The Adventure of Discipleship

The doctrine of the love of God is sometimes portrayed within Christian circles as much easier and more obvious than it really is, and this is achieved by overlooking some of the distinctions the Bible itself introduces when it depicts the love of God.¹

I have been captured by Paul’s prayer that we would come to experience the magnitude and complexity of the love of God not merely as a doctrine but as a life-changing reality (Eph. 3:17-18).  Although this unexplainable love can be known, it is not automatic or simple.

There are several ways to explore the greatness of God’s love.  One is to consider the magnitude as it reaches through history, spans geography, and penetrates every culture to every person.  Another is to look at the qualities of God’s love: eternal, loyal, holy, gracious, etc.  I am exploring a third way by considering the complexity of God’s love as evidenced by the many ways it is expressed or demonstrated.

I am coming to understand that His love is not monochromatic but iridescent (like a rainbow).  That is, as His love touches broken humanity, the “white light” of His love is refracted and reflected into a rainbow of colors.

Before we look at the various expressions of God’s love, I want to preface the discussion by clarifying several concepts that set the stage for understanding its complexity.

1. Definitions
2. Intra-Trinitarian source
3. Expression and experience

1.  Word definition/meaning

It is obvious that love has many forms.  Two Greek words are used to express love forms in the New Testament:  pheleo and agape.  The word pheleo is used to express a love of affection and approval.  The word agape, however, has a broader meaning ranging from affectionate love to benevolent love.²  Agape was the word for love that New Testament writers chose to express the gracious, benevolent love of God given to undeserving humanity.  This grace kind of love was added to the historic use of agape, and eventually came to dominate its meaning.  However, the grace aspect of agape is not its only meaning in Scripture and it would be incorrect to remove the element of affection from our understanding of the word.

While the Hebrew and Greek words for “love” have various shades and intensities of meaning, they may be summed up in some such definition as this: Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest in the well-being of the one loved.³                      

 The love relationship within the Trinity affirms that the grace aspect of agape is not its only meaning in Scripture.

2.  Intra-Trinitarian love

This refers to the love that exists within the Trinity.⁴  John refers to this love when he said, “God is love” (1 John 4:8).  God not only loves, but He is love.  Love resides within the essence of who God is.  John is not saying that God equals love, but rather that love is a trait of divinity (along with His other traits such as holiness and justice).  John is not making love the “trump card” in the deck of God’s attributes.  He is saying that love is part of the essence of God, permeates all His other characteristics, and is the source of love as we know it.

Therefore, it should not surprise us to see love expressed within the Trinity.  Jesus described the Father’s love for Him as both agapeo (John 3:35) and pheleo (John 5:20) even as the Son loves (John 14:31) the Father.  It is this amazing intra-Trinitarian love into which we are now invited.  Jesus prayed this invitation for His disciples (John 17:26):

I have made your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You love Me may be in them, and I in them.

The intra-Trinitarian love is the source of all love.  It is the “white light” that contains various expressions.  It is the love that is incomprehensible yet expressed in such ways that we can begin to understand its complexity when we observe how God loves broken humanity.

 3.  Expression and response

Unless love is expressed in some way, it may exist but be unknown.  Within the intra-Trinitarian love, Jesus explains how it is expressed and responded to:

For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; (John 5:20).

But so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me (John 14:31).

For us to know God’s love it must be expressed and to be experienced it requires a response.  In John 3:16 Jesus explained that God’s love was expressed in the giving of his only begotten Son.  But to experience that love, one must respond by believing “in Him”.

A word of caution:  the condition of responding to His love, should not be equated with meriting His love.  God’s love in all of its expressions is always initiated by God and unmerited.  But unmerited does not mean unconditional. [See TAD Blog 12 Reducing Tension in Discipleship (2)]

With these three critical concepts in mind, in the next blog we will explore four of the colors of God’s iridescent love.  The following blog we will look at the love language of God and then tie them into our pursuit of knowing Christ on the resurrection side of the cross.

1.  DA Carson, “The Uncomfortable Doctrine of the Love of God.” pg.15
2.  Thayer word studies defines agapeo: to be well pleased to be fond of, love dearly. But also “embracing especially the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty, and propriety”.
3. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.  Love in its broadest meaning can also been described as a deep personal longing for the object of the love.  This implies ascribing value, feeling of affection, and seeking the welfare of that which is loved.
4. DA Carson, “The Uncomfortable Doctrine of the Love of God.” pg. 16

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so” was the alleged response twentieth century theologian Karl Barth gave when asked to summarize his life’s work in theology.   The astounding simplicity, magnitude and beauty of the love of God has amazed theologians, poets, and ordinary people down through history.  However, while it is simple to say, the love of God is not a simple concept to understand or grasp.

The apostle Paul obviously did not believe the love of God was simple or shallow.  His prayer for the church was,

“…that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:17-19 NASB).

