Its been a busy few days, Ezra bought a new car (Ford Focus) and my involvement with that took some of my free time. I've been reading 'The Great Omission' this week by Dallas Willard, what a provocative read. His overall premise is that "There is an obvious Great Disparity between, on the one hand, the hope for life in Jesus--found real in the Bible and in many shining examples from among His followers--and, on the other hand, the actual day-to-day behavior, inner life, and social presence of most of those who now profess adherence to Him." In essence he's asking where is real Christianity? The kind that transforms lives to be like Jesus. He builds a case that people in America believe that you can be a Christian, but not be a disciple. In defense of this observation he defines a disciple as, '...one who, intent on becoming Christ-like and so dewlling in His faith and practice, systematically and progressively rearranges his affairs to that end."
I agree with Willard, that far too many professing Christians exhibit little or no life-change, Christians look so much like the world they 'blend in'. What would our lives look like if we took discipleship seriously, and as Willard says, 'systematically and progressively rearranged our lives to look like Jesus?'
PM
About Me
- pastor mike
- I am the pastor of Full Life Church in Fremont, Nebraska. My wife Terry and I have been married 29 years and love to go motorcycling together. We love to spend time with people listening to the story of their spiritual journey. Our life philosophy is 'Love God, and love people'.
10 comments:
Mike,
This is the journey that I have been on for the last three months. I am coming undone as a result. That is a good thing. It has been said that our theology in the United States is 3000 mi. wide and 1 inch deep.
1John 1:6
If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
Walk here refers to a style of life.
Wow this is great, I have to go more to follow.
God Bless
What does this look like, though? This has been my struggle. Is it dressing the right way? Saying the right things? Reacting perfectly to every situation? My frustration has been in the lack of disciplers - I long for discipleship, but people are way too busy (myself included - I'm not casting stones). I think that this is the biggest fault in the church today - talk about looking like the world. We split up families in the name of ministry (which in reality is just another program to occupy our time) and that makes it okay! We are work-a-holics - it's just that we feel better about it because we give it the name "ministry". We have become religious and have forgotten what it means to relate - both to God and to each other.
"This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men." Mk 7:6-9
"Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote," Is. 29:13
I guess I get the feeling that we are being cloned rather than discipled.
Hi Mike,
Say Hi to TW for me and congradulate Ezra on his new car.
Love you all
Please tell Ezra I said congratulations on getting his new car. Hope he enjoys it!
There are many faults in the church today, and they are all a reflection of us. We are the church. First thing would be to lose the what "I" want and do what the scripture says and find out what God wants. I have asked God what it looks to not be of the world, here is a short list or Test.
1. Dress could be an issue - do I dress to frame my face or to frame my body?
2. What do I watch on TV ? Do I say "I just don't have time for prayer or reading God's word", but spend 3 hours a night in front of the TV watching and laughing at the things that God clearly hates?
3. What music do I listen to? Does it bring glory to God? By the way just because it is called Christian, you still better check the words out. What books do I read?
4. Do I fellowship with none believers more than with believers? Who do I associate with?
5. Did I repeat a prayer with someone and now I think I'm saved? (that's not in scripture)
6. Do I have compassion for the lost and share the Gospel with them? Or is that someone else's job.
7. Do I compare myself to others to gauge how I am doing? Or to Gods standards that He has given us in His word?
8. Do I profess to know Jesus and not realize that it is more important that Jesus KNOWS ME!!!!!!!
9. When someone talks about God's holy standard, do I get angry and call them a legalist?
10. Do I trust my feelings more than the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
There's more!
One reason there are not more disciples in the Church is because most of us are there for what we can get out of Church. God has revealed to me that I originally professed to be a Christian so that I would benefit from it. Not so that God would have the Glory, and as a result I have spent many years not growing and changing in my faith. What a waste of time!!!!
Where in scripture are we called to relate to God? I think we are called to believe in His Son Jesus Christ and repent of our sins, to follow Him, to praise him, to worship him, to pray to Him, and to read His word, that He has revealed Himself to us with. We are called to submit to Him as our Lord and Master because we are bought and paid for by the blood of His Son. The ability to relate to others will come when we have the heart of God. How do we get the heart of God??
Keep this going!
ballofdirt :-) (This is hard to address someone as)
Thanks so much for responding. I, too, just this morning have come to the realization that it is ALL about JESUS. I realize that Satan has had me so distracted that I have forgotten Jesus. If I am doing anything for any other reason - it is in vain.
