My Soul Magnifies the LORD

It is 4:30 am and I’m wide awake thinking about several conversations I had yesterday with both friends and foes.  How did Jesus do it?  I can imagine him in the garden talking with his Father, expressing his discouragement, disappointment, confusion and hurt.

“Father, I have been obedient in every way and have poured my life out into these 12 men.  I don’t understand.  Peter is so impulsive, always acting before thinking and denial awaits him.  How can he deny me whom he named Messiah?  And what about James and John?  They think it’s all about power and position.  Haven’t they seen me at work?  Haven’t they seen how I serve, not govern?  Then there’s Thomas.  Always doubting, never fully believing.  Andrew and the others are so quiet. Every once in a while they show a glimmer of hope but then they pretty much follow suit with the others.  Finally, there’s Judas.  He has betrayed me.  Me, his friend for these last three years!  I simply don’t understand and now I am at the darkest hour I have yet known asking that if there be any to let this cup pass then let it be.”

At this point I can picture Jesus entering into reflective silence and the words of his mother Mary come to him,

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name. His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, according to the promise he made to our ancestors, to Abraham and to his descendants forever. (Luke 1:46–55 NRSV)

In that dark moment Jesus recalls the lessons he learned from his mother.  In everything, great and terrible, my soul glorifies the LORD and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.  To glorify the LORD and rejoice in God.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

The LORD is not blind and he sees the true nature of each person’s heart and intentions.  Yes, the LORD is mindful of those who humbly serve.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

The Mighty One has indeed done great things and holy is his name.  Jesus quickly recalls the miracles, the epiphanies, the questions, the conversations and the conversions.  Great things indeed.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

Great things indeed.  The proud have been scattered and will not ultimately prevail against the servant of the LORD.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

God is making changes at the political level that will leave the world puzzling for all time – rulers brought down and the humble lifted up.  Nothing that is is guaranteed unless God says so.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

More than once did the Mighty One feed the hungry masses and disappoint the rich.  That the hungry are filled with good things is a sign of kingdom righteousness.  That the rich are sent away empty is a sign of the danger of the love of money.  God keeps his eyes on the poor, the widow, the orphan and the alien.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

God’s faithfulness has never ceased from the time of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  He has helped his people through difficulties and disobedience and will continue to be present and faithful.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

Finally, one last word comes to Jesus’ mind in that second that seems to linger for eternity,

Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38 NRSV)

And so, Jesus ends his prayer in the garden by saying, “Nevertheless, not my will but yours.”

Perhaps it was these same words of Mary that inspired Jesus to say,

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV)

So, when we’re hurt, disappointed, betrayed, confused and experiencing our own Garden of Gethsemane perhaps these words of Mary the Mother of Jesus can encourage us.  Yes, glorify and rejoice.

Follow Me (Part 3)

My freshman year of high school I weighed 93 pounds.  The lowest weight class in wrestling was 103 pounds.  I had nothing to worry about.  My sophomore year in high school I weighed 120 pounds … on Mondays.  By the time Thursdays rolled around I weighed 103 pounds.  I didn’t lose 17 pounds every week because I thought I would be healthier.  I lost it every week because I wanted to make weight and wrestle at 103 pounds.  At least I thought I did.  As my senior year came around I weighed 130 pounds and I wrestled 130 pounds.  I still wanted to wrestle, but I wanted to enjoy life even more.

We often try and fail at things more often than trying and succeeding at things.  When it comes to sin we always have Romans 7 to fall back on (you can’t see it, but I have my tongue tucked nicely into my cheek right now), “I do what I don’t want and I don’t do what I want.”  This is the Christian’s excuse for sinning and disobedience.  If I’m really honest with myself it’s not that I don’t want to do something but do it.  Rather, I do because I really do want to do it.  I’m not in the habit of doing things I don’t want to do.  Lots of guys never made weight because they didn’t really want to make weight; at least not as much as they wanted to eat or not run.

Before his transfiguration Jesus has an interesting and honest conversation with his disciples about the cost of discipleship.

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to come after me, they must give themselves up, and pick up their cross, and follow me.  Yes: if someone wants to save their life, they must lose it; and if anyone loses their life for my sake they will find it.  What use will it be, otherwise, if you win the whole world but forfeit your true life?  What will you give to get your life back?  You see, the son of man is going to ‘come in the glory of his father with his angels,’ and then, ‘he will reward everyone for the work they have done.’  I’m telling you the truth: some of those standing here will not taste death until they see ‘the son of man coming in his kingdom.’” (KNT)

Jesus makes it very clear that discipleship is a matter of the will, “If anyone wants to come after me …”  Don’t misunderstand, you could never want unless the Holy Spirit has worked in you making it possible for you to want.  Us Wesleyans call this prevenient grace, the grace of God that goes before.  Grace is opposed to earning, not effort.  In fact, one could make a good argument that grace is given for the very purpose of enabling our effort.  Before we can follow Jesus we must actually want to follow Jesus.