Paul was convinced that the love of God was not only a foundation, but also a vast reality to be explored.  But we need help.  God’s love is vast and unknowable in its complexity yet comprehensible in ever increasing degrees through the power of the Holy Spirit.  Paul’s prayer for our ability to grasp this amazing aspect of God’s nature, indicates not only its importance but its complexity.

I am concerned that in our current culture of sound bites and over generalizations, we have trivialized and distorted this critically important quality of God so that it is no longer a wonder to pursue.  Paul challenges us to not only think in terms of its vast magnitude but also of its great complexity.  Comprehending God’s love is a central theme throughout our journey of discipleship as we grow in our love for God and our love for others.

However, our journey to understand the depth of God’s love is hindered not only by our contentment with sound bite thinking but also by an inadequate vocabulary.  Our single English word “love” covers a huge span of meanings.  We “love” pizza, our dog, our children, our spouse, and even God; one word for many expressions of love.

The Old Testament Hebrew language has two main words for love.  The word “ahab” is equivalent to the English “to love” in the sense of having a strong emotional attachment to and/or desire to possess an object or be in its presence.  It is found in all periods of Hebrew writing and approximately 250 times in the Bible.  The other word “checed” is often translated loving-kindness and is a covenant term of relationship between God and Israel.  It is a clear demonstration of grace over merit.¹

With the revelation of God’s redemptive love in Christ, New Testament writers in Greek needed a new word that didn’t have the emotional, romantic or merit elements.  Avoiding the word “eros” (a physical love) and the word “pheleo” (an affectionate love) they chose a common (yet somewhat obscure) Greek word for love (agape).  They used it in a specific, focused way “mainly referring to unconditional, self-sacrificing, giving love to all – both friend and enemy”.²

But beyond an expanded vocabulary, theologians down through history have expressed the amazing complexity of God’s love by using various adjectives to describe it including:  Intra-Trinitarian³, complacent⁴, benevolent, compassionate, merciful, and affectionate.^5,6

Both the unity and complexity of the love of God can be illustrated by the characteristics of light in the physical world.  White light demonstrates unity, but it is actually very complex consisting of all the colors of the rainbow.  When white light touches a prism, it is refracted into its various colors.  Likewise, when God’s love touches the prism of broken humanity, the complexity of its various “colors” is revealed.  We are like a diamond (prism) God is shaping to reflect the brilliance of His love in all its hues.

In the following blogs I want to explore the amazing, beautiful, iridescent expressions of the love of God through the primary colors of what I will call His:

• Creative sustaining love
• Redemptive saving love
• Covenant family love
• Intimate friendship love

We will find that they are interconnected and critical to discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross.  Since our love for God is based on His love for us (1 John 4:19), the more we understand the complexity of His love, the greater our love can be in return.

1. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
2. New World Encyclopedia, electronic version
3. Love within the Trinity
4. Complacent in classical use does not mean passivity, but a love towards that which pleases
5. The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God, DA Carson
6. James Boyce, Chapter 10 of Boyce’s Abstract of Systematic Theology.

The Oldsmobile was an American automobile icon since 1897.  It sold over 35 million automobiles in its 107 year history.  During the 1980’s Olds tried to recapture its declining market by reinventing itself.  In 1988 it came out with the slogan “It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  They tried to reposition the elegant Olds as something different than what it was.  It was the beginning of the end. It was phased out in 2004.

Could it be that in the church today, in order to recapture a declining market, we have copied the Oldsmobile strategy by trying to reinvent God?  In our attempt to reinvent or at least remarket God to a declining audience, are we in danger of domesticating the Lion of Judah and emasculating the King of Kings?

Our culture has lost the fear of the Lord.  It is absent in Hollywood, schools, government, and in many homes.  It’s not that God is absent, but rather that God is whatever we want Him to be.  He is a convenient icon to be made and used at our discretion.  He is a P.S. to our history, an appendix to our essay, and only a conclusion to our speeches.

The critical question for the church today is, “Have we corporately and individually lost the fear of God?”  The fear of God is not an outdated, primitive view held by unenlightened and superstitious people who were just too ignorant to know better. It is a theme that runs throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation.  Moses taught it (Deut. 10:12, 20, 21).  The Psalmist reflected on it (Psalm 103:13), Jesus stressed it (Matt. 10:28), Paul preached it (Phil. 2:12), and the early church got it (Acts 9:31).  But somewhere along the line we have lost it to our shame and detriment.

What is the fear of God?

The word fear is a broad term that can mean anything from fright and terror to reverence and veneration.  We often use the word fear to refer to our phobias which run into the hundreds.   It seems new ones are being discovered every day. Daily news and advertising continually prey on our fears whether real or imaginary.  We are given the impression that just about everything in our lives is a threat or unsafe at one time or another.  Hollywood feeds our fear with its love affair with disaster and end of the world movies.

