Tag Archives: jesus

Discipleship as Worship

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photo credit: Lawrence OP via photopin cc

photo credit: Lawrence OP via photopin cc

The goal of discipleship is worship– whole-life worship as described by Jesus in Mark 12:30:

“…Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

According to Carson’s and Beale’s, Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament (which by the way is awesome), the following is true:

To love God with your Heart = Loving God with your moral choices/character

To love God with your Soul = Loving God to the risk of one’s life

To love God with your Mind = Loving God with your thoughts

To love God with your Strength = Loving God with your possessions

Now look at the words Jesus uses to call people to be His disciples:

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matthew 7:24)

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)

To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”(John 8:31-32)

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”… Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:16, 21)

In each of case (and many more like these) Jesus is simply calling people to live out Mark 12:30.  That is to worship Him (as God) with all their Heart (choices), Mind (thoughts), Soul (life) and Strength (possessions).

For those of us in leadership positions our goal is the same, to lead people to the joyful worship of the Triune God– this is true discipleship.

How do you lead people in whole-life worship of God?

The Four Tasks of Discipleship

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In the church we hear a lot about “discipleship”, but for many people the idea of discipleship seems overwhelming. We still have questions like:  How do I disciple my kids ? How do I disciple people at work or at school…is that even possible?  How should I as a pastor disciple people at church? How do I know if I am doing it right? There are many great resources for one or more of these areas but few resources give us a paradigm for discipleship that can happen in any context, and at any time.

The Four Tasks of Discipleship

Discipleship is a big topic, with libraries full of books devoted to it (and justifiably so).  But that said,  there are basically four overarching tasks of discipleship.  And if you prayerfully ask God to lead you in these four tasks you will make disciples.

Reach Out– Take the initiative to Pursue others.

God loves to pursue others, He’s been doing it now for awhile (Genesis 12:1-4).  God reaches out even in the face of rejection (John 1:11). And He does it with the heart of a servant (Philippians 2:5-8). Discipleship making starts when we ask God, “How can I reach out to others? Who should I pursue?”

Bring In– Invite others into your life and God’s family.

In the Old Testament God formed the nation of Israel, and told them I will be your God and you will be My people (Exodus 6:6-8). It was God’s way of saying to Israel “I have made you to be in relationships with Me.”  Today through Jesus, God continues to give all people the opportunity to be in relationship with Him by being part of His family (John 1:11-13). Our task then is simply to ask God, “Who do you want me to invite into my life that they might through Jesus, become a part of Yours?”

Walk With – Guide others as they follow Jesus Christ.

God shares His life with us, not just to hang out, but to walk with us that we might become mature in our faith. He teaches us about Himself and His ways (Deuteronomy 6:4-8).  He calls us to whole-life of worship of Himself (Mark 12:30). And  He prepares us to do what He does (John 14:11-13).  As we walk with others our questions to God simply need to be “ How can I be a guide?  How can I teach them about Who you are and what You do? How can I lead them to whole-life worship of You? How can I prepare them to do what You do?”

 Send Forth – Send disciples into their world (home, school, work, community, and beyond) to pursue, invite, and guide others.

God the Son declared “make disciples all of nations” (Matthew 28:16-20) and then gave us God the Spirit to make it happen (Acts 1:8). We make disciples when we allow ourselves to be sent, and to be senders. We do this when we ask God “Who do You want to send?” and “Where do You want to send them?”

Discipleship may be challenging  but it shouldn’t be overwhelming. God wants to use you to make disciples. And He wants you to be able to do it anytime and any place. You don’t to read a library worth of books to do it well (though don’t let me stop you), you simply need to do what God does: Reach Out, Bring In, Walk With, Send Forth. When you prayerfully pursue these four tasks, you will make disciples.

What’s your nut?

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What’s your nut? What is the thing in your life that you try to protect or hold onto at all cost? What is the thing in your life that you are most of afraid of losing?

The good news of Jesus is that you are his “nut”:) I know that sounds weird, but the truth is, Jesus has taken great pains to hold on to you, to protect you and ensure that you are with him always. He is not afraid to lose you because, because if you belong to him then no one and nothing can take you away from him (Romans 8:39)

So relax and know, that no matter what craziness comes, Jesus will never lose his nut.