The implications of this are enormous.  The next time you find yourself staring temptation in the face ask yourself, What do I want more, to give in or to follow Jesus?  I maintain that if you lie to yourself at this point you are going to fail.  However, if you decide that you want Jesus more then the problem is solved.  On the other hand, if you find yourself wanting the temptation more then you have some work to do.  This is where the practices of denying, taking up and following come in.

Once we have decided what we want we can act.  Should we find ourselves wanting whatever is contrary to Jesus we will, if we have prepared, be able to allow in that moment Jesus to transform our desire, our wanting.  This doesn’t happen overnight.  In fact, it is something we must practice everyday.  We begin becoming the kind of people who naturally want to follow Jesus by first giving ourselves up.

Learning to tell ourselves, ‘No,’ whenever we want and being successful is something we can grow in.  This is, in my opinion, one of the benefits of fasting.  For instance, you may wake up one morning and head straight for the coffee.  Instead of indulging your desire make the conscious choice to abstain.  You don’t have to abstain for any reason other than learning to tell yourself, ‘No.’  If I can’t deny myself in something as small as a cup of coffee then chances are I’m not going to be able to deny myself when it comes to lying, fornicating, gossiping, stealing, etc.  Those things are much stronger and more connected to our emotions than a cup of coffee is.

Denying ourselves also involves a healthy amount of self-examination.  Some of John Wesley’s accountability questions can help here.

• Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am?  In other words, am I a hypocrite?
• Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
• How do I spend my spare time?
• Is Jesus real to me?

After we learn to deny ourselves … then and only then … can we move on and learn to take up our cross (daily, says Luke).  Jesus was not prophesying about the fashionability of cross-shaped jewelry.  The cross was a torture device designed with one purpose in mind – kill slowly and painfully.  The end result of the cross, always and everywhere, is death.  Not even Jesus escaped this reality.  The cross kills, pure and simple.

This is why the Apostle Paul invites us to, “put to death the deeds of the body” (Romans 8:13) and to “put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly” (Colossians 3:5).  It is why he writes to the Galatians, “those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (5:24) and “through the cross of Jesus the world has been crucified to me” (6:14).  To take up our cross means putting the old self to death.  First we practice giving ourselves up in both practice and when it matters.  However, until we crucify ourselves, our old selves, we will never know Christ and the power that raised him from the dead.  We will never become the kind of people who naturally obey him and want to follow him.

Having given ourselves up and taking up our crosses we are then ready to follow him; not just in desire but in reality.  It is this reality, this fruit-filled reality, that Jesus is talking about when he says, “he will reward everyone for the work they have done.”  Having the right intentions is not enough.  Having the right desire, as important as that is, isn’t enough.  Unless we act on and perfect (by the enabling grace of God) that desire so that it bears fruit then we will be nothing but branches that fail to produce fruit.

This process is very much connected to the process of repentance.  Until our vision of Jesus expands then our intentions (i.e. desires) will not change.  And unless our intentions change we are not likely to change our means.  However, as we practice denying ourselves (some new means, I think), taking up our cross (definitely new intentions, no one accidentally climbs up on a cross), and following Jesus we will find that we have come full circle.  What we once wanted that was not Jesus gets crucified and what we are left with is Jesus and his promise, “Yes: if someone wants to save their life, they must lose it; and if anyone loses their life for my sake they will find it.”

Mysterious Newaza … I love this move!

Peace Be With You

David Carlson begins his book, Peace Be With You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World, with these words, “I began to understand in my formative years that following Christ would come with no clear map.” (ix)  Peace Be With You is an intimate look at such a mapless journey in light of the attacks that have come to be known as 9/11.  Not content with revenge and retaliation, Carlson sets out on a journey into the world of monasticism to see if he can discover a different kind of response; a response rooted in the practices of prayer, silence and solitude.

The book is arranged geographically looking first to the desert, second to America’s heartland and finally to New York.  In the desert he begins to ask, “Does the Christ whom I worship see the world with its religious divides, or does Christ see beyond that to the suffering of our world?” (49)  In other words, in the desert he discovers a community that did not seek to place blame (they never mentioned Islam or Muslims in their interviews), but one that sought to address the issue of suffering through prayer.  Carlson concludes that the monastic model found in the desert offers a new way to be community.  This community is built on mutual submission and servanthood rather than domination. (74)  In the desert Carlson leads his readers to discover that, “There is no way to get around the fact that Jesus makes a very unnatural demand of his followers.  He asks us to to forever remain turned toward the Other, to seeing my worst enemy as my neighbor.” (91)

