tagged 
Grace, discipleship
Grace, discipleship Entries from March 1, 2011 - March 31, 2011
Why I Changed Doctors Years Ago
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:22AM 
A few years ago I had to find another doctor. My previous one couldn’t help me. He was able to diagnose the problem, but not able to suggest a remedy that would fix things once and for all. I kept going back to him week after week. My appointments began to sound like an old vaudeville routine:
“Your problem is you’re sick.”
“Of course I’m sick,” I replied. “That’s why I’m here.”
“Have you had this before?”
“You know I’ve had this before. I had it the last time I was here.”
“Well, you’ve got it again.”
I tried demonstrating the problem: “It hurts when I do this.”
“Well, don’t do that,” he advised.
“Doctor, is there any hope for me?”
“Of course there is. Take two aspirin. You’ll feel better when you’re dead.”
After 15 years of being told I was sick, always receiving the same prescription, and always coming back with the same complaint, I began to wonder if my doctor knew what he was talking about. I’m one of the lucky ones because it only took me 15 years to wonder what was going on.
OK . . . I made that up. But many of us have been returning to the same place, year after year, with the same problem. We are offered the same solution and we leave feeling as if there should be a better remedy available, but the professional assures us that we are on the right track. If you haven’t guessed already, the professional is not a doctor but a pastor, and the “doctor’s office” is our regular gathering for church.
Whether it is the repetition of liturgy separated from our daily experience, or it is the repetition of preaching that finds new ways to express the same old message, many followers of Jesus go to church only to experience what Yogi Berra called “Déjà vu all over again.” We are reminded of our sin and God’s grace toward that sin.
Of course this is correct: we are sinful, and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross pays the price for our redemption. And, of course, the grace of God should be celebrated and declared by the church. But grace, understood as the one-time event of redemption, is not the sole message the church or the full content of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. It is the common experience of church-goers to re-enact the drama of forgiveness each week, or to hear the gospel presented again and again as the call of God to wayward sinners to make things right. If the preaching ever varies from this content, then we are told that we need to carry this good news of God’s grace into our community so that others may be forgiven and redeemed.
This is a great challenge facing followers of Jesus today: we have a limited view of God’s grace. The grace of God, which is a reality greater than the human intellect can gasp and more accessible than the air we breathe, has been captured and domesticated for weekly use. To those of us who have been in church for some time, grace means that Christians have gotten a great deal. In church circles, grace has variously been defined as “not getting what we deserve,” or “God’s unmerited favor,” or “God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.” I am coming to see that all of these ideas about grace are true, but tell only half the truth.
The more I read the New Testament, the more all-encompassing grace becomes. Instead of presenting grace as a repeatable sin-cleansing bargain, the Bible seems to present a grace that continues to reach into our lives day after day and in more ways than we expect. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote to a young pastor:
For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12)
What kind of grace is this? If grace means getting off scott-free, why is grace appearing to me and teaching me a new way to live? Most believers are very comfortable with “the grace that brings salvation,” but why would grace instruct us to “deny ungodliness?” Isn’t that a little judgmental? I thought God loved me just the way I am.
Apparently God’s grace is after more than wiping the slate clean week after week. The grace of God wants to teach us a new way to live. “God loves me just the way I am.” Everyone is comfortable with that statement, but how about this one: “God loves me so much he won’t let me stay just the way I am.” First his grace saves, then it teaches. I think everyone is OK with “being forgiven,” but perhaps we skip school when it comes time to learn how to deny ungodliness, deny worldly passions, live sensible and upright lives.
Richard Foster, a man who has spent his adult life encouraging Christians to grow in the grace of God, points out that the message of grace is something more than merely a means for gaining forgiveness. Sadly, many Christians have been taught that any effort to learn how to live a holy life right now runs counter to God’s forgiving grace. Many church-goers are told week after week that they are miserable sinners in need of the grace of forgiveness. They are told week after week that that there is nothing they can do apart from the grace of forgiveness. And, hearing the same message week after week, along with the same remedy, they remain in the same place. “Having been saved by grace,” Foster writes, “these people have been paralyzed by it.”
Do you have any examples of grace teaching you a new way to live?
Monday's Meditation: The Parable of the Brilliant Baby
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 11:06AM 
Once there was a baby both brilliant and proud. He was brilliant because he grasped human language at just three weeks of age. Indeed, he could talk at six weeks. But he didn’t talk, because he was proud.
“Why should I use the same language everyone else uses?” he thought. “That’s just imitating what others do.”
So instead of speaking his mother-tongue he made up his own language. At first everyone thought the infant was simply babbling like all babies do. The baby boy spoke clearly and directly in a way that made perfect sense to him: “Mother, I’m hungry,” he would say, but she did not understand his words. Because she loved her child she was acutely aware of his needs and managed to understand his hunger without understanding his language. “The fools,” thought Baby Brilliant. “Anyone can speak their language, but I have invented my own. I refuse to imitate their common speech.” Indeed, he also rejected the facial expressions common his culture. He knew that smiles meant happiness, but when he was happy he would squeeze his eyes shut and puff out his cheeks. When he was angry he would not frown, but instead hold his ears and breath. He had invented new expressions, but no one knew what he was feeling.