How to Let Jesus Fight Your Battles

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ImageWhen I was growing up I thought if I was struggling with some sin or weakness, that it was my job to do more to fix it.  I thought if I just read my bible more, prayed more, or tried harder to be like Jesus, everything would get better— it never worked.  I have since learned that when it comes to spiritual battles, Jesus doesn’t want me to do more, He wants to do more for me.  But that can only happen if I’m willing to let Jesus fight my battles.

Maybe you’d like Jesus to fight your battles but you’re unsure of how that actually happens (I was for a long time). So here are three ways to start:

  1. Tell Jesus exactly what’s on your heart and mind-Jesus is one person you can be so honest with, that in his presence you can feel emotionally naked. (It’s like the Garden all over again). Without fear or shame, you can tell Jesus exactly what you’re feeling, and exactly what you want in any moment. No matter how bad it is. Often I will literally say things like “Jesus right now I’m feeling _____________” or “Jesus right now I really want to ____________________”.  Whether it’s cheating, sharing gossip, lying, cutting, stealing, watching porn, lashing out in anger or wanting to kill someone, we let Jesus fight our battles when we confess all our temptations to him. Remembering all the while, that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1)
  2. Ask Jesus for healing and removal- Your heart and mind are full of wounds and idols (welcome to the club). Some put there by you, some put there by the actions of others. But no matter how they came about each of us needs our wounds healed and our idols removed.  So I will say things like, “Jesus would you heal my heart, Jesus would you heal my mind”, or “Jesus would you show me the idols of my heart…would you remove the idols of my heart”.   Until my wounds are healed and my idols destroyed I will continue to be overpowered by temptation and a slave to sin. Thankfully Jesus can heal and remove, as 1 Peter 2:24 says,   Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed you. Jesus has done all the necessary work on the Cross and so that now you can receive all the benefits.
  3. Speak God’s Truth over you- Finally speak God’s Truth over your life. This is where all the real power is. As you proclaim God’s Word over your life, you will feel Jesus giving strength to your body and soul.  It is like letting Jesus breath life in places where there was death. Do it out loud, because there is much more power in God’s Truth spoken out loud.  I will say  things like:“God says, I am His adopted child” (Galatians 4:6),“God says, I am valuable” (Matthew 6:26),“God says, He has good things planned for me” (Ephesians 2:10),“God says, nothing can separate me from His love” (Romans 8:38-39).

In Jesus there really is victory! I pray these practices help you, as they have helped me. And I pray you would know the joy of watching Jesus fight and win all your battles.

Jesus is not fragile

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Sometimes I think we approach Jesus as if we could break Him.  As if we could vent too much to Him, to the point where He would respond, “no more, that’s too much…quit it, you’re stressing me out.”

Of course we think that, because we have those moments…those moments when someone’s confession of pain or trouble starts to overwhelm us.  Sure we listen and sympathetically nod, but inside we’re thinking “no more, that’s too much…”

But thank God, Jesus is not like us. He is never stressed out by other people’s stress. Rather, He tells us to give Him all we’ve got.  Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Mathew 11:28-30)

Only Jesus is able to turn stress into rest. We cannot break Him, because He has already been broken for us. On the cross He felt the weight of all our pain, but now He has overcome. So now we can come to Jesus-the Mighty One, our Refuge, and our Rock. And now we who are fragile can lead others to the One who will not cower and will not break.

Thank God, Jesus is not fragile.

Jesus and guns

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jesus-with-gunIn all the talk about guns there seems to be a perspective that is missing– that of Jesus. Sure there are a lot of Christians who have provided their opinions, but often they sound the same as one political party or another. There is nothing revolutionary or edgy enough about their opinion  to  makes it sound like it would come from the mouth of Jesus.

So in a move that could sound incredibly arrogant, I give you my brief take on Jesus’ perspective on gun control.

  1. Weapons of all kinds existed in Jesus day.
  2. Jesus never spoke out against personal ownership of weapons.
  3. He did tell Peter, “all who draw the sword will die by the sword”(Mt. 26: 52)
    1. This seems to be more about Peter’s desire take things into his own hands, rather than trust that Jesus is in control.
    2. Jesus is clear that His followers are not to attack others, but instead give up their life for others. (John 15:13)
  4. Jesus speaking through New Testament writers, calls all His followers to be at peace with all people (Romans 12:18; Hebrews 12:14)
  5. Jesus also calls His followers to care for the needs of others not by destroying the oppressors (because that His job) but instead by using their resources to care for those in need. (Luke 10:24-37)