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Category: Discipleship (Page 15 of 30)

Heart of a Disciple: Trust

December 31, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Another of the qualities that separated the Twelve from everybody else who interacted with Jesus during his ministry here was their great capacity to trust. They trusted Jesus completely. Entirely. Unflinchingly.

I’m ashamed to admit that more than a couple of times in my life I’ve been sucked into the buy 14 CDs for a penny scam. It took several times, but I don’t trust those kinds of offers anymore. We don’t trust Joe Isuzu. We have a hard time trusting politicians, lawyers, and used car salesmen. And preachers. Cynicism and skeptism are second nature to us.

But Jesus is no used car salesman. He doesn’t ask you to follow him so he can take what’s yours and make it his. He seeks you out to save you, to enjoin you in an eternal relationship. But Jesus still didn’t inspire awe and faith in everyone who saw him or heard him teach. Not everyone decided to follow him. Not everyone believed him. It takes a trusting heart to be moved by Jesus.

The apostles left everything. They left homes and family and jobs and security and comfort for rejection and ridicule and uncertainty and suffering. They followed him all the way to Jerusalem, knowing they were heading straight for trouble.

Jesus says, “Trust me.”

“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me,” he says. “Trust me.”

The apostles deemed Jesus trustworthy. Is he? Is Jesus as trustworthy as he claims to be?

Look back over your own life, your own experiences with him. Every single time he’s warned you that some action would be harmful to you by calling it “sin,” he’s been exactly right. Every time. Every time his teachings directed you to make the better and tougher choice, he’s been right. Every time. When he promises to take care of you, he’s always right. He’s never been wrong. Sometimes it takes a while, sometimes years, to see it and understand it. But his track record is spotless. It’s perfect. Because his motivation — pure love — is perfect.

Jesus says, “Trust me.”

Do you?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Dallas Cowboys are done before New Year’s Eve. Again. They finish the season at 8-8. Again. They lose in a win-and-get-in finale. Again. Tony Romo throws a critical late-game interception. Again. It’s the same old story for these same old Cowboys who are 128-128 since 1997.

For the third time in the past five years, the Cowboys lost the last game of the regular season when a victory would have put them in the playoffs. For the sixth time in seven tries, Tony Romo lost a do-or-die elimination football game, throwing as many picks last night as he had in the past two months. The Cowboys still have but one lousy playoff win in the past 16 years. And counting…

I feel for Jason Garrett. As a head coach, the guy’s never taken any team to the playoffs, on any stage, at any level. So I’m not sure how qualified he is to be coaching the Cowboys. His repeated mismanagement of game situations late in the 2nd and 4th quarters is troubling. But I feel for him. I don’t think he’s being given a completely fair opportunity here. He’s saddled by his GM with a defensive coordinator who couldn’t possibly be more different than him in personality and style. (Not to mention, Rob Ryan also has never taken a defense to the playoffs on any stage, at any level.) Jerry Wayne’s personnel moves on the offensive line have doomed Garrett’s offense for the past three seasons. And his loyalty to Romo has crippled this team’s present and jeopardized it’s future.

Injuries this year are a legitimate factor for the Cowboys. But not any more so than they are for all the other teams in the NFL in December. DeMarcus Ware hobbling around last night without his right arm would have been inspirational had he actually made any plays. He didn’t need to be out there. The news this morning that he’ll have surgery this week on his shoulder and elbow tells us how badly he is hurt. Not having five or six defensive starters they had in early October wasn’t helpful, no. Losing receivers Austin and Bryant and Harris late last night wasn’t ideal.

But then, their absences had nothing to do with that late Romo interception.

The Cowboys were in a position to sneak into the playoffs. Again. Momentum was with the Cowboys late in the fourth quarter. Again. And Romo threw the pick. Again.

Pretty soon, Garrett’s going to lose this team. They stay at .500 season after season. They remain near the top of the list of most penalized teams in the league. They keep missing the playoffs. I don’t know how much longer these guys are going to buy what Garrett’s selling. But, again, I’m not convinced it’s his fault.

The one constant here is Jerry Wayne. The owner and GM seemed angry after the game last night. He refused to talk about coaches or player personnel. He said only that they needed to make some changes in the way they’re doing things. The last time Jerry Wayne took a close look in the mirror and saw incompetence, he hired Bill Parcells. That’s not going to happen this offseason. Maybe one more year of .500 ball and mistakes and missed opportunities and watching other teams play in the postseason. Maybe one more year.

Peace,

Allan

Heart of a Disciple: Humility

December 29, 2012 / / 0 Comments

We’re considering the qualities that were found in Jesus’ twelve disciples that distinguished them from the rest of the people who saw and heard the Lord, who witnessed and experienced his teachings and miracles, his truth and grace. What made them different?

The most obvious characteristic in the Twelve, but lacking in all the others is humility. Most of the people who came in contact with Jesus had their own agendas. They were trying to use him for their own purposes or they just wanted him to approve or rubber-stamp some belief or practice they were already doing. Plenty of people are coming to Jesus during his ministry. But their minds are closed before they get to him.