First, we must recognize that fear is a gift from God.  When our lives are threatened, we feel fear.  Healthy fear moves us to take action…protective action.  Fear also keeps us (most of us) from taking risks beyond our ability.  Parents wisely keep close tabs on young children near cliffs because they know that the “fear factor” is not fully developed.  (Someone also needs to keep tabs on senior men who climb ladders for the same reason!)

Some like Timothy Treadwell pay the ultimate price when they lose their healthy gift of fear.  Mr. Treadwell lived among grizzly bears in Alaska for a number of years assuming they were his friends.  One day in 2003, Mr. Treadwell and his girlfriend were killed and eaten by the grizzly bears he was no longer afraid of.  Fear is a gift.

But the term “fear of God” is not about feeling terror that causes us to shrink from His presence.  Rather it is a reverential fear that is described as the “controlling motive of the life, in matters spiritual and moral, not a mere “fear” of His power and righteous retribution, but a wholesome dread of displeasing Him…”¹ The fear of God is based on His power and holiness as revealed in Scripture rightly leading to the question, “How can we ever be right with God or live in His presence?  Does our current Gospel message of the love of God adequately reflect the fear of God?”

The good news is that when we come to God by grace through faith, the fear of condemnation is eliminated so we no longer shrink from His presence.  Jesus Christ is now our high priest making it possible to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).  Therefore, we can approach Him confidently, but we should also approach Him with reverence, awe, and gratitude.  This reverent fear of God is the platform for our entire journey of faith.

I wonder how well we are teaching the fear of God to the next generation.  I know there has been a strong reaction to previous generations that presented God as stern, angry, vengeful, and usually unapproachable.  That view of God is not correct but neither is the one that makes God our “buddy”.

I would suggest one contributor to this loss of reverence is the changing style of worship.  Many of our worship services promote entertainment and a casual “coffee house” atmosphere rather than humility, reverence, and awe before God.  I am not suggesting we go back to the cold, sterile and formal days of the past.   Styles must and will change, but can we stay relevant and yet maintain that which is critical to our understanding of God?  The verdict is still out.

In the next blog I will discuss why the fear of God is important.

Questions for reflection:

1. In what ways are we modeling an attitude of awe, reverence, and respect for God?
2. How are we teaching the reverent wonder of God to the next generation?
3. How does the transcendence and imminence of God impact the fear of God?

 ^1.  Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words; W.E. Vine.

 

 

The fifth hallmark of discipleship comes from an agricultural metaphor and shows that God is serious about fruitfulness.   In John 15 Jesus prepares the disciples and us for what living as His apprentices will be like on the resurrection side of the cross.  Using the metaphor of grape vines and branches, He explains that it is our responsibility to “abide” in Him in the same way a branch is connected to a vine.  It is not a suggestion, an elective, or something God does for us.  It is what disciples do.

But to what end?  The obvious answer is “fruit”.  But He wants more than just fruit.

Jesus continues the metaphor to explain the results of abiding.  First, fruit develops where no fruit previously existed.  The divine Gardner cleans up and prunes the branches so that fruitlessness turns to fruitfulness.

“He cuts off (a better translation – lifts/cleans up – onto the trellis) every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (John 15:2 NLT).

No fruit …turns to fruit …which turns to more fruit…which turns to much fruit.

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in Me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NLT).

But God wants even more than much fruit, He wants fruit that remains

“You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit” (John 15:16).

We can safely assume that God is pretty serious about fruit!  It is the fruit that glorifies the Father and proves our discipleship.

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).

This then leads us to consider what Jesus meant by “fruit”.  Organically fruit is the seed of the next generation.  It is the overflow of life.  Fruit in the New Testament is used in three ways:

1. Character

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22) (See also Eph. 5:9).

2. Good works

“… so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit  in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).

3. New converts to the Faith/kingdom expansion

“I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:13 NASB).

Even though all three kinds of fruit are important and will result from abiding in Him, I would suggest that the context leans towards the #3 type of fruit:  new believers/disciples in Christ.  Later in the passage Jesus said:

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit,” (John 15:16).

Notice that the statement “go and bear fruit” parallels the Great Commission in Matt 28:19, “Go and make disciples”.

Fruit contains the seeds of the next generation and bearing fruit has always been God’s plan.      In Genesis 1 God commands His image bearers to go and organically fill the earth with more people in His image (“be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and rule over it”).  In the Old Testament the Israelites were to reach future generations by teaching their children to teach their children (Isaiah 59:21).  Jesus expanded bearing fruit to include going into all the nations for the purpose of making disciples.

Spiritual fruitfulness is a hallmark of discipleship and a natural result of our abiding in Christ.  It results in good works, godly character, and kingdom expansion.

Here is a summary of the five hallmarks of an apprentice of Jesus:

• Comprehensive alignment ( Luke 6:40)
• Sacrificial allegiance (Luke 14:26)
• Faithful obedience (John8:31-32)
• Servant love (John 13:34-35)
• Spiritual fruitfulness (John 15:8)

These timeless traits characterize disciples of Christ down through history.  They are independent of personality or culture.  If we are serious about our own apprenticeship, we need to honestly assess our life in light of what Jesus said are the evidence of discipleship.  We also need to pray and coach others in these same traits teaching them to be apprentices of Jesus Christ.

