to uncover the significance of these verses to you personally, questions like:
How can this help me? What does this mean to me? What would the application of this verse look like in my life? What is God saying to me?
These questions bridge the gap between the ancient world and your world today. They provide a way for God to speak to you from the specific passage or verse. Answer these questions under the “A”. Challenge yourself to write between two and five sentences about how the text applies to your life.
Finally, RESPOND. Your response to the passage may take on many forms such as a call to action; describe how you will be different because of what God has said to you through His Word. It’s helpful to respond by writing out a prayer to God. For example, you may ask God to help you to be more loving, or to give you a desire to be more generous in your giving. Keep in mind that this is your response to what you have just read. It is a time of confession and commitment.
Notice that all of the words in the H.E.A.R. formula are action words: Highlight, Explain, Apply, and Respond. God does not want us to sit back and wait for Him to drop some truth into our laps. Instead of waiting passively, God desires that we actively pursue Him.
Adapted from a blog post written by Pastor Robby Gallaty
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MEDITATION: Centering Prayer (Breath Prayer)
One way saints have practiced meditation throughout the centuries is through “Centering Prayer.” This one may be less familiar to you than others, and it may seem the most foreign, but I encourage you to not judge too quickly. The basis for centering prayer is stillness and silence: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.” “For God alone my soul waits in silence.” “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to keep still.”
Here’s how Centering Prayer flows:
• Begin your prayer time with a repeated phrase, in rhythm with your breathing. (Thus, some people call this a “breath prayer“.) This is what the desert fathers considered their “portable, internal sanctuary.” When they were still and silent, it kept distractions at bay. When they were doing their tasks throughout the day, it turned their work into prayer. I think of it as a doorway that I pass through, leaving the distractions and hustle-bustle of life behind. My mind wants to get back to the to-do list, or the creative thinking, but the repetition of the breath prayer draws me into a focused prayer time. The phrase is most often a passage of Scripture such as “O God, come to my assistance; O Lord make haste to help me,” taken from the Psalms. Many also use the Jesus Prayer, “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me, a sinner.” This is not some mystical, mantra chanting exercise. You are simply bringing focus and removing distraction.
• Enter into God’s loving presence. Imagine God entering the room, surrounding you in His love. Perhaps you sense that you are in “the palm of His hand,” or in “the shelter of His wings.”
• Now, simply become quiet. If your mind wanders, perhaps repeat your opening phrase to bring you back into focus. Let your continued concentration be simply resting in Him, considering His greatness and goodness. I believe this to be so challenging because we think prayer has to be about talking – words being exchanged. We are so uncomfortable with silence. But God said through Isaiah, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and rest is your strength…” How long you stay here is up to you. Many say 20 minutes, but I say, “Just show up!” In other words, even if you can only devote 5 or 10 minutes, it’s better than just skipping it altogether.
• End your time of silence with The Lord’s Prayer. While this model prayer was never intended by Jesus to become the only prayer we pray, using it in this way rivets us back to His ultimate purpose: His will in Heaven being completed here in the earth. In other words, we leave this prayer time, filled with His presence to go into the world to do His will – setting things right as His ambassadors – His “Change Agents.”
SELF EXAMINATION: The Examen
As the old management axiom goes, “You can only expect what you inspect.” That goes for self management as well. Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living as a human being.” And if you intend to be a
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person that exhibits Kingdom character, then you need to be regularly inspecting your life to see if you are truly living up to that standard.
I know personally that when I implemented this discipline into my life, that’s when spiritual maturity accelerated. I really do believe it’s just about the most important discipline any believer can engage. If you look closely at the Lord’s Prayer, you’ll see it. “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who’ve sinned against us.” This is not meant to be a generic, blanket statement. We’re trusting the Father to bring to our minds the areas of our life where we’ve missed the mark. We’re reflecting on interactions with other people and releasing our anger and bitterness toward them.
This is repentance. This is taking a look at how you’re thinking and behaving and making daily course corrections. It’s a partnership with the Holy Spirit to regularly hold up a mirror to your life, confessing and correcting your wrong attitudes and behaviors. Like the Psalmist said, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts.” Psalm 139:23 KJV Or like David prayed in his repentant Psalm: Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NIV
Through the ALERT model, we’ve taught you to Examine your life up against the Scripture you’re reading each day. “How does my life line up to what I’m reading?” But examination goes beyond that. We should take time each day to intentionally reflect on our specific thoughts and behaviors. That makes the second question, “How am I doing at loving the people God as given me to love?”
Saint Ignatius Loyola was encouraging his Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) to practice daily self-examinations some 500 years ago through what he called The Examen.
Think of the Examen as a specific type of prayer that allows you to focus on the previous 24 hours. It’s a reflection on your behaviors, attitudes, successes, failures, emotions, etc. The focus is also on heightening your awareness of God’s activity and your response (or lack thereof) to that activity. As you’ll see, it works well to do this at the end of your day.
The heart of the prayer time is divided into two parts, often referred to as the Examen of Consciousness and Conscious. • The first part is to answer the question, “In what ways was God present with me today?” There is a
helpful list of questions in the article at the end of the notes to help you process that. • The second part, that of Conscience, is the examination of your thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors.
Again, there are a few extra details in the article. This prayer time doesn’t have to take very long at all.
Ignatius suggested his brothers practice the Examen twice a day. As you’ll see, it appears to work well at the end of a day as a reflection, but you can also see how practicing it at midday might help you make quick course corrections. It is intended to only take about 15 minutes.
There are several varieties of the Examen floating around, but in general there are five movements to the Examen, sometimes preceded by reciting The Lord’s Prayer as a way of “stilling” yourself before the Lord: 1. Become aware of God’s presence in this moment. Trust that He is with you in this moment, ready to
hear and to speak. Specifically invite the Holy Spirit to help you see yourself clearly and honestly. 2. Express your gratitude. Think of the day in terms of the gifts you have received from God. Thank him
for these blessings. 3. Review the day. This is the heart of the prayer. Some people actually divide this into two perspectives:
The Examen of Consciousness & Conscience ⁃ The Examen of Consciousness. Think of this as a reflection on the Spiritual Practices of
Abiding and Awareness. We might ask, “In what ways was God present with me today?”
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⁃ Reflect on how someone treated you with kindness. Perhaps God was loving you through that person.
⁃ Consider moments when you “held your tongue.” Perhaps God was strengthening you to be more like Him.
⁃ Did you narrowly escape an accident? Was He protecting you? ⁃ Did you sense his calming peace in the midst of a stressful situation? If not, why not?
Had you forgotten that He was there with you? ⁃ When did I offer genuine love and charity? Was that God working through you to show
His love to others? ⁃ This is an incredibly powerful practice. Knowing that at the end of the day you are going
to be reflecting on God’s activity begins to make you more aware of God’s activity in the moment.
⁃ The Examen of Conscience. Think of this as an awareness of that which happened within you – or seeing yourself more clearly. Be specific. It’s critical to allow the Holy Spirit to guide you here as we are often personally unaware of our deficiencies and sin patterns. ⁃ See specific events where you know you blew it. ⁃ When did you not feel at your best? ⁃ What daily habits are pulling you down? ⁃ Think not only about external sinful actions, but internal attitudes and negative
emotions. 4. Reconcile. While the previous step brought enlightenment, this step is where you actually deal with it.
This is about confession and repentance. Feel and express godly sorrow for your weaknesses and failures, but also sense the love and embrace of God’s forgiveness and grace. As my friend, Kerry Skinner says, “God doesn’t reveal sin in your life for the purpose of condemning you, but rather for redeeming you.”
5. Look ahead. What are your needs for tomorrow or even the few hours ahead? Ask God for His strength, guidance, and wisdom.
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Lesson 14: Spiritual Disciplines for a Pace of Peace
Big Idea: Through spiritual disciplines, we experience Divine Intimacy, Spiritual Transformation, and become more Loving toward Others.
For a couple of sessions we’ve been in a discussion about developing a Rule of Life. We are reviewing quite a few spiritual disciplines used by Jesus and the saints through the ages in an effort to experience Divine Intimacy, giving the Spirit access to our hearts to bring about spiritual transformation, and ultimately, to experience a reorientation to others - loving the people God has given us with God’s kind of love. Hopefully, once we make our way through these disciplines, you’ll have the information and practice you need to implement many of these disciplines into your own Rule of Life.
Last session we talked through some of the basic dimensions of prayer, bible interaction, self examination, and gratitude. Most of those disciplines we talked about are contained within the ALERT model of prayer - but certainly you’ll want to find your own rhythm for implementation. I do hope you spent some time practicing the Spiritual Disciplines of gratitude and self examination at the end of the day. I encourage you to make space for God at the very beginning and the very end of each day in some way.
So, now this week, I just want to share you just a few more disciplines.
For the next leg of our spiritual disciplines journey, I’d like to introduce four categories of practices that might help us to think about how to first create the time and space needed for our quest and then to implement a series of practices with that time and space. I think of them as road signs that remind us that there is a different pace in the Kingdom. Let’s talk about spiritual disciplines that lead to a pace of peace.
The first road sign we encounter for our pace of peace reminds us to slow down.
These are The Disciplines of Slowing. One of the greatest obstacles to the Christian life, especially in our day and time, is busyness. There is a feeling that we’re always in a rush. It becomes a mindset and habit. Even when we don’t need to be in a hurry, we still feel like we are. We have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Why is that? Does it have to be this way? And an even more important question is - is it suppose to be this way? Is that the kind of Kingdom Life Jesus had in mind for us? Listen to him, friends…
Matthew 11:28-30 NLT 28 …Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Here it is put another way…
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG - Are you tired? …Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace…Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Doesn’t that sound like the life we should be after? Jesus is describing a life in his easy yoke. It is contrary to our fast-paced culture and most of our lives are not arranged in such a way that it even seems realistic. It may not seem practical to you right now as you look at your life, but it’s important that you not brush this off too quickly.
How about we make slowing a spiritual practice? I started really contemplating this when I read a quote by Dallas Willard. Dallas was giving advice to John Ortberg, a well known pastor and author. John was headed to a big new assignment as teaching pastor of one of the largest churches in America. He wanted to do well and asked Dallas if he had any pointers about what He should do. Dallas paused, and then answered, “John. You
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must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” John was kind of like, “Huh?” He was expecting a rundown on ministry effectiveness and leadership skills, and all he got was, “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry.”
But Dallas knew that with a big church comes big responsibility. Meetings, vision casting, sermon prep. And Dallas also knew that nothing is as important to effectiveness as a healthy soul. And hurry chips away every day at the wholeness of our soul. Hurry squeezes out peace. It clutters our spirit with impatience and anxiousness. And most importantly, it makes us feel like we don’t have enough time for these spiritual practices that lead to the kind of Divine Intimacy we are pursuing.
So the Spiritual Disciplines of Slowing are to ruthlessly eliminate hurry and to find rest in His Easy Yoke.
We’ll talk even more about this in a couple of weeks, but one discipline of slowing is the spiritual discipline of Simplicity. As it sounds, the idea is to simplify life. We have an unhealthy attachment to things, entertainment, and success. All of those cravings give us a drive to have and do more. But the reality is, we can do less and have more. More of the Kingdom. More peace.
For this session, simplicity is related to time. So first of all, evaluate your time commitments. Is there anything that could be eliminated? There may not be, but don’t assume that right away. We’re aiming to create space for spiritual rest and quiet conversations with God.
Secondly, go on the offense to lay aside the burdensome feeling of hurry by deliberately choosing to place yourself in positions where you simply have to wait1. Slowing is about changing your mindset of hurry and learning to simply rest in Christ. That’s not easy to do so it takes some training. Here are a few suggestions, some of these come from John Ortberg. These are listed in the transcript: • Deliberately drive in the slow lane. Pray for those who pass you in a rush. • Declare a fast from honking. • Eat your food slowly. • Get in the longest line at the grocery store. Let someone ahead of you. • Go through one day without a watch.
You get the idea! When we practice slowing, we’re adjusting our tendency to be in control and rushing to make things happen. We’re also changing our mindset, eliminating those hurried feelings so we can rest in God. And that sets us up for the next category. Our next road sign reminds us to Pause.
Disciplines of Pausing. I’ve come to think of pausing as Practicing the Presence of God. Another word for it is simply “Abiding.” Remember what Jesus said about this?
John 15:5 ESV I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides [remains - stays] in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Perhaps we think of that conceptually, but do we actually practice it? Abiding, or practicing the presence of God by pausing, is the practice of taking intentional breaks throughout our day to refocus our hearts and be reminded that God is with us. Isaiah puts it in even more practical terms…
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Is. 26:3
Is your mind “stayed on Him?” Not just on Sundays, not just in a once a day prayer which is a great start, but throughout your whole day - is your mind on God? Are you truly abiding? Frank Laubach was a missionary to the Philippines in the early 20th century. He settled among a muslim tribe and while there, developed some of the most extraordinary systems of teaching people to read and write. He
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would go on to be an advisor to President Truman, influencing Truman’s ambitions to help underdeveloped areas of the world. But while Frank was in the Philippines, he also set about with spiritual experiments to practice the presence of God minute by minute throughout his days. He set a goal to turn his attention to God at least for a moment every minute of his day. His goal was to keep His mind stayed on God - to have an ongoing, inner conversation and thus dependance on His presence. Eventually, he even wrote a little booklet called “The Game of Minutes” where he teaches others the many ways it might actually be possible. It’s less than 30 pages long but is full of creative ideas for this pursuit.
Now, perhaps a minute by minute turning of our attention to God is a worthy goal, but it’s ambitious. Frank would tell you that as well. But the idea is to somehow develop the habit of regularly having thoughts of, or conversations with God throughout your day. So how would you go about doing that? Let me give you three suggestions. Again, these are in the transcript. How about this? I call it…
First Things First. Start with God as the first thing on your mind. Literally let the first thing you do in the morning be an acknowledgement of his presence and submission to his will.
When I was making the transition from night owl to early morning riser, attempting to get up at 5 a.m. each day, I would repeat over and over just before I went to sleep, “When the alarm goes off put your feet on the floor.” I’m not sure that was the real reason I was able to do it, but it seemed to work. Now I’ve recently changed that mantra to this: “When the alarm goes off, put your knees on the floor.” The goal is not to stay there for long. It’s not meant to be a primary prayer or quiet time. It’s simply a way to pause and commit your day to God. I use the Lord’s Prayer as a guide to this brief moment but you could pray whatever you feel led. Maybe even recite the 23rd Psalm and commit to living that way in his presence for the day. That gets your day off to a good start and then you might consider sprinkling in throughout your day a second suggestion for pausing, what I call…
Momentary Prayers. Designate moments throughout your day to briefly acknowledge the Presence of God. Something like this: “Thank you Lord for your presence. Your kingdom come and will be done right here in my life.” And that’s it. Just 5 seconds to pray that prayer. But what you’re doing is developing a habit of conscious awareness of God’s presence and yielding your life to his direction. Now to build this habit, you may need to set reminders on your smart phone. How frequent is up to you but several times would be a great goal. Now another way people incorporate a spiritual discipline of pausing throughout your day is to…
Pray the Hours with the Church. Fixed hour praying, or praying the hours as it is often called, has its roots in Judaism, out of which Christianity came. You might remember that because of this practice, Daniel got thrown into the lion’s den because three times a day he would cry out to the Lord in spite of the King’s decree.
Scholars tell us that the early Christians were continuing this practice. We see in the book of Acts that…
Acts 3:1 CSB …Peter and John were going up to the temple for the time of prayer at three in the afternoon.
What’s important for us to know is that the life of Christ and the early church were shaped by a three times a day sacred prayer rhythm. Over time, the leaders of the church compiled mostly psalms and other scriptures into an organized format for believers to join together and pray several times a day. Maybe you’ve heard of the Book of Common Prayer. It is but one of many written and used by Christ followers around the world. My favorite is one called The Divine Hours compiled by Phillys Tickle.
Now think about this: Using these prebuilt prayer guides, at several set times throughout the day, believers all over the world are praying the same prayers at the same time. Or, if you account for different time zones, you can think of it as Christians “handing off” the same prayers to one another around the world. In other words,
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while the prayers are most often prayed in brief isolation, believers are also joined together. What a powerful thought!
The prayers are comprised primarily of Scripture readings, arranged within a theme, often aligning with the seasons of the Church calendar. And it only takes a few moments to pray your way through it. Now as I mentioned, there are books that you could buy to keep with you but I’m a minimalist and so I started looking for a way to do this practice on my smartphone. As it turns out, there’s a church in Ann Arbor, Michigan that has secured permission to reprint the prayers from The Divine Hours and built a website that automatically updates to the right prayer of the day—morning, midday, evening and bedtime. I highly encourage you to consider the possibility of pausing three or four times a day to pray with the church. That’s morning, midday, and afternoon or evening. It’s not always practical or possible to participate and that’s ok. We will have a link at the D Group website, and then you could bookmark it to go back to it often.
So we’ve talked about slowing and pausing, but now let’s talk about how in our quest to follow spiritual rhythms like Jesus, we actually need to Stop. And these may be the most difficult disciplines of all. The Disciplines of Stopping.
Stopping is the routine practice of extended periods of rest, renewal, and restoration. This runs almost completely against our cultural mindset and it may even seem totally impractical. But God tells us through the prophet Isaiah…
Isaiah 30:15 “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.”
The very idea of stopping even weekly is woven into the creation story and the Ten Commandments. We can see it in Exodus 20:
Exodus 20:8-10 CSB 8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy: 9 You are to labor six days and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You must not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female servant, your livestock, or the resident alien who is within your city gates. 11 For the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and everything in them in six days; then he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and declared it holy.
The Spiritual Discipline of Sabbath is not a rigid rule meant to bind us and make us feel guilty. It’s a gift . When confronted about the ways He and His disciples were doing little things that the religious folks thought were breaking the rules of Sabbath, Jesus made it clear…
Mark 2:27 - And [Jesus] said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath…
The sabbath is a gift of rest - it was made for our benefit. Sabbath is a designated day of the week, a 24 hour sanctuary of time, devoted completely to rest, worship, and delighting in God, and that’s it! It could begin on Saturday evening and end on Sunday evening - in the Jewish tradition (though of course, their’s begins on Friday evening.) All your work and errands should be completed in the other 6 days. No shopping or paying bills. Just rest, and spending time with God’s people, your family, taking a walk, or enjoying extra time with God.
These are disciplines that lead to a Pace of Peace - and God knew that the human body and soul needed rest. So I’m challenging you to consider truly observing Sabbath to the fullest, using the weekly break to simply enjoy the presence of God and his people, resting and rejoicing in Him.
Let me say just a couple more things about Disciplines of Stopping. Throughout the biblical record, in the lives of men and women seeking the face of God, there is sometimes a pulling away from people and responsibilities
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and retreating to a time of aloneness - of solitude and silence. We see this consistently in the life of Jesus. Matthew tells us…”with the crowd dispersed, [Jesus] climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.” Mark remarks…”Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” And Luke tells us similarly…”Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place.”
Periods of solitude were a normal part of the pattern of Jesus’ life, so how much more do we need it in our media saturated lives? We are inundated with noise and distractions and pressures. “The normal course of day-to-day human interactions locks us into patterns of feeling, thought, and action that are geared to a world set against God2.” Solitude and Silence are companion disciplines that help us to truly escape the noise and the madness so our hearts can be completely and utterly tuned in to God. It is the perfect place for the desperate thirst of our souls to be filled with His living water.
I’m really skimming the surface of these two very deep and rich disciplines, but what I’m recommending is that you experiment with them. For example, I know from experience that the reason that Jesus and so many saints have gotten up really early in the morning for prayer is that there is a quietness in those predawn hours that is unmatched at other times of the day. Perhaps if you’re not already doing that, you might consider it. Don’t be in a rush either. The silence is there so you can hear from God.
But those who have really gotten the most out of solitude and silence are those who occasionally or even regularly pull away for extended periods. A half-day, a whole day, or even several days. A Spiritual Retreat of sorts. Jesus even went for forty days! That might be a bit much for us, but I want to encourage you to look at your calendar for the next few weeks. Can you find a day or at least the first half of a day where you could pull away to some quiet place like the lake or a forest and just be quiet and alone with God?
Now, you may wonder what you might do in such a time. That is what we’re inclined to think, isn’t it? We need to be “doing” something. But that’s part of the point of the exercise. To simply do nothing and rest and listen.
Now, of course, you’ll likely also spend time in prayer and scripture reflection, but the real outcome is simply to renew your spirit in Him - your body and soul rejuvenated and refreshed. I’ve included some helpful guidelines in the transcript at the D Group website, even giving you an outline of what a full day retreat might look like. Spouses and parents would need to work together to make this happen by coordinating schedules, but it would be so worth it. So the disciplines of stopping: practicing the Sabbath, spending time in silence and solitude and even taking a spiritual retreat.
Now, if the road signs we’ve seen so far are to slow down, to pause and yield, and even to come to a complete stop - then this next road sign is the one we’ve always wanted to see. Let’s talk about what it means to go fast! Actually, let’s just talk about the spiritual discipline of fasting.
Fasting is one of those disciplines that people hear about but rarely engage. It sounds like it might be hard to do and probably a lot of people don’t understand the purpose of it. But I want to highly encourage you to take another look at it.
The role of fasting is to teach us the sufficiency of God even when we are deprived. It is a real-life way of to practice the self-denial required of anyone who would follow Christ. Jesus of course fasted for 40 days in the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan to turn a rock into bread. Jesus responded that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” What He’s saying is that God and his Word is what we should be feasting upon. In that way, fasting is feasting on God.
And also, in His most famous Sermon on the mount, Jesus gives us clear instructions on prayer and fasting. He says, “When you fast…” not “If you fast…” and so it seems to me that Jesus assumed that we would continue the practice.