The kind of student on which Jesus insists has an open heart and a genuine willingness to listen. Our Lord calls the kind of student who allows his teachings to reshape that student’s priorities and transform his worldview.

Sometimes the apostles didn’t like what Jesus said, but they were always humble about it. They never walked away. Even when they were baffled by his teaching — it seems like on every other page of the Gospels — they still understood that the teaching was special and that Jesus was a special kind of teacher. That’s why, in John 6, when everybody is leaving Jesus, when Jesus’ teachings were difficult to understand and follow, they remained humble in their response. Even when they didn’t get it either, the Twelve responded to Jesus with, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the holy one of God.”

They were simple. They were honest. And they were humble. Sometimes they seem stupid. Sometimes weak. Sometimes ignorant. They certainly come across in the Gospels as the duh-ciples. But they were always invested. Always committed. Of all the peopel Jesus taught, the apostles are the ones who are still there after the tricky parables, asking what they mean. Wanting to know. Wanting to learn.

Lots of people asked Jesus questions to trick him or trap him. But the apostles asked him questions because they truly wanted to know the answers and follow the teachings. Sometimes we come to Jesus’ teachings in Scripture looking for him to validate or affirm what we think we already know. If Jesus doesn’t uphold our view of divorce and remarriage, if the Lord doesn’t support what we believe or practice regarding worship or relationships or forgiveness, we’ll keep looking for other teachings. And if we can’t find them, we ignore Jesus altogether. We hang on with a white-knuckle death grip to his words that uphold what we believe, but relegate to the trash heap his words that challenge us or stretch us beyond what we’ve always known. That is the opposite of the humble heart Jesus requires in a disciple.

Of course, they learned that humility and honesty from Jesus himself. Jesus said, “Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.” He came, in his own words, not to be served, but to serve, and to give his very life for others. If we’re really going to learn from him, if we’re really going to allow his Lordship over us to shape us into his holy image, we have to exhibit a similar humility that bows before Jesus with an open heart and a confessing spirit.

Peace,

Allan

Heart of a Disciple: A Question

December 28, 2012 / / 0 Comments

(This is the first of a short, four-part series.)

Peter, Andrew, James, and John leave their boats and their nets and they follow Jesus. He calls, they jump. Matthew left his tax booth, left everything, Luke says, to follow Jesus. Philip and Nathaniel. All twelve of them drop everything, they radically reverse their lives, and begin to follow Jesus.

And these twelve apostles are true talmidim. Disciples. Real disciples. They don’t just want to know what their teacher knew. They aren’t in it to please their parents or fulfill the expectations of their society. No, this is for real. They have a passionate desire to be exactly like their rabbi. They are driven to do and think and speak and act exactly like their teacher. That’s the Twelve. In all their immaturity and stubborness, selfishness and pride, self-deceit and sin, they want nothing more than to be exactly like Jesus. What he says, they do; where he goes, they go.

It didn’t work that way with everybody.

The Son of God tells the young man in Matthew 19, “Come, follow me.” But the man refused. Instead, he went away sad. In Matthew 8, “Follow me!” and another refusal. Luke 9: “Follow me. Follow me. Follow me.” Three times. Three different people. Three more refusals. Several of Jesus’ disciples bail in John 6.

Jesus preached to the multitudes. He fed the large crowds. He taught in the synagogues. He was a well-known and well-respected rabbi. He was called “rabbi” by Pharisees and Saducees, Romans and Phoenecians. Why didn’t everybody become a disciple? Why did some keep asking for signs even after witnessing miraculous healings and spectacular feedings? If Philip and Nathaniel can take the Law and the Prophets, put two and two together, and recognize Jesus for who he is, why couldn’t the educated Scribes and dedicated teachers? All these potential students, all these potential disciples. What is it about the Twelve that made them different? These twelve young men, whose names we know, the fathers of our faith, the foundation stones of God’s Church, the ones our children sing about — what is it about them that sets them apart from all the rest?

What is it about you? What makes you such a faithful disciple of Jesus? What sets you apart from those who aren’t following our rabbi? What about the most faithful disciples of Jesus you know? What makes them different from everybody else? Whatever it is, it seems you’d want to cultivate that, right?

Peace,

Allan

 

Win Them By Our Life

December 17, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“Let us astound them by our way of life. For this is the main battle, the unanswerable argument, the argument from actions. For though we give ten thousand precepts of philosophy in words, if we do not exhibit a better life than theirs, the gain is nothing. For it is not what is said that draws their attention, but their inquiry is always what we do. Let us win them therefore by our life.”

~John Chrysostom, Homily on 1 Corinthians, 4th century AD

Why do we still mostly understand Church not as an every day, every hour Kingdom of Priests to the world, but in terms of what we do together inside our church buildings on Sunday mornings? We judge the faithfulness or worth of a congregation in terms of its structures. What’s the organization of the church? What’s the name of the church? How do they worship? The structures are almost always our starting point. So when we attempt to reform or revive or rejuvenate a church, what we normally do is go to the Bible to try to get the structures right.

I don’t know if getting the structures right is what God has in mind for his treasured possession. Is that God’s mission in the world?