I guess what I meant in my blog before was, we get so caught up in telling people how to dress, what to eat, how to look that we forget that Jesus didn't even disciple people this way. He taught them how to relate to God. He taught them about God. I could be wrong (I've been before), but I don't remember one instance in the New Testament where Jesus said my disciples look like this: and proceed to give them a list. He said my sheep know my voice, you are my disciples if you obey me. He showed them what God was like in His person and then said "Go, and sin no more." Isn't it in that personal, intimate relationship with God that the Holy Spirit has a chance to convict, lead, mold and shape. I guess I feel (in my experience) that we tend to play Holy Spirit and convict people of sin. I'm not saying that it is never right to judge a situation - that's just not Biblical - we are called to judge at times, but I mean discipleship - true discipleship shouldn't it be more than laying out a list: This is holy - this is not. When most of the time we don't know the person well enough to know what their motivation and heart is.
I understand what you are saying about my walk personally. You are absolutely right - I need to understand the motive of my heart and line that up with what God is telling me. I need to constantly strive to "renew my mind" and line it up with my spirit instead of my flesh. This, I believe, is a daily struggle for all of us. Again, though we can only know this by a relationship with Jesus.
anonymous II
Hey Anonymous,
Jesus certainly did teach His disciples specific things about their behavior. They also had the OT scriptures as their spiritual guide, Jesus confirmed everyone of the 10 commandments in His teaching. On top of that the NT letters give plenty of lists about behavior for believers, Paul's teachings are an elaboration and extension of Jesus teachings, and Paul was also a discipler. Not that list are the ultimate expression, but it is important to know where God wants us to stand on specific issues. When it comes to leadership the NT get even more specific about qualities and behaviors that mark those mature enough to lead among us (1 Tim 3: Tit 1). It is definitely about the heart I agree totally with you there, but we can use that language as merely a way to avoid specific life issues or behaviors that we want to coddle.
This is so awesome!!
Please know I shared what God has revealed to me about me not any one else. That is why the list is in the first person. As for lists, God gave us the Ten Commandments, God lists things he hates (oh ya GOD HATES)in Proverbs 6:16-19, The Beatitudes, Parable after parable one after another? That's not really the issue, I just thought it was interesting what you said about lists.
Why does it cause me to weep and be fearful whether I am in the world or not, but most important eternity?
Jesus Said in Mark 7: 13-23
13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
The Barna Group has some incredible statistics that confirm what Jesus said here. But as for me, I need the Lists that God has given us throughout His word to walk in his light, to have fellowship with Him, anything that is outside of that separates me from Him. And one day my lawlessness will separate me from God for eternity. Like I said before it's more important that Jesus knows me, than that I know Jesus. You know what else I weep with joy about is that He wants to know me!!!!!!
Well, I've got to go for now, there is so much more to talk about. One more thought. If I truly want to have God's heart I need to know God's heart, and to know God's heart I have to know what pleases Him and what He hates(what are his laws).
Keep it going
I think I may have been a tad bit misunderstood. I'm sorry - I don't communicate well. I feel like we are getting into territory that I didn't intend.
I do know that there are standards - we need to strive to be all that Christ has for us and this means that we must be different as Christians. We also need to strive for excellence. If we know that a brother is stumbling - we need to pull him up. As a believer I want to both be an example to believers and non-believers alike. I really want to be like Jesus - I really want to be salt and light. I really want Jesus' life to be evident in my life. I know that there are lists - I also know that I can't live up to them. Praise God, Jesus did! I would go straight to hell otherwise - I know this with all my heart! Jesus did the work I could not ever do, then sent me the help I need to guide me in life and make me a holy child of God - an ambassador - a royal priesthood. I did nothing to earn my salvation and there is nothing that I can do to keep it.
I'm talking about discipleship. Is discipleship merely telling people what to do and what not to do? This is my question. I am struggling with the lack of relationship that goes with the discipling of today. This is what I meant when I asked - what does this look like? I'm not pointing fingers - I really want to know - what does this look like? I ask this from the point of view of someone who boths wants to be discipled and to disciple. I just don't see a whole lot of relationship going on - is this okay? How can we disciple without having a relationship with those we disciple? I sense that Paul had a deep relationship and had invested much time in the people he discipled. Plus the unlimited hours he must have spent in prayer for the people he was discipling judging by his letters. I know that I haven't invested in people like this. How do I know what my brother needs if I don't know my brother at all? This is what I mean. If we put the list above the person doesn't that make us a bit pharasitical? Some time ago, we had a string of missionaries come and speak at our church - all of them echoed one thought - they poured out their life into the lives of others. Is this happening in the American church? You said it right in your first blog. "The theology in the US is 3000 mi wide and 1 in deep." I almost think we focus on the wrong things.
I hope that this clears it up a bit
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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