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Richard Foster defines fasting as, “the voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.” So the idea is to replace the time you would normally spend on the activity from which you are fasting to focus on God. That could be through prayer or combined with solitude; it might be meditating on His word.
It could mean a technology fast, or a fast from some other particular life-function, but biblically it refers to a fast from food. In the notes at the end of the transcript I’ve included quite a bit of extra guidance around this discipline, including a list of the several different types of fasting we see in scripture.
As you’ll also see, there are many degrees of fasting - from one meal a day to a full day a week to 3 day, 21 days, and 40 days of fasting. You may choose to fast one meal a day or you may choose to fast from social media or from Netflix. You might even choose to fast from food for a whole day each week. But remember, the general idea is to replace that time normally spent in the activity and replace it with some form of spiritual reflection and renewal.
We’ve covered an awful lot of ground in this session. In fact, it might even seem that with that many suggestions, if you add all of them to your schedule it could be anything but a Pace of Peace. But if think about it, none of these practices take very much time at all.
One of the goals of the discipline of slowing is to eliminate busyness by actually getting rid of time-takers. The disciplines of pausing only take a few moments throughout your day. And stopping is really just reallocating time so you can fully rest. The retreat time may take a day or even more, but those are only intended to be done occasionally.
As you continue to think about what your personal Rule of Life might look like, these disciplines for a Pace of Peace are a great way to supplement those basic practices of prayer, bible interaction, self examination, and gratitude that we talked about in the last session.
Talk with your D Group this week and challenge one another to practice at least a few of these disciplines over the next few weeks. They might not feel real natural at first, but you’ll get the hang of them. Just hang in there and keep encouraging one another. We only have a few more disciplines to cover to I’ll see you right back here in our next session together. But for now, continue your quest to apprentice your life to Him as you love, live, and lead like Jesus.
1 John Ortberg. The Life You Always Wanted. 83 2 Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. 160.
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Lesson 14 Study and Discussion Questions
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Disciplines for A Pace of Peace
SLOWING: Ruthlessly eliminate hurry and find rest in His Easy Yoke.
• Evaluate your time commitments. Is there anything that could be eliminated? • Choose to place yourself in positions where you simply have to wait.
• Deliberately drive in the slow lane. Pray for those who pass you in a rush. • Declare a fast from honking. • Eat your food slowly. • Get in the longest line at the grocery store. Let someone ahead of you. • Go through one day without a watch.
PAUSING: Practicing the presence of God by taking brief, intentional breaks throughout your day to refocus your heart and be reminded that God is with you.
• First Things First: Consider kneeling as soon as you get out of bed to pause and commit your day to God. Use The Lord’s Prayer, recite the 23rd Psalm, or simply use your own words to commit to living in his presence for the day.
• Momentary Prayers: Several times throughout the day, pray a 5 second prayer something like this: “Thank you Lord for your presence. Your kingdom come and will be done right here in my life.” (Tip: Set up reminders on your smart phone to help you develop the habit.)
• Pray with the Church: Using the provided link at NWC.FYI, “pray the hours” with us in the morning, midday, and afternoon. Evening prayers are also provided.
STOPPING: The routine practice of extended periods of rest, renewal, and restoration.
• Sabbath: Consider observing a true, weekly Sabbath. Perhaps beginning Saturday evening and ending on Sunday evening. Use the section on Sabbath in this guide for more tips.
• Solitude and Silence • Consider Early Morning for solitude and silence. • Consider taking a Spiritual Retreat at some point in the next few weeks
FASTING: “The voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.”
• Determine the Kind of Fasting you will implement: Will you fast one meal per day, or for a full day once a week? Will it be food or a media fast of some kind? Both? • Remember to use the normally spent time in spiritual reflection or renewal.
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The Spiritual Discipline of Sabbath Keeping
Ex. 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God…For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Mark 2:27 - And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.
Here is what a true “shabbat” looks like: • A 24 hour sanctuary of time. • Devoted completely to rest, worship, and delighting in God. • That’s it!
• Could begin on Saturday evening and end on Sunday evening - in the Jewish tradition (though of course, their’s begins on Friday evening.)
What is it really? • The absence of labor for the sake of rest and experiencing God and His gifts. • A rhythm of working six days and then rest. • An enjoyment not necessarily for solitude - but to enjoy family and the community of God. • It is not just a law to be kept, but a gift to be enjoyed.
To truly experience Shabbat some tough decisions need to be made: • Paid work is contained to five days. • Chores, shopping, errands are wrapped up on the sixth day. • No buying or selling. • Worry should be kept to a minimum - bills, taxes, to-do lists, etc.
Ruth Haley Barton suggests these are the benefits of honoring the Shabbat: • Resting the body.
• Not just sitting or sleeping, though those are certainly great first choices! • A walk, bike ride, bubble bath, sitting in the sun, lighting candles.
• Replenishing the spirit. • Usually, television and technology are not really replenishing, but rather distractions from God’s more
meaningful gifts. • Family conversation - book reading - you decide! • Special dinner time with candles and everyone around the table reflecting on specific moments of
God’s goodness throughout the week. • Restoring the soul.
• Worship in community. • Family devotions. • Journaling. • Slow meditative walks - alone or with family.
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The Spiritual Disciplines of Solitude and Silence
Solitude: Temporarily pulling away to privacy for spiritual purposes. Could be a few minutes to a few hours, a day, or even several days. It’s either employed to engage in other practices or it could be simply to be alone with God.
Silence: Abstaining from talking for spiritual purposes. There may be an inner conversation with yourself and with God - described by some as “outward silence,” or other times the goal is to simply be silent and listen for God’s still, small voice.
Christ’s Example:
• Luke 4:42 - Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. (NLT)
• Matt. 14:22, 23 - As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night. (MSG)
• Mark 1:35 - Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. (NLT) • Matt. 4:1,2 - Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil. For forty days
and forty nights he fasted and became very hungry. (NLT)
We respond not to a suggestion, but to His command. Zephaniah 1:7 - Stand in silence in the presence of the Sovereign Lord... (NLT)
We humble ourselves in awe of His greatness. Habakkuk 2:20 - But the Lord is in his holy Temple. Let all the earth be silent before him. (NLT)
We recover from our hectic lives. Our soul is restored. Mark 6:30, 31 - The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
We find that true success is found not in doing, but in resting. Isaiah 30:15 - This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.”
We are reminded that our victory is in Him, not ourselves. Psalm 62:1-2 - I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.
We discover that best decisions are made in the counsel of His presence. Luke 6:12-13 - One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night. At daybreak he called together all of his disciples and chose twelve of them to be apostles.
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Extended Solitude and Silence
The following recommendations are for a full day retreat, but you could adjust the schedule for a half day.
(From John Ortberg’s book The Life You Always Wanted) 1. Find a place where you can be uninterrupted and alone, such as a park or a retreat center. 2. Spend a brief time the night before to get ready, to ask God to bless the day, and to tell him you want to devote
the day to him. This day is your gift to God, but even more, it is a gift God wants to give you. What do you need from the Lord: a sense of healing and forgiveness? Conviction for an apathetic heart? Compassion? A renewed sense of mission? Ask him for this.
3. Arrange the day around listening to God. The following format is adapted from Glandion Carney’s book The Spiritual Formation Toolkit.
8:00-9:00
9:00-11:00
11:00-12:00
12:00-1:00
1:00-2:00
2:00-300
3:00-4:00
Prepare your mind and heart, take a walk, or do whatever will help you set aside concerns over tasks and responsibilities. Try to arrange your morning so you can remain in silence from the time you awaken.
Read and meditate on Scripture, taking time to stop and reflect when God seems to be speaking to you through the text.
Write down responses to what you have read. Speak to God about them.
Eat lunch (unless you’re also fasting for the day) and take a walk, reflecting on the morning.
Take a Nap.
Set goals that emerge from the day’s reflection. Write down these goals and other thoughts in a journal. You may want to do this in the form of a letter to God.
Prepare to reenter society.
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FASTING
Richard Foster defines fasting as “the voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity.” The role of fasting is to teach us the sufficiency of God even when we are deprived. It is a real-life way of to practice the self-denial required of anyone who would follow Christ.
It could mean a technology fast, or a fast from some other particular life-function, but biblically it refers to a fast from food.
Types of fasts: • Normal fast: abstinence from food - but not water. Often juices are used. • Partial fast: also known as a Daniel fast. Limited to small portions of vegetables. • Congregational fasts: When a church is called to fast for a particular reason - often repentance and renewal. • Regular fasts: commanded under the Old Covenant - e.g. fasting on the Day of Atonement • Occasional fasts: as the need arises.
Purposes for Fasting The desired outcome of fasting is a stronger spirit and a deeper focus on God instead of earthly matters.
It goes hand in hand in times of intense prayer. Ezra 8:23 NLT - So we fasted and earnestly prayed that our God would take care of us, and he heard our prayer.
“Fasting does not change God’s hearing so much as it changes our praying.”
It helps us to know God’s will. Acts 14:23 NLT - Paul and Barnabas also appointed elders in every church. With prayer and fasting, they turned the elders over to the care of the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.
Fasting doesn’t necessarily make God do anything out of the ordinary, it makes us hear more clearly.
It draws us into a time of self-examination. • Lev. 23:27 - The Day of Atonement - a one-day fast. • Jer. 36:6 ESV - Jeremiah says, “on a day of fasting in the hearing of all the people in the Lord's house you shall
read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the men of Judah who come out of their cities.”
It heightens our expression of repentance. • Joel 2:12 NLT - That is why the Lord says, “Turn to me now, while there is time. Give me your hearts. Come
with fasting, weeping, and mourning.” • In one sense, it is a symbol of grief and mourning for our sin.
Length of Fasts • 40 Days - Jesus • 21 Days - Daniel • 3 Days - Esther • 1 Day - Day of Atonement
Fasting is expected in the life of a believer by Christ. Matthew 6
• vv 2-3: When you pray... • vv 5-7: When you give... • vv 16-18: When you fast... • God will reward you.
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It expresses our willingness to humble ourselves before God. • Think of this in the same way kneeling or bowing before God is a physical symbol or gesture toward humbling. • Look at what happens even in the life of a wicked king: • 1 Kings 21:27-29 ESV - And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh
and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days…”
It should also give us a mindset of serving others. • Isaiah 58 - You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight. You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground. “This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’
• What could you do for others with the time and resources that are freed up from your fasting?
It strengthens us against temptation and renews our commitment to God. • Matthew 4:1-11 - The temptation of Christ. • In the spiritual strength of the fast, Christ was empowered to face His toughest temptations. • He also dedicated Himself to His public ministry.
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Lesson 15: The Unencumbered Life
Big Idea: To lay aside every weight that slows us down or holds us back from living the Jesus Way is to live the Unencumbered Life.
Over the last few sessions, we’ve been talking about living like Jesus and specifically we’ve been looking at the spiritual disciplines and practices that lead to the kind character Jesus followers are to be pursuing. We’ve talked about the basics of prayer and bible interaction, self examination and gratitude. We’ve also talked about practices that lead to a Pace of Peace - disciplines of slowing, pausing, stopping, and fasting.
This week I want to lay some groundwork for a couple of other practices that we see in the life of Christ. Practices of simplicity and frugality. You don’t hear much about them usually, but hang in there with me and let’s talk about The Unencumbered Life.
Let’s start not in the Gospels just yet, but to the letter to the Hebrews where the writer is encouraging us to keep moving forward in our faith journey, with Jesus as our primary example. Here it is from the traditional reading in the New King James. Chapter 12 of Hebrews.
Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV 1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
For just a little bit of clarity and added emphasis, here it is from the Amplified Version:
Hebrews 12:1-3 AMP 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us,
Now, this idea of “stripping off every unnecessary weight” is where we’re going to be spending the majority of our time as we talk about The Unencumbered Life, so we’ll come back to that in a moment.
Let’s think for a moment though what the writer might have had in mind as he uses this analogy about the race that’s set before us.
Over the last few years, I’ve been racing in several half marathons. I like to keep these longer distance races on the calendar because I know that in order to be ready for them, I really have to keep up my fitness. In fact, my kids got me a really cool wall display for all my finisher medals with this very verse on it - keep running the race that is set before you with endurance. To get through these triathlons and half marathons, I can’t slack off. Sure, there is a finish line, and in one sense that’s part of the goal. But for me, the real goal is for health and fitness to be a lifestyle. Race day and the finish line are simply the evidence or the proof of a day in and day out life of commitment to being healthy. The way I think about it, I’m actually running the race every day. And then, throughout the year, I get little celebrations of my ongoing commitment to my healthy lifestyle.
Put even more clearly, I have a vision of what my fitness looks like and I rearrange my calendar, my daily schedule, my whole lifestyle to run this physical race that is set before me.
So what about the race set before us that the writer of Hebrews is talking about? Surely the race that he has in mind is more than individuals just trying to survive and stay out of trouble just long enough to make it across
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the finish line into heaven. No way, friend. His race is an all encompassing life vision for the people of God based on the life and teachings of Jesus. Nothing more and nothing less.
That’s why he says in verse 2:
Hebrews 12:2 AMP [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith,
This has been our major objective for this series: looking away from all that will distract us and focusing our eyes on Jesus. We’re giving up our preconceived ideas of what life is all about and looking to Christ alone to show us His way. Look at verse 3, again from the Amplified:
Hebrews 12:3 AMP Just consider and meditate on Him who endured from sinners such bitter hostility against Himself [consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Listen to the beginning of the verse: Just consider and meditate on him.
That’s just what we’re doing, we are considering and meditating on Christ, focusing our eyes on Jesus. We’re talking about what it means to Love, Live, and Lead Like Jesus. This is the vision for the race we need to run. You could even say it with me: The aim of my life is to be like Christ.
We’ve got to get this clear in our minds. Christ calls us out of our old life and invites us into an apprenticeship with him; to learn from him how we are to live our lives under His reign in the Kingdom now. This is a radical call, too. Here’s Matthew 16. I’m reading now from the New Living Translation:
Matthew 16:24-26 NLT 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Listen to those words carefully. They’re not mine. I’m not trying to manipulate the scripture. This is Jesus himself, clarifying to us what the life of the disciple looks like: You must give up your own way. You can’t try to hang on to your own life. In fact, he says give up your life for my sake.
So to understand the race that is set before us as the writer of Hebrews would have in mind is this: A life lived in total abandon to Christ as leader, our character reshaped to reflect His heart of agape love, and our actions rooted in His Kingdom purposes, overcoming evil with good. Let me say that again: A life lived in total abandon to Christ as leader, our character reshaped to reflect His heart of agape love, and our actions rooted in His Kingdom purposes, overcoming evil with good.
In essence, the race he’s talking about is the Disciple’s Priority - seeking Kingdom Righteousness.
Listen to me carefully, the vision any early follower of Christ would have had for this race is not a life that squeaks into heaven on the bare minimum requirements. It’s a life that is sold out the whole route to an apprenticed life in the Kingdom as learned in the life and teachings of Christ.
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Now, having clarified the actual vision for this life-race that is set before us, I want to zoom in on this familiar little phrase, “let us lay aside every weight,” or as paraphrased by the Living Bible: “let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back.”
Here is the crux of the message I want to challenge you with as we approach our next couple of spiritual disciplines. What keeps you from going all in? What gets in the way? What weighs you down? What holds you back? As we apprentice our lives to Jesus, I’d like present His vision for The Unencumbered Life.
The word encumber [en-kuhm’-ber] is defined in the dictionary like this:
1. to impede or hinder; hamper; retard: Red tape encumbers all our attempts at action. 2. to burden or weigh down: She was encumbered with a suitcase and several packages. 3. to burden with obligations, debt, etc.
To be encumbered is to be weighed down, hindered, and burdened. Therefore, To lay aside every weight that slows us down or holds us back from living the Jesus Way is to live the Unencumbered Life.
That’s our big idea for today. Again, let's take another quick look at his invitation to take up our cross in Matthew 16. We’ve referenced this several times already in our study as it stands as one of the clearest invitations of Christ into his Kingdom life. It’s also the theme verse at the top of the Jesus Way grid in the front of your D Group journal. Matthew 16:24:
Matthew 16:24-26 NLT 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 25 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?
Now there is a lot of misunderstanding around this passage. You might think it means “what good does it do to acquire a bunch of money or partake in a lot of sensual pleasures if you end up in hell?” But Jesus is actually talking more about a diagnosis than he is a destination. He's talking about disorientation. A disconnected and disoriented soul, where the will and the mind and the body are at odds with the way God intended the world to operate, the way life should be and can be lived in the Kingdom. “Acquiring the whole world could not even produce satisfaction let alone meaning and goodness1.”
And thus, Jesus is saying that all this striving, all this effort to find fulfillment and acceptance outside of his loving provision, all the effort to acquire and achieve, can so easily prevent us from reorienting our lives to him. Our “stuff” gets in the way. We substitute God’s order for our own. It doesn't take much for us to get “wrapped up” in our [stuff] and the way it makes us feel.
That's an interesting turn of phrase, too, to be wrapped up. We could also say bound up or tied up. Or could we even say encumbered by it? He's saying even if you succeed at getting everything you wanted, your soul is still disoriented. And there is nothing about you personally that is more valuable than your very soul.
“What do you benefit if you gain the whole world?” he says.
We probably have no idea how impacted we are by the pervasiveness of consumerism. We've come to expect that we deserve whatever we want, whenever we want, and exactly the way we want it. There’s a little jingle so imprinted in my mind from when I was a kid back in the mid seventies. It’s from an old Burger King TV commercial and it said “Have it your way at Burger King.” I’ll even include a link to a version of it at the D Group website.
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A family walks into Burger King and the cashier is more than happy to assure them that any way you want to order your Whopper, you can have it your way. And that’s what we’ve come to expect out of life. Certainly, consumerism manifests itself in our purchasing power, especially here in the wealthy west. The vast amount of choices we have at our disposal to buy just exactly what we want to suit our fancy. Ever see the salsa aisle at HEB? How about even simple things like toothbrushes? But the broader implication of consumerism is that we’ve come to actually believe it’s promise of having it our way in every single part of our lives.
And so this makes it really tough when hear His call, “If you want to follow Jesus, you have to be willing to give up getting your own way.” No offense to Burger King, but I think I’ll listen to the King of Kings on this one.
How can we forget the story of the rich young guy that approaches Jesus to enquire how he might have eternal life. Variations of this story are in all four gospels. First Jesus answers the young guy by telling him to keep the commandments. The young guy’s countenance starts to glow as he responds, “I’ve kept them from my youth!” Jesus says, “Oh - and - There’s one thing left. Go sell all you have and give it to the poor then come follow me.” Here’s how Pastor Peterson conveys the somber reaction:
Mark 10:22 MSG The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
He was wrapped up, he was burdened or weighed down by his attachment to his possessions. He was encumbered.
Now certainly, consumerism, and it’s close cousin, materialism, are not the only things we hold on to so tightly. They are not the only encumbrances we have in our lives. But Jesus had so much to say about them that we need to press the issue a bit further, as uncomfortable as it may be.
In Matthew 13, in one of his many Kingdom parables, Jesus talks about people who hear of the Kingdom news and what happens afterward. He illustrates this sharing of the Kingdom Gospel message as sowing seeds. Of course, some don’t receive it all, some hear it and may even like what they hear but it doesn’t take root. But look at the third category of people who hear the Kingdom message:
Matthew 13:22 CSB Now the one sown among the thorns (or weeds) —this is one who hears the word (the kingdom message), but the worries of this age and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Once again, we see this image of the encumbered life - one where many of us absolutely buy into the Kingdom promises of Jesus, but we don’t take the necessary measures to loosen and unhook ourselves from our previous way of thinking and living, and thus it holds us in its grip, even strangling out the fruitfulness.
And what’s the stranglehold here in this parable? Worries of this life and the lure of wealth can keep us from going all in with Jesus.
Worries of this age or the worries of this life as it might say in your translation. How about it? Do you know what Jesus is talking about? Got any worries in this life? Do you feel anxiety? The worries He’s talking about here are the ones that are related to needing to have your own way, or the ones that come from striving to attain wealth or status or approval from others. Those worries are sure to choke out the true Kingdom message from taking root and becoming fruitful.
We’ll come back to Matthew 13 in a minute, but over in Matthew 6, He sums all of this up so directly in His Manifesto Message on the Mount. He’s challenging us about all our fussing and worrying over what to wear, how we look, what we’ll even eat. He tells us in no uncertain terms that life in the Kingdom, where you live
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under the ever present reign of the loving care of the Father, we can leave all of that behind and simply place our confidence in Christ and join Him in His Kingdom Revolution. This has been another of our primary themes in this series:
Matthew 6:33-34 CSB 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. 34 Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Unshackle yourself. Shake off those heavy bands of the worries of this life and the lure of wealth.
Listen to this powerful paraphrase:
Matthew 6:33-34 MSG Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. (That’s the Kingdom right there.) Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. 34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.
What we have here is the stark contrast between the powerful vision of Kingdom living that Jesus presents and the weights of this life that have us encumbered and hold us back from fully entering into that vision. So here we are - stuck in the middle. We are at a critical point of decision.
But listen friend, and this is the positive approach to this major life adjustment, the clearer your vision is for the life you were meant to live, the more vivid it is, the more convinced you are that this is the only thing that matters, the more serious you will be about cutting the ties to everything that’s holding you back, laying aside every weight.
Back over in Matthew 13, Jesus gives us a glimpse into the kind of soul that comes to the point of total surrender. It is not one that mourns the loss of what it has had. It is not one that dreads the cost. Rather it is focused not on what is to be given up but what is gained. This is verse 44:
Matthew 13:44 CSB “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field.
It’s a great discovery. It is irresistible. The cost matters not because the way he sees it, he’s getting the bargain of a lifetime! I know some oil and gas guys here in the Houston area that would do the same thing for a sure bet on a new and productive field! Look at the next verse for another illustration:
Matthew 13:45-46 CSB 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.