In America’s heartland Carlson travels to the Abbey of Gethsemani to hear the heart of the community that formed Thomas Merton.  Merton’s vision, according to Carlson, was that each person would see themselves as “walking around shining like the sun” and that others would see them in the same way.  Carlson left “Merton’s Men” with the insight that wherever and whenever human beings isolate themselves hell is present on earth.  However, he also learned that “God is always with us, lurking in the Other, our neighbors, the very ones we wish to avoid.” (121)  Perhaps the most profound insight Carlson offers his readers is this, “Christ has already healed the world – we just do not act in light of that truth.” (142)

Carlson arrived in New York, the last leg of his journey, with fresh insight into the presence of Christ in the aftermath of 9/11.  If Christ is to be found, he will be found in the Other, our neighbors.  He writes, “What problem in the world would not be approached with more humility, creativity, and energy if we saw in our neighbor the presence of God?” (230)  He concludes the chapter asking the age-old question, Could God not have done more to stop all of this?

The book has several strong points.  First, if one is not familiar with the diversity of monastic life in the United States he or she gets a virtual tour of the more profound monastic communities; profound because they have shaped and continue to shape Christianity.  Second, the book presents community, one founded on mutual submission and servanthood, not only as one possible option but as the superior option.  In order for community to grow and be healthy we must see in each other what we can’t always see in ourselves.  My greatest delight in the book is found in the closing paragraph, “Forgiveness, not the death of anyone [i.e. Osama bin Laden], is the only exit from our via dolorosa, the only path to resurrection joy.”

On the other hand, Peace Be With You has several marks against it.  First, it is not extremely engaging.  I enjoyed the content, but the style of writing was difficult for me.  Let me just be honest, I got bored.  (This book took me several months to read!)  Like I said, though, the content is good.  Second, and most disturbing to me, is that the book ends with the all too often cliche of shaking one’s fist at God and wanting a “more powerful deity.” (254)

All in all I would give the book two stars.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

Books that Have Influenced Me (… or My Recommended Reading List)

Someone asked me the other day to make a list of the books I would recommend.  So, here’s a start in no particular order.

• Discovering an Evangelical Heritage by Dayton
• Responsible Grace by Maddox
• Surprised by Hope by Wright
• Why I’m not a Calvinist by Dongell and Walls
• Heaven by Randy Alcorn
• Across the Spectrum by Boyd
• Recovery: A Guide for Adult Children of Alcoholics by Gravitz
• John Wesley’s sermons (especially the contemporary translation by Kinghorn)
• Decoding the Church by Snyder (and just about anything else by Snyder for that matter)
• Documents of the Early Christian Church by Bettenson
• The Story of Christianity by Gonzalez
• But If It Dies by Pearson
• John Wesley: A Theological Journey by Collins
• Me, Myself & Bob by Vischer
• The Universe Next Door by Sire
• Handbook on the Pentateuch by Hamilton
• Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Ferguson
• Cost of Discipleship by Bonhoeffer
• The Great Omission by Willard
• The Divine Conspiracy by Willard
• Praying in the Wesleyan Spirit by Chicolte
• Lord, Teach Us by Willimon and Hauerwas
• Rule of St. Benedict by St. Benedict
• Daily Roberts by Demaray
• Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
• The Little Flowers of St. Francis translated by Demaray
• The Deeper Journey by Mulholland
• Imitation of Christ translated by Demaray
• Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Schazerro
• The Gift of Being Yourself by Benner
• Sacred Rhythms by Barton
• The Only Necessary Thing by Nouwen
• Christ of the Indian Road by Jones
• Spiritual Classics by Renovare
• Devotional Classics by Renovare
• The Preacher by Petersen
• It’s Your Ship by Abrashoff
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey
• In the Name of Jesus by Nouwen

Enjoy and feel free to add to the list!

Follow Me (Part 2)

Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to depart to the other side of the sea.  Then a scribe came and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you will go.”  Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.”  But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” – Matthew 8:18-22 NASB

When I was in college I was involved with a campus ministry that would set up a small booth every Thursday with a question written on a white board and a cooler full of soda.  If you got the question right you got a free soda.  This simple idea resulted in a myriad of conversations and even in some conversions.  The ministry was international at heart and on more than one occasion I heard the leaders speaking with international students about the dangers of following Jesus.  Intrigued, I asked them why they did this.  No one ever told me about the dangers of following Jesus.  I was only ever promised a light and fluffy life of “cosmic love and peace my friend.”  They told me that would be unfair to lead someone to Jesus without letting them know that it could result in persecution, dismemberment, banishment or even death!

