A disciple is…
Geoff (his blog is called “My Blog“), a regular commenter here, has a very good post called “What is a disciple of Jesus.” Geoff’s short post is built around Dallas Willard’s definition of disciple:
A disciple is a person who has decided that the most important thing in their life is to learn how to do what Jesus said to do. A disciple is not a person who has things under control, or knows a lot of things. Disciples simply are people who are constantly revising their affairs to carry through on their decision to follow Jesus.
There is much to affirm in this definition. Like the disciples who actually walked with Jesus, we also often misunderstand and must correct our steps. We occasionally find ourselves heading in the wrong direction, or making a wrong turn. But, Jesus is there (just as he was with his disciples while he walked this earth) to correct us.
So, I like the connection between “constantly revising” and discipleship. It also shows that when we (or others) think that we’ve got it all figured out, we’ve stopped being a disciple.
What do you think?
I Thank God
Have you noticed that Paul began most of his letters with the phrase “I thank God…” Paul was a very thankful person. He was grateful to God for many, many things. The most important things that Paul was thankful for was for the people that God had placed in his life. Paul continuously thanked God for these people, for those he had opportunities to disciple, and for those who they then discipled.
Here are some of those passages:
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. (Romans 1:8 ESV)
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… (1 Corinthians 1:4-5 ESV)
I thank my God in all my remembrance of you always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5 ESV)
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints… (Colossians 1:3-4 ESV)
We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 ESV)
I think we can learn alot from Paul here. We can learn to be thankful for the people that God has brought into our lives, and to be thankful for the way that God is working in their lives.
I thank God for the many people shared the gospel with me, taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and Youth activities. It’s obvious that these people loved Jesus and wanted me (and others) to love and serve him as well.
I thank God for a pastor who took the time to disciple me as a young man. He did more than preach to me; he shared his life with me.
I thank God for a wife who continuously shows me the love of God and shows me how to care for people in a way that honors them and God.
I thank God for my son and daughter who continually amaze me with the ways that they allow God to work through them.
I thank God for the mature believers that God has in my life now. I’ve learned so much for them and continue to grow because of their patience and love.
I thank God for many young believers that God has placed in my life. I’m thankful for having the opportunity to impact their lives, but also for the fact that they teach me as well.
I thank God for my blogging family. I wish I could visit each one of you. From reading your comments, I can tell that you love God and desire to grow and mature in Jesus Christ. You are special to me.
Thank you, God.
Who should we speak with?
Think about the people that you’ve talked to over the last month or so. Specifically, think about those people with whom you have had spiritual conversations. How many times were you speaking with individuals? How many times were you speaking with groups? How many times were you speaking with people who were already followers of Jesus? How many times were you speaking with people who were not followers of Jesus?
I started asking myself these questions after reading the post “The Open Communication Model of Jesus Christ” written by Art at “The Itinerants.”
Look through the charts and graphs in Art’s post (Art loves charts and graphs), and compare your own communication patterns to those of Jesus.
How do you compare? Do you, like me, recognize that you need to look for more opportunities to speak to different kinds of people, both individually and in groups?
When to “one another”
There are alot of “one another” passages in the New Testament, aren’t there? You know what I mean, right? I’m talking about instructions and commands to “love one another,” “teach one another,” “forgive one another,” “admonish one another,” “serve one another,” etc. etc. etc.
Obviously, this kind of relational interaction should occur throughout a believers life. I mean, “one anothers” should happen when he is at work, or when she is in school, or when they are at home, or when she is at the fitness center, or when he is shopping.
But, what about when the church meets? Are we responsible to interact with one another in these ways when we are meeting together? What do you think that would look like?
Who are we inviting to Thanksgiving Dinner?
Don’t you hate it when someone spoils your fun?
That happened to me when I read the post “When you give a banquet” by Alan at “DownshoreDrift.”
Actually, I guess it wasn’t Alan who spoiled my fun, it was Jesus. Alan just happened to post this passage of Scripture:
He said also to the man who had invited him, “When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.” (Luke 14:12-14 ESV)
How many of us are willing to follow Jesus’ instructions this Thanksgiving? Are you? Am I? I’ll keep you posted.
Salaam and a cookie
Two years ago, I wrote a post called “Salaam and a cookie” about an encounter that I had in a Subway restaurant. I try to strike up a conversation with people wherever I go – often to the embarrassment of my family :). Here’s the post:
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Saturday evening, Margaret and I were returning home from an afternoon shopping trip. We had planned to buy something for dinner at the grocery store, but we realized that we forgot to do that. So, we decided to stop by a local Subway shop for $5 subs.
The man behind the counter took our order and fixed our sandwiches quickly. As we were checking out, I noticed his accent. I LOVE accents, and I love learning about people. So, I said to the man, “I don’t mean to be rude, but can I ask where you’re from?”
Apparently, he didn’t think I was being rude at all. He smiled and said, “Lebanon”.
I smiled back and said, “Salaam”, which is a generic Arabic greeting, like “hello” or “greetings”.
He smiled even bigger and we talked for few minutes about Lebanon and other Lebanese people in the area. I’ve met a few from local restaurants.