These business men were not worried about the cost. They were worried about getting the deal. Jesus says in Luke 14 that there is a price to following him, the cost of discipleship. If you really want to follow him, to be his disciple, you’ll have to be willing to not just give up your possessions, but you may even have to “hate” your family members, and even your own life so you can take up your cross. These are often misunderstood words because they seem so dark and harsh. But here’s what he’s saying to us.
“As long as you think anything may really be more valuable than fellowship with Jesus in his kingdom, you cannot learn from him2. Unless we clearly see the superiority of what we receive as his students over every
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other thing that might be valued, we cannot succeed in our discipleship to him3.”
This is what it means to lay aside every weight, to loose the chains of your old life, to live the unencumbered life so you can live the life you were meant to live. In essence, the Unencumbered Life is to practice the spiritual disciplines of simplicity and frugality. To what degree and how far you go with freeing up your time and finances is a matter of personal conviction and should be determined in prayer.
But let me tell you about some of the benefits of living the unencumbered life. Here’s what happens when you lay aside all the weight.
The Unencumbered Life allows you to join in more freely and spontaneously to the right-setting activity of Christ. If you’re not maxed out financially and schedule wise - if you’re not stressed out and worried - you are more present and available to what God is doing in the moment - wherever you are. God is at work and because you’ve slowed down and freed up your life - you can get in on it.
You’ll have more financial resources for generous living, more time for spiritual practices that bring about a reformation of the heart, and time to actually stop to help the ones hurting along the side of the road. You’re not living the hurried life. You’ve not over committed your wallet or your calendar or even your mental energy and thus you are most often not expended. That leads us to another benefit:
The unencumbered life leaves more emotional and spiritual margin to deal with difficult people and the everyday trials of life. This is where agape love comes in and where we are able to count it all joy even when we go through various trials. Essentially, we have a change of perspective - His perspective. And as such…
The unencumbered life is a focused life as it has one primary aim - to seek first His kingdom and His rightness. This is all of life discipleship - learning to keep God’s agenda first place. Steep your life in God reality - God initiative - God provision. Lastly…
The unencumbered life is the content life, the full of joy and peace life. No more wishing you had more. No more envy. No more feeling like you’re missing out. You come to the place where you have enough. The Lord is our Shepherd - We shall not want - We lack nothing - We have everything we need in Him.
Paul told Timothy:
1 Timothy 6:6-8 NIV But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
The writer of Hebrews challenged us:
Hebrews 13:5 ESV Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
And it’s not just material contentment. It is having full confidence in the one with whom you are running this race that is set before you. Your strength comes from Him. You’ve taken steps to lay aside the heavy weights, you’ve slipped on His easy yoke, and you’re discovering the truth that his burden truly is light. Hear his call to you one more time:
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
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“…Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Oh friend, can I ask you one more time, Is there anything that keeps you from going all in? What gets in the way? What weighs you down? What holds you back? The specifics might be different from person to person, but there are some generalities that many of us will be able to identify with. You might be like the rich young leader holding on tightly to your material possessions. If we are honest with ourselves, most of us would probably struggle with the extreme challenge to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. But again, we’re not just talking about material weights. I’ve made a list of potential weights and worries. As you examine your own life, we will most likely identify things that are not on this list at all. It’s just meant to spur your thinking. Take a look at these:
Example Weights and Worries: Material Weights Consumerism Materialism Comparison Living Debt Time Oriented Weights Overextended Time Obligations The Hurried Life Excessive Entertainment Relational Weights Toxic Relationships Codependency Religious Weights Legalism Judgementalism Mind Oriented Weights Needing to Have My Way Needing to Control Outcomes Needing the Approval of Others
So take some time to evaluate your life by asking yourself some questions. There’s space in the transcript to work through these so be sure to download that. First of all, What holds me back? Identify your weights. You may have one or two - you might even have several. Next comes an actual plan. What do I need to do to shake off those heavy chains? And then, When will I do it? And How will I do it? If you’re married, you may have to do some of this together. Some of these weights, like the burden of debt, are not things you’re going to be able to solve overnight - but the key is to put the plan in motion. Trust the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and discernment in developing your plan.
The Unencumbered Life - a life of simplicity and frugality. We’ll talk even more about it next week as we continue to try and jar loose the old thinking we have about money.
But remember, the key is to remember the value of what you’re going after. The life you were meant to live - a life in the Kingdom of God under the rule and reign of Christ. The cost of adjusting your life is a bargain compared to the life you get in exchange for it!
1 John Ortberg quoting Dallas Willard. Soul Keeping. P. 44 2 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. P 293 3 Dallas Willard. The Divine Conspiracy. P 294
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A Plan to Embrace The Unencumbered Life
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, (let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back) let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us… (Hebrews 12:1-3 AMP. TLB)
What holds me back? (Use the list on the previous page to get you thinking.) ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
What do I need to do to shake off those heavy chains? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
When will I do it? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
How will I do it? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________
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Lesson 16: The Elusiveness of Enough
Big Idea: Whether we have little or much, it is our attitude toward God’s provision and our acknowledgement of our tendencies toward materialism that matter most in shaping our hearts toward money and possessions.
In our last session, we looked at a passage in Hebrews and determined that To lay aside every weight that slows us down or holds us back from living the Jesus Way is to live the Unencumbered Life. It embraces the spiritual disciplines of simplicity and frugality. Of course, that has to do with how we allocate time and energy, freeing up bandwidth and margin to experience a Pace of Peace, but it also has a lot to do with what we think about material stuff as well. Jesus had so much to say about this subject that we need to look at it just a little bit closer.
My first job at a church was in a fellowship at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in Sevierville, TN. Kristie and I were the ripe old age of 21. I was actually still a student in college. We had almost nothing to our name. The pastor came with a pickup truck and the smallest U-Haul trailer available and we had plenty of room to spare once all of our belongings were secured.
My starting salary was $20,000 a year. It seemed like we’d hit the jackpot for a college guy struggling to get by on a Domino’s Pizza man kind of income. I figured it up this week that my starting hourly wage was about $9.62 an hour. Now granted, it was 1988, but still, that’s not a lot of money. But from my perspective, at that stage of life, it was more than enough to provide for the needs of me and my bride of only 9 months. Until…I decided we needed a new car and we took on our first new car monthly payments. And then there was our first real vacation. And then, within a few months, we were pregnant with our first child. Medical costs went up. More furniture was needed for this new addition to the family. Within a few months of being married and having all that we needed, suddenly we were in a position that it didn’t feel like enough.
I can remember as the story of our life unfolded, and it’s not any different than yours I’m sure, three children are three times the cost, and even though raises came along, and new job opportunities were always a chance for salaries to jump, it continued to feel that this idea of having enough seemed so elusive. I can remember vividly one day sitting in the car at an intersection thinking way down the road and dreaming of a day when Kristie and I would make a combined $52,000 a year. A thousand dollars a week! Are you kidding me? We could live like absolute kings! But alas, when that day did finally come, it did not actually feel like it was enough. For there was always something else, more medical bills, more tuition payments, more recording gear and keyboards that I just “had to have”…well, you know the story quite well, don’t you?
Financial pressures are almost always ranked near the top of the list when it comes to what brings stress into our lives. Marriages crumble every day under the weight of it. In fact, in some studies, finances are often at the root cause of the worst arguments couples have. It’s not hard to realize that for most of us, money is not just an inanimate object of necessity. It actually holds power over us. It holds us captive and mesmerized. It has our attention and affection either for good or bad so often. While we would never want to admit it, many of us are enslaved to it.
It’s no wonder that Jesus had so much to say about the subject. And if you and I, as his apprentices, his students, are to take on the mind of Christ, then it stands to reason that we need to pay special attention to what he and his apostles have to say about the issue.
After all, Jesus assures us that if we know His truth, we will be set free. I believe that means every aspect of our life should be impacted by His truth - including our money. We can be set free from the bondages and entrapments of money. Not that in and of itself money is inherently bad - but we probably need to change our attitude and perspective about our finances to the way Jesus wants us to see it.
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Now, it’s not likely in this lesson that I can cover everything Jesus had to say about money and the disciple’s proper perspective on it, but let’s at least give it a quick look and pull out some highlights. Luke tells us in chapter 12 that by this time in Jesus’s ministry, that sometimes the crowds of people would number into the thousands. It is at one of these occasions that evidently someone sees Jesus as not only a wise teacher, but also someone with some kind of authority. Listen to this in verse 13:
Luke 12:13-21 CSB 13 Someone from the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 “Friend,” he said to him, “who appointed me a judge or arbitrator over you?”
So this sounds like a pretty common scenario. The siblings are fighting over who gets mom’s old china and who gets dad’s old Buick. Jesus sees to the heart of this problem. It’s all about materialism. So here’s his response:
15 He then told them, “Watch out and be on guard against all greed, because one’s life is not in the abundance of his possessions.”
Or, put a slightly different way:
MSG - 15 - “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”
That’s a really important first clue into the mind of Christ when it comes to your finances: Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot. So Jesus moves on to the parable - the illustration of his point. Verse 16:
16 “A rich man’s land was very productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? 18 I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Put a little more plainly, “That’s what happens when you fill your barn with Self and not with God.” (MSG)
Jesus was saying to these two brothers who were arguing over their inheritance, by using this story about the farmer, that they needed an adjustment in their thinking about money and materialism. A realignment of priorities and proper perspective. He’s saying, “You’re placing too much emphasis on yourself and your stuff. You are distracted from the main thing which is to fill your barn with God - to be rich toward Him.”
He gets even clearer about it just a few chapters down the road in Luke 16:
Luke 16:13 NLT “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”
This is pretty strong, don’t you think? You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. Mammon is the word you might see in your translation instead of money. By using that Aramaic term, he is personifying money, holding it up as an alternative God. He’s saying that money is not just a neutral and inanimate thing, it has a spiritual power about it, and it seeks to dominate us.
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Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord1.” And the great Reformer Martin Luther once said, “Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your god2.”
So are you enslaved to your money? Let me suggest some ways we might struggle with being enslaved and maybe unaware. Now, before I go there, I’m sure some of us are like, “Here we go again. Rodney getting all up in my business.” But let me caution you a bit. Look at this observation from Dr. Luke after Jesus warning about serving two masters:
Luke 16:14 NLT The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him.
I hardly think you want to get lumped in with the Pharisees - so no scoffing as you listen! Take some scoff medicine - or at least a scoff drop - and let’s get into this.
In the diagram below, you can see a line which represents a scale of sorts related to our finances and possessions. In one way, it represents what we can do with the money God provides to us. It is a stewardship scale, if you will. But as you’ll also see, it has to do with providing for our physical needs as well as our wants. But what I really want you to see is that it can also represent our attitude and heart condition towards money.
I want to also stress that I can’t know specifically what God wants from you. At times Jesus tells some people, due to their enslavement to their money and possessions, that he wants them to sell everything and give it to the poor. Don’t rule that out - but at other times he allowed well to do women to support his ministry and he regularly ate with the rich and privileged.
He also showed how transferring wealth from earth to heaven could work. When Zacchaeus made financial restitution for his criminal activity, Jesus joyfully announces that “Today salvation has come to this home.” The Good Samaritan used his money generously through acts of mercy and clearly drew closer to the Kingdom of God.
But even in light of all that, I think there is a general attitude we need to embrace, a mind of Christ perspective as we apprentice our lives to His. And I believe there is one central concept that might make all the difference. That word is simply, “enough.” And so, we place it on the scale as our potential target. As you can see, if we’re not careful, our actual position can feel just short of what we think is enough. This is why I call it elusive. It feels like a moving target. Why is that?
Well, let’s take a look at just a few of the potential struggles I’ve been referring to. The first one is:
1. Actual shortages. Certainly, life has moments and even seasons where there seems to be more month than there is money. Can I get a witness? Now we know sometimes, if not often, these shortages may be self inflicted. Not living within our means, accessing easy to get credit, we know sometimes there is no one to blame but ourselves. Still, the struggle is real, no matter how you got into the financial situation you are in. Life can be very
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expensive. Just keeping up with the necessities can seem out of reach sometimes. But another struggle some of us have is that we seem to have…
2. An identity crisis - material things define us. Madison Avenue plays right into this by using Manipulative Marketing, feeding that prominent sin of the lust of the eyes. The purpose of all this media bombardment is to increase desire. The plan is to change your thoughts from “That’s extravagant” into “That would be nice to have,” and then into “I really need that,” and finally into “I’ve got to have that3!” This often leads to or is compounded by another struggle:
3. Comparison living: We experience envy and jealousy, feeling like we deserve or have a right to what other people have. We feel bad because we can’t give our kids or spouses what other people do. Speaking of spouses, another struggle some of us have is…
4. Misaligned Views of Money in Marriages. We’ve already mentioned this but marriages often struggle not only because of actual shortages, but because of differences of views on finances. And the struggle is real because worry and stress are rarely compartmentalized. When there is hardship and tensions financially, it can affect your trust with one another, it creates negative emotions, it can create an underlying fear and discontent, all of which destabilizes the relationship. Couples really need to get on the same page here. Maybe just one more example:
5. Fear of the future. What if something goes wrong with the car? What if I can’t afford college tuition for my kids when they get older? What if I run out? What if my 401k isn’t enough to make it after I retire? So thinking about those struggles, and I’m sure you could list many others, let’s go back to our diagram and reflect on their effects. What impact do they really have? Well, when we feel that we genuinely don’t have enough, feelings of worry and fear tend to dominate our emotions. Stress weighs heavy. We can feel desperate. It consumes our energies and makes us on edge.
On the other hand, even if the bills are paid, our selfish desires kick in and subtle forms of greed slip into our hearts. We want more. Oh - not necessarily a lot more - but just a little more. We see that our friend got a new handbag or set of golf clubs and we think we’d be better off with those ourselves. Our hobbies get more expensive. The restaurants we go to are more costly. We create a lifestyle that has to be maintained and we end up paying credit card interest out the wazoo and overextending ourselves with car payments and membership fees. Once again, there’s a stress to keep up appearances and to keep ”moving up” so to speak. This is after all, as we’ve been taught our whole life, the American dream and it’s almost a duty to pursue it.
Now, we see these negative effects, and we are going to deal with them in a moment, but I want to go back and stress that material things, money, possessions, are not bad in and of themselves. I wouldn’t want any of us to get the impression that we all are required to live a life of voluntary poverty. There is no such requirement given for every person, though for some, that may be a chosen lifestyle and for a few, it may even be a calling of sorts. But in fact, the Bible is full of notions to the contrary.
Clearly there’s a principle of God blessing his people. From Abraham to Job to Solomon, the Old Testament often associates wealth as a blessing from God to his people. Abundance and even wealth are not uncommon for God followers. But they are also not an absolute either. And what we’re after here is to discover the mind of Christ, to apprentice our lives to Him so our view of money is aligned with His. He absolutely knew these dangers and pitfalls that money and possessions would bring to His followers. He knew that if our hearts and minds were distracted and enslaved to our worries and fears or our greed and obsessions, then He would not take first place in our lives.
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So whether we have little or much, it is our attitude toward God’s provision and our acknowledgement of our tendencies toward materialism that matter most. To take on the disposition of Christ in these matters runs so contrary to our engrained instincts of acquisition and consumption. I love the way Henri Nouwen puts it:
“The society in which we live suggests in countless ways that the way to go is up. Making it to the top, entering the limelight, breaking the record – that’s what draws attention, gets us on the front page of the newspaper, and offers us the rewards of money and fame. The way of Jesus is radically different. It is the way not of upward mobility but of downward mobility. It is going to the bottom, staying behind the sets, and choosing the last place! Why is the way of Jesus worth choosing? Because it is the way to the Kingdom, the way Jesus took, and the way that brings everlasting life4.”
That’s powerful, isn’t it?
And so, at the core of His teaching around this subject, Jesus says we have two choices. One is to continue our worry and stress and striving or we can seek first His Kingdom and His right setting ways. We can in one way or another give our attention, affections, and allegiance to material concerns, or we can worship and honor God by trusting Him with our whole lives.
Once again, this is an invitation to The Unencumbered Life. The life that finds itself fully and totally satisfied by the sufficiency of God. Christ is enough. Like Jesus says to the Samaritan woman at the well, “The water I give will never run out.” It’s the verse in the old hymn that says: “I hear the savior say, thy strength indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, find in me thine all in all.” His loving provision is all that we truly need.
Seek first His kingdom. Remember, his kingdom is that real and actual dominion of life where God is in action for the good of his people. Listen friend, we can count on him and we can depend on him. We can put all our confidence in him. Listen to the encouragement of Jesus:
Matthew 6:31-32 NLT 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ (Look at this distinction Jesus makes here:) 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.
So how about it? Do these things dominate your thoughts? It shouldn’t be that way with us! He knows what you need. “Take no thought” as another familiar translation says. Listen friend, if you want to know where God is in the midst of your crisis, let me just tell you, one of God's (many) addresses is at the end of your rope and when you get there you are sure to find him! In fact, Peterson paraphrases the first beatitude this way:
Matthew 5:3 MSG You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule. Trust God’s promises like this one…
I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. (Psalm 37:25 ESV)
Oh friend, if you’re at the little end of the scale can I just remind you that,
Philippians 4:19 CSB …my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
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Here’s the proposal Jesus gives us. He’s saying we need a change of focus. A change of what consumes our thinking - shifting it towards our new reality. Listen again…
Matthew 6:32-33 (various) Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek first the Kingdom of God: Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. He will give you everything you need. Do you believe that? When we make this shift in our thinking, and yes, that’s the very definition of repentance, our worry is replaced with trust. Our fear is replaced with confidence. And our stress is replaced with peace. Now certainly, God still requires us to be responsible. We still have to pay back our debts. The bills don’t just go away. And so there may need to be some practical adjustments made in our lifestyle. Maybe even some radical ones. But our definition of “enough” gets totally redefined when it’s not wrapped up in the material and when it is totally found in God’s all sufficient Kingdom. This is the key, folks. Our confidence in God, not our financial position, should determine our contentment. Paul famously says,
Philippians 4:11-13 CSB 11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.
You see friends, our real goal when it comes to all the stuff of life should simply be contentment. Paul would also say to Timothy,
1 Timothy 6:6-8 CSB 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out. 8 If we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
The writer of Hebrews echoes these statements:
Hebrews 13: 5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.”
You see, when we are content - we feel we have enough. I’m reminded of the wise words of G. K. Chesterton: There are two ways to get enough: one is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. Can you be content, as Paul says, with simply food and clothing? What if, in our proper quest for the Kingdom we actually set as our goal to desire less. What if we did everything we can to reduce our definition of enough, freeing up the leftover blessings of God to do His Kingdom work?
We know what God has to say about the dangers of wanting more. The writer of Ecclesiastes says,
Ecclesiastes 5:10 NLT Those who love money will never have enough. How absurd to think that wealth brings true happiness!
Once again, the writer of Hebrews said,
Hebrews 13:5 CSB …be satisfied with what you have, for he himself has said, I will never leave you or abandon you.
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And there’s another word to add to our definition of enough. Satisfied. Oh it’s like John Piper’s life motto: God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.
And then, just perhaps as we readjust our own definition of enough, finding our full satisfaction in Christ, and maybe even actually getting to the place where we desire less, God will continue to pour out His blessings and we will have more resources than ever to build computer labs at Acres of Hope in Uganda, to help victims of the next hurricane to hit Houston, to send missionaries to unreached people groups around the world, to cloth the naked and feed the poor, and to partner with God in His mission to reconcile all things back to Himself. Paul says…
1 Timothy 6: 17-19 NLT 17 Teach those who are rich in this world (And by the standards of this present world, just about everyone listening to this could be classified as rich. Teach them…) not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. (Ah - do you believe that? Now look at this…) 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
In other words…17 Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage - 18 to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. 19 If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. (MSG)
Now that’s life - that’s truly life. Content and satisfied with what we have. Reaping the benefits of a gracious and loving Father. And taking any wealth and abundance he gives us to do good, to help others, to be extravagantly generous. That’s what it means to really live the abundant life in the Kingdom of the Heavens in the here and now.
So we’ve got clarity about what the mind of Christ is to be in the everyday events of our financial life. Let’s close out by quickly talking about a few disciplines we might implement through which the Holy Spirit will help us to put on a new heart. Let’s start with a familiar one. Start with the practice of…
1. Gratitude. Here’s the thing about gratitude: Gratitude turns what we have into enough. There are a few ways to practice gratitude, including some we’ve already discussed: In addition to implementing thanks into your ALERT based prayer journal, you can also keep a gratitude journal and pause to write in it at least every couple of days. Get in the habit of saying thank you to everybody for just about everything. Write thank you notes early and often. Learn to savor moments. Practice the Examen at the end of each day - reflecting on God’s goodness and thanking Him for it. Of course, another obvious spiritual discipline is that of…
2. Stewardship: Spiritually managing the resources God has blessed you with for the sake of others. Certainly he provides those resources for your own care and the care of your family. But always keep the Kingdom in view. Make a conscious and concrete decision about how much is enough to keep. Work toward desiring less. Then determine how the rest will be invested in the work of Kingdom-oriented right-setting in the world. Of course, tithing or giving 10% of your income is a biblical principle, but really, that’s probably aiming too low. We’re aiming for extravagant generosity or sacrificial giving here. The Pharisees thought they were big stuff for tithing - but Jesus was much more impressed with the widow who gave all she had - even though it wasn’t very much money. I love how Saint Augustine put it: “Find out how much God has given you and from it take what you need; the remainder is needed by others.” – Next - you can actually take on the spiritual practices of… 3. Frugality or Simplicity. I want to be careful here. I don’t want to suggest any kind of legalism or judgmentalism. But if you’ve struggled with materialism in any way, then for a season or maybe even for the rest of your life, you may consider these disciplines of abstinence. Practiced to the fullest, Frugality and Simplicity is a life of stark minimalism. Here are some ways to practice it:
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• Buy only what you absolutely need and keep it simple. Again, make decisions based on the context of God’s Kingdom. Instead of buying a new shirt, ask yourself how it affects the Kingdom of God. Do you already have plenty of shirts like this? Do you really need another one? Could you give the equivalent money to a charity that clothes the poor?
