TADB 60: Profile – What are we Aiming at?

If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time

If you asked for a description of the sun and were told that it is “a little round object in the sky”, it would be correct but not very precise. 

Consider this option:

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field … roughly three quarters of the Sun’s mass consists of hydrogen the rest is mostly helium, with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, and iron. (Wikipedia).

The first might be adequate for a child, but not for a student of astronomy.  When we define a disciple as a learner, it is like saying the sun is a little round ball in the sky; adequate for toddlers but not for serious believers.  If discipleship is our ultimate mission, we will need more to work with than a toddler’s description.

A disciple is an apprentice of Jesus and His kingdom.

In developing the anatomy of discipleship, we begin with the “profile” of a disciple which includes both a definition and a description.  I suggest a definition that captures the Hebrew meaning of discipleship (vs. a Greek one) could be:

A description of a disciple adds clarity and more detail to the definition. Here is my “Wikipedia” description of discipleship:

The personal pursuit of knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ by means of (6) spiritual practices in the context of (3) supporting relationships.

1.  The personal pursuits of a disciple.  (See TADB 23-27)

There are three lifelong pursuits of a disciple that run through the teachings of Jesus and Paul.  They are each critical and distinct but also connected and complementary.

In Jesus’ prayer found in John 17, He looks back over His ministry and ahead to His ascension.   He reviews three core ideas:

  • The pursuit of an intimate relationship with the Father. 
  • The pursuit of glorifying the Father by manifesting His name
  • The pursuit of doing the will of the Father

I refer to these three essential pursuits on the resurrection side of the cross as knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ.  In his letters to the churches Paul identifies these same three pursuits in Phil 3:8-10 (Knowing Christ), 2 Cor. 3:18 / Rom. 8:29 (reflecting Christ), and 2 Cor. 5:20 / 2 Cor.2:14 (sharing Christ).

These 3 pursuits are like the coordinates of a 3D compass (GPS), keeping us locked onto our target destination.  They are lifelong pursuits and they define our journey as apprentices, reorienting us when we get off course.  Once we put them in as our desired destination, our spiritual MapQuest will  give us directions regardless of how far we have wondered off course (2 Tim. 3:16-17).

2.  The spiritual practices of a disciple (See TADB 28-31)

God has not only given us our direction but also the means by which we negotiate the journey.  The means have been called by various names:  habits of the heart, spiritual practices, or disciplines.  They are how we partner with the Spirit as we abide in Christ and live out our salvation (John 15:5; Phil 2:12).  Dallas Willard describes it this way:

“Spiritual disciplines are what we do so God can do what we cannot do.”

There is no comprehensive list of these spiritual practices, but we can identify some of the more critical ones by observing the life of Christ as well as the lives of saints down through history.  Dawson Trotman from the early days of The Navigators, used a wheel to illustrate these critical disciplines.    They include:

  • Christ the center (the hub of the wheel and source of power)
  • Obedience (the outer rim of the wheel which impacts our world)
  • Prayer
  • Word
  • Witnessing
  • Fellowship

As we mature in our apprenticeship, these core disciplines create traction for depth in the Christian life.  They are like the basic skill sets in the game of baseball that must be practiced at every level of performance no matter how long a player has played the game.  We are deceived if we think we can know, reflect, and share Christ without intentionally mastering and maintaining critical spiritual habits. Learning these skills may seem mechanical and a duty at first, but once learned they become a joy and delight as they equip us for our spiritual journey.  They are like tracks on which our spiritual train can run.  No tracks, no progress!

3.  The supportive relationships of a disciple (See TADB 32)

Although discipleship is personal it is never done in isolation.  Jesus had His band of 12 and Paul had his missional teams and wherever Paul made disciples, he formed communities for continued discipleship. 

Paul’s relational strategy is illustrated in 2 Timothy 2:2.  First, Paul discipled Timothy individually.  There was a clear mentor to mentee relationship that was so close Paul referred to Timothy as “his true child in the faith”.

Secondly, he mentored Timothy in the context of other men and women who were witnesses of Paul’s teaching.  This provided Timothy with a team of men and women who were also on the same spiritual journey.   We, too, need not only mentors in our lives but a band of likeminded disciples who are serious about and committed to the same goal.  We need a team because much of what we learn in our apprenticeship to Christ comes from our likeminded teammates.

The third relational dynamic Paul taught Timothy was to pass on (i.e. entrust) what he had learned to the next generation of men and women who in turn, would be faithful to pass it on to others forming continuous links in a spiritual chain.  Spiritual parenting is part of God’s plan for developing maturity as it raises our level of competency whenever we effectively pass on what we know.

You are a critical link in the chain

These three supportive relationships provide the strength and critical learning environments for transformative growth.  We need mentors, a team of likeminded disciples, and someone willing to learn from us to create a three generational relational structure (Ecc. 4:9-12). 

Apprenticeship to Jesus and His kingdom means

The personal pursuit of knowing, reflecting, and sharing Christ by means of spiritual practices in the context of supportive relationships.

Questions for reflection:

1.  How are the three pursuits of knowing, reflecting, and sharing interrelated? 2.  Which of the six spiritual concepts/disciplines needs attention in your life and what can you do about it?

TADB 59: The Anatomy of Discipleship

Words are stupid things, it’s meaning that counts.

