students of jesus

Like any writer, the narcissist in me believes you would enjoy a peek into the book I plan to release this fall, The Impossible Mentor. Advance praise for this book comes from my wife, my children, and the stray cat we keep feeding at the back door. They all agree: this will be the finest book on spiritual formation ever to come out of Campbellsville, Kentucky. Just because these witnesses are deeply biased doesn’t mean they are wrong, it just means they will buy the first thousand copies.

This week and next I’ll share the opening passages of the first few chapters. Today, a bit from the opening of chapter one:

Chapter One: "I'm Not Jesus"

I knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left my mouth. Sitting in my office was a young man who had been cheated out of $200 by someone else in the church. Both men attended our church, and one guy really did owe the other $200. But the guilty party wasn’t in the office, the other guy was--and he was full of anger and frustration because of his loss. That’s when I made my hasty suggestion:

“You could forgive him his debt,” I suggested. “Jesus told us to do just that.”

Big mistake.

“Well I’m not Jesus!” he nearly shouted back at me.

End of discussion, end of ministry time, end of opportunity to take the yoke Jesus offers. It was my mistake. Not for suggesting a perfectly Biblical remedy to his anger and frustration, but for expressing the solution in such a way that he would consider it impossible.

It’s impossible to be like Jesus, isn’t it? Jesus was perfect. He led a sinless life. He was God-come-to-earth and his life sets the bar impossibly high for any of us.

I believe that the central problem in nurturing followers of Jesus in North America is our view of Jesus as the Impossible Mentor.

It’s a paradox: nearly everyone is willing to acknowledge Jesus as a worthy role model, but almost no one seriously believes it is possible to live up to his example. Our esteem for Jesus’ life of obedience to the Father and our desire to be “just like Jesus” does battle with the deep-seated notion that it is impossible to be like him. Who would choose a mentor who is impossible to imitate?

Some passages in the Scripture inspire fill us with confidence. Some light the fires of hope in our hearts. Other passages seem too idealistic, too fantastic to find their way into even our dreams, much less our daily lives: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8: 29) Is this possible? Does God really look at each one of us and see a destiny in which we look like Jesus?

Whatever our theological foundations regarding this passage we should all recognize that it is about God’s intention for each of one us--to become “conformed to the likeness of his Son.” Simply put, God desires to have more children like Jesus. Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, but we become his sons and daughters by adoption. The destiny of those adopted into the family of God is that we, too, should bear the family likeness. That is: we will look just like Jesus.

In a conversation with a dozen young Christians this week, I asked them if they felt it was possible to live a life without sin for even one day. No takers. So I rephrased the question and asked if it is possible to go for an hour without sinning. Only one of them thought it was possible to stay within the will of God for a single hour.

These questions are not academic. They go to the heart of our life “in Christ.” If our intuition tells us that following His example is impossible, for one day or even an hour, how can we have the confidence to pursue his vision for us? The bottom line is that God has a greater vision for what is possible in our lives than we do. Perhaps the reason the Apostle Paul instructs us later in Romans to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds” is so we can see the possibilities of a life lived in harmony with Jesus. A practical, day-to-day moment-by-moment harmony capable of generating the rest and peace he promises.

Let me encourage you to ponder the foundations of your commitment to be a disciple of Jesus. Here are a few suggestions for meditation and prayer:

• Is it possible to learn from him?
• If Jesus is my mentor, have I committed myself to failure with no possibility of success?
• What kind of Master would invite me to be his apprentice if he thought there was no possibility to follow in his footsteps?

The answers spoken from our heart will determine whether discipleship is possible.

Most of us are keenly aware of the qualities we lack as followers of Jesus. We possess the assurance of our weakness instead of the assurance of his faithfulness. The very first believers knew little of such introspection because they directed their gaze toward Jesus. They saw him flash like lightning in the dark sky of human effort. The more clearly they saw him, the more they discovered that his overwhelming love empowered them to become like him.

Here’s how Peter explained it:

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort . . . ~ 2 Peter 1: 3-5

When I read this passage years ago it flashed like lightning across my heart. I am still thunderstruck by these amazing words.
• “His divine power . . .” As followers of Jesus, our everyday life in Christ is based upon his divine power, not our human strength. Where should we fix our attention--our lack or his supply? The life we live reveals the answer of our hearts.
• “. . . has given us everything we need for life and godliness . . .” When was the last time anyone told you that you have everything you need? The beauty of “life and godliness” are within our reach, and has been ever since the resurrection. It’s not a “legal fiction,” it’s a present reality.
• “. . . through our knowledge of him . . .” This is a modern road block—our western mindset leads us to believe that the knowledge of him comes through mere study. His first followers knew better: the only true knowledge of him comes as we experience his presence. Apart from his presence we are only spiritual historians.
• “. . . his own glory and goodness. . . ” Who talks these days about “glory and goodness?” 21st century Americans have difficulty understanding the glory of God, yet this glory has been streaming live into creation from the very beginning. And his goodness? We walk in that goodness everyday, most of us unaware of this never-ending supply. He is good beyond all measure. Better yet: his glory and goodness are directed toward us!
• “. . . He has given us very great and precious promises . . .” Do we ever reflect upon his promises? Seriously: how many can you name? I’m afraid that for most of us his promises are like autumn leaves: beautiful, but not very useful.
• “. . . So that through them you may participate in the divine nature . . .” Here is where the lightning flash knocked me over. We can participate in God’s nature, right here, right now. Who knows the full meaning of this phrase? Not me, but  whatever it means, it has to be good!
• “. . . and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires . . . “ Many believers think the gospel is only about forgiveness, but the good news is even better: corruption is the legacy of a dying world, but we are a new creation.