• To start with, try to not buy anything new for yourself for one month. You might be surprised at how little you actually need. And then thirdly,
• Give things away - as much and as often as you can. This practice helps to remind you to not be so attached to your possessions.
Now again, I want to stress that this is a practice that teaches or trains you to seek first the Kingdom. It’s probably not a requirement for all believers, but I have personally been working at adopting it more than ever. Just allow the Holy Spirit to give you wisdom and discernment about if and how you might implement frugality and simplicity into your context. Lastly, I want to highly recommend the spiritual discipline of…
4. Guidance. Guidance is seeking to know God’s will through the prayerful counsel of spiritual friends and leaders. Proverbs tells us that ‘Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.’ (Proverbs 15:22) Now, I know that our finances are such a personal matter that we’re often not comfortable talking with anyone about them. But here’s the thing. As we’ve clearly seen here today, our finances are very much a spiritual matter and as such, we need Godly wisdom in how to move forward.
If you don’t feel equipped to do that on your own, if the struggle is real for you in that way, then I want to encourage you to seek help. There are plenty of wise financial advisers that can help you craft a budget and create a plan to live life of responsibility and radical generosity. Look for a local offering of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. I’ve been through it and can vouch for his approach, especially his lessons on generosity and sacrificial giving.
Finally, at the end of the transcript, I’ve offered a guide for a special prayer time around this issue. I encourage you to get alone with God and really seek His guidance in how you should respond. Start determining now how Kingdom stewardship will be built into your Rule of Life.
The Elusiveness of Enough. I know this subject gets very personal, but I trust you’ve been encouraged with it. Learn to live the Unencumbered Life, be content with what you have, learn to practice simplicity and frugality, and ultimately, let your life be characterized by radical generosity and sacrificial giving as we seek to have the heart of Christ and to participate in His kingdom.
1 Quoted by Richard Foster. The Challenge of the Disciplined Life. 26 2 Martin Luther, Luther’s Large Catechism, trans. John Nicholas Lenker (Minneapolis: Luther, 1908), 44. 3 Richard Foster. Freedom of Simplicity. 136 4 Henri Nouwen. Downward Mobility. http://henrinouwen.org/meditation/downward-mobility/
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A Prayer
Repentance: Ask God to reshape your thinking. Confess if you’ve been holding on too tightly to your material belongings or if you’ve been overly worried and fearful about your situation. If you’ve not been following Christ with your whole life and yet today you you’ve come to the realization that He is the only King to follow, Jesus says to repent and be baptized. If you’re ready to apprentice your life to his, to follow him as his disciple, then it can start with a simple prayer commitment. If you do pray that way, please come talk with me afterward or maybe even the friend you’re sitting with, and we’ll help you discover your very next steps. Next, you might need to pray for…
Comfort: If you have been struggling financially, pray in a way that you hand over your current financial condition to the great provider. Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you. While it may be a daily prayer you have to keep coming back to, choose to trust Him. Next, you might need to…
Surrender: What is God calling you to with your finances? Is he truly the Lord, the leader of your finances, or is that an area of your life you’ve held back? Pray a prayer of surrender and ask for the Holy Spirit to empower you to live out anything God calls you to. What will the disciplines of stewardship, simplicity and frugality look like as you build your Rule of Life?
Lastly…conclude your time of prayer with a time of…
Gratitude: Remember, gratitude makes what we have enough. Thank him for his provision; for your practical needs of food, clothing and shelter being met. Even thank him for all the material things you have. Thank him for relationships. Thank Him for your church. Most of all, thank God for the work of our King Jesus who reigns on high, victorious over sin and the grave.
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Lesson 16 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 17: The Least of These: The Spiritual Practice of Sacrificial Serving
Big Idea: Following in the steps of Jesus, we are to sacrificially give away our lives for the sake of others - meeting the needs of the least of these.
For the last few sessions we’ve been talking about what it means to live like Jesus. Specifically, we’ve been talking about quite a few spiritual disciplines that Jesus and the saints throughout the ages have implemented in their lives. These disciplines lead to Divine Intimacy with God himself. They lead to Spiritual Transformation as our hearts and character are reshaped, causing Kingdom Righteousness to be obvious in our lives. But the third and perhaps most important outcome of spiritual practices is that of Others Reorientation. Spiritual practices should lead us to loving other people more.
So in this session, I want to talk about that loving others dynamic even more deeply and I want to introduce to you the Spiritual Discipline of Sacrificial Service.
Kristie and I have been small time operators in the real estate investment business for quite a few years now. Mostly, we’ve bought houses for ourselves and when the time came to move on, we simply turned them into rental houses. I’d like to admit something to you, though: We’re not very good at it.
For a few months, I knew that the relationship between one of my renters and myself was coming to a not so good ending. Late and missed rental payments culminated with them finally moving out. I had suspicions that we would walk into an unclean house, littered with leftovers and trash. Don’t ask me how. You just know.
This wasn’t anything we hadn’t experienced before. It’s not uncommon to walk into houses that have pet stains and a few holes in the wall. It goes with the territory. I started making my plans to take a few days to get the house back in shape and get it listed to rent again.
The house was 8 hours away in a city we lived in previously so it took be some time to rearrange my schedule. When I finally arrived at the house, it was as if a dark cloud hovered over it. The yard was littered with junk, the storm doors were flapping in the breeze, the lawn was out of control, but much worse awaited me. We went into the house, and sure enough, though their contract didn’t allow pets, the carpet was worse than anything I have ever seen.
Still, those things are easily dealt with by replacing carpet and painting walls. However, as it turns out, the renter had taken it on himself to reconstruct the back of the house, a sunroom that runs the length of the home. The construction was unfinished and clearly, the dollar signs were beginning to add up. Yet this was not the worst of it - the thunder was now beginning to roll and I could tell a major storm was brewing.
We stepped out into the back yard, and panic gripped my heart. There was a burn pile, the size of a high school Bon fire, a new catiwompus workshop built from leftover something. The yard was overgrown to the height of my chest and even higher in some places. And nestled among the weeds were piles and piles of junk. This was a reality show waiting to happen. I had stumbled into a hoarders nest. Never have you seen so much junk.
I called to have a dumpster delivered and found a few day laborers to help remove the debris. 2 guys worked for 4 hours completely filling the first commercial sized dumpster and you could hardly see a dent in the junk. Another dumpster was brought in and another 3 men worked another 4 hours until that dumpster was also filled to the brim.
As a contractor helped me to review the back of the house, we could see that my tenant’s construction project fell way short of completion. As it all started adding up in my budget spreadsheet, I had a moment where I called
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Kristie and told her that we only had two options: Either we find another stupid investor to dump the house on or we find a gifted arsonist who could help us to get the whole problem to just “go away.”
But alas, she and Lizzy talked me down off the ledge and we began formalizing actual, more legal solutions.
Now, why have I elected to air out my dirty laundry here? Well, as He often does, God began teaching me some powerful lessons and showing me His love and grace in ways I could have never imagined.
To many, myself included, this house seemed hopeless. It was certainly beyond my own ability to bring it back to life. It stunk. It was ugly. It was unfinished. It was abandoned. It was the joke of the neighborhood. Everyone that walked in said something like, “How do people live this way?”
God turned this house into a metaphor. I began thinking about all the people in the world who are just like this house. People who are written off, forgotten, neglected. People who for one reason or another, perhaps of their own choosing or the injustices of the world are the joke of the neighborhood or even worse, totally invisible to people around them.
And then I even thought, that even though I have been blessed in life in more ways than I can describe, I too have been a broken, wounded, mess. In need of repair and rehabilitation. More than once I needed the love and attention of God to rescue me from own disastrous life. How about you?
But it wasn’t just the house itself that God used to teach me with. He began to put together a team of people to bring it back to life. But I must tell you, this is no ordinary group of people.
I started by calling my good friend David. David was my drummer for 9 years at a church where I served as worship pastor. David’s story was not unlike my broken down house. A drug addict for years, his girlfriend murdered, David finally found Christ as the rescuer and redeemer of all the mess he had made. While we served there, Pastor Kerry Skinner mentored David through our counseling ministry and helped him to start a special ministry to addicts and severely broken people. That ministry is called Restored and still meets weekly.
David owns a landscaping business and employs many of these guys trying to get back on their feet. David is also a fellow real estate investor so I asked if he knew where I might get some help with my big project. He gave me a resounding Yes and introduced me to the Pasco Home - a halfway house ministry for folks getting out of prison and off of drugs. They all attend Dave’s Restored ministry every week.
As I employed these guys to help clear away my junk and help me with repairs, stories began to emerge of how thankful they were to be working in the sweltering heat of my disastrous backyard, grateful for the chance to do something useful with their lives.
I started seeing it: God was using broken people to put my broken house back together.
But that’s not all. My air conditioning system didn’t seem to be working at 100% efficiency. My go to guy for needs such as this is an air conditioning guy by the name of Joe. Joe is another one who came through the counseling ministry and Restored. He gave his life to Christ, was baptized, and he went through my New Believer class that I taught for so many years there at that church. He is a true testimony of how God can turn a life around.
And Joe brought a helper with him. His name was Lester. I could tell Lester was different. Most of his teeth were gone, either from meth addiction or simply to neglect. As I got to know his story, it came out that he had been homeless until a few months earlier. Joe had taken it on himself to reach this often forgotten group of people. As it turns out, he had three homeless guys living in his backyard, helping them to find a way out.
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Lester looked up at me, so grateful for what Joe is doing in his life, so totally aware of the love of God and told me that as soon as he got back on his feet, he was starting a bible study for homeless people. He said, “I use to feel as though I was all alone. A lot of homeless people feel that way. They need to feel what I feel, they need to know they’re not alone. I’m starting a Bible study for them.”
No doubt, God was using broken people to bring life back to my hopeless, broken down rental house and to affirm his calling on my life, and really the church in general, to be a people of hope. After all, that’s what we are too, just a bunch of broken people God has called to bring life to other broken people, right?
Perhaps my heart is more tender than ever toward these issues since we started our annual journeys to Uganda a few years back. When you visit with a lady sitting on the ground outside her mud hut, whose broken legs were never properly mended due to lack of proper medical attention, who can now only scoot along in the dirt, who has never slept on anything but the cold hard ground, and yet who still raises her hands in worship when a word of prayer is offered on her behalf, something about your perspective of life in general begins to be reshaped. Your heart is changed. Overwhelmingly so.
Think back with me to our lessons around the subject of Compassion. Remember that? We discovered it was a primary motivation for Jesus. Remember, Compassion is God’s loving heart being moved into action.
Loving compassion allows your eyes to be opened to see the world the way God does—our hearts breaking for the things that break His heart. Allow me for a few moments to present to you a glimpse into God’s perspective on the poor and marginalized of the world.
When we look at Scripture, there are nine words that are most often associated with God’s heart related to these issues. Notice these: "fatherless," "orphans," ”Widow," "poor," "hungry," "stranger," "needy," "weak" and “oppressed.” These are the often forgotten, the disenfranchised, the defenseless, the poor, the powerless, the lost and lonely, those who need our help and love and service. This is not just a sidenote or peripheral subject. No, it speaks to the very heart of God, and I would suggest that meeting these kinds of needs is one of the primary themes in all of Scripture. Let me show you what I mean:
Early on as Moses was writing the Law, God gave clear instruction:
Give generously to [the poor] and do so without a grudging heart, then because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land. — Deuteronomy 15:10-11
Psalmists and Kings would echo God’s compassion command:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy — Proverbs 31:8-9
God promises to never abandon those whom society has forgotten:
For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight. — Psalm 72:12-14
Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. — Psalm 113:5-8
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Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow… — Psalm 146:5-9
The prophets would continue to hammer home this heart of God:
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. — Isaiah 1:17
And the word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: "This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ — Zechariah 7:8-10
And in the fullness of time, God sent His Son. They called Him Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us - God - one of us. And as the moment came for Him to step onto the ministry stage… “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” Luke 4:16-19 (NIV)
And so it went, that Jesus began living out this passage, to the disdain of his religious critics, reaching out to society’s outcasts and forgotten. Having dinner with those rotten tax collectors, forgiving adulteresses, setting free the prostitutes, teaching how racial prejudices are wrong, how the social order of things are upside down, suggesting that the first shall be last and the last - first; and how when we’ve given a drink to the thirsty or clothed the naked or visited the prisoner, when we’ve done it unto the least of these, we’ve actually done it unto God Himself. (Matthew 25:31-40)
When asked how one might experience eternal life, Jesus told one man to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and come follow Him. I think this is the crux of the matter for most of us. Perhaps we’re confronted and convicted of our sin and in our moment of guilt, we pray a sinner’s prayer. But what most of us don’t realize is that Jesus is challenging us to two callings. The first calling to be called out of our sinful selfish ways. But we’re not just called “out” of sin, we’re called “into” His mission. He calls us to follow Him. To go where He goes, to love how he loves, to serve the way he does.
Jesus suggested that this is a whole new way of leading and living when he said, ““You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. (I’ll bet you’ve been around some leaders like that!) It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.” Matt. 20:27-28 MSG
To truly be a follower of Christ is to be a servant - to give your life away for the sake of others.
So we’ve seen how Jesus launched His ministry with his servant declaration to give hope for the hopeless and helpless, the blind and the bound, the marginalized and forgotten. Then like a bookend to his opening declaration, as His ministry is coming to an end, this King of kings wraps a towel around His waist and kneels
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before His disciples to do the most menial of tasks. These imperfect and broken men, are shown what it really means to be a follower of Christ - to be a servant - as one by one, He washes their feet. But Jesus doesn’t just do it as an example. He turns it into a command: “So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do.” John 13:14 We’ll talk even more specifically about that in the weeks to come.
And then, to top it all off, Jesus proves just how far He is willing to go to give his life away for the sake of others by laying down his life on an old rugged cross - taking on the sins and transgressions and all the inequities of the whole world upon Himself. God Himself suffers the ultimate injustice in his eternal quest of seeking justice for the human race He loves with His whole being. Even in that darkest moment of all history, as He hangs there on the cross, he turns to a crucified criminal, another outcast and says, “Today you’ll be with me in paradise.” He looks down from the cross at even his worst enemies, those whom you and I would think deserve justice the least, and cries out to the father to Forgive them, for they know not what they’re doing.
But this calling to serve the least of these didn’t end when Christ ascended into the heavens. His closest followers picked up the mantle. John would say… If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. — 1 John 3:17
Then in James’s letter, what I believe to be a commentary on the Gospels or more specifically the Sermon on the Mount, the brother of Jesus, the head of the Jerusalem church, outlines the mandate for hope-giving and servant-living with such clarity:
Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. — James 1:27
Don’t you see it? This calling OUT of sin and INTO the mission of God? In case you think I’m just making this stuff up, let’s let James preach for a moment and I’ll let you decide:
James 2:14 What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? 15 Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, 16 and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. 18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
Or as Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message: Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? James 2:17 That is a real, straight-up challenge, isn’t it?
Well maybe you can tell, I get pretty passionate about this subject. That’s because I believe that God himself is passionate about it even more than I am. I think we can see that the Bible is quite clear that we have a responsibility as God’s people to be his loving heart in action, to be his hands and feet. As you are building a rule of life, I hope you’ll prayerfully consider how to implement this kind of serving into your rhythms of life. Let me suggest a few ways we can get involved with that.
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First of all, we can give financial resources to meet these kinds of needs. I really believe that’s one of the primary reasons to live The Unencumbered Life, to live lives of simplicity and frugality so we have more funds available for those who need it more than we do. I do hope you’re thinking about what your giving patterns will look like in your Rule of Life. But I would encourage you to not stop there. Giving your money is a wonderful and God-honoring way of meeting the need. But He also calls us to get involved - taking care of the sick, visiting people in jail, actually giving the cup of water and clothing those who need it. So generosity moves beyond sacrificially giving our finances to sacrificially giving our time as well. So here are a few more suggestions:
As most of you know, from time to time Northway joins together as a whole church to do projects in our region. We join together to Serve our Seniors, flooding our city to do yard work and light maintenance projects for senior adults that can no longer do it themselves. We serve during holiday toy drives and Christmas parties for those in need, and as I mentioned earlier, we take mission trips to Uganda and Honduras. Perhaps you’ll want to carve out time your calendar to make sure you’re a part of those church wide efforts as they come along.
Next, I think there is a strong possibility that many of you might actually find a cause related to the least of these that you might even feel called too. We have partnership opportunities at Northway where you could commit to an ongoing volunteer role. From Interfaith of The Woodlands to the Kairos Prison ministry the Pregnancy Assistance Center to Compassion United and Destiny Kids in Conroe, there are plenty of places to give your life away on a regular basis. Maybe it’s once a month or even once a week. Your life might be busy, but don’t rule it out that God may have a special group of people for you to give you life to.
Lastly, I want you to think about Sacrificial Serving as a discipline of spiritual transformation. As you learn to serve those in need, God uses that serving to train you away from arrogance, possessiveness, envy, resentment, and covetousness. And He uses it to train you in humility and to develop a loving-others kind of focus.
Spiritual Disciplines bring about spiritual transformation - a transformation of our character. They should also cause us to be more loving toward others. Sacrificial serving certainly has the power to do both of those things. But spiritual disciplines also bring about Divine Intimacy. We commune with God in a lot more ways than in a quiet time or even praying the hours with the church. Let met tell you what I mean…
I will never forget our first trip to Uganda. Dozens of ladies had made 150 little pillow case dresses for the girls of Acres of Hope. Once we had them sorted, one by one, those little girls came through to get the right size. They were so precious and so grateful. They went to another room and put them on and when we went out to see them, it was just the most beautiful sight you could ever behold - those bright colors up against that black as night perfect skin.
That night as we were trying to process what God was doing in our hearts, it occurred to me that if there is anybody in the world that qualifies as the least of these, it was certainly these little children. Many of them abandoned, forsaken, abused, raped, tossed out. The only thing I could say was that “Jesus sure looks good in a dress.” It may sound strange in our day and time to say such a thing, but if we take Jesus at His word, when we’ve done it unto the least of these, we’ve done it unto Him. And when I looked into those faces, I really could sense I was looking into the very face of God. Jesus surely did look good in a dress that day.
Friends, can I just tell you that those children in Uganda need us. There are addicts and prostitutes and homeless families in Montgomery County that need us. There are orphans and foster kids with no where to turn that need us. There are prisoners who need to know that life is not over. There are teenagers surprised by pregnancy that need us. These are the broken down old houses that need to be brought back to life. These are the least of these in our time. Practice the spiritual discipline of sacrificial serving, and just watch how God changes your heart and life and in turn how together as his apprentices we change the world.
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Lesson 17 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 18: The Fellowship of One Anothering
The Big Idea: Koinonia is the spirit of one anothering among God’s people and is essential to spiritual transformation and becoming the presence of Christ in the world.
We’re nearing the end of our segment of the journey where we’ve explored many different spiritual disciplines; disciplines that lead to Divine Intimacy, spiritual transformation, and an others reorientation.
There are many, many other disciplines that we could have discussed. Countless books have been written on the subject. But I want to wrap our list up in this session. Remember, one of the reasons we’re making our way through these disciplines is to formulate what we’ve called a Rule of Life. The Rule of Life is a written or even unwritten commitment you make to spiritual activities that will make up the rhythms of life. And today, we get to talk about some disciplines that make sure we’re being the church God’s called us to be. Let’s talk about The Fellowship of One Anothering.
What vision do you have for the way Jesus did life? Take just a moment and think about that. What images come to mind? How did he spend his time? How did he do his work? For many of us, we may think of Jesus as primarily an itinerant preacher, standing on hillsides teaching to masses of people, healing multitudes of strangers. He’s a busy man, bustling here and there. He’s driven to accomplish his mission.
While Jesus certainly did do those things, the reality is that he actually lived a much slower and intentionally relational life. As we’ll soon see, Jesus knew that life in the Kingdom was not simply just about individuals finding personal salvation, but it was also about cultivating a rich experience of God’s love within the context of His community.
I really hesitate to use that word community because it seems so cliche. We have an idea of what it’s suppose to mean. We bandy it around in churches like everyone knows what it means. But how often do we genuinely experience it? Here’s the dictionary definition:
“a feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests, and goals.”
No wonder the church embraces this word as an ideal. That really does sound like the life Jesus invited his followers into. A feeling of fellowship. It’s an experience within a group of people that we feel.
You can feel community in your civic organization or your book club or maybe even at work as even in those environments you can share common attitudes, interests, and goals. But of course, true Christ like community goes even deeper than that.
For a moment, we circle back to one of our earlier lessons related to perfect Trinitarian love.
All Jesus had ever experienced was a perfect loving relationship with the Father and the Holy Spirit. You see this is the eternal relational existence from which Jesus comes into the physical world - an existence of perfect harmony with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is relational. God is in constant interaction within Himself. Mind-boggling, I know. But this is the picture Scripture paints for us nonetheless, and you can’t skip over it just because it’s hard to comprehend.
What it means for us, though, is that this is his M.O. - His modus operandi. There is no reality for Jesus other than that of relationship. Jesus comes to deliver His Kingdom Gospel and he does it not only in big public announcements, and extraordinary miracles, but within the context of deeply cultivated relationships. It was as
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if he was saying, “I’m inviting my people into this trinitarian fellowship of love.” Friends, “The community we are seeking already exists in Christ at the cosmic level1.”