All communication is based on shared meanings not shared words.  Words are only the container into which meaning is added.  For example, the word “agua” is a random arrangement of letters unless you are familiar with Spanish.  When Spanish speaking people see the letters “agua”, they share a common meaning.  If we are to understand their meaning, we must look at it through the lens of their culture.

Another example of the problem of meaning is found in the biblical term “eternal life”: a very common concept in our religious culture.  Jesus told Nicodemus that it is the promised result of believing in Him (John 3:16).  But what is it that Jesus was actually offering?  I think our popular understanding of eternal life is a place we go after death offering a heavenly condo with no maintenance fees, probably on a lake or golf course, hanging out with our friends, free from pain, sorrow, and people who annoy us…. forever!  However, Jesus defined it as having a personal, quality relationship with God not limited by the dimensions of matter, space, or time with a beginning but no end (John 17:3).

In the same way understanding discipleship requires us to go back through 2,000 years of history, 3-4 different languages, as well as different cultural settings.  That is a formidable task requiring time and effort, but since discipleship is core to what Jesus did and taught, it would seem prudent to learn what He meant by the word rather than substituting our own.     

As a Jewish based Christianity moved into a Greek/Roman world, Hebrew words were translated into Greek/Latin and took on the flavor of those cultures.  The Greek word for disciple, MATHES, is translated into English as learner or student.  In the Greek culture a person who adhered to the teaching of a particular philosopher would be called a disciple:  one who learned and believed what the master taught.  Since western education comes primarily out of a Greek context, we normally think of a disciple as a student who learns information, usually by listening to or reading lectures, speeches, or writings. 

The problem is that Jesus was not a Greek!  He was a Hebrew Rabbi and when He used the term disciple, His meaning was unique and specific to that culture.  The Gospel narratives give us abundant material to understand what Jesus meant by the term disciple.  This information should prevent us from reading our own cultural meaning into His term.  Without this understanding our ability to become and make His disciples becomes distorted.  We must be careful to build our picture of discipleship on His use of the term rather than current culture or church history.

Over the years of my ministry with church leaders, I have found four common ideas of discipleship:

  • A Seal Team 6 type person, an elite and exceptional kind of believer … more like a “super saint”.
  • A serious student of the Bible who knows a lot about biblical doctrine and attends a lot of Bible studies.
  • What a believer is when they are having a really good day.
  • A person who does anything religious.                         

In this next series of TAD blogs, I want to explore the anatomy of discipleship, looking at it through various angles with the hope that we will become people who reflect the profile that Jesus had in His mind and secondly are equipped to help others do the same. 

A good starting point is to look at when Jesus began to call out disciples of His own.  Matthew 4:19 gives an early call to several men who had already been exposed to Jesus (John 1-4).  The scene of Matthew 4 is probably a year or more into the 3+ year ministry of Christ.  His call to them was more of a summons with authority than an invitation.  He said to them, “Follow Me.”  The focus was on following the person of Jesus Christ, not simply His teaching or philosophy.  Certainly there was a student/learner component, but the focus was on a relational emulation not just an intellectual ascent.

In Luke 6:40, Jesus further defined His term disciple when He said, “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he has been fully trained will be like his teacher”.  With this statement Jesus further clarifies discipleship as a training process to become like Him in every way possible.  Jesus presented discipleship as personal, active, holistic, and progressive … certainly not accidental or passive.

I think the English word “apprentice” comes close to capturing the Hebrew meaning of discipleship.  The apprentice concept comes to us from the European later Middle Age history.  As people moved from the country to the cities, the demand for goods and services became more than a single family shop could provide.  So when a shoemaker, for example, could not keep up with the demand for shoes by simply teaching his children the trade, he would train “apprentices” to join the family shoe making business.  As an apprentice the person would learn both the concepts and skills necessary to make shoes.  They were trained to transform raw leather into useful shoes. 

The term apprentice has limited use in our current culture but generally tends to carry the meaning of both knowledge and skill gained from a master craftsman.  The need for apprenticeship decreased appreciably with the industrial revolution.  Craftsmen and apprentices were replaced by speed, automation, and repetition.  Perhaps we have followed a similar pattern with an “assembly line” version of disciplemaking”.  What if we took seriously not only His meaning of discipleship but also His method of apprenticeship?

In developing our profile of a disciple of Jesus, I would suggest this as a definition: One who is an apprentice of Jesus and His kingdom.  Apprenticeship to Jesus involves emulating Him in every way possible.   

In my next blog I will add to our profile definition a description of discipleship.

Questions for reflection:

1.  Compare and contrast a student with an apprentice.

2.  How have you developed your picture of discipleship?

TADB 058: Our Declaration of Dependence

“We hold these truths to be self-evident…..”

Written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence was a logical defense for the rebellion of the American colonies against England.  The founding fathers knew that if they were to survive as a new country, they needed legitimacy and recognition from the major European powers…especially France.  The Declaration of Independence provided that legitimacy. 

Jefferson’s argument was based on the 18th century Enlightenment philosophy which emphasized reason and logic.  It changed the role of government (especially monarchs) by authorizing the people to determine a government’s right to rule.  Government is by consent of the governed.  The thesis was that these rights were self-evident from the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.  The divine right of kings was under attack.  Reason and observation made these ideas valid.

Initially this new source of truth was added to the existing sources: biblical revelation (Scripture) and the church.  Eventually reason changed from being a complement to a trump card.  Thus the Enlightenment philosophy justified putting people back in charge replacing subordination to God, Scripture, or the church.  Man was justifiably his own authority and nature and human reason were all that were needed to attain “life, liberty and, the pursuit of happiness”.  Therefore, when rulers no longer served the best interest of the people, abusing their power by tyrannical oppression, the people had the right (even responsibility) to rebel: remove that leadership and establish another.  