Questions for reflection

1. How does the lens of fruitfulness change how we look at our daily lives?
2. The organic concept of fruitfulness involves seasons. What does “season” (They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Ps 1:3) add to our discussion of fruitfulness?

The fourth (4/5) hallmark of discipleship that Jesus claimed would characterize His apprentice, is servant love (John 13:34-35).  It is the one trait that gives evidence to the world that our apprenticeship is authentic.

“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” (John 13:35-35 NLT).

Having announced His betrayal and identified his betrayer, Jesus turned His attention to the remaining disciples and said,

1. So now I am giving you a new commandment

At first this would seem incorrect because the command to love one another was of paramount importance in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18).  In fact, when Jesus was asked to sum up the Old Testament law, He gave the well-known dual of loving God and loving others (Mark 12:29, 31).  So what makes it “new”?

The answer is not in the trait itself but in the model.  In the Old Testament the best model of how to love others was how people loved themselves.  We can relate all too well.  Serving self is in our DNA.  We are the center of our own affections and acts of kindness.  So to serve others the same way we serve ourselves is a good model.

But with the incarnation of God in Christ, we now have a better model of servant love – Jesus Christ.

If the new birth in Christ is intended to free us from the self-focus and narcissism of our fallen nature, it would make sense that we would need a different point of reference.

With our new commandment to love others as Jesus loves, it becomes less relevant how well we love ourselves.  “You can’t love others without first loving yourself” may be popular psychology, but it is not New Testament discipleship.

 In this explanation of servant love, Jesus is raising the bar just as He often did when giving His interpretation of the Old Testament precepts.  The command for us to love others as Christ loves requires both the power of His Holy Spirit and an accurate understanding of how Jesus loves.

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God (Eph. 5:1-2 NLT).

Before Jesus gave the command to love in the same way He loves, He gave a practical example by   washing the feet of the disciples.  This job was normally reserved for the lowest servant of the household and apparently all the disciples thought it was beneath them to perform it.  This servant act by Jesus was done purposely to demonstrate His love for them and to prepare their hearts for the exhortations and discourse that followed.

Jesus used foot washing as a model of servant love and it had at least three different levels of meaning:

• Physical:  an act of kindness for the benefit of others.

This is the most obvious meaning and amazingly (in this context) it even included Judas who was only hours away from betraying Jesus.

• Emotional:  an expression of enduring love.

John introduces this act of kindness with the comment “Having loved His own, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).  Jesus’ expression of servant love came out of His very nature as both a servant and lover.  Paul states that Jesus took on the form of a bond-servant (Phil. 2:5-11).  The word “form” implies His serving was an expression of His inner essence.

In contrast with love that needs to be placated, coerced and manipulated, our sovereign Lord expressed His nature as a servant who loves.  This love removes obstacles to relationships and communicates to another person that he/she is valuable, important and deeply appreciated.  Serving is one way to express enduring love.

• Spiritual:  an illustration of forgiveness and spiritual healing.

Perhaps out of feeling embarrassed, Peter resisted having Jesus wash his feet.  However, when Jesus told him the foot washing was an illustration of cleansing/forgiveness, he asked for a bath.  Jesus explained that he didn’t need a bath (justification, 1 Cor. 6:11) but he did need his feet washed (daily cleansing, I John 1:9).  Peter didn’t understand this until later when he realized that Jesus’ love and forgiveness transcended even his denial.

On this side of the cross, we can see how forgiveness is an expression of Christ’s self-sacrificing love.  We also recognize as His apprentices the need to demonstrate servant love by forgiving others (Matt. 6:12).  One way this can be done is by “forgiving forward”.  We decide before-hand to not be offended or attribute motives to the actions of others.  In other words, we will give up our right to be right and choose not to be offended.

“Love is patient and kind…it does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged…Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1Cor. 13:4-7 NLT).

 The second observation is that Jesus not only gave the command to love as He loved, but, in fact, the world will judge the authenticity of our apprenticeship by our love rather than by our religious practices.

2. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

 All the traits or hallmarks of discipleship reflect the nature and character of Jesus as they were displayed during his earthly life.  Each trait is a thread woven throughout His earthly ministry.  Servanthood was one of the more obvious ones.  If you did a “man on the street” interview asking people to describe Jesus, the most common response would probably be, “He went around doing good for others.”

The early church demonstrated servant love within the family of faith by taking care of their widows (Acts 6).  Also Paul urged the newly established churches in Asia Minor to send aid to the family of faith in Jerusalem who were suffering from a famine (2 Cor. 9:1-5).  In both cases the aid was for those in need within the family of faith.

