Replay: Discipleship and a Lawn mower
Five years ago, back when I first started this blog, our family had just moved out of “seminary housing” into “the real world.” We bought a house nearby, and with that purchase came the joys and pains of owning a house again, including lawn maintenance. This is one of the first post that I wrote on the topic of making disciples. It was called “Discipleship and a lawn mower.” (The 12 yr-old son in the story below is not 17.)
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Last week, we moved from seminary housing to an actual house. We had lived in the seminary duplex for 3 1/2 years. Don’t misunderstand me, the duplex was a good place to live. But our family had outgrown it long ago. Once we decided to stay at Southeastern for a few more years, we also decided to begin looking for houses.
Yesterday, I mowed the lawn at the new house – the first time I had done yard work in 3 1/2 years because the seminary pays a company to cut the grass… occasionally. (Now, it is true that some residents keep a lawn mower in order to cut the grass when it gets too high. We just waited out the grass cutters.) Yesterday was another first for our family as well. Jeremy (my 12 year old son) used a lawn mower for the first time. He was too young to use a lawn mower before we moved to North Carolina. And, as I stated above, he had no reason to use one until we moved into this house.
I taught him how to start the mower with the pull cord and how to overlap a little so he didn’t miss anything. I taught him how to turn corners with a mower that preferred to go straight. I taught him how to watch for rocks and sticks and other things that don’t mix well with lawn mowers.
As I was watching him push the mower, I began to think about discipleship. Today, discipleship is often thought of as a class or book. But, discipleship should be more like learning to cut grass. I had to show Jeremy how to do it, I couldn’t just talk to him about it. Also, I could not teach him from a distance – it took face-to-face communication and a relationship. It also takes patience and perseverance and endurance. Jeremy only cut about a quarter of our grass yesterday. Next time, I’ll watch him again, give him more pointers, show him a few others things, and perhaps ask him to cut a larger section of the yard. Eventually, he will be mowing the lawn by himself, but only after much help and practice. This is discipleship.
Actually, even mowing the lawn is discipleship. I’m teaching Jeremy how to care for his house and family once he is married. Somehow, mowing the lawn didn’t seem as tedious as the last time.
Refusing to trust what we think we understand
In Scripture, faith is radical trust in God, especially when the outcome is not obvious or even rational. This is the kind of faith that would cause three men to walk into a burning furnace, that would cause a teenager to stand up against a giant warrior, or that would cause many of Jesus’ followers to continue to profess his death, burial, and resurrection while standing before an executioner.
Today, many have reduced faith to a series of statements or a theological doctrine. Christians often trust what they can explain or codify. In other words, they are leaning on their own theological understanding. They create a faith that is reasonable and logical.
Then, based on that faith, they make decisions that are logical, practical, and expedient. The decisions may be big decisions, and the plans may be described as “God-sized,” but the plans are often accomplished with human effort. The fact that these plans succeed (much like a good business plan) convinces many that God has blessed them and approves of their decisions.
Scripture’s faith caused people to place their lives in God’s hand, even when death seemed imminent and apparent, while today’s “faith” exhorts Christians to give a little more, build a bigger organization, stop watching some television programs, or teach a Sunday school class.
Today’s “faith” is a far cry from trusting God with all of our being and leaning on nothing else, not even leaning on those things that we think we understand.
Trusting God does not mean that we do the best we can with what we understand or what we can figure out.
Trusting God means refusing to trust what we think we understand.
But, while this requires a radical trust in God, in Scripture this kind of faith is not radical. No. This kind of faith is the normal faith of the normal Christian.
Replay: Hypothetical Situation… what do you think?
Two years ago, I wrote a post called “Hypothetical Situation… what do you think?” I think this “hypothetical situation” reveals some major weaknesses in the way that many understand the church. And, by the way, you probably won’t have to read very long before you recognize that this isn’t actually a hypothetical situation. It is based on a real (and true) story.
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Suppose that you and some friends were traveling through a foreign city. While you were there, you met a group a people who invited you to a religious ceremony. You go with them.