So what does all this have to do with discipleship?  The common ground is the issue of authority.  From the beginning of Genesis, man has resisted any authority beyond himself making the storyline as old as history itself.  The desire for self-governance combined with the history of corrupt leadership at every level, has created a general distrust for anyone in authority.  This is playing out in every level of our social structure:  government, police, church, schools, and families. 

The current media relishes any story that suggests authority can’t be trusted.  Political leaders are corrupt, church leaders are immoral, and fathers are either abusive, absent or irrelevant.  Even the celebrated sports world is racked by scandal.

Into our history and current culture of distrusting authority comes Jesus, the cross, and the crown.  A cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that the earthly ministry of Jesus was to declare that His kingdom had now come and He was the doorway and the authority for it…the Lord.  As the people observed what He taught as well as what He did, they marveled and wondered from where He got his authority (Matt 7:28-29). 

Our aversion to outside authority, the lifelong habit of self-governance, and the lack of positive models has created a giant hurdle when we embrace the gospel.  With our propensity to distrust authority it is easy to understand why many Christians accept Jesus as their Shepherd and Savior, but His Lordship is downgraded to a constitutional monarchy.  Although we sing the right words, in practice, we retain the right to accept or dismiss His authority based on what we believe is in our best interest. 

The New Testament view of God’s people being His bond-servant (a willing and obedient servant) is as foreign to us today as the Latin language.  The Lordship of Christ taught and modeled in the New Testament is today an elective…maybe necessary for missionaries and pastors but not for us.  We will accept Him as King much like England accepts their king or queen.  He is “Lord” for convenient ceremonial purposes such as church, weddings, and funerals, but the real authority is in us as our own “Prime Minister”.  The call of Jesus to take up our cross daily and follow Him is interpreted to mean “as long as it makes sense and adds to my goal of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”.

Discipleship not only challenges our view of authority, but also our narcissistic view of self.  We can accept our role as His prime minister but not His servant.  Discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross declares that we have not only been ransomed from slavery in the kingdom of darkness, but we have been transferred to the kingdom of light where He reigns as the benevolent and just Monarch. 

Question for reflection:

  1. How would you describe your journey with Christ in light of His authority/Lordship?

TADB 057: Limits, Boundaries, and Self-Control

Are there limits to “no limits”?  Throughout history mankind has had the tendency to push the known limits and beyond.  Discoveries in medicine, space, oceans, and the human cell have been the result of mankind’s drive to go further than anyone has gone before.  Even running a 4 minute mile was seen as an impenetrable barrier until Roger Bannister broke it in 1954.  Since then over 1400 athletes have broken the 4 minute mile and over the last 65 years, the record has been lowered by 17 seconds.  The sound barrier was also considered a limitation to flight until 1947 when Chuck Yeager broke it in his X-1.  Today flying through the sound barrier is only an annoyance on the way to hypersonic flight.

Science, medicine, and physical achievements are constantly being pushed to the limits and beyond.  Unfortunately, so also are immorality, extravagance, and cruelty. 

One of the conundrums of living a counter cultural kingdom life is the polarity between limits and no limits.  Our culture says, “If it can be done, it should be done” or “If it can’t be done, it still should be done”.  Breaking barriers through science has resulted in greater comfort, better health, and increased longevity, but it has also created ethical dilemmas. 

Constantly bombarded with the message of “No Limits”, children are told they can be whatever they want to be including whatever gender they want to be.  A recent leadership book, No Limits, has the subtitle “Blow the Cap Off of Your Capacity”.

As a follower of Christ, we need to re-evaluate the “No Limits” mantra.  Debt, adultery, fatigue, and broken relationships are all symptoms of exceeding limits.  Initially, we can usually get by with it, but eventually it comes back to bite us.

Our “no limits” culture pressures us to accept the mindset of faster, higher, better, and more as being normal.  That expectation removes all boundaries and easily leads to hubris, dissatisfaction, disappointment, and addiction.  Living on a budget (setting limitations) is not simply good financial advice; its application fits the rest of life as well.

Scripture teaches that one of Satan’s strategies is to distort God’s good design by twisting it to feed our self-centered rebellion.  It all started in the Garden of Eden and continues to the present.  The story in the Garden involved both beauty and boundaries.  The boundaries were rejected, however, and the rest of history is the story of both the success and failure of God’s people to recognize, live by, and enjoy the limits set by God.    

Scripture teaches that boundaries and limitations are part of God’s ordered creation.

  • You have established all the boundaries of the earth. You have made summer and winter (Psalm 74:17).
  • And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation (Acts 17:26).

Beyond the obvious moral boundaries the questions remain:

  • Are there limits and boundaries for kingdom living?
  • If so, who sets them?

Jesus is the supreme model of one who chose to set limitations on Himself in order to accomplish a higher purpose. 

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:5-8). 

Paul is another example of someone who set limits for himself.  He disciplined his body (set limits) and made it his slave (self-control) so that he would not be disqualified, could finish his race of faith, and receive the wreath of victory that would never fade (1 Corinthians 9:23-27).  Paul did not depend on his culture to set boundaries for his life.  Rather his kingdom commitment set the boundaries.    