Demonstrating servant love begins at (but is not limited to) home and the family of faith.   Servant love at all three levels (physical, emotional, and spiritual) should be highly visible within and among God’s family.  When this is put into practice even those outside the faith will recognize it as a mark of being a disciple of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus gives the world permission to assess our discipleship based on how well we love one another.    I wonder if servant love was our public image, would there be more interest in the gospel?

Questions for reflection:

1. What are some additional reasons why Jesus changed the model for loving others from self to Himself?

 Why do you think the first focus for servant love was on the family of faith rather than on the world at large?

Obedience is the disciple’s pathway to Freedom.  On the resurrection side of the cross, obedience is not a pathway to righteousness (we are declared righteous in Christ) but the pathway of freedom to love and know Christ (John 14:21).

We have previously discussed two traits of a disciple:  Comprehensive Alignment and Sacrificial Allegiance.  Another indicator Jesus gave of His apprentices is found in John 8:31-32.

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32 NASB).

I call this trait “Faithful Obedience”.  In this blog we will explore its meaning and the promised results.

“Continue (abide) in My Word” implies alignment to the will of God or in other words, obedience.  However, the term obedience carries some negative connotations for us today so we need to relook at what it means.

Webster:  Obedience is not synonymous with servility but being merely a proper submission to authority. That which duty requires implies dignity of conduct rather than servility.  Obedience may be voluntary or involuntary.

Biblical obedience is more than adhering to a list of rules or commands.  It is alignment to the revealed will of God in all of its various forms including commands, desires, values, promises, and purposes.

The people Jesus was speaking to in John 8 were apparently receptive and friendly.  They probably considered themselves to be His disciples.  However, Jesus challenged them with the verb “continue”.  It can also be translated as abide, dwell, endure, or remain.  Three implications of the verb “continue” can help clarify this trait of apprenticeship.

A disciple is one whose response to the Word is:

     1.  Personal (first-hand, individual)

There is an interesting set of instructions that Moses gives Israel as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.  In a prophetic anticipation of Israel being led by a king, Moses gives three things every king should not do and one thing he must do.  He should not multiply horses, wives or personal wealth (Deut. 17:16-17), but he must:

“…write for himself a (personal) copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes”  (Deut. 16:18-19).

Sadly, Israel’s kings did what they should not do and did not do what they should have done.  Perhaps this is one reason for the rocky road Israel traveled throughout her history as a nation.  Imagine what would have happened if every king had copied the sacred Scripture by hand as he interacted with the Levitical priests and read it every day of his life.  The promised result would have been kings who feared God and were obedient to His Word.

When my father died, I kept his Bible which was worn, marked up, and stained.  Although I couldn’t read all his faded notations, they represented how very personal the Word was to him.  For my dad Scripture was not a textbook but a personal letter from God that required reading and rereading and most importantly, was valued as the source for life-change.

The Psalmist tells us to “Hide” God’s Word in our hearts.  Hiding involves more than just rote memory.  It involves making it personal, internal, part of our lives.

     2. Intentional (active, planned, purposeful)

“Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true” (Acts 17:11 NIV).

Disciples intentionally plan to abide in His Word.  They do not leave it to chance or just when they feel like it.  Early in my discipleship journey I learned five methods to intentionally abide in the Word.  They are to hear it, read it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on it.  Those methods are just as critical for me today as they were then.

Each of these five methods connect us to Scripture in a different way.  We need to have a plan to use all five.  It is not surprising that the hardest ones seem to be the most effective for life change.

     3.  Consistent (faithful, continuous, and persistent)

I am reminded of the statement:  “Successful people do consistently what ordinary people do occasionally”.

Consistency brings payoff in the development of spiritual habits.  When a practice becomes a habit, we move from a focus on mechanics to the intended results.  It is the same whether the habit is going to the gym or memorizing Scripture.

A great picture of consistency is seen in the way God provided manna for the Israelites in the desert.  God provided this miraculous provision of nutrition, but the people had to gather it each day and only enough for the day.  Some tried to store it for future use, but it didn’t work.  Although God provided enough for each day, they had to personally, intentionally, and consistently go and get it.

A disciple does not rely on yesterday’s manna.  He knows he needs a fresh word from God.  The habit of a daily appointment with God (AWG) in His Word, is one of the essential practices of men and women of God down through history.  Early in my own spiritual journey consistency in His Word came as a result of reading a small booklet called “7 Minutes with God”.  The message was “it is better to spend a little bit of time (7 minutes) every day than a lot occasionally.”  Start with seven and when it becomes a habit, it is easy to expand to ten.

In our John 8:31-32 passage, Jesus highlighted three specific results of continuing in His Word: Proof of discipleship, knowledge of truth, and freedom.

“You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32).

Jesus goes on to explain that He is not referring to freedom from physical slavery or ignorance, but freedom from the slavery of sin, Satan’s lies, and the painful deception of self-rule.

We are embarrassingly vulnerable to the world’s deceptions unless we continue in the truth of God’s Word.  We are, like the kings of Israel, easily led astray.  The life of a disciple is marked by the spiritual freedom that comes through alignment to the truth of Scripture.