At this ceremony, you realize that these people believe in God, but they do not know about Jesus Christ. At the end of the ceremony, the leader gives anyone a chance to talk. You find the courage to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people gathered.
Some of the people are very interested. As you leave the ceremony, they follow you and ask you more about Jesus. In fact, they encourage you to stay with them for the next several days and continuously ask you about Jesus, your beliefs, your lifestyle, etc. Many people confess their desire to follow Jesus.
The people are amazed at the way you interact with your friends, with them, and with the other people in the city. They ask you about your lifestyle, and you explain that the gospel not simply a message to be believed, but it is a life to be lived.
The religious leaders invite you back to their next ceremony. Once again you are given the opportunity to speak, but this time the leaders are ready with some questions and concerns. You explain as well as you can, and after the ceremony a few others ask if they can learn more as well. Again, many confess their desire to follow Jesus.
Others who are not religious begin to show interest, and some of them confess their desire to follow Jesus. It seems like everywhere you go in the city, people are talking about your group and about Jesus.
By the next week, when you have once again been invited to the religious ceremony, the atmosphere has changed. The religious leaders are angry and begin to threaten you and those who have began to follow Christ because of you. You are not given the chance to defend yourself or the others at this meeting, and the new believers become concerned.
That night, after the ceremony, the new believers convince you that it would be best for you and for them if you and your friends left that night. You agree, so you pack up your belongings and drive away.
As you are driving away, and as you think about what had happened over the last few weeks, you begin to think about that little band of disciples back in the city.
So… here are my questions for you, my readers: 1) What things do you think are most important that you would have taught them over the last few weeks? 2) What concerns would you have about this group of disciples? 3) Would you consider this group a church? Why or why not? 4) Do you think you left them with everything they need after only a few weeks? 5) If so, how could this be enough? 6) If not, what is missing?
(By the way, this “hypothetical situation” is based on a true story.)
Do not read this post if you are comfortable NOT making disciples
Guy at “The M Blog” has written an excellent post called “Great Commission Myths.”
In the post, as the title suggests, Guy shares certain myths that often crop up. These myths especially come to the fore whenever someone is comfortable NOT making disciples. (Guy got these myths from Joey Shaw.)
Here are the five myths of disciple making:
1. The myth of accidental discipleship.
2. Crossing cultures is a step beyond the general mandate.
3. Jesus wants converts.
4. When I am ready and able, I will start making disciples.
5. Making disciples is great advice.
Check out Guy’s post for a description of these myths.
I’ve heard several of these reasons myself. In fact, I’ve given into several of them myself.
What do you think? How do we dispel these myths?
Replay: Losing Focus
Three years ago, I wrote a post called “Losing Focus” which was a follow-up of a series I had written a year earlier than that. (See the post below for a link to that series.) Have you ever thought of ecclesiology (or any portion of theology) as a “connect-the-dot” type puzzle? I think it’s a good analogy, since we all have to admit that we don’t know everything about God. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
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Just over a year ago, I wrote a series called “Connecting the Dots“. The premise of this series is that Scripture gives us certain points of reference that are similar to the “dots” of a “connect-the-dots” picture. Over the last year, I’ve seen more and more examples where people are losing focus of the “dots” – that is, the scriptural reference points – and are focusing instead on the pattern they’ve chosen to “connect the dots”.
When I took geometry in high school, I learned that two points can define a line. In fact, given the coordinates of those two points, it is possible to construct an algebraic equation that defines one particular line and every point on that line.
Once we mastered lines, our teacher led us into even more exciting territory: curves. Suddenly, two points were no longer enough to define a curve. Instead, as the curves became more and more complicated, more and more points of reference were needed.
When we read Scripture, we find points of reference concerning various topics. If we started with a clean slate (that is, without presuppositions and biases), we could mark off these points of reference much like drawing dots on graph paper. Eventually, we might find a pattern emerge. Since we don’t start with a clean slate – that is, we all have presuppositions and biases – we often begin looking for points of reference in Scripture with a pattern in mind. Regardless of how we reach a pattern, eventually we will notice a pattern in the “dots”.