This vocabulary is absent from the American church’s list of words to describe what it means to follow Jesus.  There is, and always has been, a cost to following Jesus.  The scribe who approached Jesus with the bold offer to follow him did not count the cost.  Jesus’ response suggests that in order for this scribe to follow he would have to become a homeless wanderer.  Now Jesus doesn’t call of his followers to become homeless wanderers.  The man freed from a legion of demons was commanded to return home and tell everyone what God had done for home.  The call to follow Jesus, however, always comes with one stipulation – to move when God moves.

Our God is a God who is always on the move.  Jesus, who is all we will get to see of God this side of the kingdom come, almost never stood still.  To be sure he had his times of silence and solitude, but after that he was on the move.  He even moved on when there was more ministry to do, “His disciples found him and said to him, ‘Everyone is looking for you!’  And Jesus replied, ‘Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for.” (Mark 1:37-38)  The danger, it seems, is that it is all too easy to settle down and get comfortable, even in ministry.  Yes, we must learn to count the cost and always be ready to move forward.

In our own followership of Jesus do we count the cost?  Do we even know how to count the cost?  Do we know how to teach others to count the cost?  Are we aware of when Jesus gets up and moves on to some nearby town?  Do we follow?

Perhaps we understand the first would-be disciple’s situation more than the second’s.  This would-be disciple simply makes a request, “First let me go and bury my father.”  Jesus’ response has produced a myriad of interpretations.

• Christians should not participate in funerals.
• The man’s father wasn’t really dead yet, but he was going to die within the year or so and the man wanted to care for him.
• The man was being obedient to the law and Jesus’ answer suggests that one cannot postpone following him even for the sake of the law.

Whichever interpretation you choose to live with they all share a common thread: there are things that have to do with the kingdom of God and there are things that don’t.  Followers of Jesus are called to leave those things which have no place in the kingdom of God behind, as well as those who participate in them.  Wow!  That’s huge. Not only does Jesus threaten to take away our home (which is, by the way, our greatest symbol of security) now he wants to take away our habits and relationships that are not rooted in the kingdom!  ”Seek first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.”  Letting the dead bury the dead means …

• we no longer participate in the acts of the dead – gossip, hoarding, rumors, lashing out in anger, drunkenness, fornication, stealing, lying, hating, manipulating, triangulating, passive-aggressive behavior, etc.
• we no longer invest our resources in fruitless endeavors – failed or dying ministries, people who refuse to follow Jesus, fixing weaknesses, dwelling on complaints, placing blame rather than addressing the issue, etc.

We cannot follow Jesus on our own terms.  As Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes in The Cost of Discipleship,

If we would follow Jesus we must take certain definite steps.  The first step, which follows the call, cuts the disciple off from his previous existence.  The call to follow at once produces a new situation.  To stay in the old situation makes discipleship impossible. … The only right and proper way is quite literally to go with Jesus.  The call to follow implies that there is only one way of believing on Jesus Christ, and that is by leaving all and going with the incarnate Son of God. (62)

Though the cost of discipleship may be great, Dallas Willard reminds us that the cost of non-discipleship is even greater.

Non-discipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and to withstand the forces of evil.  In short, non-discipleship costs you exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10).  The cross-shaped yoke of Christ is after all an instrument of liberation and power to those who live in it with him and learn the meekness and lowliness of heart that brings rest to the soul. (The Great Omission, 9)

Count the cost.  Pay the cost.  Let the dead bury the dead.  It’s worth it.  As John Wesley said, “When God calls, leave the business of the world to them who are dead.” (Wesley’s Explanatory Notes)

The Great Omission

In The Great Omission, Dallas Willard asks the question, What has happened to discipleship in the church?  The answer, as the title of the book suggests, is that it has been omitted.  Of course, the title of the book is a play on what Christianity has called “The Great Commission,” which records Jesus’s final words in the Gospel of Matthew,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (28:18-20 NRSV)

Willard argues that the church has done a decent job of making converts and baptizing them, but when it comes to the final part of Jesus’s command, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you, the church has failed.

Part one looks at what it means to be apprenticed to Jesus.  In chapter one, Discipleship, Willard argues that discipleship is for all believers and that the cost of non-discipleship is too great to ignore.  Chapter two, Why Bother with Discipleship?, gives four reasons to take discipleship seriously: (1) nothing Jesus taught suggests that we can receive forgiveness at Jesus’ expense and having nothing more to do with him; (2) apart from discipleship in kingdom living we remain defeated; (3) only discipleship results in inward transformation; (4) discipleship results in the kind of life where all the power of God is present for life and godliness.  Chapter three, Who Is Your Teacher?, makes the case that we are all being taught; the only difference is the teacher.  Chapter four, Looking Like Jesus, explains the goal of discipleship: to become the kind of person who naturally lives like Jesus.  Chapter five, The Key to the Keys of the Kingdom, suggests that grace is opposed to earning not effort and that such a life of discipleship is not possible apart from the practice of silence, solitude and fasting (a theme that is carried throughout the book, along with memorization of scripture).