Growing up in the mid twentieth century, the culture around me theoretically supported a kingdom life- style.  Its morality and values had deep roots in the Judeo-Christian worldview.  But as that support faded with the onslaught of moral relativism, we can no longer rely on the culture (even the church culture) to set our limitations and boundaries. 

An apprentice of Christ and His kingdom sets his/her boundaries based on an increasing intimacy with Christ and asks “not can I, but should I?”  

Questions for reflection

1.  Is there an area of life that needs boundary clarification?

2.  What are the biblical principles that can help set wise boundaries?

TADB 056: An Audience of One

Several years ago Mary and I received tickets from close friends to see the “Phantom of the Opera” in Kansas City.  Our friends had received the tickets as a gift but were not able to attend.  The musical was just beginning to travel across the country after a long and successful run on Broadway.  We were very excited to see it and decided to make it a special “At the Theater” date night.

We were not aware that the doors were closed just before show time because of the dramatic opening scene.  We arrived just in time to be hurried by the usher to our seats.  But to our surprise they were already occupied.  Checking both sets of tickets, the usher told us that there was a problem and took us down to the main ticket booth for an explanation.

The manager looked at our tickets and explained that they were bogus.  Fearing arrest and expulsion, I related how we got the tickets and our friends (and source) would surely not do such a thing.  We must have been convincingly embarrassed because the manager took pity on our situation.  Looking at the remainder of options she said she had only two seats left in the theater and we could have them if we wanted.  She called them “limited visibility” seats.  I expected them to be up in the lighting booth or under the stage but to our surprise they were in the front, far left row.  Only one corner of the stage was blocked.  Superior upgrade!

Thinking that I would never be this close to the stage again, I decided to explore the orchestra pit during the intermission.  It was located under the stage so, as unobtrusively as possible, I wondered down into the “pit”. 

The musicians were on break as I entered this mysterious new world.  What most intrigued me was the view from the “pit”.  Sunken beneath the stage the only thing that orchestra members could see was the platform of the conductor.  They couldn’t see the stage, the audience, or even the ceiling which was obscured by the lights.

My first thought was “how inconvenient”.  But on further reflection it made sense.  They didn’t need to see the stage or the audience.  They only needed to see the conductor and only he needed to see the stage.  Their role was to keep one eye on their music and the other on the conductor.  He would cue them when to start and stop, how loud or soft, how fast or slow to play.  They were not performing for the actors or the audience but only for the conductor.  It was the conductor’s job to please the actors, audience, and owners, etc.  The musician’s job was to please the conductor.

It struck me how similar discipleship is to that pit orchestra.  We are called to follow Him, the conductor of the orchestra.  We have our own score (music) and it is but one part of many that creates the music.  Each part blending with others to give harmony, depth, and clarity to the drama taking place even though we cannot see and may never even know what is being played out. 

Our focus is not on who or how many tickets are sold, how many showed up for the performance or the volume of their applause.  It is pretty simple:  play our part well for the approval of the Conductor.

My next question was personal:  Who do I play for?  The applause of the crowd?  The praise of the actors?  The members of the orchestra?  Myself?  Or is it for an audience of One (John 8:29)?

“So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of His will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord,” (Col 1:9-10).

“For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (1Thess. 2:4) 

It’s a process of maturity, of learning to shift the focus from ourselves to the One who created and called us.  We began our apprenticeship with Christ with a strong bent toward self-fulfillment and narcissism wanting our spiritual needs met and our brokenness healed.  But having experienced His gracious provision, our relationship needs to refocus on Christ and His purposes.  As part of His orchestra, our role is a gift and whether we play oboe or violin, first chair or last, melody or harmony, we are to play our part with enthusiastic excellence…for the Conductor.

Some days I think I get it.  Some days definitely not.  Most days are a mixture of motives that are not clear.  So I welcome Paul’s prayer of Col 1:9-10 for spiritual wisdom and understanding.  I need His work of liberation from my self-centeredness in order to “walk worthy of the Lord and please Him in all respects”… performing my part for an audience of One.

Question for reflection:

What concepts or perspectives can help us shift from using God to pleasing Him?

TADB 055: Counter-Cultural Living

How does a disciple of Christ live “in” the world but not be “of” the world…associate but not assimilate… separate but not isolate?  Are we a counter-culture or a multi-culture?  These are questions that believers have wrestled with over millennia and should be wrestling with today.

I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one (John 17:15) 

“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN” (2Corinthians 6:17). 

In the inner testament period leading up to the incarnation of Christ, Jews both in Palestine and throughout the diaspora (Roman world), wrestled with the tension of relevance and righteousness… distinctiveness and assimilation. 

Jews dispersed throughout the predominately Greco-Roman culture spoke Greek, read their Torah in Greek (Septuagint) at their synagogue, went to the gymnasium and read Homer.  They followed the teaching of the prophets to work for the peace of their host country.  At the same time the Jews in Palestine spoke Aramaic (a dialect of Hebrew), read their Bible only in Hebrew, and resisted the Hellenistic culture.

At the time of Christ within Palestine there were four main expressions (sects) of assimilation vs separation.  They are described by the historian Josephus.

1.  Zealots – Liberation Expression

Descended from the Maccabees, the zealots were a militant sect that advocated loyalty to the Torah and Jewish control of the religious and political systems.  Zealots would periodically break out in physical violence against Rome in an attempt to gain both religious and political control. 