At a time when other children were learning their first words and beginning to communicate with words like “Momma” and “Dadda,” he was ready to discourse on the meaning of life. Of course, he had no one to talk to but it did not matter--his great intellect was company enough. He despised other babies and the parents who insisted they imitate the ways of society. Imitation was for sheep, brilliance demanded a new language, new thoughts, new ways. So great was his pride that he refused to communicate with others or imitate their language.
Eventually, at a time when other babies grew into children and toddled off to school (to imitate their elders even more) the Brilliant Baby was packed off to an institution for children “non-responsive to their surroundings.”
There, at the institution, the night nurse fell asleep while reading at her desk, but not before underlining these words by the author: "A man can no more possess a private religion than he can possess a private sun and moon."
What meaning do you assign to this story? I’d love to know.
Seven Keys to Following Jesus
Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 12:34PM 
Most of us are keenly aware of the qualities we lack as followers of Jesus. Perhaps you’re like me: from time to time I catch myself thinking, “If I only had a little more faith I could be a better disciple.” Actually, we could substitute nearly any other quality for the word faith, “if I only had a little more teaching, time, energy, money . . .” We possess the assurance of our weakness instead of the assurance of his faithfulness.
Let me share with you a passage from Peter’s second letter that changed my life forever. Several years ago it flashed like lightning across my heart, and the thunder still rattles my everyday life
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
Here are seven keys to following Jesus from these amazing words. Perhaps you could carry them with you:
• “His divine power . . .” As followers of Jesus, our everyday life in Christ should be based upon his divine power, not our human strength. Our lives in Christ began with the miracle of the new birth. He did something for us we could not do for ourselves. Each continuing day with him should be based on this same revelation--we need his divine power, daily.
• “has given us everything we need for life and godliness . . .” The problem is, most of us think that God did "His part" on the cross and now the rest is up to us. It’s a common mistake, Paul needed to remind the Galatians that what was begun in the Holy Spirit could not be finished in the flesh. The good news is on-going: he isn’t finished dispensing his grace!
• “through our knowledge of him . . .” Road block! Our western mindset leads us to believe that the knowledge of him comes through mere study. I’m pretty sure Peter is not urging us toward an academic knowledge of Jesus. There’s nothing wrong with the study of Jesus, but a more fruitful approach is to know him by experiencing his presence.
• “his own glory and goodness . . . ” 21st century Americans have difficulty understanding “glory,” but his glory can impact our life. Most of us don’t even have a category called glory, but Peter urges followers of Jesus to soak in God’s glory that way we might soak in a tub. Does that seem strange to you? Perhaps that why we have difficulty trusting in his goodness as well. Yet the testimony of those who have walked with him is: he is good beyond all measure. And better yet: this glory and goodness is directed toward us!
• “He has given us very great and precious promises . . .” Do we ever reflect upon his promises? My unscientific opinion: not one in ten believers can point to a promise made by Jesus beyond the promise of eternal life. For most the benefits of a relationship with Jesus are locked up in the age to come. Such promises may even be true, I’m afraid that for most of us his promises are like autumn leaves: beautiful, but not very useful. But what if there were promises for us to receive today?
• “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. Part of becoming a child of God is receiving something of his nature. Have you ever reflected on the idea that if you are his child he wants you to enjoy the family identity as well? Who knows the full meaning of this scriptural phrase? Not me, but I’m convinced that whatever it means, it has to be good!
• “and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires . . . “ Many believers are trapped into thinking the gospel is only about forgiveness. They see the Christian life as a cycle of sin, forgiveness, followed by more sin. On and on, until we are transported outta here. But the good news is even better: Peter wants us to know we can be set free from the cycle of corruption!
These are the seven keys, but like all keys they merely unlock the door to the next the passageway. The scripture calls us to action as well. Two final points about taking action:
“For this very reason, make every effort . . .” Peter’s exhortation comes after we see things from God’s perspective. The order is important: 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.
“For this very reason, make every effort (part two). . .” But there is another segment of Christians who think effort is opposed to grace. For these friends we can only quote Dallas Willard (as we do so often!) “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning.”
Peter’s letter goes on to relate a long list of Christian virtues, and all of them are good (of course!). The danger of these next verses is when we believe we can accomplish the list apart from his divine power, his glory and goodness, and his precious promises.
First things first, we need to realize that our progress comes from empowerment, followed by our cooperation. Don’t be in a hurry. Take a week to meditate on what he has done. Take more! We have a lifetime to “make every effort.”
Monday's Meditation: His Humanity, Our Example
Monday, March 21, 2011 at 09:14AM 
The great theologian Abraham Lincoln once observed that God must love the common man because he made so many of them. He was on to something. From the beginning God the Father has loved people! He made people, he talks to people, and he accomplishes his work through people. The humanity of Jesus is not so much an exceptional act of God as it is the crowning act of God.