Part two looks at the connection between spiritual formation and character formation.  Chapter six, Spiritual Formation in Christ Is for the Whole Life and the Whole Person, describes life in Christ: a life of obedience to Jesus; it is a spiritual matter; it is about a life that comes from God; Christian spirituality is super-natural; it is about spiritual formation (our inmost being taking on the character of Jesus); is not aimed at the heart only; it affects our powers (i.e. thought, etc.) at large.  Chapter seven,  Spiritual Formation in Christ, seeks to define spiritual formation (from a Christian perspective).  Spiritual formation, in general, involves spiritual activities, often referred to as spiritual disciplines, shapes the spirit and is shaped by the Spirit.  Christian spiritual formation includes obedience to Jesus, disciplines that give Jesus permission to work in us and is characterized by renewal through the words of Jesus.  Chapter eight, The Spirit is Willings, But …, looks at the necessity of the body in the role of spiritual formation.  Practices, carried out by the body, become habits; habits become choice; choice becomes character, for good or for bad.  God’s grace enables us to strive with all diligence toward Christ-likeness; after all, grace is opposed to earning, not effort.  Becoming like Jesus involves an intentional plan of attack comprised of change in vision, intentions and means for a life of godliness.  Chapter nine, Living in the Vision of God, looks at how leaders full of vision are often turned into memorabilia by their followers when they make the mission the vision.  Chapter ten, Idaho Springs Inquiries Concerning Spiritual Formation, is a question-and-answer session between a local church and Dallas Willard that summarize the material in the book so far.  Chapter 11, Personal Soul Care, focuses on some practical places to  begin: allowing God’s love to abide in us; keeping God before us through Bible memorization; practicing solitude and silence.

Part three looks at discipleship of the soul and the mind.  Chapter 12, Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, and the Restoration of the Soul, is a philosophical discussion of the human soul and how it is affected by such practices as memorizing scripture, silence, solitude and fasting.  Chapter 13, Christ-Centered Piety, looks at the message of historic evangelicalism and its connection to spiritual formation.  Rather than the modern concept of evangelicalism (the divinity of Jesus, the Bible as the Word of God, and the necessity of being born again), spiritual formation is rooted in the historic (and more biblical) concepts of evangelicalism, which are: conviction of sin; conversion; and testimony.  Chapter 14, Why?, is another question-and-answer session that focuses more on Willard’s experiences and his advice to college students.  The final chapter, Jesus the Logician, looks at the importance of understanding Jesus to be an intellectual; the world’s greatest intellectual, to be sure.  Willard argues that until we understand that Jesus is doing intellectual work with the tools of logic and begin teaching people in the same manner we will not be able to make disciples.

The remaining five chapters are devoted to brief reviews of books that have influenced and aided Willard in his own spiritual formation.  These books include: Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank Laubach, The Interior Castle by Theresa of Avila, Invitation to Solitude and Silence by Ruth Haley Barton, Deeper Experiences of Famous Christians, and A Room of Marvels by James Smith.  As a “Parting Word”, Willard suggests that the place to begin is with oneself.  We must first be a disciple of Jesus and then, once we have some substance of life in Christ, we become witnesses to Jesus.

Willard raises a great question in this book, What has happened to discipleship?  Anyone will appreciate his insistence upon learning to obey Jesus’s commands with the goal of becoming the kind of person who naturally obeys Jesus.  Any other goal, such as not doing what we know is wrong, only leads to a modern practice of Pharisaical righteousness.  Willard hammers home several truths, as he sees them:

• grace is opposed to earning, not to effort
• spiritual formation simply is not possible apart from memorizing scripture, solitude and silence (even more so than prayer!)
• we are spiritual to the extent that our lives draw their direction and strength from Jesus Christ
• formation is impossible apart from the body of Christ
• formation and discipleship must be intentional, and most of modern Christian experience is emotional
• without Christian formation, a life of quiet desperation is all we have to look forward to
• it is not enough to practice vampire Christianity, accepting just enough of Jesus’s blood to get into heaven
• we must learn to see Jesus as an intelligent man – the most intelligent – if we are going to take him seriously

The glaring problem with Willard’s book is his great omission: a comprehensive plan for teaching converts to obey everything Jesus commanded.  He makes note (several times) that he has never encountered a church with a comprehensive plan for making disciples in this way and yet does not set out himself to offer such a plan.  Of course, he might respond that such a plan cannot be corporate if it means ignoring the individual’s unique personality and location in life.  However, I think he could still make several suggestions.  (In fact, he does without elaborating when he writes, “I would not be a pastor of a church that did not have a program of Bible memorization in it, because Bible memorization is a fundamental way of filling our minds with what they need.” pg. 58)  One might also realize that he is a dualist influenced more by Greek philosophy than Hebraic thought when it comes to the make-up of the mind, body and soul (see 186-87).  However, this position does not make the book useless to the monist.