2.  Essenes – Isolation Expression

Like the Qumran community around the Dead Sea, Essenes withdrew from culture altogether.  Their expression was to live an isolated righteous life as far from cultural corruption as possible.  They would not be contaminated by the world nor would they try to influence it.

3.  Sadducees – Accommodation Expression

The sect of the Sadducees were mostly made up of the aristocracy and ruling party of the Jews.  They were connected with the Temple and the Sanhedrin (Jewish court) and their philosophy was “to get along you need to go along”.  Their expression was one of accommodation and cooperation with the Hellenistic culture.

4.  Pharisees – Separation Expression

The Pharisees were made up of the common people who held to both the written Law (Torah) and the oral law.  They separated themselves from both the Roman/Hellenistic culture and any Jew who didn’t follow their particular practice of tradition.

Into that milieu of expressions came Jesus, the Christ.  He didn’t fit into any of the above.  He demonstrated a different expression He called the kingdom which He described in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7). 

So today, how do we live a lifestyle that is both counter-cultural and relevant? 

As I reflect on growing up in America, I didn’t anticipate that there would be much difference between kingdom values and my own country’s values.  By in-large the culture of my immediate surroundings was similar to the kingdom values I found in Scripture.  To be sure, the culture didn’t always live by those values but at least they were acknowledged as valuable.

Today, much like the first century Christians living under Roman rule, I am increasingly aware that to follow Christ is to live counter-culturally.  I should not be surprised but I thought that it would only happen “to them” or “out there” …whatever that means.

As I wrestle with how to think and behave as a citizen of God’s kingdom while living in the world’s kingdom, I have to start by asking which kingdom has priority.  One is permanent and invisible while the other is temporal and tangible.  It takes the lens of faith to hold to what is real yet unseen even though the tangible seems more “modern and scientific”. 

In the early centuries of Christianity, Christ followers were often viewed as detrimental to the glory of Rome.  They were disloyal citizens since they claimed allegiance to another God, refused to participate in pagan civic rituals, and talked of a life in another realm.  As a tiny minority they were often marginalized and at times persecuted for living counter-culturally. 

However, when they eventually became the majority, the new challenge was to live Christ’s kingdom values from a platform of power and influence.  Unfortunately, history tells us they did not do it well.  There was hypocrisy, coercion, and persecution.  Too often there was little difference between the culture of the dominate empire and the dominate church…accept they dressed differently.

Sadly we do not do it well either.  I am embarrassed by my failure and the failure of my fellow Christians to live out His kingdom values.  In addition, all too often we condemn others by a standard we ourselves fail to keep.  Jesus warned us about removing the log from our own eyes before trying to remove the splinter from the eyes of others.  Duplicity undermines credibility. 

The challenge of discipleship in our current country is to live a counter cultural kingdom lifestyle courageously, humbly, and persistently without having a position of authority, majority rule, or even appreciation and affirmation.   

Questions for reflection

1.  Which of the four Jewish expressions above do you more closely align?

2.  How do you see Jesus demonstrating aspects of each one?

TADB 054: Surrender or Repentance?

Growing up in my neighborhood, my friends and I would often hold wrestling contests like those we saw on TV.  One of our rules of engagement was if someone got into a situation he couldn’t get out of, he would simply say “uncle” (our version of tapping the mat or raising a white flag) and his opponent was obligated to let him go.  It was a statement of surrender….for the moment!  But we all knew it would start all over again later.   Nothing had really changed.  Sometimes people “come to Christ” with the same mentality.  They have little intention of changing their lives and discipleship is totally irrelevant. 

In order to understand the foundation for discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross, we need a clear understanding of the gospel.  We need to correctly answer three questions:

  • What is the gospel?
  • What issues does it resolve?
  • What is the required response?

I have suggested in previous blogs that the gospel is the narrative of Jesus Christ the Lord and His kingdom (Rom 1:1-4).  It is His story – all of it from His incarnation to the final courtroom. 

The second question is what issue(s) does the gospel resolve?  In blog 51, I made a distinction between proximate (immediate) issues and causal (root) issues.  Both are real, but the former is symptomatic while the latter is the underlying issue.

Scripture describes many proximate issues:

Fallen, lost, dead, missed the mark, broken, guilty, shameful, unbeliever, sick, captive, slave, brokenhearted, poor blind, oppressed, etc.

However, the causal issue goes much deeper and is found in the very beginning of humanity.  Adam’s sin was more than violating a command of God.  It was deliberate and outright rebellion from God’s authority and leadership over his life.  The result is that we are all born into the kingdom of rebellion and are individually complicit with it.  This condition is also described as being ungodly, haters of God, children of wrath, children of the devil, those without law.  We are rebels against God, declaring our independence from His authority. 

When presenting the gospel, it seems more compassionate to infer a person is lost rather than a rebel.  But if we don’t identify the underlying issue, we rob the gospel of its power and marginalize the freedom that it brings. 

The third question is what is the required response that must be made?  If we are simply lost, then we need to be found; if broken, then we need to be mended; if poor, than we need resources, etc.   But if we are rebels, what is required?  Jesus began His ministry announcing the gospel of the kingdom and said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Two words we tend to use interchangeably are surrender and repent.  I would submit, however, there is a critical distinction that should be made.  Surrender is an act of giving up, saying, “I quit.  I can’t go on”.  It is like tapping the mat, the white flag, or saying “uncle”.   It implies submission (temporary) but not allegiance. 