Yes, Jesus is a friend of mine. But his longing is not be a distant or casual friend, certainly not just a Facebook friend, but something much, much more. We’ve been in and out of John 15 throughout our journey of discovering what it means to apprentice our lives to Jesus. This is part of his closing message to his closest companions, most of which He spent the last three and a half years of his life with, traveling from village to village, boating across the sea of Galilee, going on retreats together, simply doing life together. He’s about to exit this physical realm and thus, he is giving his farewell address, though these close friends still had no idea of what was really about to transpire. Listen to these words of intimacy. Verse 12:
John 15:12-15 CSB [12] "This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you. [13] No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father.
I have called you friends. Has God ever said anything more beautiful than that? In these final hours of his life, he is telling these guys, sitting around this last supper table, you are my friends. “You’re not some peons in a cosmic game. You’re not relegated to fearful subordination by a slave-driving God of the universe.” No - Jesus says, “I’ve called you friend.” This is how Jesus did life. He did it within the context of loving relationships.
And so, in our quest to love, live, and lead like Jesus, let’s take a quick journey once again through the gospels to see this most important dynamic come alive. The first thing we’ll notice is that…
Jesus assembled a very special Circle of Friends.
Mark tells us that at the very early stage of Jesus’ ministry, he began inviting certain people into his circle of friends. Chapter one says that it was first the net-droppers - Peter and Andrew, James and John. In chapter 2, we see him inviting Levi or Matthew the tax collector. There’s a lot more to say about this particular friend, but we’ll come back to that in a few moments. By chapter 3, this small group begins to snowball and Mark is referring to this big circle of friends as Jesus’ disciples and evidently it’s turning into a rather large group. We pick it up in verse 13:
Mark 3:13-15 CSB 13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
Mark goes on to list the names of the 12 guys, even mentioning that Jesus gave some of them nicknames like Rocky and Sons of Thunder. But notice in verse 14: He appointed 12…to be with him. That’s the real key here.
Clearly Jesus had a lot of people that I’m sure he would consider his friends. At very least they were close followers. But some of them, these 12 apostles, were extra special. We’re not sure what made them special. It probably wasn’t because they were extra smart or had great influence. No, it was just that Jesus looked at them and saw some kind of potential. He wanted to personally invest in them. He wanted to train them up. And so he called them to be with him - to do their everyday, walking around life with him.
You can’t let this get by you, friend. Jesus wasn’t just a disseminator of information. He came to live out the Kingdom Gospel by example. The best way to convey what this Kingdom lifestyle was all about was to get a
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group together and let them watch how it was done day in and day out. Jesus at the center of this society of friends. He defined what their relationships to one another were to look like.
And still to this day, we are his community only if he is at the center of our relationships to one another. I believe he’s still calling groups together and He’s still showing us His way to live and love with one another.
But of course, we know that Jesus had an even bigger purpose than just to have a close circle of friends.
Jesus called his friends so he could equip them for greater works.
Mark 3:13-15 CSB 13 Jesus went up the mountain and summoned those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to drive out demons.
Clearly, Jesus was committed to transformational apprenticeship. He could preach to the masses, and he did, but he also knew this basic math: What if it’s not just me preaching? What if I had 12 other guys trained enough to preach? Then we can preach the same message in 12 different places. And what if they were empowered to do what I do? Now clearly, there’s a level of equipping and teaching at the apprentice level that can only be done with a limited number of people. If I’m a plumber and I take apprentices with me to a job site to fix a leaky faucet, there are only so many people that will fit in the kitchen to observe - only one or two will likely get to actually get hands on experience this go around.
So Jesus calls this small group of friends together so he can train them to do what he does. Walk with me, work with me, watch how I do it. And remember, while there is preaching to learn and power to cast out demons is given, Jesus never lets up on teaching them about the importance of relationships. One of the most prominent ways he taught them in this way is found by noticing that…
Jesus was intentional and patient to develop relationships with outsiders. Jesus was a friend to sinners.
Notice these important views into the daily life of Christ. One day, Jesus was frustrated with the scribes and Pharisees: Matthew 11:18-19 CSB [18] For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!' [19] The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'"
We see what he’s talking about in Luke 15:
Luke 15:1-3 MSG [1-3] By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends."
This was clearly a life pattern for Jesus. Back to that story of Jesus calling Matthew Levi to come and follow:
Mark 2:13-17 NLT [13] Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. [14] As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector's booth. "Follow me and be my disciple," Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. (Now watch this. Levi picks up on Jesus lifestyle of hospitality evangelism.) [15] Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus'
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followers.) [16] But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, "Why does he eat with such scum?" [17] When Jesus heard this, he told them, "Healthy people don't need a doctor-sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners."
This was Jesus at his best in my opinion. Doing life day in and day out simply being with the people who needed him most. Having lunch with outsiders, inviting them in to be insiders. He was not worried about what religious folks thought about it. He knew the best way to get through to these disreputable sinners was to simply be intentional and patient, meal after meal, building relationships. We’ll come back to talk even more about this in a few weeks.
So Jesus was the center of his transforming community. He was committed to apprenticing them in the ways of the Kingdom. He was equipping them for greater works - showing them how to bring more people into his society of friends.
But if we’re not careful, we’ll think of all this activity as simply business. That Jesus was all about the job at hand. In today’s terms, we might be guilty of saying, “Let’s just get to the bible studies and the 3 point strategy for church growth.” Certainly Jesus knew there was a job to be done - but there was a very non-business side to His life as well. You see…
Jesus cultivated deep and intimate friendships. We see this in relationships within that tight circle of his disciples and in other friendships as well. In John chapter 11, we see some powerful clues to the kind of relationships Jesus cultivated in the story of Lazurus. You’re certainly familiar with the end of the story - where Jesus has the stone rolled away and he calls for dead Lazurus to come forth. Who could forget that one, right? But let’s look closer. Verse 1 of chapter 11:
John 11:1-3 CSB [1] Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. [2] Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. [3] So the sisters sent a message to him: "Lord, the one you love is sick."
The one you love. The New Living Translation has the sisters saying…
John 11:3 NLT "Lord, your dear friend is very sick." And so the story goes that Jesus doesn’t go immediately, but eventually does decide to head that way. Look at what he says to his society of friends:
John 11:11 CSB He said this, and then he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up."
Clearly, Lazurus is a special friend. And then look at this next scene in verse 32:
John 11:32-36 CSB [32] As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!" [33] When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. (You can just sense his sorrow and anguish in the loss of his friend.) [34] "Where have you put him?" he asked. "Lord," they told him, "come and see." (And probably the only verse next to John 3:16 that most people can quote for sure:) [35] Jesus wept. [36] So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
See how he loved him. Peterson translates it: "Look how deeply he loved him."
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Jesus was not just all business. He had close and personal bonds of friendship. He connected with these friends at the deepest of heart levels.
We also see that with Peter, James, and John. For example, on the night of his arrest, Mark says that after the last supper that Jesus led his society of friends out for prayer:
Mark 14:32-34 CSB [32] Then they came to a place named Gethsemane, and he told his disciples, "Sit here while I pray." (He leaves nine of his friends behind. But look:) [33] He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. [34] He said to them, "I am deeply grieved to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake."
Do you see that? He’s got his three closest companions and he’s sharing even deeper personal struggles with them. “I am deeply grieved. I'm struggling here, guys.”
And get this. It appears that Jesus may have even had a best friend. For just a bit earlier in the evening, we see back in the Gospel of John, that Peter was trying to use this best friend to get more information out of Jesus. Look at this:
John 13:21-25 CSB [21] When Jesus had said this, he was troubled in his spirit and testified, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." [22] The disciples started looking at one another-uncertain which one he was speaking about. [23] One of his disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining close beside Jesus. [24] Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was he was talking about. [25] So he leaned back against Jesus and asked him, "Lord, who is it?"
The one Jesus loved. John uses this phrase more than once in his gospel. And come to find out, the one Jesus loved is none other than John himself! And Peter says, if anybody can get Jesus to tell us who the betrayer is, it’s his best friend, John.
So we see with Mary, Martha, and Lazurus, Peter, James, and John - that Jesus cultivated deeply personal and intimate relationships. People he could confide in, special friends to share his sorrows, friends he could give himself to more completely.
And so, having reflected on these many facets of loving relationships that Jesus cultivated, we return to his final address in John 15 from which we began this discussion. It should take on even more meaning in light of all we’ve seen.
John 15:12-17 CSB [12] "This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.
When Jesus says that to his society of friends, at this moment, around the last supper dinner table, they know exactly what he’s talking about. He has lived in community with them for nearly three and a half years, they’ve experienced his deep and intimate love first hand. They know what it looks like because he’s been showing them all along. Love the way I’ve loved you. And so he continues on with his last words:
[13] No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends. (That’s the depth of friendship that Jesus expects us to cultivate.) [14] You are my friends if you do what I command you. [15] I do not call you servants anymore, because a servant doesn't know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have heard from my Father. [16] You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you. [17] "This is what I command you: Love one another.
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So how did they do? Did they follow through on this command? Did they have enough experience with the way Jesus loved to replicate it?
Well, if we were to look at His circle of friends in the weeks, months, and years immediately following Jesus’ departure, that would probably give us a strong indication as to what this one-anothering might look like, right? How did they take what they had learned from Jesus about loving one another and apply it to their everyday walking around lives?
Let’s a quick look at Acts chapter 2. This should be a very familiar passage to you as it is commonly used as the definitive description of life in the earliest days of the church.
Acts 2:42-47 CSB [42] They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. [43] Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. [44] Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. [45] They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as any had need. [46] Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with joyful and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. Every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.
What a beautiful picture, huh? Very quickly, let’s notice just a few things. First we see the obvious:
They devoted themselves to one another within the Community of Christ. Twice here in the Christian Standard Bible we see this phrase “devoted themselves,” in verses 42 and 46. Your translation might say committed. In other words, this was no casual association. They didn’t just pop in if it was convenient. No - they were 100% devoted not just to an institution, but to one another around the life and love and teachings of Christ. They were going all in together. It wasn’t just a once a week thing either - they practically lived at one another’s houses. They were truly doing life together, not unlike Jesus had modeled for the disciples.
Now of course we could talk about all four of the things mentioned in verse 42 - the apostles teaching, the breaking of bread and prayer - but this idea of devoting themselves to the fellowship is particularly important to our discussion. That word fellowship in the Greek is koinonia. It’s kind of a fun word to say. You might even want to say it out loud: koinonia.
The essential meaning of koinonia embraces concepts conveyed in the English terms community, communion, joint participation, sharing and intimacy. It speaks of a special kind of bond and knitting together of spirits. Pastor Peterson translates it as simply “life together.” I submit that koinonia is the spirit of one anothering among God’s people. Not unlike the agape love that flows eternally within the trinity, koinonia is the evidence of that same love flowing among God’s people. It is the idealized vision of living out the command of Jesus to “love one another as I have loved you.” And like that early church, we need to make a conscious decision to choose it. To make a commitment to it, to be devoted to that kind of togetherness. I would submit even further that…
Koinonia is a critical ingredient to spiritual transformation.
I love the way Robert Mulholland puts it, “We can no more be conformed to the image of Christ outside corporate spirituality than a coal can continue to burn outside of the fire.” I fear this is one of the reasons many Christians aren’t experiencing everything that Christ himself had to offer. Popping in on Sunday mornings to hear a good sermon and sing some worship songs is only one small ingredient in a journey of spiritual transformation.
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I’m convinced this is what the writer of Hebrews was trying to get us to do. Listen to his encouragement:
Hebrews 10:24-25 CSB 24 And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, 25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. This is our reason for koinonia type gatherings: to provoke one another to love and good works. These are the questions we need be asking every week in our small group gatherings: how did you do with agape love with the people in your life this week? How did that show up in your actions? Or maybe we could ask, did you lay down your life for a friend this week? How can we go together into the world with agape love and good works? And then there’s another point we see from Acts chapter 2: as we meet together in a koinonia kind of way…
Our homes become centers for spiritual transformation. You see, like the church described in Acts chapter 2, as we gather joyfully with one another around coffee tables and dinner tables with Jesus as the center of our focus, apprenticing ourselves to him in community, provoking one another to love and good works, “…we are changed into more loving, surrendered Christ-followers, [and] we become the presence of Christ in the world that God loves and sent his only Son to save2.” Listen closely here friends: this is not about locking ourselves away in a room with candles singing kumbaya. We are NOT an elitist country club. And as such…
Following the example of Jesus, we’re inviting the outsider to join us. Acts 2 says that “every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” How do you think that was happening? Somebody was inviting the outsiders. When was the last time you had some disreputable guests over for dinner with your small group? I mean other than your own small group members themselves? We’re gonna’ talk a lot more about this one in the weeks ahead. But for now, just remember this: For some people, the front door to the Kingdom may be the front door of your house.
Oh friends, can’t you see it? Jesus says love one another as I have loved you. The remaining authors of the New Testament would go on to embellish all that that command could mean. I’ve included a listing of those at the end of the transcript, so take a look at that when you can. They said things like… [Be] devoted to one another. Honor one another. Live in harmony with one another. Accept one another. Serve one another in love. Be kind and compassionate to one another. Admonish one another. Encourage one another. Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Offer hospitality. And of course, they reiterate the original command to Love one another.
That makes it pretty clear doesn’t it. All those one anothering verses add up. But that’s what it takes to truly experience God’s koinonia in our midst.
So let’s talk about how all of this might fit into your rule of life. Here are just a few more Spiritual Disciplines that ensure we are experiencing koinonia.
The first is the discipline of Corporate Worship. You might not think of going to church on Sunday as a spiritual discipline, but it really is. The weekly rhythm of celebrating God’s goodness and greatness together with the family of God goes all the way back to the New Testament. But in today’s culture, Sunday attendance seems to get more and more optional. As an apprentice of Jesus, don’t let it be that way for you.
Secondly is a discipline Dallas Willard calls Soul Friendships. He describes it as “engaging fellow disciples of Jesus in prayerful conversation or other spiritual practices3.” In other words, it’s a circle of friends that commit to living the Jesus Way together. At Northway, you’ll probably best experience that kind of koinonia in one of our Small Groups and even in these D Groups. Or it might even be an even smaller, informal group of fellow believers that commits to prodding one another along in the Jesus Way. That leads us to another important discipline: The Discipline of Hospitality. We see this vividly demonstrated in the New Testament church. Their homes were wide open to one another and to outsiders. We could, and really we probably even should do that with our
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own homes. Just a time or two a month, breaking bread with friends and outsiders around the table, inviting Jesus to take a seat at the table, and allowing His Spirit to foster an atmosphere of koinonia.
And there’s one final thing I’d like for you to prayerfully consider.
To be this kind of people, this kind of koinonia community is what I call The Fellowship of One Anothering. This is a deeper vision of what the local church is suppose to be. It is not an individualized consumer-driven approach to finding a church that has the best and flashiest programs, the hippest band or the trendiest approaches. Not that there is necessarily anything wrong with any of those things.
This approach is to go against the grain of church shopping and church hopping and to commit you and your family to your bigger church family. It’s not about attending the church that best meets your needs. It’s about spending a lifetime in the trenches and on the couches of the Christ followers God has put in your life.
Like other monasteries, the Benedictine monks would take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. But St. Benedict added a fourth vow. He called it A Vow of Stability. Listen to how one of the orders describes it on their website: “We vow to remain all our life with our local community. We live together, pray together, work together, relax together. We give up the temptation to move from place to place in search of an ideal situation. Ultimately there is no escape from oneself, and the idea that things would be better someplace else is usually an illusion. And when interpersonal conflicts arise, we have a great incentive to work things out and restore peace. This means learning the practices of love: acknowledging one’s own offensive behavior, giving up one’s preferences, forgiving4.”
Now, of course, I’m not proposing that we all move in together on some compound. But there is something very appealing and deeply sincere about this concept that seems very New Testament to me - this vow of stability. Yes, there are times when God leads us into new chapters of life. But I don’t think they happen nearly as often as our restless hearts may think, though I’ve certainly been guilty of hightailing it out of Dodge when things didn’t go to suit me in past churches.
This is how I put it to Northway just a few months ago: “I just want you to know that until God says otherwise, I’ve taken this vow of stability. To stay here with you - to give my whole life for your sake - to live together, pray together, work together, relax together, play Mexican train dominos together, serve our seniors together. To invite our unchurched friends into each other’s homes. To patiently serve alongside you as we discover the lives we were meant to live. To grow along with you into the people God wants us to be. In a nutshell, the vow of stability that I’ve taken is this:
Vow of Stability: This place and these people in the presence of Christ is enough.
We may not be perfect in every way. But with Jesus at the center and our commitment to love one another and spurring one another on in love and good works, this place is enough. It will be ok with me if we live and die together here - whatever else God has in store. Perhaps you’ll want to consider making that vow with us. I encourage you today, friend, join the Fellowship of One Anothering. Let’s experience the power of koinonia as God knits our hearts and lives together through His Spirit.
1 Ruth Haley Barton, Life Together P 31 2 Ruth Haley Barton, Life Together P 16 3 Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. 4 Our Lady of the Mississippi Abbey. https://www.mississippiabbey.org/Vows
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THE FELLOWSHIP OF ONE ANOTHERING
John 15:12-13 CSB "This is my command: Love one another
as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.
[Be] devoted to one another (Romans 12:10)
Honor one another (Romans 12:10)
Live in harmony with one another (Romans 12:16; 1 Peter 3:8)
Accept one another (Romans 15:7)
Serve one another in love (Galatians 5:13)
Be kind and compassionate to one another
(Ephesians 4:32)
Admonish one another (Colossians 3:16)
Encourage one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13)
Spur one another on toward love and good deeds
(Hebrews 10:24)
Offer hospitality (1 Peter 4:9)
Love one another (1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11; 3:23; 4:7; 4:11-12).
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Lesson 18 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 12B: Your Rule of Life Workshop
We finally made it through our big list of potential Spiritual Disciplines for The Jesus Way. While it is quite a list, it’s broken down into four primary categories: The Fundamentals, Disciplines for a Pace of Peace, The Unencumbered Life, and The Fellowship of One Anothering. As we’ve talked about for several weeks, you’re now prepared to piece together you Rule of Life. Again, you probably won’t incorporate every single discipline at all times, but nevertheless, it’s pretty like that many if not most of these practices will end up being a part of your daily, weekly, and monthly rhythms. In fact, probably by now, by nature of all that D Groups require of you, many of your rhythms are already being established. But this workshop is intended to help you develop it more completely.
Let me first give a couple words of caution. First, your Rule of Life is NOT intended to be a religious checklist. Read that again lest your become a Pharisee! The Rule of Life is not a way to earn salvation or to prove you’re a better Christian than others. The purpose of any activity in your Rule should ultimately be those three objectives and goals we’ve talked about: Divine Intimacy, Spiritual Transformation and Others Reorientation. Loving God more, your character being reshaped, and loving people more. Not religious activity - not bonus points or extra jewels in a heavenly crown.
Secondly, the Rule of Life is not intended to be rigid, but rather it is simply a way of declaring your intentions to yourself and God. Life will not always allow you to follow it with perfection and that’s completely alright.
Now, if you’re married or in a serious relationship, you will likely want to share it with your significant other to make him or her aware - if they’re not already. And really, it would be great if the two of you together could be developing your plans.
There’s not a lot I really need to say about how you put your Rule of Life together because it should be personal. I would recommend carving out some time of solitude and silence, maybe even get completely away for a few hours in a spiritual retreat of sorts, and process your way through your plan. You may want to write it out by hand in your journal or you might want to type it up in a polished document on your computer.
You’ll want to download this week’s transcript for sure because it is has a succinct summary of all the disciplines we’ve talked about. You might also need to have the transcripts from the last few sessions available to refresh your memory on particular disciplines in the list.
Essentially it’s really up to you what you’ll include, but the nature of what we’re talking about suggests that you’ll want to write out your intentions for daily, weekly, monthly, and even quarterly or annual practices. You can keep it real simple or you can get as detailed as your want. You can simply make your list of practices - or you could also included a sentence or two with each practice to describe what each will look like - where they will take place - what time of day. And feel free to add other disciplines that we didn’t even talk about. You’ll notice that I’ve even included my intentions to exercise daily and make wise eating decisions. I know those things help me to be at my best in mental, emotional, and even spiritual ways.
To get you started, I’ve included the basic Rule of Life that I shared at the beginning of this journey, but then I’ve also included my own most recent plan. I hesitate to do that for a couple of reasons: One, I don’t want you to just copy what I do. In one sense, from an apprenticeship angle, that might not be such a bad thing. But I don’t know the rhythms of your work and family life. Mine are very different now than they were 20 years ago for sure when all my kids were little. And I’ve also been at this for a long time, making some decisions years ago about getting up in the early morning hours. I didn’t start doing all of these things at once. And, the nature of my work life gives me a lot of control over my daily schedule as well. So my plan may not work for you - so please don’t just copy it.
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Secondly, I hesitate to share my Rule of Life because of comparison Christianity. I’m not sharing it to boast. In fact, there are a lot of days and weeks I don’t even live up to my own plan. Your list may be half as long as mine and that okay. So I’m sharing it with you as an example, and that’s all.
Finally let me say that this is a lifelong pursuit. What you plan for this year may be different in the years ahead. And there will be seasons where some disciplines are needed more than other times—disciplines like fasting. So make your plan for where you are right now. Review it often. Don’t just do this exercise then leave it on a shelf somewhere. Review it so you’ll remember your commitments and make adjustments whenever you feel like you need to.
Well okay friend. The rest is up to you. Find some quiet time to put your plan together and then I encourage you to share your intentions with your family and your D Group.
I’m praying for you. I’m praying God will stir your heart to pursue Him with even greater passion. That these commitments you’re making will be life changing for you and all the people God has given you to love. I’m so proud of you for your commitment and the progress you’ve made already. God really is shaping you into a disciple He can use and that just thrills my heart. Be blessed, friends.