In fact, it might even be possible to connect some of the dots so that the pattern becomes more visible and clear – much like connecting the stars in the signs of the zodiac so that the image of the bull or the crab or the twins becomes easier to see. I think that something interesting happens when we begin to connect the dots in order to make the pattern more clear: we slowly begin to lose focus on the the points of reference and begin to focus on our pattern instead. In fact, when we find additional points of reference that fall outside the boundaries or within the lines of our pattern, we either draw these points lighter (de-emphasize them), explain them away as anomalies in the data (ignore them), or move them slightly so that they better reflect our pattern (re-interpret them).
Of course, adjusting the dots to match our pattern creates a great image, but also misses the “point”. The pattern is not the goal. The image is man-made – artificial. When we begin to de-emphasize, ignore, or reinterpret Scripture to match our nice pattern, the “dots” – points of reference in Scripture – cease to have any value at all, other than a contrived value that we have placed on them. Suddenly, we’ve become the master craftsman, choosing which points are important and which points are unnecessary. We’ve become the judge and arbitrator, not only with Scripture, but with others who have connected the same points in a different manner, probably giving emphasis to points that we de-emphasize, including points that we ignore, and disagreeing with our reinterpretations. We hold people to the standard of our inferences and extrapolations, not to Scripture itself.
Then, we find ourselves in the mess that we are in today. Each person holding their blurred drawing as if it was a masterpiece, and failing to notice that the points of reference from Scripture have faded into the background so far that they are almost invisible. But, since we can point to occasional correlation with Scripture, we call our little “connect the dot” drawing “biblical”, which means, of course, that everyone else’s drawing must be “unbiblical”. What arrogance!
I admit freely that I still carry around many beliefs and practices that are based more on a picture that was handed to me than they are based on Scripture. I admit that I often argue more about how to connect the dots than I try to help people live in the dots, trusting God through his Spirit to help them (and me!) connect the dots as he desires. I admit that often my “picture” has become blurred to the point that the dots are barely visible.
But, I recognize my condition. And, because I recognize that my vision is faulty and that in many ways I have lost focus, I hold my image with much more humility now. And, as hard as it is, I try to look beyond the lines that once appeared so dark and clear and precise in order to find the dots. I want to live in the dots, and trust God’s Spirit to teach me and guide me as I walk between the dots.
You fight it, but it just keeps coming back
Growing up in the southeastern part of the United States, I learned at least one thing very important: This time of year, you have to keep moving so that kudzu doesn’t get you.
You know what kudzu is, right? No? Well, kudzu is a vine that is native to Japan and was introduced to the United States at the 1876 Centennial Expo in Philadelphia, PA. In the past 130+ years, it has almost taken over the southeastern part of the United States. Every spring, it starts creeping out of hiding, and soon fields, road sides, woods, anything without a lot of traffic, is soon overrun with the stuff.
People fight it with machetes and trimmers and chemicals. They push it back into the woods. But, eventually, it begins to creep back into yards and fields.
It seems that nothing can stop kudzu. It can get frustrating.
Reminds me of sin.Did you know that just as kudzu is not natural to the United States, sin is not natural to humans. Oh, it’s part of us now; and it looks like it’s here to stay.
No matter what we do, it keeps coming back. We pray; we read Scripture; we ask for help from others; we push back sin into the recesses of our hearts and minds… and it always creeps back into the open.
Yes, it looks like sin is here to stay. It looks hopeless.
But, our hope can’t be on our ability (or lack of ability) to fight sin. Yes, we should desire to live in a way that honors God. We should desire to follow Jesus Christ in everything, and he never leads to sin. We should seek to live in the Holy Spirit, and his life does not result in sin.
There are so many commands in Scripture about putting away, cutting out, avoiding sin. It’s hard work.
But, the work itself is not ours. The work of justification and sanctification is God’s work. He is working in us.
When you fight sin, and it just keeps coming back, remember that God is doing the work in you. Jesus Christ has provided forgiveness and atonement. The Holy Spirit is leading you and empowering you to live in Christ.