In WW II, POWs were soldiers who had surrendered.  Most were held in camps of internment with various levels of treatment.  A few tried to escape and return to the fight, but most simply waited until the war was over to return to their country of origin.   The main point is that although POW’s surrendered, they did not change their allegiance to the country in which they were held captive. 

I am concerned that too many times we present a gospel response that looks a lot like surrender.  People feel overwhelmed with their sin, guilt, shame, fears or other proximate issues and finally say “I quit” or “I give up; get me out of my mess”.

Repentance, however, is not only surrender but a change of allegiance.  It is a turning from self-governance to Christ-governance.  It is renouncing our loyalty to self and pledging loyalty to Christ.    

ISBE:  Repent = to change the mind

The word μετανοέω, metanoéō, expresses the true New Testament idea of the spiritual change implied in a sinner’s return to God. The term signifies “to have another mind,” to change the opinion or purpose with regard to sin. It is equivalent to the Old Testament word “turn.”

It is one thing to be bested, beaten, or defeated.  It is a whole different thing to change the loyalty of our hearts and minds to embrace Christ as our new and final authority.  The gospel demands not only surrender but a new allegiance.  Repentance is more than the acknowledgement that we have blown it, made a mess or even violated God’s moral code.  It is life under new management. 

Surrender without allegiance creates a syncretistic1 gospel, one that reinforces the myth that “life is still all about me” but hopefully with less pain. 

The gospel response that brings new life is more than saying “uncle”.  It is the reset of our hearts to live under the rule of our benevolent King and gracious Father.  It is to renounce our rebellion and pledge our allegiance to our Creator.  The gospel Jesus preached and the one the early church embraced was a radical invitation to leave our rebellion against God and come back home as the prodigal son did.    

Questions for reflection:

1.  How could you guide a spiritual conversation from proximal issues to casual ones?

2.  Reflect on 1 John 3:8, “The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.”

1 Syncretism (Dictionary.com): The attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles or practices.

TADB 53: Coming Home

In an increasingly skeptical world filled with moral relativism, the idea of sin is no longer a clearly understood or accepted concept.  When sharing the gospel, our typical introduction is to establish the biblical truth of the moral depravity of man beginning with Adam’s sin.  From there we move to the moral code of God as summed up in the Ten Commands which we have all broken at some point making sin universal.  I have sinned.  You have sinned.  And even if we have broken only one command, James writes, we have broken all of them (James 2:10).  We are all law breakers.  We are all guilty.

Or we may begin with identifying the felt need of the individual:  their greatest pain or hurt.  We then compassionately explain that God loves them, wants to relieve their pain and give them an abundant life.  First, however, they must ask forgiveness for their sins and then God will come into their life and straighten up the mess.

However, what is our approach if the person has no recognized felt need or doesn’t believe that he is held responsible to an ancient religious moral code?  I have been asked, “Why would a loving God send people to an eternal hell for temporary moral infractions during their lifetime?   Maybe if they committed some heinous act it would be just, but surely not for lying or cheating once in a while.  Maybe they didn’t do as much good as they could have, but they certainly did some good.”

At this point my typical answer dealt with contrasting the holiness of God and our unrighteousness.  If we rightly understood how holy God is and how sinful we are, we would not be surprised at the severity of God’s judgment.  This is all true, but does it deal with the causal issue?

Jesus said the real causal problem lies with our rebellious hearts (Luke 6:45, Jeremiah 17:9, Ezek. 36:25).  Without a heart transplant, we are like walking dead.    Ultimately we are judged not simply on the basis of our diseased heart that sins but for refusing to accept the offer of a spiritual heart transplant (John 3:18).

As I suggested in the previous blog, if the gospel is to be good news, it must deal with the causal issue not just a proximal issue.  If the gospel doesn’t deal with the root problem of rebellion against God (Sin) then we will never be free.  We may look better on the outside, but we are not really free from the bondage of Sin.

Consider the familiar parable that Jesus taught called the Prodigal Son.  What if we looked at it through the lens of his causal issue vs. proximal issue? 

The basic story line is of a young son who demanded his inheritance early in order to take off and live a wild and sensuous life.  Eventually his lifestyle catches up with him.  Broke, friendless, and alone he decides to return to his father who graciously welcomes him back with a party.  The older brother (confused, jealous, and angry) complains of injustice to his father.  The father quickly then returns the conversation back to the younger brother and the celebration.  A great story of compassion, mercy and grace given by the father to his immoral son. 

But consider an optional story line.  The younger son asking for his inheritance early was just a symptom…the proximal issue.  What he really wanted was to get out from under the authority of his father.  He felt constrained and wanted to run his own life without his father’s interference.  He leaves his home out of rebellion.  He takes the benefits graciously given by a generous father and uses them as he pleases.  He leaves home for another place where his lifestyle is supported and celebrated.  His lifestyle and that of his friends is a rebellious statement against all that his father stands for. 

Now let’s suppose that his pain finally becomes unmanageable and he remembers the gracious nature of his father.  He decides to write a letter of apology to his father, confessing his immorality and owning up to the pain, suffering, sorrow that he has brought on himself.  He even admits he disappointed his father, maligned his reputation, and left him shorthanded on the ranch.  He even reluctantly admits it was a selfish act, disrespectful, and he can never undo the damage done.

He asks his father for a “pardon” (release from for further retribution).  Then he closes with the request for a little more cash since he is frankly broke and could use a little seed money to start his new life.  How would that version play out back home on the ranch?  How would the father respond to that letter?