All in all, The Great Omission is a great book that every pastor and those serious about becoming disciples of Jesus should read.  In the end, Willard will not do your work for you, but he will challenge you, encourage you and get you thinking and asking the right questions.

Follow Me – Part 1 of 4

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Simon (also called Peter) and Andrew his brother.  They were fishermen, and were casting their nets into the sea.  ”Follow me!” said Jesus.  ”I’ll make you fish for people!”  Straightway they abandoned their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-20 KNT)

Early in college I wanted to go to medical school.  I knew the path was long and arduous but I never have been one to turn back from a challenge.  I wanted to prove to everyone, especially the medical school admissions committee, that I could do everything.  I was enrolled in 21-24 credits in courses like Zoology, Organic Chemistry, Calculus, Observational Drawing, 20th century German Culture, Art and Architecture, Interpersonal Communication, Cellular Biology, etc.  I was involved in some extracurriculars.  I was the President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Publicist for five different school clubs, including the Honors Society.  I was going to medical school, especially with the 4.0 I was sporting.

Then Jesus began to move in my life in deep way.  Through a series of intellectual experiences (through reading), prayer, dreams and conversations it became clear that Jesus was calling me to follow him.  At first I thought following Jesus and my own career path choice were compatible.  I would simply be a medical missionary giving 1-2 months of my time to overseas missions each year.  I have since learned that our first choice and Jesus’ first choice rarely lineup.

I had no idea what it meant to “follow Jesus” in this way.  I talked with my pastor and he was concerned that I was going to drop out of school.  I had never even thought that was a possibility.  I spoke with some trusted mentors, Dean and Brian, who ministered on campus and they prayed with me.  I decided to change majors from Cellular Biology to Communication.

I was set.  I dropped all of my science classes and enrolled in several speech communication classes.  Like Peter who returned to fishing after Jesus’ death I got scared and returned to my pre-med route the day before school started.  Everything seemed okay, but i knew I was disobeying.  The first day of organic chemistry class was test of everything covered the previous semester.  I had earned a 98% the previous semester so I wasn’t worried.  I had the test in hand and began to look it over.  The questions were straight forward but there was one problem … I couldn’t answer any of them!  Literally I turned my test in blank.  It was as if my mind was erased.  I confessed my disobedience and withdrew from my science classes.  I realized that Jesus was not calling me to follow him on my own terms, but on his.  And his terms did not involve me going to medical school.

I imagine this is a lesson that Peter and Andrew had to learn as well.  Fishing is what they knew.  It was how they made their living.  One day, as he was walking along beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called out to them with two little words that changed their lives forever, “Follow me!”

Jesus’ command to follow him shows up several times throughout the gospels.  Here, Jesus tells Peter and Andrew that he will make them fish for people.  In another place he tells a would-be follower to “leave the dead to bury their own dead.” (Follow Me – Part 2 of 4)  He simply tells Levi, “Follow me.”  He says if we want to follow him we must deny ourselves and take up our crosses. (Follow Me – Part 3 of 4)  Still, he says to another group of would-be followers to forget about having a home, bury dead family members or looking back. (Follow Me – Part 4 of 4)

With this command, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” we are dealing with an invitation so all encompassing it can be scary to accept it.  Jesus invites us to lay down our nets and follow him.  He is inviting us to set aside anything and everything we hold dear for a life of following him.  Three things are clear in this command to follow.  First, all we are guaranteed is Jesus.  Second, it involves gathering people.  Third, it is not what we had planned (or were even trained to do!).

First, Jesus invites us to follow him.  Not a denomination.  Not a charismatic, religious leader.  Not our self.  Not a set of doctrine, even if it is Christian.  As important as these things may be Jesus simply invites us to follow him.  We would do well to remember his words in the Gospel of John, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you!  The branch can’t bear fruit by itself, but only if it remains in the vine.  In the same way, you can’t bear fruit unless you remain in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  People who remain in me, and I in them, are the ones who bear plenty of fruit.  Without me, you see, you can’t do anything.” (John 15:4-5 KNT)

The goal of following Jesus is this, “… knowing him, knowing the power of his resurrection, and knowing the partnership of his sufferings.  It means sharing the form and pattern of his death, so that somehow I may arrive at the final resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11 KNT)

Second, the command to follow Jesus will involve people; lots and lots of people.  Jesus told his disciples, “I’m giving you a new commandment, and it’s this: love one another!  Just as I have loved you, so you must love one another.  This is how everybody will know you are my disciples, if you have love for each other.” (John 13:34-35 KNT)