Today, you live in grace.
So, how do you fight back sin? How do you balance God’s work in sanctification with your work in putting away sin? Do you allow other people to help in this? How?
I say NO alot – A lesson from a 2 year old
The beautiful little lady in the picture to the left is Karlie, the two year-old daughter of our friends Mark and Meagan. Sunday, after the church ate lunch together and some of us played duck-duck-goose, Karlie accompanied me to the dumpster to throw out a bag of garbage.
On the way to the dumpster, Karlie held my hand as we walked and talked. On the way, back I reached out for Karlie’s hand and asked if she wanted to hold my hand on the way back to our church meeting place.
She said, “No,” and pulled her little hand away as we kept walking.
About a minute later, she looked up at me and said, “I say ‘No’ alot.”
Yes, this was a cute episode. When we got back, I shared this with our group, and we all had a good laugh.
Later, of course, God began to use the words of his 2 year old little girl to teach me something. Why? Because I say “No” alot too.
I say “No” to God for many, many reasons… and believe me, they are all good reasons. But, all of the reasons are actually excuses I give in order to control my own life. The excuses show that I am not trusting God. They are excuses. There is never a real reason to say “No” to God.
When God calls or directs, the answer is always “Yes!” It doesn’t matter where God wants me to go or what he wants me to do. The answer is always, “Yes!”
Well, to honest, my answer is not always, “Yes.” Like my little friend – and teacher – Karlie. I say, “No,” alot too.
How leaders work WITH the church
In response to another blog post, Dave Black commented on leadership among the church. (See Friday, June 3, 2011 at 1:58 p.m.)
When speaking about leaders, he referred to a passage that is often overlooked. I mean, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 is not as sexy (from a leader’s perspective) as some of the other preferred passages. However, I think this passage is very important if we want to understand how leaders work WITH the church.
Yes, I said WITH the church, not for the church.
First, this is what Dave said:
Some, of course, will ask, “How could a man possibly work fulltime and pastor a church effectively? One or the other will have to suffer!” This is a perfectly reasonable objection. It is obvious to every non-professional minister that the average layperson spends most of his or her time weekly providing for their families. Since they spend an enormous amount of time working for a living, their “church time” can only be a fraction of their ministry. Of course, the solution to this problem is obvious. Simply put, Jesus Christ never entrusted leadership in a local church to a single individual. Leadership in the New Testament was shared. Not surprisingly, therefore, when Paul refers to church leaders (e.g., 1 Thess. 5:12-13) the reference is to a plurality of leadership. In order to be an equipping environment, then, the local church must be structured for shared leadership — what Michael Green wonderfully refers to as a “fellowship of leadership.”
Now, this is the passage he referred to:
We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you [lead you] in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 ESV – except the part I translated)
Now, you may wonder what this has to do with leaders working WITH the church. You have to read just before and just after that passage to see that part:
Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 ESV)
And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5:14 ESV)
You see, the work of leaders (“those who lead you”) is simply part of the work of all the “brothers and sisters” to encourage one another, build one another up, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, and be patient with all. All believers are instructed (commanded actually) to do this work. Leaders are doing this also, of course.
But, what if the leaders are doing this work while the church is not doing it also? Big problems… big, big problems.
I’m not a carpenter, but I play one on TV
During the last few weeks, I’ve had a couple of opportunities to help people with various forms of carpentry. Now, you must know, I am not a carpenter. I’m not even almost a carpenter. I own a hammer, but that’s about as close as I get to being a carpenter.
A few weeks ago, some friends needed help putting the finishing touches on their new deck. I didn’t build the deck. In fact, I didn’t even put on the finishing touches. But, I helped my friend who does not have to do some carpentry. Primarily, I held things and picked up things and offered two more hands whenever he needed them.
A few days ago, a friend of ours wanted to change her locks. Again, this is not my area of expertise. But, I went to her house after work, took off the old locks, picked up some new locks, and then installed the new locks. And, believe it or not, the locks seem to work… for now.
So, why did I tell these stories? I’m certainly not interested in convincing people that I’m a great carpenter. Trust me, I’m not very handy at all.