A RULE OF LIFE - A BASIC MODEL
• Make space for God at the beginning and end of each day. • Read through Scripture in small 2 to 3 chapter segments, and memorize key passages as you apprentice your
life to Christ. • Hospitality - Fellowship weekly with believers and at least monthly with people outside the church. • Sabbath - A weekly period of Celebration, Quiet and Rest. • Live within your means and give away more than 10% of your income. • Bless someone outside the church every week through a purposeful demonstration of love. • Incorporate other practices as your journey grows, or as needed in particular seasons of life.
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SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES FOR THE JESUS WAY
THE THREE GOALS AND OUTCOMES OF SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: • Divine Intimacy: Learning to love God more. • Spiritual Transformation: Learning Kingdom Character and Conduct. • Others Reorientation: Learning to love others more.
THE FUNDAMENTALS • Prayer: Divine Dialogue. Prayer is conversing with God about what we’re experiencing and doing together1. • Bible Interaction:
• Bible Reading: a disciplined approach to making your way through the breadth of Scripture. • Bible Study: seeking out a deeper understanding of smaller passages. • Biblical Meditation: Pondering, personalizing, and practicing biblical phrases or scripture verses. • Scripture Memorization: Hiding God’s Word in your heart.
• Self Examination: Regularly taking a look at how you’re thinking and behaving related to Kingdom character and conduct and making daily course corrections.
• Gratitude: Frequently considering and recording the blessings of God.
DISCIPLINES FOR A PACE OF PEACE • Slowing: Ruthlessly eliminating hurry and finding rest in His Easy Yoke. • Pausing: Practicing the Presence of God (ABIDING) Examples:
• First Things First: Pausing first thing upon waking to acknowledge the presence of God. • Momentary Prayers: Brief prayers offered up throughout the day. • Praying the Hours with the Church: Using prewritten prayer guides to pause 3 or 4 times a day in united prayer.
• Stopping: The routine practice of extended periods of rest, renewal, and restoration • Sabbath: A weekly 24 hour sanctuary of time, devoted completely to rest, worship, and delighting in God. • Solitude and Silence: Companion disciplines that help us to truly escape the noise and the madness so our hearts can
be completely tuned in to God. • Fasting: “The voluntary denial of a normal function for the sake of intense spiritual activity2.”
THE UNENCUMBERED LIFE To lay aside every weight that slows us down or holds us back from living the Jesus Way.
• Stewardship: Spiritually managing the resources God has blessed you with for the sake of others. • Sacrificial Giving: Arranging and prioritizing resources for radical generosity. • Frugality and Simplicity: A life (or seasons of life) lived in stark minimalism for the sake of freeing up resources and time
and to learn total dependence on God. • Sacrificial Serving: Generously giving our time for the sake of others, especially the least of these. • Guidance: Seeking to know God’s will through the prayerful counsel of spiritual friends and leaders. (Spiritual Directors,
financial counselors, life coaches, etc.)
THE FELLOWSHIP OF ONE ANOTHERING • Corporate Worship: The weekly rhythm of celebrating God’s goodness and greatness together with the family of God. • Soul Friendships: a circle of friends that commit to living the Jesus Way together. • Hospitality: Offering our homes and dinner tables to fellow believers and outsiders for the sake of koinonia. • The Vow of Stability: A selfless devotion between Christ followers of a particular fellowship to remain in community.
1 Dallas Willard. The Spirit of the Disciplines. 2 Richard Foster. Celebration of Discipline
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RODNEY’S RULE OF LIFE
DAILY PRACTICES Morning: • First Things First. Kneeling, using the Lord’s Prayer as a guide to welcome His presence into my day. • A period of Silence and Solitude (Delaying technology and work related thinking.) • Divine Dialogue: Using the ALERT model, one or two chapters of Scripture, journaling my prayers, scripture
memory practice, praying the hours with the church. • 20-30 Minute Walk - Using “Pray as You Go” app or “Dwell” Scripture listening app
Throughout the Day • Praying the Hours with the church - midday and evening prayers • Pausing to Practice the Presence of God at least 4 times a day: “Thank you Lord for your presence. Your kingdom
come and will be done right here in my life.” • Practice Slowing. • Physical Fitness: Exercise & and wise eating decisions.
End of Day - Before Bedtime • Examen and/or Gratitude Journaling • Scripture memory practice.
WEEKLY PRACTICES • Scripture Memorization. One passage each week. • Sabbath. Friday night through Saturday night. No work. Limited errands. Just enjoying rest and companionship with
Kristie. Preparing my heart for Sunday worship. • Corporate Worship. Careful to not just focus on my “job,” also enjoying the gathering of my favorite people, being fully
present. Worshipping with everything within me. Sensitive to His presence and leading. • Soul Friendships. Cherishing relationships with Small Group and D Group members and other friends. Learning to be
more open and vulnerable. More sincere caring about their needs, carrying their burdens, encouraging and provoking them to love and good deeds.
• Hospitality. Small group in our home. Regularly inviting other church members and Soul Friends to dinner tables and coffee houses. Cherishing the grace moments and the presence of Christ in our midst.
• Fasting. In times of deeper spiritual pursuit and higher than normal ministry opportunities, Tuesdays will serve as a full fast day.
MONTHLY PRACTICES • Day Trip for Spiritual Retreat • Hospitality for the sake of Unchurched Friends • Serving Monthly with Small Group in our adopted ministry.
QUARTERLY/HALF-YEARLY PRACTICES • Overnight Spiritual Retreats • Northway Church-wide serving days
ANNUAL PRACTICES • Extended Spiritual Retreat • Vacations with Kristie for Rest and ReCreation • International Mission Trips: Acres of Hope and Sigua Village Impact • Annual Learning Opportunities (Courses, conferences, learning retreats, etc.)
THE UNENCUMBERED LIFE • Stewardship: We are ruthlessly rearranging our finances for increased generosity • Frugality and Simplicity: Only make necessary purchases. I already have everything need! • Guidance: Leaning on my Leadership Coach. Need to find a spiritual director. • Vow of Stability: I’m giving my whole life to being with and serving the people of Northway. “This place and these people
in the presence of Christ is enough.”
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Lesson 19: The Sacred Order of the Towel: Serve Like Jesus
The Big Idea: Jesus calls us to take up the towel and embrace the surrendered, selfless, submitted life of a sacrificial servant.
We’ve made our way through a tremendous amount of study. We’ve talked about the Disciple’s Freedom Formula and the Disciple’s Priority. We’ve talked about the many commands of Jesus to love God, love people, to love them the way He loves us, and even to love our enemies. We’ve even made our way through how we might live our lives like Him as we covered so much ground around spiritual practices for the Jesus Way.
We’re nearing the end of our study, and now we want to talk about what it might mean to Lead like Jesus. How we might become people of influence in our world.
Before we dive in, let me refresh your memory to our central premise for this whole study: A disciple of Christ is a person who is willing to give up their preconceived ideas of what life is all about, to abandon their previous way of living, immersing themselves into the way, the truth, and the life of the Master, in order to be like Christ.
Jesus’s call is a radical call. It is one that requires us to potentially dismantle and deconstruct much of what we think about the way life is suppose to work. This is why that word for repent, metanoia, continues to play such a major role in our lives. It means to think about how you’ve been thinking - to experience a fundamental reorientation of how you view life and the world.
We need a new vision for our lives - a new lens through which to see our own ideal future - the person we are to become. And that lens through which we now see is through the life of Christ. And so, if we are to follow in the practical steps of Jesus, the every day walking around changes of activity toward our families, our neighbors, the least of these, and so on, we must take on what Paul called the mind of Christ.
Philippians 2 in the New King James Version says, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
This is so important to understand. Paul is instructing us to apprentice our lives to Jesus here. If you’re going to love, live, and lead like Jesus, you’ve got to take on his way of thinking - take on the mind of Christ. And what was his thought process - his mindset? Well, let’s move to the Christian Standard Bible now and take a look.
Philippians 2:5-8 CSB [5] Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, [6] who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. [7] Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death- even to death on a cross. Very quickly, let’s break this down a bit. First of all..
Philippians 2:5-8 CSB [5] Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
Notice the responsibility that Paul places squarely on us: Adopt the same attitude. The NIV says to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.” Peterson translates it as “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself.” It is a choice we make to take on a new attitude - the same attitude as that of Jesus Christ…
[6] who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
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In other words, of course Jesus was great and awesome and deserving of the royal status he held as Son of God. But he chose to not cling to that status. He knew there was a bigger purpose at stake. So he was willing to give up his position.
In some ways, you might legitimately be superior to other people. Maybe in your position at work you outrank others. Or maybe your financial status affords you more material comforts than others. Or maybe you have better skills or qualities. But to take on the mind of Christ, to adopt his attitude, you can’t let any of that get in the way. Status seekers don’t have the mind of Christ. Paul goes on to say…
[7] Instead (or as an alternative to holding on to his position or status) he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity.
He emptied himself. Your translation might say he “made himself nothing.” Again, we see Paul emphasizing the making of a choice. He purposefully exchanged the glories of heavenly existence, with all the privileges and security and lack of trials and tribulations that he experienced, and traded it for something quite the opposite - making himself nothing. Jesus gave up his sense of entitlement. Instead of being self-seeking - he became selfless.
Maybe you’ve seen the reality show Undercover Boss. The CEOs of sometimes really big corporations put on a disguise and insert themselves at lowly positions within the organization in order to see what things are really like. They’re often taking orders from young and relatively inexperienced managers, subjected to sweeping floors and other menial tasks. It’s perhaps not the best comparison, but that’s in a sense what the God of the universe does. He lays aside all of his credentials and rights and privileges, and comes to subject himself to normal human life, having to obey his mother, his school teachers, dealing with bullies on the playground and taking orders from his father as he learned to be a carpenter. He lived a selfless and obedient life. He gave up his sense of entitlement - emptying himself by assuming the form of a servant.
And this is where we’ll spend the majority of our time together here. Understand this powerful statement. He took on the form of a servant. This is the role he assumed. Leader? Teacher? Rabbi? Healer? Preacher? Yes - all of those things, but at the heart of it all was the underlying role of servant. And I would submit to you that if you are going to follow Christ, if you are going to apprentice your life to him, then this is your role from here on out - servant.
The modern day apprentice may be learning to be a plumber or electrician or even engineer. But for the followers of Christ - we are in training to be a servant to God and others. Oh - it may take on different aspects and forms from person to person - depending on our giftings and skills and placement in life. But at all times and in all places - it is for the sake of serving.
We’ll come back to that in a few moments to go much further, but for now, let’s finish out our analysis with Paul. Back to verse 7:
…And when he had come as a man, [8] he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death- even to death on a cross.
Notice that word humbled - it means he took a lower position. He became obedient. To be obedient is to submit to someone else. And of course, he became obedient to the point of death. And not just any kind of death either. Death on the cross. The ultimate sacrifice. And again - all for the sake of others. Let me spell it out for you even more succinctly. It can be summed up with five words that start with the letter S:
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Jesus was a Surrendered, Selfless, Submitted, Sacrificial Servant. Now, we’ve had a mantra that you’ve been saying with me many times throughout this study, that the aim of my life is to be like Christ. In light of this succinct summary of the life of Christ, are you still willing to say it?
I mean, when you look at those words, Surrendered, Selfless, Submitted, and Sacrificial, it’s not like it’s the most exciting lifestyle you’d ever want to jump into, right? What could ever cause a person to chase after something like that? Of course, the answer is also found in the life of Christ. The answer brings us right back to love.
Romans 5:8 ESV But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
That’s the only explanation for why Jesus would embrace the surrendered, selfless, submitted life of a sacrificial servant. Love. And remember, not just any kind of love, but trinitarian agape love. We’ve been using C.S. Lewis’s definition for agape: “a selfless love, a love that is passionately committed to the well-being of others.”
When you hear Paul talking about love, and you’ll hear it quite often, this is always the kind of love he has in mind. Listen to it in Ephesians 5:
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Walk in the way of love. And what does that way look like? Giving yourself up for others. Paul said to the Galatians:
[13] For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don't use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. [14] For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Galatians 5:13-14 CSB) Serve one another how? Through love. Not obligation. Not dread. Not begrudgingly. But serve one another through love. Love is the pursuit and servanthood is the natural overflow. Again Paul says to the Thessalonians:
1 Thessalonians 3:12 NLT And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows.
If there is any prayer we should pray it is,
“Jesus, cause your agape’ love for all people to grow within me, that I might be a servant like you.”
This is what it means to have the mind of Christ.
Now, not only does Paul’s overarching synopsis of the life of Christ give us a model for what fully living out the servant lifestyle might look like, Jesus himself gave us some incredibly direct teaching around the subject as well.
The tenth chapter of Mark is so rich. You’ll remember from a couple of weeks ago as we talked about the Unencumbered life how Jesus challenged the Rich young ruler to go sell everything, give it to poor so he could wholeheartedly follow Christ. He walks away and the disciples are left to hear Jesus’s followup talk. Jesus says it’s tough for those who hold on to their possessions to experience the Kingdom. The disciples come back with
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the question of how does anyone have a chance of experiencing it? To which Jesus responds that in our own strength it might not be possible, but with God all things are possible.
So Peter thinks about it for a moment. He was a net dropper you’ll remember. And so he says, “We HAVE left everything to follow you. To which Jesus replies, “That’s right. And you can be sure that you’re going to live the blessed life because of it, too. Anyone who lives sacrificially for the sake of me and the gospel of the Kingdom gets in on the good life.” And then, very famously Jesus says that, “the first shall be last and the last first.” The New Living Translation puts it this way
Mark 10:31 NLT But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then.
This is what Peterson refers to as The Great Reversal. He’s emphasizing that the surrendered, selfless, submitted life of a sacrificial servant turns out to actually be the blessed life - the good life. Now, that’s the backdrop for the very next scene. This next scene is also one we talked about a couple of weeks ago, but I want to dig in even deeper.
As they head down the road, Jesus once again starts cluing them in to what’s about to happen, predicting his betrayal, his trial, his death and even his resurrection. So the sons of thunder, James and John, figure this is their chance to climb the corporate ladder and practically beg Jesus to make them his right and left hand men. They actually say, “We want to sit in places of honor next to you.”
I mean, it’s like they didn’t hear a single thing Jesus just said about the first being the last! We pick it up in verse 41:
Mark 10:41-45 NLT [41] When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. (It is pretty frustrating when folks act like that, isn’t it?) [42] So Jesus called them together (it’s like he just stopped the whole group down to put things straight.) and said, "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them.
I love the way Pastor Peterson paraphrases this:
“You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads.
We’ve all seen this happen. Give someone a title of some kind and all of the sudden they want to make sure everyone knows who’s the boss. You’ve seen it, right? But it’s not just in organizational settings where this happens. We’re all guilty of power plays in relationships. Exerting our will over people, “putting them in their place” we call it. Trying to keep the upper hand or trying to get our way. But there is another approach to life and leadership. The Jesus Way of influencing others.
Listen to verse 43:
[43] But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, [44] and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. [45] For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Do you see what Jesus is doing here? Jesus was correcting their thinking. He was telling them they’ve got to have an entirely new mindset - a whole new framework for how Kingdom life works - how influence works. And he puts himself on display - he reminds them to take a look at his life. It’s like he’s saying, “Don’t you see it guys? I
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haven’t just invited you into the brotherhood. I’ve invited you into servanthood. I’ve not just invited you into the family, I’ve been apprenticing you in the family business. And that business is one of love-motivated service to others. Follow my example.”
This is a whole new approach - a radical rethinking. “But among you it will be different. I’ve shown you by example what being different looks like. Here it is in a nutshell: I came not to be served but to serve by giving my life away for the sake of others.” Get this friend: “Christ’s plan and that which produces maximum blessing to the world and the church is servanthood1.” And this is no doubt what Paul was saying when he said, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
“But among you it will be different,” Jesus says. Is it true of us? Is it true of me? Am I different? Or do I still resort to the power plays and manipulative tactics like the rest of the world? Oh friends, again I say, let this be our prayer, “Jesus, cause your agape’ love for all people to grow within us, that we might be a servant like you.”
So this theme kept coming up, over and over throughout their apprenticeship. Jesus upending normal interactions. Assailing multiple indictments against the religious elite for their manipulative and hypocritical leadership. He consistently made reference to the necessity of not taking the head of the table or not even to sit near the most important, but to take a lesser seat of importance. I’m telling you, servanthood was not just a lesson, it was a theme because it was the actual role the disciples were to fill.
One more time, let’s head back to the upper room for the night of the last supper. The scene is set for some of the most important reflections we hear from Jesus as he summarizes the work he has done with his disciples over the last three and a half years.
There are few stories in the Bible that speak with such clarity and conviction as the one we’re about to look at. The other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke say that at some point during the evening, one more time “a dispute also started among [the disciples] over which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.” (Luke 22:24)
And so perhaps in response to this continued disorientation, Jesus gets up from the table, wraps himself in a towel and begins to wash the disciple’s feet one by one. This is, of course, the job for the lowliest of servants. He kneels before them. Humbling himself. This is the position of a servant, after all. Placing themselves in a lower position, looking up at the one being served.
Peter objects. “No way!” He says. “You’re too important to do such a lowly task!” But Jesus insists. We pick it up in verse 12.
John 13:12-17 CSB [12] When Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer clothing, he reclined again and said to them, "Do you know what I have done for you? [13] You call me Teacher and Lord-and you are speaking rightly, since that is what I am. [14] So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. [15] For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you. [16] "Truly I tell you, a servant is not greater than his master, and a messenger is not greater than the one who sent him. [17] If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.
I can hardly imagine that there was a dry eye in that room - when they finally realize what a picture Jesus has just painted before them. Jesus is saying, “Don’t you get it guys? I came to serve not to be served. Some people will want to have a big name or a fancy title. Be different. Some people will want to exercise authority. Follow my example - be different.”
As Baptists, we practice two primary ordinances of Christ. That of water baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Of course, we partake of the Lord’s Supper as Jesus said to “do this in remembrance of me.” Many of you have heard me say this before but in the denomination I grew up in, we actually observed a third ordinance - and it was this
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very scene - we washed each other’s feet. We took our instruction from this very verse that says “I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done for you.” So maybe once a year or so we would have what we called a foot-washing service on Sunday evenings. It was kind of strange to a little kid - but over the years, as I came to realize the meaning of it - it was incredibly moving as a reminder of the servant life we are to live. It’s one thing to hear about it or even talk about it. It’s another thing altogether to experience it first hand.
One of the most powerful reflections on this story I’ve ever read about was by Pastor Todd Hunter. He was working with some young people who were struggling and angry with the church, and as such, were into seeking the pleasure of youth, drugs and sex and the like. He could see he was getting nowhere with them as he tried to convince them of their disorientation to the good life. But one day, as he shared the hope and message of what Christ really came to do, to announce the Kingdom of God’s covenant with his people, he shared this story of the washing of the disciple’s feet. He said, “Perhaps you need to answer a prior and more substantive question: fundamentally, what kind of people do you want to be? Do you want to be fundamentally selfish, filling your hands with drug paraphernalia and the sexual body parts of others, or do you want to fill your hands with the towel of Jesus and join with him in washing the feet of people on earth? You have to choose; you can’t fill your hands with both things. Only one will fit. Which will it be?”
Todd said that “To his pleasure and astonishment, they got it. Their lives actually changed that day as they decided to follow Jesus into what [they] would later call “the Sacred Order of the Towel2.”
Think about it friends. We only have room in our hands to handle one thing. What will it be for you? What’s in your hand?
Some people like to hold a scepter - a representation of their power and authority. “I’m in charge.”
Or maybe in their hands they hold a sword. Words of insult and putting people in their place is their way of getting what they want out of people.
No doubt for some, their hands are gripping onto their wallet or even worse a treasure chest - holding on tightly to their possessions.
And perhaps worst of all, many of us are guilty of holding a mirror - self consumed and full of pride.
But friends, I challenge you: Lay down your scepter and your sword. Put away your wallet and get rid of the hand mirror. Take up the towel.
Let this mind be also in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a servant.
No one was beneath him. From cast aside lepers to hated tax collectors. From a despised Samaritan women of bad reputation to an adulteress caught in the act. From a thief on a cross to every sorry sinner listening to my voice. Jesus came to serve. To express perfect Trinitarian agape love - passionately committed to the well being of us all. Laying down his life for us all.
Oh friends, I hear a different kind of rally call. Hollywood will often depict moments right before a big battle, when a sheriff declares a call to arms and his newly appointed deputies rush into the armory to take up their weapons from the gun locker. But I hear a different call to arms. Jesus the Christ, the suffering servant sent from heaven calls us to take up the towel. To join him in the Sacred Order of the Towel. To walk in the way of love, to
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embrace The Great Reversal, to set aside our own selfish ambitions and positions and to give our lives away for the sake of others. To live life kneeling before the people in our lives to wash their feet, to love them unconditionally in spite of their status or position or what they have to offer back, including the least of these wherever we find them. To sacrifice our time and energy to help others become their best God created selves - to help them discover the life they were meant to live. How about it D Groups? Let’s take up the towel and follow Christ into his loving brotherhood of servanthood. This is how we lead like Jesus. Whether it’s at work or in your home, serve completely. Be a Surrendered, Selfless, Submitted, Sacrificial, Servant Leader. And ultimately, this is how we change the world.
1 J. Hampton Keathley. Mark #8: The Heart of a Servant. https://bible.org/seriespage/mark-8-heart-servant 2 Todd D. Hunter. Christianity Beyond Belief. P. 123
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Lesson 19 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 20: Stay Salty and Shiney. This is Your Purpose.
Big Idea: We dedicate our lives to influencing and impacting our generation by enacting the good works of Kingdom righteousness, leading others to glorify our Father in heaven.