It should be no surprise then, that when God Himself wanted to accomplish the redemption of the whole earth, He did so through a man. Jesus, 100% God, was also 100% man. The religious authorities in his day could not accept the idea that a man could forgive sin, that a man could open the eyes of the blind, or that a man could cleanse lepers with a touch. Sin, blindness and leprosy were contagious, men should flee from them all! But the Man Jesus Christ came with a heavenly contagion that set the oppressed free.
God’s method, revealed in scripture, is to use people. Before Jesus, God partnered with people: Abraham, Sarah, Moses, and Ruth. In Jesus, God sent a man. After Jesus, he commissioned men, “Go therefore into all the world . . .” (Matthew 28:18) Why is this significant? We need to see that God has always chosen to work through humanity to accomplish his purposes in the earth. Jesus, our model, demonstrated the potential of a human life lived in total submission to the Father. Jesus healed and taught and discipled not by virtue of his divine nature but by the grace of being a Man fully submitted to God. He didn’t raise the dead because he was the Boss’ Son, he did so to display the full potential of a human life in partnership with God.
To grasp the humanity of Jesus is to grasp the hope that Christlikeness is possible for each of us. His intention is to reproduce Himself in the lives of his followers, to launch a community of God’s sons and daughters capable of the kind of character and power demonstrated by the only begotten Son of God. God only "fathered” one child, but He has chosen to adopt untold more, and each adopted child is called to the family business.
Two Vital Needs of Every Disciple
Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 11:15AM 
Paradoxes are fun--they’re like brain-teasers. Some people love to talk about them. It’s something else altogether to live inside of them. Jesus modeled living inside the most difficult paradoxes. For example, how can the ruler of the world become an example of obedience? How can the object of worship himself become an example of how to worship? How can the perfect Son of God call others to follow him, and then demonstrate the way to follow? It’s part of his genius, his glory and his nature. What’s more, he not only showed us how it’s done, he empowered us to do the same.
Jesus calls us to follow him, and teaches us how to call others. I’m not talking about evangelism, I’m talking about making disciples. Real discipling is about making a way for others to approach the Father. If we’re only talking about Jesus, most of us are comfortable with this paradox, but our comfort is not his first concern. He told the twelve, “I’ve discipled you, now go and do the same.” (Matthew 28: 16-20)
As his followers, we are called to make disciples as well, teaching others to obey everything he commanded. There are two great problems as we attempt to live up to this commission today:
First, many of us see discipleship only in terms of following Jesus--almost never in terms of leading others. How many of us receive the call to be his disciple as a personal call from God to become a leader? That’s right, he’s talking to you. We may come to him because we need a Savior, but if we choose to become a follower of Jesus we must also realize we are also choosing the responsibility to lead others. This is what it means to follow him: we act on his behalf in the lives of others. It’s more than “sharing our faith.” It’s taking responsibility for other people’s lives until they are mature followers of Jesus. He showed us--in very practical ways--exactly how it works.
Second, if we try to lead others, we run the risk of demanding from other people obedience to Jesus without actually equipping them to obey him. Jesus gave his disciples the tools necessary to live a healthy life with God. He did more than demand, he empowered his followers. He did more than point the way, he was the way. He pointed to issues of the heart, he included his students as partners in ministry, giving them hands-on experience, and he introduced them to the Holy Spirit, effectively opening the resources of heaven to each of his disciples. What about us? As disciple makers, do we interact with those God has given us in the same way? Do we teach about heart-matters? Do we release our students into ministry? Do we introduce them to the Holy Spirit?
It starts with a paradigm shift: we cannot equip others until we believe we are called to lead others. It will not do to claim, “I have no one to lead.” Jesus is our model: he came in obedience to the Father and simultaneously became a leader of others. We must do the same. God has provided venues for our leadership: in our homes, among our friends, at work or school, or in our community. We were called to change the world by allowing God to change us--and by becoming change agents wherever he leads us.
Both these challenges are critical to our personal development as students of Jesus. Our personal spiritual growth depends on coming to terms with these challenges, and the destiny of others depends on our response as well. Plenty of Evangelical churches encourage their people to share the gospel. Few of them call their people to disciple others in the Way. By disconnecting evangelism from discipleship our churches are effectively suggesting to believers that’s OK to have spiritual babies and abandon them.
What if our spiritual growth depended upon raising others in the faith? In fact, our spiritual growth depends on that very thing. Any responsible parent can tell you that having a child--and raising it--changed their lives for the better. When we look to the development of another our selfishness dies away. When our concern is for the spiritual success of another we are forced to determine what really works in the Christian life--and what doesn’t. Something is missing in us until we make disciples. Something is missing in the world around us when we fail to teach others how to obey everything he commanded us.
Who knew discipleship would require everything we have? I suspect the Jesus did.