 Trait:  Faithful Obedience

A disciple is one who consistently makes the Scripture the final authority for all of life, seeking to know, understand, and align his/her life to it.

Questions for reflection:

1.  Which of the 5 methods of Scripture intake to you need to develop at this point in your spiritual journey?
2. Are there places in Scripture where you do not feel “at home”? Identify a place and develop a plan to explore it more.

Many of my generation were raised on the genre of TV westerns.  One of the familiar pictures of the real cowboy was his ability to take a wild horse, put him in a corral, saddle him up, get on and then stay on.  It was called “breaking” a horse.  If the cowboy stayed on, eventually the horse would give up and submit to the authority and dominance of a new master.

Unfortunately, many of us have this image when it comes to the second trait of a certified disciple:  sacrificial allegiance.  As previously discussed in Blog 37, sacrificial allegiance requires submitting to the authority of Christ.  We described it as lowering the flag of ego and replacing it with the flag of Christ and His kingdom.   However, it is important we do not interpret the lordship (or authority) of Christ as God wanting to “break us” and dominate us into submission.  This false idea was, regrettably, part of my early thinking and created within me a reluctance to follow Christ.

Fortunately, there has emerged another method for training horses that has gained traction in the horse world.  Thanks to pioneers like Monty Roberts, John Lyons, and Buck Brannaman, “natural horsemanship” or “resistance-free training” has become widely accepted.  Although this philosophy of horse training was popularized by Robert Redford in the movie “The Horse Whisperer”, it has actually been around for a long time.

This method of training builds on the understanding of how a horse is wired.  A horse in the wild is controlled by fear.  The only protection it has against predators is to flee.  Since anything other than another horse is a potential predator, the range horse is cautious and suspicious of anything unfamiliar.

Another important trait is that horses are herd animals.  They desire and seek out companionship.  A horse in the wild that has lost its herd will seek out and attempt to join up with another herd.

Monte Roberts observed this as a young boy watching wild mustangs.  He noticed that there was a process by which a horse would approach a new herd and seek to “join up”.  Roberts noticed that when a horse approached a new herd, the dominant mare would come out to meet it.  They would go through a series of gestures where the newcomer would acknowledge the leadership of the lead mare.   Once they touched (“joined up”), the newcomer would be accepted as part of the herd.  Using the same dynamics, Roberts turned this observation into a method for training horses.

Applying this method in a 50 foot diameter round pen, good horse trainers can take a wild horse and within a few hours, train the horse to trust and respond to the trainer without any kind of force or intimidation.  The basic idea is to convince the horse that the trainer is not a threat and is safe to “join up” with.

The trainer begins with letting the horse run around the perimeter of the round pen.  Once the horse concludes it can’t get out and that the person in the center of the round pen is not a threat, it will quit running and turn to face the trainer.  The trainer will slowly approach the horse until they can touch:  join up. Once that touch has been made, the trainer can walk away and the horse will willingly follow.

Once the horse willingly “joins up” with the trainer, the training process can begin.  It involves desensitizing the horse to its natural fears (surprises, loud noises, fire) and sensitizing it to the desires of the trainer.  A trained horse will learn to respond to even the slightest cues of the rider.

One of the most beautiful demonstrations of this training process is to watch horses performing dressage.   This equestrian event made famous in Austria is almost like a dance between horse and rider.  In the show arena the horse goes through a series of maneuvers and gaits much like a dance routine.  To the casual eye, it looks like the horse is doing it all on its own, but in reality the rider is giving the horse subtle cues that come from leg and hand pressure as well as  delicate weight shifts.   The horse has become so sensitized to the desires of the rider that together they appear to work as one.

It seems to me that this form of training is what God is doing with us.  Rather than trying to break us, He is trying to train us by teaching us to trust Him.  Once we overcome our fear and “join up”, He begins the process of desensitizing us to the habits and lies we have grown accustomed to and sensitizing us to the cues He wants to use to develop our God given potential, “taking us from the range to the arena by way of the round pen”.  I picture Christ standing in the center of the round pen and saying to us:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke  (the personal teaching principles of a rabbi) is easy and My burden is light” (Matt 11:28-30).

He does not use coercion, manipulation, or force.  He simply seeks our trust in the goodness of His character.

A wild horse on the range can run, reproduce, and eat, but it is capable of so much more.  With the right trainer, it can accomplish many useful tasks and even perform before royalty.  When a horse gives up its “freedom” and learns to trust the trainer, it becomes truly free to be all it was created to be.

A broke horse does what it has to do, but a trained horse does what it can do to please its owner, responding to even the subtle cues.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Ps. 19:14).  

 A trained disciple learns to focus on Him (Heb. 12:2), sensitive to the gentle touch, the quiet voice, and the tender gaze that comes from His Word and Spirit.

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you” (Ps. 32:8).