What a journey we’ve been on as we’ve been apprenticing our lives to Jesus - learning to love, live, and lead like Him. We’re getting so close to the end of these life lessons, and I trust that God has been using your D Groups, your times with Him in your ALERT journals, these lessons and all the many spiritual disciplines you’ve implemented over the last few months to truly reshape your heart for Kingdom Righteousness.
What we started in our last session is a discussion about what it means to lead like Jesus. Jesus doesn’t just call us out of sin, He calls us to follow Him into His mission. We are changed to be His change agents. We are to be influencers. And that’s what leadership really is. It is influence.
In our last lesson, we talked about the kind of leader or the kind of influencers Jesus intends for us to be. We are to lead by serving. To join the Sacred Order of the Towel. That’s what Jesus did - he came to serve, not to be served, and to give away His life for the sake of others.
This week, we want to look at another cornerstone kind of lesson Jesus taught us about influence. It’s a lesson on difference making in our circles of influence. It is a familiar concept, but we want to put some concrete application to it today. Let’s talk about what it means to be salt and light in the world.
In the early going of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, Jesus outlines in the beatitudes what the blessed life or the good life looks like. He speaks of Kingdom Righteousness - of right character and right loving and right setting activity. If we hunger for that kind of righteousness - we will be filled, He says. He even says if we are persecuted for righteousness - we still inherit the kingdom of God. That kind of life, the blessed life, the peace-making life, the pure in heart life, the merciful life - all of that creates the kind of life that God uses to influence the world - to actually change the world.
That’s the context for this famous and well known concept of being salt and light. Let’s look at the specific verses. This is Matthew 5 verse 13.
Matthew 5:13 CSB “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Now there is quite a bit of debate about the exact meaning that Jesus had in mind in using the metaphor of salt. We, of course, think of salt as a seasoning, used to flavor our food. But we know that there were other primary uses for salt in Jesus’ time. In fact, scholars tell us there were at least 11 different uses. Which one or which ones did Jesus have in mind? In contemporary times, I’m told it’s used in over 14,000 different ways1.
But again, think about the primary uses of Jesus’ time. Here are just three examples: It was used as a purifying agent. Salt kills bacteria. That’s why it was also used as a preserving agent, keeping foods from spoiling. And then, of course, Jesus makes direct reference to the taste of salt - the flavor of it.
Maybe these multifaceted uses of salt is part of the point He’s making. He’s saying that salt must be put to work in order to be useful. Clearly Jesus is saying that something about the condition of this world needs the effects of salt - and if that’s going to happen - it’s going to be because of you. He’s talking about purpose here, folks. We’re to be used in the purifying of the earth - the sins and injustices of this world need a special treatment -
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they need to be purged and cleansed from the earth. They need to be changed and healed. They need to taste the goodness of God - the blessings of God.
“You are the salt of the earth means that Jesus’ disciples are to seek to transform corrupt human societies2.” This is so powerful. You’ve got to latch on to this. God places you in your spheres of influence for a reason. He expects that you will be a difference maker. Your family, your relationships, your workplace, your school. Wherever you see the affects of sin and selfishness, know that you’ve been placed there as salt, to show the world that there is a better way, to actively engage in setting things right - to overcome hate with love, arguments with peace, evil with good.
While salt is used as a preservative, “He clearly did not want His disciples to preserve this corrupt world in its current condition. He wanted them to transform this corrupt world…Jesus’ disciples are not [simply] one purifying agent among many others. They are the one effective means of purifying their world. [Make no mistake about it friend. As] Jesus’ disciples [we] are capable of transforming society3.” How does that happen? Transform society? That seems awfully big doesn’t it? It happens one relationship, one sphere of influence at a time. Each one of us, salty with Kingdom righteousness, influencing the people and places God brings into our lives. We’re going to come back to that thought even more specifically in just a few moments.
But what does he mean that we can lose our saltiness? Sodium Chloride is a stable chemical compound after all. Well in Jesus’ time, salt was actually a piece of rock dug out of the ground with all kinds of impurities. But get this - water could wash through that piece of rock, washing away the sodium chloride, yet there would be a white residue leftover. So the rock - which still had the same shape and even had this white residue could have the appearance of a salt rock - but not have any flavor or cleansing or preserving properties4.
Let me just tell you, if we’re not careful, some of us that call ourselves Christians are just a bunch of useless, saltless rocks. Or perhaps we could say we’re just empty salt shakers. Maybe like the salt shakers my wife likes to collect, we’re even pretty to look at, but we’ve lost our usefulness. Or maybe even worse, when life gives some people a shake, instead of righteousness - something else spills out. Instead of salt it’s more like anthrax. They’re just as toxic as the rest of the world. Crotchety and bitter, cantankerous and grouchy. Complaining and criticizing. Small tippers, stingy givers. No joy, not loving. Untrusting and unforgiving. They’ve lost their saltiness. Their lack of righteousness causes them to lose their saltiness - their influence and impact.
“The hypocrisy of those who do not practice what they preach does lasting harm to one’s Christian witness5.” I’m going to shoot straight with you here. Some so-called Christians do more damage to Kingdom influence with their actions and words than they ever do at spreading the good news. They’ve lost their saltiness - their ability to influence. When you act in ways that are contrary to Kingdom righteousness - when you have a lack of character - a lack of love - when you lack right-setting activity - Jesus says you might as well be scattered on the road to be trampled. If you’ve lost your saltiness - how will the world taste godliness? My encouragement to you is this, “Stay salty, my friends.”
So before we move on, I want you to think about your spheres of influence and get them in your mind. For most of us, that is going to be our homes, our workplaces, our schools, our clubs or organized hobby groups. Those are places where you have a regular opportunity to influence. Now, of course, everywhere you go - from grocery stores to restaurants and anywhere else you might bump up against other people - you have a chance to be salty. But still, just be thinking about your specific spheres of influence, place where you spend consistent time with a particular group of people.
By living out Kingdom righteousness, your whole life is to be a part of the redeeming, transforming, healing, restoring, cleansing, forgiving, mission of Christ. That’s what Jesus is saying when He says, “You are the salt of the earth.” But He adds another equally famous declaration as well. In verse w4 He says:
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Matthew 5:14-16 CSB 14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
“You are the light of the world.” We probably also take this phrase a bit for granted as it is so familiar. But if you think a bit more deeply about it and reflect on how the word “light” had been used throughout the Old Testament, you’ll see that it symbolized revelation and instruction, hope, joy, righteousness, salvation, and the radiance of divine presence. Like salt has a lot of different purposes, so does light.
Of course, we now know that Jesus is the true light of the world. And by extension as his apprentices, reflecting his light, we bring the blessings of His truth, His hope and joy, His deliverance, acceptance, and salvation’s great love. Think of it this way: Jesus is the true light - He is like the bright sun. But at night, the moon lights up the sky only because it reflects the light of the sun. It has no light of its own, does it? Likewise, even in the spiritual darkness of night, our world experiences the light of Christ when we become reflectors of His light. That’s our purpose folks. Life-Giving Light.
I’ve thought a lot about this metaphor of a light on a lamp stand giving light for all who are in the house. You could apply this to that spiritual discipline of hospitality we talked about a few weeks ago. Certainly there’s an opportunity for you to keep open house and when people are in your home - your light shines. By opening up your home, you open up people to God.
And maybe even more specifically, especially for those of you who are parents, Jesus might literally be saying to be a light in your home to your family. I truly believe that for most of us with that privilege of raising kids, the most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes. Being salt and light is about influencing the people that are in the places God puts you and that starts at home.
So perhaps almost literally Jesus says your light should shine in your house through hospitality and being a disciple making home. But of course, the bigger understanding is that your influence and impact is for anyone and everyone you come in contact with. You’re keeping your lamplight burning at all times. Especially for your well known friends, family, and coworkers - who will see your everyday lives. But also for the unexpected encounter with strangers, cashiers, waiters and waitresses, Uber drivers and FedEx delivery ladies. That light is for the calm and the cantankerous, the bitter and the broken, the lovables and perhaps even more to the unlovables.
When people find themselves in the darkest hole that life can bring - it should be said of us that they saw a light - a way forward - a way out of the darkness. Friends, we are to be unmistakable, beacons of hope and joy and peace, lighthouses of love. That’s Kingdom influence. That’s how we lead like Jesus. So not only do you need to stay salty - you also need to stay shiny!
Now the ultimate outcome of living a life of Kingdom righteousness is that God Gets the Glory. Look again at verse 16: …let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16 CSB)
Just as Jesus says that salt has a purpose, light too has a purpose. A lamp on a lamp stand has a purpose. That purpose or outcome is seen in those two transitional words “so that.” This is the reason…so that people will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Now don’t let this confuse you. Jesus actually cautions His disciples about doing good works in public like the Pharisees did. But I think the fundamental difference for Jesus is all about motive. The Pharisees liked the attention. They wanted people to think they were righteous but Jesus is saying something quite different to his
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disciples. He was speaking to the natural outflow of righteousness from the pure in heart - not the manufactured, fake and attention grabbing acts of religiosity.
You see, People experience influence and impact when they see and experience good works of Kingdom righteousness. Not self righteous piety. But good works. Not just the absence of sin but the presence of sacrificial love manifested in the hands and feet of the messengers of the good news of the Kingdom. Not just judging and telling people how they ought to be living, not just complaining about the news media and how the world is going to hell in a hand basket. But loving extravagantly and unconditionally, being surprisingly patient and kind, and actually doing something about the injustices of the world. Blessed are those who are full of mercy. Remember, mercy is the action that naturally follows our heart as it overflows with Kingdom compassion. It is action. It is visible. And it is unmistakable - just like salt and light.
And the assurance that we see here is that people will experience that merciful activity from us and it will cause at least some of them to praise the Father. Again - it’s not self-acclaim that happens - it’s the renown of God - it’s the glory of God - that His name is lifted up in all the earth - that’s the end goal.
We’re on a mission. He has commissioned us. He has given us a new purpose and meaning for life. That purpose is not one of self seeking but rather it is lived for the sake of others and the very transformation of society - as salt and light - we are His change agents so that ultimately, just as He has promised - God alone is glorified and praised and exalted in all the earth; that the world will see in and through us the works of His Kingdom righteousness overtaking every bitter thought and every evil deed, that His love wins and people’s hearts are drawn to give glory to our Father in heaven.
Put even more succinctly, to be salt and light is to be a difference maker for the Kingdom. You see, Salt absolutely impacts everything it comes in contact with. Taste - cleansing - melting icy cold hearts - preserving - saving. And like Jesus says, a city on a hill “cannot” be hidden. No matter how dark the room, even the smallest light will make a difference.
So go back to those spheres of influence I challenged you to think about. Your home, your workplace, your schools, and any other regular place you may be a part of. For whatever other reasons you have to be there, whether its obligation or because it is personally fulfilling or because it pays the bills, as a disciple of Jesus, there is one root reason for you to be there. Now let this sink into your heart and mind. When you walk throughout your house, when you pull into the parking lot at work or sit down at your desk at school, say this in heart or even out loud: “I am here to be a difference maker for the Kingdom. I am here to be a difference maker for the Kingdom.” This is the place and these are the people God has given you to love and to serve. You are there to be salt and light. Right character. Right loving. Right setting activity. This is where it plays out. This is where the rubber meets the road.
Now in one sense, the difference you might make is simply to alter the atmosphere - to be a peacemaker in an environment that might usually be hostile or to bring more joy or kindness. It might be subtle or over time it might even be transformative - changing the atmosphere of your classroom or factory floor.
But also keep in mind, it is this consistent living out of Kingdom Righteousness that will give you credibility and influence. Jesus says they will see your good deeds - it won’t go unnoticed. And as your influence grows, you’ll lead others to give glory to God. That might be by simply helping others to see Christ and his followers in a more positive light, it might give you opportunities to build rich and authentic relationships with unchurched friends, it might even give you the chance to lead those unchurched friends into a relationship with Jesus himself. It will give you the influence to intentionally disciple your children and maybe even your coworkers or fellow classmates. And in all these ways, they have seen your good deeds and give glory to God.
Let me walk you through some questions to help you evaluate whether or not you’re staying salty and shiny.
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Salt and Light are directly related to Kingdom Righteousness so we can start our evaluation with a quick reflection on its three primary characteristics - right character - right loving - and right setting activity:
• Have ave you been vibrantly exhibiting Godly character? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.
• Is agape love the dominant characteristic of your interactions with others? (A selfless love that is passionately committed to the well being of others)
• Are you regularly engaging in right-setting activity? Surprising patience, peacemaking, living as a servant toward others, actively engaged in righting the wrongs of our corrupt society. When was the last time compassion drove you to sacrificial mercy giving?
• What change is happening in your circles of influence because of your faithfulness to Kingdom righteousness? Who was a recipient of radical love in your life this week? Who experienced the good news because of you? (Not necessarily who heard the plan of salvation, though that may be included.) Who knows God’s love because of you? Who experienced his grace first hand because you offered it undeserved?
Remember, two of our three goals and outcomes for spiritual disciplines are heart transformation and an others reorientation. The disciplines combined with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit should bring about a reformation of our character and cause us to love others more. And an evaluation of our saltiness and the brightness of our light gives us the feedback we need to see the results. So be sure to evaluate yourself around these salt and light questions regularly.
Just about every Sunday for a whole lot of years, my final words of encouragement to the congregation is to “Go with God and Go make a difference in the world.” Well this is exactly what I mean by it. Go be salt and light. Go live it out so people can taste the God flavors and see the God colors of the world. Live out Kingdom Righteousness in a way that transforms the atmosphere wherever you are. Have a disciple making home. Be a marketplace missionary. Be an influencer - a leader for God’s kingdom work. Love and serve right there were you are. And so I’ll say it again, God with God, friend. And go make a difference in the world.
1 http://www.maldonsalt.co.uk/About-Salt-The-many-uses-of-Salt.html 2 Charles Quarles. Sermon on the Mount. 79. 3 Charles Quarles. Sermon on the Mount. 80. 4 Daniel M. Doriani. The Sermon on the Mount. 44-45 5 Charles Quarles. Sermon on the Mount. 82.
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Lesson 20 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 21: Sharing the Kingdom Gospel
Big Idea: An abundant, significant life, full of love, joy, and peace, is available here and now in the Kingdom of God by placing your confidence in Jesus as your forgiver and leader.
For months, we’ve been apprenticing our lives to Jesus. We’ve been learning to love, live, and lead like Him. In particular over the last few lessons, we’ve been looking at the ways we can lead like Him. We’ve joined the Sacred Order of the Towel, understanding that first and foremost, our role is that of a servant. That’s the way we lead.
We talked how we become people of influence by being salt and light. “I am here to make a difference for the Kingdom.” That’s our mantra as we walk through our homes and pull into the parking lot at work and sit at our desks in school.
We started getting more specific about our role as Trail Guides last week as we talked about Fishing Like Jesus. We discussed discovering Persons of Peace and about using Hospitality as a tool to begin leading people down the Disciple’s Trail. You’ll remember we talked about getting clear about three things: Clear about what you’ve received and what you’ve experienced, clear about what we have to offer, and clear about your assignment.
In this lesson, we want to go even further with this idea of getting clear. What is it we have to offer? What does Jesus have to offer? If our unchurched friends were to ask us to summarize in a nutshell what this Jesus Way is really all about, we want to always be ready to give a response. So let’s get real clear about it. Let’s talk about Sharing the Kingdom Gospel.
You do know that Gospel means “good news,” don’t you? It comes from the Greek word euangelion where the prefix eu- means “good” and angelion refers to a communicated message. Euangelion refers to glad tidings or a happy message being publicly announced and proclaimed. You might even visualize it as you hear the Christmas angels declaring to lowly shepherds, “Behold! I bring you glad tidings of great joy!” Euangelion on display. The angel - the messenger - proclaiming the good news. You can see how we get the word evangelist from it as well.
And that’s exactly what we find in the first four books of the New Testament. We see what came to be known as the Gospels. Four evangelists telling the good news in slightly different perspectives. They represent the whole story of Jesus - not just the death on the Cross for sins story - not just the Easter morning story - though those are certainly part of the Gospel as we will clearly see. We have to be careful not to truncate the Gospel to just one, albeit very important part of the story.
What I want you to see is that Gospel is much bigger than that. The good news - the full Gospel about Jesus - The Victory of Jesus - can be told in the shape of a V1. “V is for Victory!” as the Brits used to say during World War II! To see it more clearly in Scripture, we’ll first of all look not to one of the four primary gospels, but rather to Philippians chapter 2, where we take a few moments to review one of Paul’s many summary statements of the Good News. I’m starting in verse 5:
Philippians 2:5-11 CSB 5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, 6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. 7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, 8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross. 9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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V is for Victory. Even this short passage shows the V-shaped story of the Gospel. Now, you’ll want to once again download the transcript to this session so you can see the V-shaped graphic that relates to this summary.
We see first of all that Jesus preexisted before he walked the earth. In verse 6, Paul says that Jesus was “…existing in the form of God,” he preexisted his own humanity in an exalted state - equal status with God the Father. But from there we see a downward movement. Verse 7 says,”he emptied himself…taking on the likeness of man.” In churchy terms, this is called the incarnation. God the Son takes on flesh. And then we can see that he continued that downward pattern as his life is a journey toward the cross, and Paul says he “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death…on a cross.” Buried in a borrowed tomb for three days, we reach the bottom of the V. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the beginning of his upward movement as he was resurrected, appearing to hundreds of witnesses over the next 40 days. Jesus then ascended into the heavens before the disciples very eyes - his upward motion accelerating. But even that is not the end of the story either, friends.
For the climax of the full Gospel about Jesus is found in Paul’s words, “9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” The real victory in Jesus is his coronation, that he is now enthroned at the right hand of the father, appointed as the Son-of-God-in-power, reigning as King of kings.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the full gospel about Jesus the Christ. Jesus Reigns! V is for Victory! The Lord Reigns. Long Live the King!
Now, this V-shaped Gospel ABOUT Jesus as King helps to clarify the Gospel OF Jesus - The Gospel that Jesus himself preached. So while we’ve talked about the whole Gospel - the big picture story about Jesus, let’s zoom in here for a few moments and discuss what we might call the Gospel within the Gospel. In fact, we can say this was distinctly part of his earthly mission:
As we’ve talked about from our earliest sessions together, Jesus came to preach the Gospel of The Kingdom. In Luke 4, Jesus says…
Luke 4:33 NLT “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”
It was also the theme of his cousin, John the baptist and Jesus picked up right where John left off. Mark tells us:
Mark 1:14-15 NLT 14 …after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
Repent and Believe became the keys to Citizenship in the Kingdom. And everywhere he went, Jesus talked about The Gospel of the Kingdom. What is that you might ask? What is the Kingdom of God? Jesus clues us in as he taught us to pray. You know this line from what we call the Lord’s Prayer.
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Matthew 6:10 KJV Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.
You see, The kingdom of God is where what God wants done is being done. Where the will of God - the loving action of God on behalf of His people, is made manifest in the world. He described it best in what I’ve come to think of as His primary text for his gospel of the Kingdom, a quote in one of his earliest sermons from the Gospel Isaiah,
Luke 4:18-19 CSB 18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
And Jesus is preaching this Good News of the Kingdom, inviting all his listeners to step out of the darkness, to leave behind their disoriented lives and to experience a New Life now under the complete rule and reign of God. Listen to how he clarifies it:
Luke 19:10 CSB For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.
Put another way, Jesus came to rescue and restore the disoriented. If you are lost or disoriented, you need to find The Way and Jesus says that He is That Way. “Come follow me - I’ll show you The Way.” He says,
John 12:46 CSB “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.”
This is the Gospel OF Jesus - “Stop fumbling around in the dark, stop trying to find your own way. Come follow me into the Kingdom of God - this is the life you were meant to live!” In fact, he even famously says,
John 10:10 ESV “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Look friends, this is not just life after death - but Jesus’s real invitation is abundant life - a life of great significance, a life of love, joy, and peace available now in the Kingdom of God - on earth as in heaven. He didn’t beat around the bush with his invitation either. In Luke 5 he says,
Luke 5:31 NLT I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.
Repent and believe. He just kept using these terms over and over.
Now remember, to repent means to experience a radical and fundamental change in how you think about the world - to experience a reorientation to the life you were meant to live. It means admitting you’ve been loving the wrong things. It means rethinking your life in light of Jesus’ teachings and commands.
And when Jesus said to believe the Good News of the Kingdom, he didn’t just mean believe that it’s true, like you believe 2+2=4 is true. He meant to place your confidence in His authority and His teachings. To make Him the ruler, the king, the leader of your life. You’re no longer King of your life - He is.
In the Gospel of the Kingdom terms, to repent is to put to death your sinful and selfish thoughts and actions and habits and to believe is to give your allegiance to Christ the King, being raised to new life in the Kingdom. In a
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sense, responding to Jesus’ call is like participating in that V-shaped Story of the Gospel. Dying to sin - buried with Christ - raised to new life in Him. Listen to how Paul describes this cosmic transaction:
2 Corinthians 5:15, 17 NLT 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
So to repent and believe are those initial steps, but the full call of Jesus includes a bit more. He makes it clear in Luke chapter 9:
Luke 9:23 CSB Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.
This is really important to grasp. Jesus expects us to follow. It’s not just a one time decision in our heads. Our lives have to increasingly align more and more closely to His life. And Jesus says we do that by obeying His commands. He says in John 14…
John 14:21 NLT Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.
His disciple John says this as well…
1 John 2:3 NLT And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.
So if you put all of that together, here is how we respond to Jesus’ offer: Repent and Believe, Follow and Obey. It all goes together. That’s the life of a true disciple of Jesus - those who have accepted His invitation Repent and Believe, Follow and Obey. And really, the best way to summarize all of that is in the powerful word “surrender.” You’re giving over every part of your life to be radically changed - not holding on to anything.