I mean, what happens when all the structures are perfectly right but there’s no serious engagement with one another or with the world? If doing worship correctly or organizing the leadership chain properly takes the place of living justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God, are we honoring our Father who calls us his priests to the world?

When the church becomes more a set of structures and less a way of life in the world, our focus can become obsessively inward. We think of church life as an end in itself rather than something to be lived and given for the sake of others. We like our church, we’re comfortable in our church, we don’t want anybody to mess up our church or change it in any way. We can be very easily distracted by our own church life.

“Now a church came up to Jesus and asked, ‘Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?’
‘Why do you ask me about what is good?’ Jesus replied. ‘There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.”
‘Which ones?’ the man inquired.
Jesus replied, ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.’
‘All these I have kept,’ the church said. ‘What do I still lack?’
Jesus answered, ‘If you want to be complete, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor. Then come, follow me.’
When the church heard this, it went away sad, because it had great wealth.”

Is it possible for a church to do all the right things and still lack the one thing it needs? Is it possible for the church to be so consumed with its own life that it fails to care for the world around it? Is it possible for a church to retreat so deeply into its own righteousness that it can’t hear the cries of a lost world?

The call to follow our King requires a giving up of our own lives. Jesus did not die for his Church so we could preserve our lives and cater to our own needs. Never! God forbid! In the name and manner of Jesus we are to spend our lives for the sake of the world. The Church, just exactly like its Lord, is being sent into the world not to be served, but to serve and to give its life for the sake of others.

Peace,

Allan

Beyond the Laws

November 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” ~Romans 12:2

Renewing the mind is, by definition, an internal process. Those of us who are baptized followers of Christ understand that God’s Holy Spirit lives inside us, shaping us into the image of our Creator. And that includes the changing of our very minds, the transformation of the very ways we think.

In God’s great wisdom, he has determined that this is a much better way to go about things than following laws. We know that laws cannot conceivably cover all the issues and circumstances we face in life. No matter how detailed the laws are — God’s laid down a few and we’ve come up with plenty ourselves! — they will always fail to cover some situation.

Living like Christ is not about conforming to commands. That kind of theology leads to duplicitous living. Some disciples are “Christian” in their behavior regarding laws they’ve been taught but thoroughly worldly when it comes to those things not specifically covered in Scripture. A Christian may not abort her baby because she’s been taught not to do that. But she may harbor racist attitudes or fudge on her taxes without batting an eye.

If renewing the mind is as important as Paul says, then the goal of the Church should be forming Christian minds in our people. We should be teaching and preaching beyond what is right and wrong and work as much — if not more — on shaping a worldview that puts Christ and our Christian transformations at the center.

“Inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” ~2 Corinthians 4:16

Peace,

Allan

A Matter of Life and Death

October 2, 2012 / / 4 Comments

(Commenting on this post automatically enters you into the drawing for all the books we’re giving away in conjunction with this blog’s upcoming 1,000th article. Scroll way down to the posts on September 20 and 21 for details.)

While studying this week for our sermon on obedience to Christ’s commands (John 15:10-14, “Obey My Commands”), I’ve come across the text of a sermon from Ephesians 5:21ff preached by William Willimon on the topic of submission. While discussing how the world has subtly attacked the Christian doctrine of submission and declared war on our lives of obedience, Willimon speaks about the importance of our Sunday morning worship gatherings. He calls our worship assemblies “a matter of life and death.”

A couple of years ago, I was invited to preach in the congregation where a friend of mine serves. The congregation is located in the heart of one of our great cities. The congregation is entirely black people who live in the tenement houses in that part of the city. I arrived at eleven o’clock, expecting to participate in about an hour of worship. But I did not rise to preach until nearly twelve-thirty. There were hymns and gospel songs, a great deal of speaking, hand-clapping, singing. We did not have the benediction until nearly one-fifteen. I was exhausted.

“Why do black people stay in church so long?” I asked my friend as we went out to lunch. “Our worship never lasts much over an hour.”

He smiled. Then he explained, “Unemployment runs nearly 50 percent here. For our youth, the unemployment rate is much higher. That means that, when our people go about during the week, everything they see, everything they hear tells them, ‘You are a failure. You are nobody. You are nothing because you do not have a good job, you do not have a fine car, you have no money.’

“So I must gather them here, once a week, and get their heads straight. I get them together, here, in the church, and through the hymns, the prayers, the preaching say, ‘That is a lie. You are somebody. You are royalty! God has bought you with a price and he loves you as his Chosen People!’

“It takes me so long to get them straight because the world perverts them so terribly.”

Paganism is the air we breathe in this current world; consumerism is the water we drink; individualism and imperialism are the oxymoronic values that shape us. These things capture us, they convert our kids, they subvert us Christians. We live in a hostile place for discipleship. That’s what makes our congregations, our communities of faith, and our appointed times of corporate worship, a matter of life and death.

We must regularly speak together about God in a world that lives as if there is no God. We must talk to one another as beloved brothers and sisters in a world which encourages us to live as strangers. We must pray to God to give us what we can’t have by our own efforts in a world that teaches us we are self-sufficient and all-powerful. What we do together on Sundays matters a great deal.

Peace,

Allan

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