And still there remains one more. It’s not enough to know. We must walk.

“For this very reason, make every effort . . .” Notice that effort comes after we encounter his divine power, his glory and goodness, and his precious promises. Too many disciples of Jesus--serious in their commitment to follow him--believe that their effort comes first. Instead, our effort is a response to all he has done: a joyful, grateful, confident recognition of his kindness toward us.

The challenge of this passage continues into verses 5–11, and it is a dangerous challenge at that. The danger of these next verses is that we believe we can accomplish the list apart from his divine power, his glory and goodness, and his precious promises. Only a fool would attempt to fulfill the chain of virtues by human effort alone.

We need the lightning to illuminate the dark landscape of our hearts. We need the thunder to ring in our ears and shake our dead skeletons. We need power, glory, goodness, and promise before we take a step. Fortunately, he still thunders forth from heaven.

Sometimes words change faster than Bible translations. Some words morph faster than politicians change positions. Worse still, some words are taken captive and forced into the labor of deception. They end up communicating the very opposite of their truest meaning.

For example, the simple word hope has come to mean something unsure and doubtful. Everyone hopes for the best, but prepares for the worst. When we talk about hope in everyday language we are really talking about our insecurities: who knows how things will really work out?

It’s not always been that way. The word hope used to do some pretty heavy lifting. The Biblical notion of hope is the opposite of un-certainty. It’s a word filled with expectation: expectation of God’s powerful intervention. The word hope describes the in-breaking of joy capable of showing fear to the door. When the Spirit of God speaks of hope the word means “confident expectation,” or quite literally a life-line from heaven. It is an overflowing word, intended to be contagious, changing lives and cultures.

Hope is an abiding thing. It hangs out in the company of faith and love. It will outlast this world.

We could spend the next decade plumbing the depths of Biblical hope. We could explore the pathways of hope until we draw our final breath, only to discover that the half has not been told. Godly hope is the rebirth of divine certainty in us, and it does not disappoint.
Hebrews describes hope as an anchor, thrown--not into the sea--but into the heavens. The preacher of that message suggests hope should spur us to diligence, not out of desperation but rather confidence.
Hosea discovered the "gateway of hope" in the "valley of Trouble."
The Psalms reveal that hope is the antidote for depression and turmoil. Not wishful thinking or a positive mental attitude, but instead drinking deep from springs of hope the way a deer searches for streams of water.
In Romans, the Apostle Paul promised us that hope does not disappoint. Hope is the conduit through which God’s love pours into our hearts.

I’m beginning to re-tool my vocabulary, and more importantly my heart. What has God said? What has he promised? I will lash myself to his revelation, because hope abides. The greatest of these may be love, but faith and hope are love’s fellow travelers. I suspect there’s room for you in the traveling party.

vanGogh: Good Samaritan (c. 1890)

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”  Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead . . .

It's inspired: Jesus refuses to use the scripture as a rule-book. Instead he lets the word of God fund his imagination. The Lord is doing more than telling us a story, he is showing us how to interact with the Law.

Rembrandt: Return of the Prodigal Son (c. 1667)

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
So he told them this parable:

 “There was a man who had two sons . . . “

Who settles disputes by telling a fairy tale? The smartest guy in the room, that's who.

Thomas Hart Benton's The Prodigal is a Midrash on canvas: what it the family could not survive without the younger son? What if he returned too late?

What about you? Is there a painting that moves your heart or reveals more of God's word to you? Leave us a link!

Our decision to follow Jesus includes the promise of Heaven. Even better: it also includes a miraculous transformation to become part of God’s family. He entrusts us with the task of announcing his kingdom, and making disciples fit for the king. He does not entrust this task to servants: he gives it to brothers.

Jesus began with a master-disciple relationship between him and the twelve. After three years it had morphed into one between friends, and after his ascension, the relationship is family: “the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” (Hebrews 2: 11) The call to come and follow is actually a call to join the family business. Not as a hired hand, but as a child of God.  

Jesus makes all things new: a new earth, a new heaven, and a new family, drawn from every people group on the earth. This work won’t be completed until the the end of this age, but right now, in this present age, Jesus planted evidence of what the age to come will look like. What will this new new age look like? The answer lies in another question: What kind of people has Jesus adopted?

According to the Apostle Peter, we are that people right now! Listen to the message: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” (I Peter 2: 9 - 10)

The early church believed that Jesus had opened the way for heaven to “invade” Earth. This invasion meant that everyone who followed Jesus could draw on the same resources that Jesus used. Our lives should reflect the promise of Heaven. The expectation of the early church was that because Jesus had opened the way, Heaven would regularly break into the everyday business of Earth. Consider this long prayer, which came from the early church in Jerusalem:

When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
   " 'Why do the nations rage
       and the peoples plot in vain?
   The kings of the earth take their stand
       and the rulers gather together
       against the Lord
       and against his Anointed One.
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4: 24 – 31)

Notice the relationship between the people of God and the work of God? His people promised to speak boldly, and asked God to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through them. This was the pattern set by Jesus in the gospels, and it was the pattern applied to the church in Acts. Jesus was the firstborn of Heaven; the church was the firstfruit of his ministry. The church was both the harvest and the example of the whole harvest would look like. It was true then; it’s true now. The complete harvest comes at the end of the age. Meanwhile the church exhibits the promise of that harvest.

It’s a glorious picture of the church, but sadly, a picture largely obscured by many churches today. Perhaps we can dare to hope that the church will someday rise to this calling, but our personal, immediate challenge is to see that the church is comprised of individual family members. The we begins when Christ formed in me.