And so now, our new life gets redefined. It gets redefined by who Jesus is. The goal from here on out is to learn the Jesus Way - to Love, Live, and Lead Like Jesus. As we’ve said so often, “The aim of my life is to be like Christ.”
Now, while the final act of this whole Kingdom drama is that In God’s timing, King Jesus will one day return, reconciling all things back to Himself, where his followers will rule and reign with Him in his forever Kingdom, until that time comes, Jesus calls us to be His disciples so that we in turn will lead others to be His disciples. Therefore, we’re continuing to invite others into the story right along with us and the cycle continues in their life.
And that’s the whole gospel right there, friends. It is so important to understand this whole picture of the Gospel. Now, chances are, if you were to share the Gospel with someone, you won’t have to go into all of those details, but for the apprentice of Jesus, this is some of the most important information you can master. So let’s talk about how you too can share this incredible Gospel for yourself.
It may seem like I’ve just shared a lot, but I think there are some simple ways to remember it. Over the next couple of weeks, your D Group is going to be working on mastering the retelling of this full Gospel of Jesus’ life and message. There are essentially two versions to master—a simple version and an advanced version. So let’s start with the simple version. It’s a single sentence and it goes something like this:
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The Gospel of the Kingdom | Simple Version: An abundant, significant life, full of love, joy, and peace, is available here and now in the Kingdom of God by placing your confidence in Jesus as your forgiver and leader.
That covers the primary offer, which is an abundant, significant life, full of love, joy, and peace, and it also covers what a person must do in order to have that life: placing confidence in Jesus to not only forgive the wrongness of our past, but to also be in charge of his or her life from now on.
So here it is again, the simple version of the Gospel of the Kingdom: An abundant, significant life, full of love, joy, and peace, is available here and now in the Kingdom of God by placing your confidence in Jesus as your forgiver and leader.
If you’re really short on time, an even simpler version would be, “Life now in the Kingdom of God by placing your confidence in Jesus as Leader of your life.” But I think the first version adds just enough embellishment to describe the kind of life that Jesus is offering: it’s abundant, a life of significance, a life of love, joy, and peace.
Now again, that’s the simple version. But to really tell the whole Gospel takes a few more moments. And again, you might not ever share all of this, but it’s critical for the apprentice of Jesus to have it in your heart, especially as you go about discipling other followers of Christ. This may take you some time to master, but have confidence. You can do this.
As you see, we’ve developed a circle divided into four colors. Each of those colors represent a different act in this unfolding drama of the Kingdom of God. There’s also a grand finale as well.
You’ll see represented on the right side of the circle that which Christ has done for us, divided into two acts. The first act is about his life and teachings, while the second act is about his victory and authority. These two acts summarize the elements of the V-shaped gospel story of Jesus we talked about earlier. The left side of the circle is about us, also divided into two acts. The third act is our response to his offer and the fourth act is related to our new life. The grand finale has to do with our future hope when Jesus reconciles all things and we as His followers rule and reign with Him in His forever Kingdom. Here it is in outline form, and I’ll just read through it. Remember, you’re going to want to do your best to get very comfortable sharing this as well.
The Gospel of The Kingdom | Advanced Version
Act One: The Kingdom Of God has come through Jesus. He is Christ, God’s one and only son. He came to earth to lead us into His Way, to announce the truth of the Kingdom, and to give us an abundant and significant life in the here and now. (Love, Joy, and Peace. This is the Jesus Way, the life you were meant to live!)
Act Two: He died on the cross for our sins, was buried and resurrected on the third day according to Scriptures and now reigns as King at the right hand of the Father.
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Act Three: In his great love and by his amazing grace, God our Father is saving everyone who repents and believes, follows and obeys. • Repent: Rethink your life in light of Jesus’ teachings/standards. • Believe: Have full confidence in the authority and teachings of Jesus. • Follow and Obey: Abandon your old ways of thinking and increasingly align your life to the Jesus Way.
Surrender your life to Him. *By the way, that’s faith!
Act Four: As an apprentice to Jesus, the new believer learns to Love, Live, and Lead like Him, becoming a servant to all, experiencing His Joy and Peace in spite of difficulties, becoming a Kingdom difference maker, a light in the darkness. His/her mantra becomes, “The aim of my life is to be like Christ.”
The Finale: In God’s timing, King Jesus will one day return, reconciling all things back to Himself, where his followers will rule and reign with Him in his forever Kingdom. *That’s Hope!
And Until that Day, we continue inviting anyone who will respond into this great story with us by announcing and enacting the Kingdom Gospel.
And there you have it! Even this advanced version is only about 275 words but still covers all the essential elements of the whole Gospel about Jesus and the Kingdom Gospel of Jesus. Each little word and phrase has been carefully crafted to succinctly tell the whole story, so do your best to master it all. As you tell the story, you could draw or write out each element as you talk it through. Or maybe you’ve got this diagram saved to your smartphone or tablet and use it help you remember.
So that’s it. The Whole Gospel. Your assignment for the next couple of weeks is to master it - both the Simple version and the Advanced version. I know you can do this. This is not just some theological exercise. This is YOUR story, too. So let the words burn into your heart and mind, own it, get comfortable sharing it. There is no greater news in the entire world and Jesus himself has entrusted it to us. Let’s make it known, friends. Let’s shout it from the rooftops. Our God Saves!
1 Matthew bates. Salvation by allegiance alone. 34 (First introduced by Ben Witherington III, Paul’s Narrative Thought World, 95)
Lesson 21 Study and Discussion Questions
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Lesson 22: Join the (Slow) Revolution!
The Big Idea: Jesus calls us to be his disciples so that we will lead others to be his disciples.
To wrap things up, I want to pick up a bit from where we left off last session. Hopefully you’ve mastered the Kingdom Gospel and are able to share it clearly and in a compelling way. Knowing the Good News, the Gospel of the Kingdom should be our primary motivation for living our lives. It is the wonderful life Jesus has invited us into. But specifically, as his disciples - his apprentices - he has a critical assignment for all of us here today. Today, my final challenge to you is to Join His Slow Revolution.
I want to take us back to our very beginning text. Matthew 28 was our opening premise and you might remember me saying that Jesus calls us to be his disciples so that we will lead others to be his disciples. We’ve painstakingly studied the life of Christ and how he interacted with his 12 disciples to discover what it means to apprentice our own lives to him. From his priority even as a child teaching and debating with scholars in the temple - being about his father’s business to that last weekend in the upper room and the Garden of Gethsemane - we’ve seen life patterns and interactions and extraordinary clarity and focus on his part to do the will of the Father. Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, showing the world the Father’s heart for all people, and perhaps most of all equipping a team that could carry on his work, the life of Christ is our primary example and model for how we are to live and lead our own lives.
And so, Jesus was tried and executed, buried and resurrected. And just in case the disciples were unclear, like a bookend to his original call to come learn how to fish for people, Jesus gave them what has become known as the Great Commission. It’s like he said, “I’ve done my part. I’ve shown you what to do and how to do it. Now I’m giving you your official commission. Basic training is over. Now it’s time to get after it.” Matthew 28, verse 16:
Matthew 28:16-20 CSB 16 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
And so, I want to take this all important commissioning of Christ and look at it very closely. This is our rally call, friends. These are our marching orders. So pull up your chair real close. Don’t miss a thing here.
Now, while this Great Commission is a bit detailed, there is really only one primary objective. Can you see what it is? The primary assignment Jesus gives us is actually to Make Disciples. Yes - there are other activities listed here, and we’re going to look at them closely - but they are simply steps in a process toward the objective. Make Disciples. For all the wonderful things we do as a church, from ministering to the least of these to Fun Fairs to even holding Gospel Crusades, we fall short of our actual assignment if we don’t Make Disciples. So to be clear, here’s a definition for us:
Discipleship (making disciples) is the Spirit-empowered process of reorienting people to the life they were meant to live as revealed in the life and teachings of Christ. And the Great Commission is our mandate to make this our life’s work. This is why we exist. Never lose sight of it. We exist for this mission: Make Disciples.
But of course, there are some specific action steps included in the great commission, so let’s take a close look at those.
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First, we have the the clear instruction to GO. It’s such a small word. GO. But in light of all that we’ve studied in this series, it has so much meaning.
Go. It means all of this: Start. Get after it. Get out of the barracks. It of course means keep going. Don’t stop. As such, I’ve heard it described to mean “as you go.”
So certainly it means to set things in motion, to not stand still, but to just start doing what Jesus taught you to do. GO. Some people get it backwards. They think being a Christian is primarily about going to church when Jesus says it’s primarily about going into the world. That’s worth saying again. Some people think that being a Christian is primarily about going to church when Jesus says it’s primarily about going into the world. We’ll come back to that in a few moments to show you what I mean.
But there are other implications in the word GO, as well. For example, it could also mean, Don’t hide. Don’t be secret about it. Go public. In fact, Jesus says this very thing in his discussion about salt and light we talked about just a few weeks ago. Here’s Pastor Peterson’s rendition of what Jesus meant about being the Light of the world:
Matthew 5:14-16 MSG Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
We’re going public, as public as a city on a hill. Now, we also see another implied command attached to the word Go. It assumes we’re taking the message with us. We’re here to be light - we are light-bearers. That means that as we go, we carry the light of the Gospel message with us. Now, in fact, there are other renditions of the Great Commission in a few other places. Toward the end of Mark, we see…
Mark 16:15 CSB Then [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
In a very true sense, preaching the gospel means to invite people to become disciples of Christ. It is presenting the good news and then calling them to action. Luke’s implied version of the Great Commission introduces a different word other than preaching.
Luke 24:46-47 MSG He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations
Jesus says the message would be proclaimed. The invitation is for repentance - or an invitation to a whole new mindset - metanoia - a new way of thinking that leads to a whole new way of living.
So when Jesus says, “Go,” the broader implication is to Go with the Gospel message emblazoned on your heart - let it burn so brightly that it cannot be hidden.
And look, this was Jesus’ plan all along. His longterm strategy for his revolution was to train up his disciples to carry out his mission. Put your seatbelt on and listen to this. First, remember that the great commission is really a partnership with Jesus in His primary mission. This is the starting point. What was that mission? Luke says clearly,
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Luke 19:10 NLT “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
He came to rescue the disoriented. To put them on the path to the life they were meant to live. Not just to forgive their sins - but to give them abundant life - life now in the Kingdom if they will entrust their whole lives to Jesus. So that’s his mission - to rescue the disoriented. Now watch his long-term plan unfold. Mark says,
Mark 3:14 CSB He appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, to send them out to preach…
Once they’d been with him, watching him work, getting familiar with his message, Mark says,
Mark 6:12 CSB So they went out and preached that people should repent.
They went out. He sent them. Luke says that eventually there were actually many others that got involved. In Luke chapter 10 we read,
Luke 10:1-3 CSB 1 After this, the Lord appointed seventy-two others, and he sent them ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 He told them, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. 3 Now go; I’m sending you out like lambs among wolves.
So we see that it wasn’t just the 12 disciples that Jesus called to go. There were at least 72 others. And perhaps more importantly here is that Jesus said, “Guys. We need more workers. Pray for more disciplers. Now go. I’m sending you out.”
Then, having spent three and a half years seeking and saving, equipping and sending out his apprentices, he’s nearing the point of his betrayal and crucifixion. In some of his final words in prayer he says to the Father,
John 17:18 CSB As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
In other words, “The mission you sent me to do, I’m sending them to do.” That’s why I like to spell the word CoMission differently, with just one “m.” His mission is our mission. And then, following his resurrection, he appears to the disciples in a locked room to repeat these words to the disciples themselves.
John 20:21 CSB Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”
Now, just in case you might want to argue that these commissionings were just for those original apostles, watch what happens as the church gets going full steam in the book of Acts. In chapter 8 we see that…
Acts 8:1 CSB Saul agreed with putting [Stephen] to death. On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.
Interesting isn’t it? The apostles stay in Jerusalem. But watch this. In verse 4:
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Acts 8:4 NLT But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.
I love the way Pastor Peterson puts it:
Acts 8:3-4 MSG Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus.
What were they doing? They were simply all in on what Jesus said to do. He said Go. I told you that this little word GO was powerful! So we’ve got it clear now. Go and Preach. Invite people into radical life change with the Gospel. And so, in the process of making disciples, which remember is our ultimate objective presented here in the Great Commission, the next step is to Baptize Them.
Baptize Them. Water baptism is such a powerful expression. It is the means by which Jesus says a person publicly expresses their faith. We’ve substituted walking the aisle or checking a box on a response card - but Jesus says baptism is the public statement. Notice the progression here. Go - Preach - Baptize. Baptism doesn’t save a person - but just read the book of Acts. Every single time someone’s baptism is mentioned, it is immediately after they put their confidence in Christ as the leader of their lives.
But there is another dimension here I’d like to briefly mention. Notice we are to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now get this. This is so powerful. Whenever you see the phrase “in the name,” it is a symbol of the very nature, character, and actual presence of the person to whom you are referring. It is representative of the very reality of that person. People in biblical times would have understood this completely, even if it’s a bit foreign to us. So whenever you come across the phrase “in the name of the Lord,” substitute the words nature, character, or even presence and the meaning will come into clearer focus.
So perhaps, alongside actual water baptism, another truth that Jesus may be assigning to us by saying “baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit” is to also, “Immerse them into Trinitarian reality.” Lead them to fully understand and experience the invitation to full relational fellowship with God. We’ve talked about this before. Inviting those who are hurting and wounded and especially those who are disoriented to experience Trinitarian reality - a community of agape’ love. And how would we go about doing that? That’s our final step in the process:
Train them to Obey my Teachings. More literally, teach them to observe all that I’ve commanded. The Message paraphrases disciple making this way:
Matthew 28:19-20 MSG Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life…Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you.
There’s a big thing to notice here. Jesus doesn’t say teach them my commandments. He doesn’t just say, make sure they know everything I taught. He says, “Teach them to obey, to observe, instruct them in the practice of all I have taught.”
The goal is is not the transmission of information, but a total life transformation! We don’t just tell disciple’s what to do. We go out of our way to show them how.
This is also why it’s so important to have a mastery of the Gospel accounts. To immerse yourself into the life and teachings of Christ and then put it into practice. Jesus said, Matthew 7:24-27 NLT
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24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. Listen to his teachings and then follow it. Obey - observe - practice what I’ve taught. That’s what we’re doing with our disciples: helping them to use the teachings of Christ to build His kind of life in the Kingdom now. Paul reiterates this need to immerse your life into the teachings of Christ. Here it is from the Amplified bible:
Colossians 3:16 AMP Let the [spoken] word of Christ have its home within you [dwelling in your heart and mind—permeating every aspect of your being] as you teach [spiritual things] and admonish and train one another with all wisdom…
It’s so clear, isn’t it? The content of our teaching is found in the spoken words of Christ. Training disciples for his ways to permeate every aspect of our being.
Now, perhaps you think this sounds really challenging and it’s best to hand off this part of the task to the professionals. But remember, this whole commission is for each of us. Jesus calls us to be his disciples so that we will lead others to be his disciples. That’s just how it works. We are called to provoke one another to love and good deeds. You don’t have to be a vocational pastor. You do not have to be a trained theologian. You simply need to apprentice your life to Jesus, live it out yourself as a bright light shining on a hill, then lead others to do the same.
In fact, this commandment to “teach them to obey everything I commanded” is the impetus for our D Group strategy. I personally had never been a part of a church that had a specific, strategic method for doing it. That’s why we’re doing what we’re doing with you.
Remember, Discipleship (making disciples) is the Spirit-empowered process of reorienting people to the life they were meant to live as revealed in the life and teachings of Christ. It is “a life of learning from Jesus Christ how to live in the Kingdom of God now, as he himself did1.”
Which brings us to our final point. Jesus gives us this great commission by the authority given to him from the Father. He’s only hours away from his accession into heaven. And yet, he concludes the Great Commission with these words:
I am With You… even to the end of the age. What an astounding statement. Now physically he would no longer be with them - so in what ways is Jesus with us? Well as we’ve learned, certainly the presence of Christ is with us if we abide in Him. One more time, let’s go back to John and review Jesus’s final address, his commencement speech. John the 15th chapter beginning with verse 1:
John 15:1, 4-5, 8 CSB 1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (He sets up the metaphor as the vine. Verse 4.) 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.
So as we stay connected to Christ, as we abide in Him, or as we’ve mentioned, “make ourselves at home in Him,” He promises to make his home in us. He will remain with us and in us - even to the end of the age.
But notice the result we get from this abiding: we will produce much fruit. Verse 8 even reiterates it: 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. Jesus using the word fruit is a pretty broad term, but we can deduce that he meant at least a couple of things: First would be Christlike character, as in the fruit of the spirit, and more specifically the fruit of love. In fact,
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here in chapter 15 verse 9, Jesus even says, “Abide in my love.” So as we stay connected to his love, it naturally flows through us to others.
And then secondly, the ‘much fruit” he’s speaking of here is actually more disciples. In verse 16 he says:
John 15:16 CSB You did not choose me, but I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit and that your fruit should remain… He’s even using that Go language like in the Great Commission and the verse we read in Mark just a few moments ago: Mark 3:14 He appointed twelve…to go and preach.
But regardless of exactly what he means about the fruit, the point is still that if we abide in him - he promises to abide in us - to remain in us - to be with us - even to the end of the age.
But wait, there’s more! Another way Jesus stays with us even to the end of the age is through his Holy Spirit. Once again, flip back to John 14 verse 15:
John 14:15-17, 25-26 CSB 15 “If you love me, you will keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. 17 He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.
The Holy Spirit of Truth remains in us, the Counselor will be with us forever. And look at what He does in our lives. Verse 25:
25 “I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. 26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.
The Holy Spirt is with us forever as a teacher and reminder of all that Jesus taught. But He’s more than just a spiritual presence and teacher.
After his death and resurrection, Jesus is giving his final instructions. At the end of his gospel account, Luke records…
Luke 24:49 CSB And look, I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city until you are empowered from on high.”
Dr. Luke elaborates on Jesus’s words in the first chapter of Acts:
Acts 1:4-5, 8 4 While he was with them, he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. “Which,” he said, “you have heard me speak about; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.” 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Look friends, Jesus has not left us to fend for ourselves. He is with us. Everything you need to succeed is found by abiding in him, in his words, in his love, and in his Spirit. The Spirit will even remind you of all the things Jesus has spoken. He is in us and perhaps most importantly, he is empowering us. For what purpose? To be His witnesses - to bear much fruit - to go into all the world - to preach - to baptize - and to train. To Make Disciples. If you want to know how in the world all of us are here today, still talking about this Great Commission, some 2000 years after Jesus left, how his tiny little movement in a far away country grew to the billions of people that
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have followed the teachings of a carpenter from Galilee, it is because a small band of sold out followers took the Great Commission seriously.
This was Jesus’ plan all along. Investing his energy into the development of his apprentices and then commissioning and empowering them to do the same.
Now friends, we have a choice. Followers of Christ have always had a choice. You see, it’s so easy to get distracted, to allow ourselves to dilute and distort what being a Christian is all about. But right now, I join with Jesus in declaring this Great Commission. I raise his banner high! Join the slow revolution. You see, it took Jesus 3 and a half years to develop his apprentices and turn the work over to them. Here’s a brief overview of that apprenticeship.
He challenged them to Be Captured by His Kingdom Vision - that pearl of great price. He gave his disciples a priority in charting their course for life when He said, “Seek first this Kingdom.” “Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions.”
He brought people to a point of decision. Take up your cross he said. Declare Your Allegiance. Repent and Believe, Follow and Obey, placing your confidence in Jesus as the leader of your life. “Drop your nets” and just begin following in the Jesus Way.
He invited them to Apprentice their lives to His, taking on the easy yoke. He said, “Walk with Me, work with Me, watch how I do it.”
He assured them that they would experience a whole new kind of Freedom by living out His truth for themselves, especially agape love. Showing compassion to the hurting and disoriented and showing loving forbearance and forgiveness even with our enemies. Lead your life in the way that Jesus would lead if He were you.
He challenged them to Cast off every weight. To not be distracted by the cares of this life or the lure of wealth. Live freely and lightly. Live The Unencumbered Life.
He lived out a rhythm of spiritual practices, Developing a Rule of Life, showing the the way of Reformation of the Heart through prayer, solitude, fasting, and immersing our minds with Scripture.
He taught us to Devote ourselves to the Fellowship of One Anothering, living day in and day out in the company of his special circle of friends, challenging us to join with brothers and sisters in Christ to provoke one another toward love and good deeds.
All along he was teaching them their actual role of life, inviting them to join the Sacred Order of the Towel. He said, “At all times and in all places, Be Different by embracing servanthood.” And finally, as we’ve heard in this session, he said that if we stick with this - living it out day by day we would Bear Much Fruit: By the power of the Holy Spirit, influence others by overcoming evil with good, serving the least of these, and pointing the way to Jesus. His call is for us to Become His Trail Guide in the lives of others, reorienting them to the life they were meant to live. Go Make Disciples.
And so now, it’s your turn to keep moving it forward. You’ve learned so much over the last few months. You’ve grown in so many ways. And the reality is you’ve got all the training you need to start your own D Group. Your current D Group may continue meeting for a while, but in the weeks and months ahead, we’re challenging you to begin preparing yourself to lead; to gather 2 or 3 other apprentices of Jesus and lead them down the Disciple's Trail. You’ll have the same tools and resources that your leader had. And more importantly, you’ll have the Holy Spirit empowering you and reminding you of all that Jesus taught. You can do this. You’ve truly got what it takes.
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What a privilege and honor it has been to share these powerful Jesus lessons with you. I’m really am praying for you. Next to Jesus, I’m your biggest fan. I believe in you. Now get out that and get after it. Go with God, and go make a difference in the world.
1 Calls Willard. The Great Omission. P. 62
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Lesson 22 Study and Discussion Questions
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Final Big Review
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