Trust is the foundation for God’s “natural horsemanship”.  God is not out to break us but to develop us.   Learning to trust overcomes the natural response to flee perceived danger.  Through trust we learn that our greatest fears are unwarranted.  We learn that life under His training is where we can experience our greatest fulfillment and freedom.

Questions for reflection:

1. Describe a time when you responded to a gentle cue of God’s direction. How did it make you feel?
2. Describe how you have been “sensitized” and/or “desensitized” along your journey of discipleship?

Whose flag are you flying?  When it comes to the authority for our life, there is room for only one flag on the flagpole.  The second trait of a disciple of Christ is sacrificial allegiance:  lowering our flag of “ego” and replacing it with the flag of Christ and His kingdom.  The flagpole over our castle cannot stand being empty.  Something or someone will always be the final authority, the only question is what or who?

The first trait of a certified disciple we identified was comprehensive alignment dealing with our Identity and destiny.  The second on our list of five traits deals with priority and authority.  All four Gospel writers record Jesus teaching on this essential indicator of discipleship.  While all the other traits are given with a single statement, this one takes multiple statements to explain.

Its importance is stressed not only by the amount of material but by its logical clarity.  This is the only discipleship indicator where Jesus states the truth with both a positive and negative statement.  When the Scripture wants to make a truth particularly clear, it will state the truth of both the thesis and antithesis (the positive statement and the negative statement).

For example, the apostle John uses this logic in explaining the source of eternal life (1 John 5:11-12).

• Statement:  He who has the Son has life (true)
• Negative statement:  He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (also true)

In describing the discipleship trait of sacrificial authority, Jesus said:

• Statement:  A disciple takes up his cross and follows Me (true) (Luke 9:23)
• Negative statement:  If you do not take up your cross and follow Me, you cannot be My disciple (also true) (Matt. 10:38).

This type of explanation leaves no wiggle room.  It is clear, concise, and exclusive:  a binary explanation.

From the passages where Jesus explains sacrificial allegiance (Matt 10:34-39, Matt 16:24-28, Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-27, Luke 14:25-33, John 12:24), we can make several observations:

1. Discipleship is costly and is not to be entered into lightly (Luke 14).

Jesus warned not to follow if we don’t plan on finishing.   Discipleship is not casual or cheap.

Notice that Jesus was not marketing discipleship to make it popular.  It seems that authenticity was more important than popularity.  If He were after increased market share, He would have just said, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”.  But His challenge to take up your cross daily in order to follow Him, thinned the crowds significantly then as it does now.

2.  Discipleship is demanding and involves an exchange. The required exchange is stated in several different ways:

• Take up your cross daily and follow Me (Luke 9:23)
• Love Me more than your natural family (Luke 14:26; Matt 10:37)
• Gain by giving up (Matt 16:27; Mark 8:35)
• Lose your life to find it (John 12:24-25)

What Jesus referred to in taking up our cross daily, Paul captures in Romans 12:2 when he said we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice.  The critical dynamic behind these statements is the great exchange paradox.  Discipleship is built on the principle of exchanging our ordinary lives for something extraordinary, letting go in order to receive.  God cannot fill our hand when it is closed.

John records Jesus expressing the principle in agrarian terms.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal” (John 12:24-25 NASB).

Peter experienced the principle of exchange when he let go of the boat in the fury of the storm.  He learned that you’ve got to get out of the boat if you want to walk on water.  You can’t walk on water and sit in the boat at the same time; there must be an exchange.

Financial bankruptcy provides a picture of the principle of the exchanged life.  When a business is in financial trouble for a long period of time, the owners usually file Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  Then when Chapter 13 doesn’t work, they file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  A simplified comparison:

Chapter 13:  Reorganization

• I am in trouble
• I have the means to get out of debt
• I need time to reorganize
• I retain control of my assets and keep going

Chapter 7 Liquidation

• I am in trouble
• I do not have the resources to succeed
• I give up
• I surrender my assets and start over

I think discipleship is like filing Chapter 7.  Overwhelmed by our debt, we surrender our meager assets and receive His assets in exchange.  We let the CEO of the Bank of the Kingdom give us a new start using His resources.

Both Matthew and Mark tell the story of a rich, young businessman who illustrates this exchange.  He came to Jesus having tried everything (religion, politics, wealth, morality), but the result was disappointing:  the thrill didn’t last.  His question was, “How can I experience a life of fulfillment that does not diminish with time?  How can I experience eternal life?”

Jesus quickly goes to the heart of the issue:  the flag of authority.  He tells the rich young man to let go of his stuff, give it away, claim chapter 7, and follow Him.  Sadly he chose his addiction rather than life.

The first discipleship trait of comprehensive alignment deals with our identity and destiny.  The second trait of sacrificial allegiance deals with priority and authority.  There is only room for one flag on our castle flagpole.  In order to put His up, we have to bring ours down.