In the original story we are told that the son did not send a letter (or tweet an apology).  Reunited with his father he did not even say he was sorry.  He just came home.  He came back where he belonged. 

He did say to his father, “I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men”.  Translation:  “I have come home to live under your authority.  You can put me in your household wherever you want and I will let you be the head.  It is your right and I now recognize that”.

This story is one of repentance (not merely confession).  He renounced his adopted country of rebellion and returns to be a living sacrifice of loving allegiance and devotion to his father.  His father’s acceptance was not based on his son’s sense of guilt or sorrow (it was not essential to the story), but on his decision to come home. 

His pain and suffering made him aware of the slavery of the country in which he had been living.  His repentance was a change of places/countries/kingdoms.  His pain taught him there was no hope of a renewed life in the country of rebellion…..no way to freedom as long as he lived in revolt against his father.  He recognized that he had been living in a place where rebellion, pushing the limits, doing your own thing, was the creed.  He had gone there because he knew that self-rule was facilitated and celebrated.

His decision was not to live a better life in rebel territory by reforming and changing his priorities.  He didn’t promise to tell his friends how generous his dad was or start up a recovery clinic for displaced people.  He simply, humbly came home to live under his father’s gracious authority.

That is the good news of the gospel: we can now come home!

Questions for reflection:

What do the following biblical terms imply about the condition of man apart from Christ?  How does the gospel deal with each?

  • Sinner (Rom. 3:23; Isa.59:1-2)
  • Lost (Luke 15, Matt. 18:11)
  • Dead (Eph. 2:1,5)                                            
  • Blind (2Cor. 4:4)
  • Gone astray (Isa. 53:6)
  • Children of wrath (Eph. 2:3)
  • Broken (Zec. 11:16; Ezek. 34:16)

TADB 52: Flatland to Spaceland

At Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on Dec 17, 1903, Orville and Wilbur Wright made history when they flew a heavier-than-air machine 120 feet (less than the wingspan of many modern aircraft).  That event opened a new perspective that changed our lives forever.  We were no longer confined to the surface of the earth under the control gravity:  we could fly.  Travel in space became a real possibility.

During the Enlightenment, pioneers like Newton and Bernoulli discovered another law:  the law of lift.  The new law of lift didn’t eliminate the old law of gravity, but it countered it.  This new law simply states that if air passes over a certain shape, an upward force is created, causing the shape—and whatever is connected to it—to lift into that exhilarating space dimension.  The law explains why gliders and jumbo jets fly and rocks do not. 

Living in two dimensions (as we do on Earth) illustrates living in the natural world without God.  In this reality, spiritual gravity (sin) distorts the beauty of the two dimensional and makes everyone a prisoner of it.  However, lift (the gospel or the Spirit of life) sets Christians free from the limitations and penalty of gravity to now live in the added spiritual dimension.

Paul explains this concept in Romans 8:1-2:  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.”

More than one hundred years ago, Edwin Abbott wrote Flatland, an allegory that shows how difficult it is to comprehend a new dimension.  Flatland is a world of two dimensional geometric shapes and living there is like living on the top of a table.  There is length and width, but no height.  The allegory is told through the eyes of Mr. Square: a scholarly and respectable gentleman.

One day Mr. Square meets Mr. Sphere who is from a three dimensional world.  In their curious conversation, the sphere insists that there are three dimensions not just two.  As a sphere, this character knows about length and width but also height.  From his third dimension of height, the sphere explains that he can see “down” into the homes of Flatland—something the square cannot fathom, grasp, understand, or even accept as true.

Finally, out of frustration, Mr. Sphere picks up Mr. Square and lifts him up into the 3rd dimension so he can actually look down.  Shazam!  He gets it. 

The allegory continues as Mr. Square is placed back down into Flatland and he now tries to explain his new found experience to those still trapped in 2-Dimensions.  Abbot wrote his book to attack the social structures of his day.  Einstein read it frequently to support his belief that there are more dimensions than our traditional four…perhaps even up to ten in the cosmos. 

Years ago I read Flatland to help me understand how my own journey to faith was much like Mr. Square.  Jesus came to us squares as a sphere.  And, like the sphere in Flatland, He not only describes life in 3-D, but also offers to lift us up and allow us to experience its reality and even be transformed to actually fit into the 3-D kingdom of God.

Interestingly, God originally designed humans as three dimensional—spiritual beings.  But the human 3-D experience was short-lived.  As a result of the fall, we lost our spiritual dimension and became trapped in two dimensions (Genesis 3).  The vacuum left in the human heart calls out for this missing dimension as Solomon says, “He has set eternity in their hearts” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  The gospel message of the kingdom is that we can be reborn to discover the lost dimension.  What was lost in the first Adam is reestablished in Jesus Christ. 

Some seek what’s missing through self-effort.  But self-effort is really only a spiritual pogo stick.  When I was in grade school, the pogo stick was as popular as the skateboard is today.  We even had square dance lessons on pogo sticks in PE class.  Kids loved this experience so much they would hop around like kangaroos trying to set world records for jumping endurance.  Why?  Because when skillfully used a pogo stick could put you into the third dimension for a couple of seconds.  However, it could never sustain the break with gravity.