No, I shared these stories to encourage you. There are going to be times when someone is going to need help. And, they will need help in a manner in which you are not skilled. So what? Help them anyway.
Too much in the church today is handled by professionals. And, even those areas where the common person is allowed to serve, only those with certain skills are given the opportunity. This is not the way the church is designed.
Yes, we all have certain gifts and abilities and talents and skills and training. But, our ability to help one another is not found only in those things in which we excel! No, our ability to help one another is found in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit who indwells us.
Plus, my friends did not care that I was not the greatest at woodworking or installing locks. Instead, they cared that I was willing to give up my time to help them.
Serving in this manner does not come natural to me. I’m much more of a talker. (I heard someone snicker… Shut up… I know who you are.) I have been told that I am a gifted teacher. But, this does not mean that I should only serve others by teaching. No. Not at all. And this is where so many teachings about spiritual gifts and service fall short. (And, don’t even get me started on those spiritual gift surveys…)
If God gives us an opportunity to serve others (in any manner) then we should take advantage of those opportunities, trusting God to work through us. If your gifting is in the area of teaching, but you have an opportunity to serve and get your hands dirty, then jump at the chance! If your gifting is in the area of serving, and God gives you an opportunity to teach, then take advantage of that opportunity!
Yes… whatever opportunity God gives you to serve, take that opportunity… even if it’s carpentry.
The Disappearance of the Twelve in Acts 6-9
In a previous post, “The Acts of Jesus Christ through his disciples,” I mentioned briefly that there’s a section in the first half of the Book of Acts in which Luke does not focus on the service of the Apostles (the Twelve) nor does he focus on the service of Paul.
This section is Acts chapter 6 through Acts chapter 9.
In the first five chapters of Acts, the Apostles (the Twelve) are certainly in the foreground, either as a group or individually (Peter in Acts 2), or in pairs/groups (Peter and John in Acts 3-4).
However, when we get to Acts 6, the Apostles (the Twelve) take a back seat for a four chapters. Yes, the Twelve are found in the first half of Acts 6, but the focus of the passage is on choose others to serve. In fact, the church does the work of finding seven to serve.
Interestingly, in response to the service of these seven, Luke says, “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.” (Acts 6:7 ESV) We’ve already found this kind of summary or result statement in Acts 2:47. This statement (Acts 6:7) is important because it follows Luke’s report that others (not the Apostles) were serving.
The second half of Acts 6 and all of Acts 7 focuses on the service of Stephen. Acts 7 is especially important, because Luke places a full recounting of the history of Israel and how that history relates to Jesus Christ on the lips of Stephen, not one of the Apostles. In fact, this is the longest speech given by anyone in the Book of Acts.
In Acts 8, we see the Apostles (the Twelve) again, but they are mentioned in the context of Philip’s service. Philips proclaims the gospel in Samaria, then to an Ethiopian eunuch. In between these two stories, we see the apostles traveling to Samaria. It is interesting again that Luke has Philip (not the Twelve) first proclaiming the gospel in Samaria and to an Gentile (though perhaps a proselyte). This is especially important given Jesus’ commission in Acts 1:8.
The beginning of Acts 9 focuses on Saul/Paul and his conversion. God uses another disciple (Ananias) who is not one of the Twelve, nor is he one of the seven chosen in Acts 6. Ananias plays an important role in Saul’s conversion/discipleship. Later, when Saul comes to Jerusalem, it is another disciple (Barnabas – not one of the Twelve or the seven) in introducing Saul to the church.
At the end of this section, Luke writes another one of his summary/result statements:
So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. (Acts 9:31 ESV)
This statement appears before Luke’s focus returns to the Apostles (the Twelve) in Acts 9:32.
What can we make from this section in Acts where the Apostles (the Twelve) seem to disappear from the scene (or at least slide into the background)? For me, this shows the importance of the service of everyone in the church. God did not only work through the Apostles. Instead, God worked through the whole church, and as a result, the word of God increase and the church multiplied.
What do you think about Acts 6-9?