Sacrificial allegiance (Luke 14:26)  

A disciple consistently submits to the priority and authority of Christ, choosing daily to raise the flag of His leadership over his/her life.

 Questions for reflection:

1. What does Romans 12:1-2 add to the concept of sacrificial allegiance?
2. How does our view of God affect our willingness to yield to His leadership?

With the authority of a Rabbi, Jesus clearly explained how He both interpreted and described discipleship.  He did not create a whole new concept but took one from the culture and redefined it.  The Gospel writers give five distinct statements in which Jesus clearly stated what His disciple looked like.  There are other discipleship implications from His teaching, but these five are the most definitive.

Let’s take a quick review of where we are in unpacking discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross.  I have suggested that a Hebrew (vs. Greek) definition of a disciple is one who is an intentional apprentice of Jesus and His kingdom (TADB 23).

I am describing discipleship as:

the personal, persistent pursuit of knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ by means of critical spiritual disciplines in the context of supporting relationships resulting in the distinctive marks of an apprentice of Christ.  (TADB 24)

We have been looking at each element of this description (TADB 25-33) and are now ready for the last one:    the distinctive marks of an apprentice of Christ.  I have referred to these marks as traits or indicators of a “certified” disciple (TADB 34).  Over the next 5 blogs, I will look at each of these clearly stated traits so we can better align our own discipleship journey as well as be more effective mentors.   Since Jesus gave us the mission to be and make His disciples, these traits are not optional or electives.  Neither are these five marks of a certified disciple given as a check list to be completed, but rather they are lifetime pursuits.    Discipleship is verified (authenticated) when these traits are present and increasingly evident.

I call the first discipleship indicator “comprehensive alignment”.  Both Luke and Matthew record Jesus description of this trait but with a slightly different emphasis.  Luke emphasizes the identity of a disciple.

Students (disciples) are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher (Luke 6:40 NLT).

Jesus’ disciples are to “become like the Teacher”, emulating him in every way possible.  This implies more than outward obedience to some commands.  It implies a heart response and a whole life involvement.

History, however, does not reflect this kind of life emulation.  In fact, life is usually divided into two categories.  Much like living in a two-story townhouse, we put some areas of life in the upper, second story and the rest into a lower, first floor.  For example, the church father, Augustine, put spiritual matters in the upper story and relegated physical matters to the lower floor.  Today, Americans typically have a sacred/secular or private/public dichotomy.  The result of this two-story thinking is to apply one set of principles to the upper story and another set to the lower story.

When we unconsciously accept this dichotomy, we tend to put discipleship into the sacred (upper) story and the rest of life in the secular (lower) story.  We have our “spiritual life” (church, Bible study, etc.) and then we have our normal everyday life.  The former we align with Christ and Scripture, but the daily life is governed by a different set of principles.

Jesus, however, made no such two-story distinction.  He viewed all of life as sacred and an integral part of kingdom living. The goal for His disciples was to be fully trained to be like Jesus, meaning their entire lives would be in alignment with Jesus and His kingdom.  Paul expressed it this way, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

This alignment doesn’t happen by accident, but is the result of understanding His Word and by the power of the Spirit, responsibly applying it (Phil. 2:11-12).  In other words “fully trained to be like Jesus” implies intentional, comprehensive alignment rather than simply changing a few beliefs.  It is an all-inclusive alignment, impacting our convictions, character, and competencies.  Therefore, Jesus’ form of discipleship is unapologetically invasive, potentially threatening, and consistently uncomfortable.   In many cases, it involves replacing old convictions with radial biblical ones and transforming old behavior patterns into Christ-like character.  Competencies are also impacted as we become skillful soldiers, effective athletes, and patient farmers, who intentionally build up His kingdom (2 Tim. 2:2-7).

Luke emphasizes the identity of a disciple whereas Matthew emphasizes the destiny of a disciple

Students (disciples) are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of My household will be called by even worse names! (Matt. 10:24-25 NLT).

Over the past few centuries, we Americans have enjoyed the cultural support of a faith based life.  Publicly identifying with Christ and His kingdom may have at times been uncomfortable but rarely threatening.  This cultural favor is now eroding.   We are experiencing greater rejection, even hostility, towards faith based living.  Our tendency may be to retreat and hide in the upper story of our mental townhouse.  But discipleship calls us to boldly identify with Jesus and His destiny both publicly and privately.

Down through history, Christ’s disciples have always shared His suffering, but they also shared the hope of His triumph.  The great hope of following Christ is that one day we will share in the indescribable inheritance that is ours in Christ (Eph. 1:11).

 Certified discipleship #1:  Comprehensive alignment (Luke 6:40)

A disciple is one who comprehensively aligns his/her life with Christ and His destiny; whose whole life is being transformed to reflect His nature, beliefs, attitudes, character, values, and purposes. 

Questions for reflection:

1. Can you think of a time along your journey with Christ when He challenged your two-story thinking?
2. Is there an area of your life that is harder to bring under the influence of Christ and His kingdom? Why?