In the same way, self-effort alone can only offer short-lived breaks from spiritual gravity. Only true discipleship can supernaturally break the pull of spiritual gravity.  Yet when Jesus announced that the transformational third dimension of the kingdom of God was at hand, the Jews would not believe it.  They were looking for a complete release from the push-and-pull associated with two-dimensional life.  They simply wanted a more comfortable life in their 2-D world — an expectation that persists among Christians today.

However, comfort in our 2-D world is not the goal of 3-D living as evidenced by the fact that even those closest to Christ then, as well as now, experience pain, suffering and loss.   Rather the goal is spiritual transformation to be like Christ.           

Learning to live in but not of this world, is the challenge and the adventure of discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross is learning how to experience our 2-D world through the lens of our new, 3-D, spiritual dimension.  We don’t escape (yet) the pull of gravity, but we can have freedom from its control.

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:1-3).

Questions for reflection

1.  What makes living with all three dimensions difficult for you?

2.  How do we make our new third dimension our primary/priority dimension? 

Taken from Intentional Disciplemaking, p 37-39

TADB 051: Criminals or Rebels

Stomach ulcers were on the rise in the mid 1900’s, causing intense pain, bleeding, and even death.  The medical community discovered that ulcers indicated a high level of stomach acid.  The solution seemed obvious… reduce the acid and you will eliminate ulcers.  So doctors prescribed a regiment of drugs, bland diets, and bed rest to reduce stress.  (I am trying to imagine an ulcerated CEO staying in bed to reduce his stress.)

Millions of dollars and frustrated people later the problem didn’t go away.  In 1982 two doctors from Australia looked outside the box and discovered that although acid did cause ulcers, the cause of the acid was not food or stress but a bacteria.  An antibiotic got rid of the bacteria, the acid went away, and ulcers healed or didn’t develop.  The problem was solved overnight.  No more acid meds or bland food…just a dose of the appropriate antibiotic…ulcers gone!

There is a basic principle that says a proximity (related) issue may not be the causal (root) issue.  Stomach acid and ulcers were closely related, but acid was not the causal issue, bacteria was. 

An incorrect cause leads to an ineffective solution.

Most people would acknowledge that humanity has an “ulcer”:  war, injustice, unrest, suicide, greed, etc.  But what is the cause?  When we choose a proximity issue rather than the root issue, our solutions are like giving antacid medicine to a man with an ulcer.  It may relieve the pain temporarily, but not cure the problem.

Evangelical Christianity often expresses man’s problem with terms like lost, gone astray, selfishness, immorality, “missing the mark”, disobedience, etc.  There is no question…the Bible teaches all of these are true and universal (Rom. 3:23).  But could these terms represent proximity issues and not the real cause?  Isaiah described the issue as:

“All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own” (Isa 53:6).

Paul quotes the prophets when he writes, “There is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside” (Rom 3:11-12).

Certainly our sins (breaking the moral code of God = criminal) is a problem with devastating consequences.  But our sins are like the acid in the stomach…serious, even fatal, but not the cause of our problem.  The root cause of ulcers is bacteria.  So what is our spiritual “bacteria”?  Unless we assess the true root cause of the ulcers in our lives, we will never effectively solve the problem either personally, socially, or spiritually.

The causal issue is Sin not sins.  “Sin” (or original sin as theologians call it) is not a new concept to most evangelical believers.  Adam’s sin was more than disobedience (ate the fruit); more than embezzlement (using God’s creation for his own selfish ends).  It was the choice to rule himself rather than to submit to God’s rule.  Adam not only gave us a model of disobedience, he gave us the DNA of rebellion against God’s authority.  We are all born into the kingdom of darkness with its rebellion against God and we live each day affirming our own complicity.  Refusing to submit to God as our Creator and Lord, we join in the conflict of rebellion against the Creator, and proclaim our own authority to determine what is right and wrong.

St Augustine of Hippo, writing in the fifth century wrestled with the biblical view of humanity’s “causal” problem.  Augustine believed that man has not simply lost his way (Greek philosophy), but he has lost his orientation and submission to God.  Mankind has replaced the worship of God with the worship of self as specifically expressed by self-rule (Roman 1).

The early church proclaimed a gospel message that addressed this issue.  It was not only a gospel of forgiveness but of transfer from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  This gospel required not only belief in Christ but repentance:  turning from self-governance to God’s authority.  We are certainly sinners, law breakers who violate the moral code of God (criminals), but that is simply a symptom not the cause.  The cause (“bacteria”) is a rebellious heart.  Rebellion against God is in our DNA and apart from Christ, we live as rebels in the kingdom of rebellion (darkness).  

Jesus Christ came to set us free from the Kingdom of darkness and the hold our rebellious DNA has on us. 

“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col 1:13-14). 

Rejecting God’s authority is the “bacteria” making us and our society sick.  If our gospel doesn’t deal with our root problem, then it isn’t good news, it is only an antacid.  We may outwardly live a better moral life, enjoy our forgiveness, and anticipate heaven, but still live with the bacteria unless we repent by rejecting self-rule and submitting to God’s-rule in our daily lives.

Discipleship on the resurrection side of the cross teaches us how to live a life submitted to and aligned with Christ.  Apprenticeship to Christ is essential for all the forgiven citizens of His kingdom.

Questions for reflection:

1.  Is rebellion too strong a word?  Compare and contrast it with words such as lost, sinners, and disobedient.

2.  How do the following fit with our discussion of proximity and causal issues?

 “Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God” (Isa 59:1-2).

 “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners” (Rom 5:19).