Loving people is not easy.  Before we can love people we must learn to like them.  Before we can like people we must learn to enjoy people, to delight in God’s creation.  Perhaps this is how Peter understood Jesus when he wrote, “God has bestowed upon his, through his divine power, everything we need for life and godliness … So, because of this, you should strain every nerve to supplement your faith with virtue, and your virtue with knowledge, and your knowledge with self-control, and your self-control with patience, and your patience with piety, your piety with family affection, and your family affection with love.  If you have these things in plentiful supply, you see, you will not be wasting your time, or failing to bear fruit, in relation to your knowledge of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.” (2 Peter 1:3, 5-8)

Perhaps the church’s greatest evangelistic tool is a body that enjoys people, likes people and loves people in plentiful supply.

Third, following Jesus is rarely something we planned or trained for.  It is important for us to recognize this truth.  Too often we think our ways are God’s ways and that what we are doing is exactly what Jesus wants us to do.  We need to recognize though, that every time Jesus invites someone to follow him there is a change in agenda.  Simon and Andrew were invited to leave the family business and become unemployed, homeless apprentices to an out of work carpenter.  Levi was invited to leave a lucrative financial position for a small Father-Son business with no pay.  The man in the tombs was immediately sent home to become an evangelist among his own family.  The woman caught in adultery was told to go and sin no more.  None of these were qualified or trained to perform their new assignments.  Nonetheless, they obeyed.

We often fail to follow Jesus and gather people.  Sometimes we are afraid of failure.  Other times we are afraid of rejection or ruining our friendships.  More often then not, we fail to follow Jesus because we think we lack the necessary skills.  God’s Holy Spirit qualifies us along the way.  Our job is simply to obey and follow.

We may not be in the fishing business but Jesus is still in the business of calling disciples to follow him.  We must keep in mind that with the call, “Follow me!  I will make you fish for people,” comes the following:

1. There is no guarantee but Jesus.
2. It involves learning to enjoy people, so we can learn to like people, so we can learn to love people.
3. It is rarely something we are prepared for; we must simply obey.

Let us pray,

Jesus, all we want is to know you and the power that raised you to life; to suffer and die as you did; so that somehow we, too, may be raised from death to life.  Help us to learn to enjoy people, to delight in them as you do.  Help us to like people so that we may love people.  Help us be a witness to you and the Father by the way we love one another.  Remove our doubts and fears about not be ready or qualified.  Instead, give us the grace to be obedient.  In your name we pray.  Amen.

The Commands of Jesus

Recently I have been reading through the gospels with an eye toward discovering everything Jesus commanded.  I figure if Jesus’ parting words (in Matthew’s gospel) included the command to teach disciples to obey everything he commanded then I should probably know what he commanded.  I did a quick Google search and found … nothing.  I searched several configurations of Jesus+Commands+Everything (etc.) and still did not come across a satisfying list of commands.  So, I made my own.

You should know this about my list: (1) It includes the commands of Jesus found in the gospels and Acts, but not Revelation (I’ll add those soon); (2) I only included direct commands, not implied commands; (3) I did not include any commands given to the demonic.  I’ve provided the references as well as the command so you can go and review the context.  Remember, knowing the commands is only part of the process.  We must also teach them to others in such a way that they can and will obey them.