As we were about to leave, he stopped us and gave us three cookies.
It is amazing how much people will talk about themselves if you are interested and take the time to listen. I often talk to people – especially people with accents. I love languages, but I also love to hear people talk about themselves and their home countries. I’ve also found that people like to talk about themselves.
I’ve learned how to say “hello” in many different languages just by asking people where they were from. Of course, this means that I have to stop thinking about myself, and think about other people – which is hard to do. I’ve been taught (along with most people in the US) to consider myself and my own interests first. I’ve been taught to use other people to get the things that I want or that I need.
But, somehow, God has changed me. I no longer think about myself (well, not all the time). I often find myself wondering about the person behind the counter, or in line next to me, or taking my order, or next door. And, when I find myself wondering, I try to stop and ask them about themselves.
People’s demeanor (often) changes completely when you ask them about themselves. They become much more open to sharing and listening… especially when I listen first. But, this is something that is not natural for me. It is something that I’m learning, I think, through the work of the Spirit in my life.
I enjoyed sharing a cookie with Margaret on the way home. I enjoyed seeing the kids’ excitement when we gave them their cookies. But, more than that, I enjoyed learning more about the man behind the counter at Subway, and learning more about Lebanon and the Arabic language. I’m going to look for him the next time I stop at Subway.
Love Your Enemies
Strider at “Tales from Middle Earth” tells a great story about “Loving Your Enemies.” His story is not an analogy or a hypothetical or fictional. It’s a real story that really happened to real people with real enemies.
I’m not going to post an excerpt of Strider’s story. It’s not very long, so jump over to his site and read it.
You know, Strider’s story has a happy ending. We are not promised a happy ending when we love our enemies. But, we’re also not supposed to obey only when the outcome seems favorable to us.
Strider, thank you for this excellent story and example!
Who Preaches?
This post is not about preaching sermons on Sunday morning (or whenever) to the church. I think that lecture style teaching (or preaching) can be beneficial in some contexts. I also think it should be combined with opportunities for other people to speak, at least to ask questions or make comments about what was taught (praught).
Instead, this post is about “preaching” in the scriptural sense of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. Who is responsible for proclaiming the gospel?
What do we see in Scripture? Who “preaches” the gospel to unbelievers in Scripture? Who is exhorted to proclaim the good news in Scripture?
I think that all believers are responsible for preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. (I think 1 Thessalonians 1:8 is a great example of this!) If this is true, how can we help people understand that this is their responsibility (not only for the gifted or educated or professional or trained)? How can we then help people begin to proclaim the gospel to unbelievers?
Are we going to be satisfied?
James at “Idle musings of a bookseller” recently started reading the book Missional Small Groups. He recommended that I read the book, and then he started posting a few excerpts on his blog. If the past is any indication, he’ll continue to post excerpts (probably after ETS and SBL).
Here’s part of the latest excerpt from his post “There must be more“:
If we don’t live in a way that is distinctive from our culture, then why not? If we are going to be satisfied with living our lives like the rest of the world and adding a weekly sermon and a small group Bible study on top, then what exactly are we up to in the church? Isn’t there more?
The excerpt begins (part that I didn’t quote) by noting that the rhythms of the lives of most people (including Christians) are “shaped by the broader culture.” It’s true. I’ve seen it in my own life and in the lives of others.
Are we satisfied with that? Are we willing to break those rhythms and step into a new kind of life? It won’t happen until we stop thinking first about ourselves and our desires and even our needs.
Are we going to be satisfied?
I prayed it my way
Ok… so the title (a take-off on the old Sinatra classic “My Way”) doesn’t really work. But, oh well.
Recently, as we were praying with the church, I started thinking about scriptural examples of prayer. (I’ve found that it is often disconcerting to think about scriptural examples of anything… disconcerting, but powerful and life-changing as well.)
When the NT authors talked about praying (or even wrote their prayers for their readers), what did they pray for? When they asked for prayer, what did they ask their readers to pray? When Luke records the church praying in Acts, for what were they praying?
Here are a few things the church prayed for in the New Testament:
The church prayed…
… for God to reveal his will concerning a decision between Matthias and Joseph (Acts 1:24)
… that they would continue to proclaim the gospel with boldness in spite of persecution (Acts 4:29)
… for people to receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15)
… for Peter to be released from prison (Acts 12:12)
… to send people to proclaim the gospel in other parts of the world (Acts 13:3)
… that Paul would be able to go to Rome (Romans 1:10)
… that God would grant wisdom, knowledge, enlightenment, and power (Ephesians 1:16-19)
… that the church’s love would grow (Philippians 1:9)
… that the believers would live righteous lives (doing righteous deeds) that glorify God (Philippians 1:11)
… that the church would know God’s will so that they can do good deeds that honor God (Colossians 1:9-10)
There are many others. (Actually, when the NT writers speak of prayer, they usually do not list the content of the prayer, but simply say something like, “Pray continuously,” or “Pray fervently.”)
But, even this short list shows that my prayers are vastly different from the prayers of the believers recorded in Scripture.
I think it’s time that I think about what I’m praying for.