The Commands of Jesus

1. Repent – Matthew 4:12-17; Mark 1:15 (cf. becoming like little children – Matthew 18:1-6)
2. Follow Me
1. and I will make you fishers of men – Matthew 4:18-22; Mark 1:17
2. and let the dead bury their own dead – Matthew 8:18-22
3. and … – Matthew 9:9; Mark 2:15; Luke 5:27-32; John 1:35-51
4. Deny, Take Up and Follow – Matthew 16:24-28
5. keep the commandments, give your wealth to the poor and come – Matthew 19:16-26; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18:18-27
6. no home, no burial, no turning back – Luke 9:57-62
3. Rejoice and be glad in the face of persecution – Matthew 5:1-12; Luke 6:23
4. Let your light shine before men – Matthew 5:13-16
5. Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets – Matthew 5:17-20
6. Be reconciled to your brother – Matthew 5:21-26; Mark 11:20-26; Luke 17:1-4
7. Do not commit adultery (in regards to actual adultery, lust and improper divorce) – Matthew 5:27-32 (cf. removing stumbling blocks – Matthew 18:7-9; do not separate marriage – Matthew 19:1-12)
8. Let your “Yes” be “Yes” – Matthew 5:33-37
9. Do not resist an evil person – Matthew 5:38–42; Luke 6:29-30
10. Love your enemies – Matthew 5:43-48; Luke 6:27-35
11. Be perfect as your Father is perfect – Matthew 5:48 (closely connected with #10 Love your enemies)
12. Be careful how you practice your righteousness – Matthew 6:1-18; Luke 11:1-4
1. when you give to the poor … (2-4)
2. when you pray … (5-15); (1-4)
3. when you fast … (16-18)
13. Do not store treasures up on earth – Matthew 6:19–24
14. Do not worry about your life but Seek first the kingdom of God – Matthew 6:25-34; Luke 12:22-34
1. about your life
2. about your food and drink
3. about your clothes
4. about tomorrow
15. Do not judge (practice self-examination) – Matthew 7:1-5; Luke 6:37-45; Luke 11:29-36; John 7:14-24
16. Do not give the sacred to the dogs and pigs – Matthew 7:6
17. Ask, Seek, and Knock– Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13
18. Do to others as you would have them do to you – Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:27-35
19. Enter through the narrow way – Matthew 7:13-14; Luke 13:22-30
20. Beware of false prophets – Matthew 7:15-23 (also Matthew 24:4-14)
21. Take courage / Do not be afraid / Do not let your hearts be troubled …
1. your sins are forgiven – Matthew 9:1-8
2. your faith has made you well – Matthew 9:20-22
3. it is I; do not be afraid – Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52: John 6:16-21
4. only believe – Mark 5:35-43; Luke 8:49-56
5. from now on you will catch men – Luke 5:1-11
6. believe in God and also in Jesus – John 14:1-6
7. I have overcome the world – John 16:29-33
22. Go and learn what this means, “I desire compassion and not sacrifice.” – Matthew 9:10-13 (cf. Mt 12:1-14)
23. Pray for laborers – Matthew 9:35-38; Luke 10:1-2
24. Go to the lost sheep of Israel – Matthew 10:1-15; Mark 6:7-12; Luke 9:1-11; Luke 10:3-16
1. do not go to the Gentiles or Samaritans
2. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons
3. give freely
4. do not acquire extra possessions
5. stay with worthy people and avoid unworthy people
25. Be wise as serpents – Matthew 10:16-23
1. be wise, yet innocent
2. beware of people who will hand you over to be arrested
3. do not worry about what to say at that time
4. when they persecute you in one city flee to the next
26. Fear God, not man – Matthew 10:24-33; Luke 12:4-12
27. Do not think that I came to bring peace – Matthew 10:34-39
28. If you have ears then listen
1. John is Elijah – Matthew 11:7-19
2. The Parables of Jesus – Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8:4-21, 14:25-35
3. It’s what comes out of you that makes you unclean – Matthew 16:10-20
29. Take my yoke – Matthew 11:25-30
30. Honor your parents – Matthew 15:1-9
31. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees – Matthew 16:1-12 and Matthew 23:1-39; Mark 8:14-21 and Mark 12:35-40; Luke 12:1-3, 20:45-47
1. obey what they say, but do not copy their deeds
2. do not be called Rabbi
32. Deny, Take Up and Follow – Matthew 16:24-28; Mark 8:34-38; John 12:20-26
33. Remove stumbling blocks in your life – Matthew 18:7-9; 9:42-50
34. Do not despise these little ones or hinder them – Matthew 18:10-14 and Matthew 19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16; Luke 9:46-50, 18:15-17
35. Correct a sinful brother – Matthew 18:15-20; Luke 17:1-4
36. Forgive those who sin against you – Matthew 18:21-35 (cf. also the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:1-18); Mark 11:20-26
37. Do not separate a marriage – Matthew 19:1-12 (cf. Matthew 5:27-32); Mark 10:1-12
38. Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s – Matthew 22:15-22; Mark 12:13-17; Luke 20:19-26
39. Love the Lord and your neighbor – Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-34; Luke 10:30-37
40. Be ready for my return – Matthew 24:15-25:46; Mark 13; Luke 12:35-48, 17:22-37, 21:10-37
41. Take, Eat, and Drink – Matthew 26:26-35; Mark 14:22-31; Luke 22:14-23
42. Watch and Pray – Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46
43. Put your sword away – Matthew 26:47-56; Luke 22:47-53
44. Great Commission (make disciples by …) – Matthew 28:16-20
1. going to the lost
2. baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
3. teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you
45. Go tell what God has done for you – Mark 5:120; Luke 8:26-39
46. Practice solitude and rest – Mark 6:30-31
47. Feed them – Mark 6:33-44; Luke 9:12-27
48. Don’t hinder those doing miracles in Jesus’ name – Mark 9:38-41
49. Peach the gospel to all creation – Mark 16:14-18
50. Be merciful as your Father is merciful – Luke 6:36
51. Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you – Luke 10:17-20
52. Be on your guard against every kind of greed – Luke 12:13-21
53. Obey with humility – Luke 17:7-10
54. You must be born again – John 3:1-21
55. Worship in Spirit and Truth – John 4:21-26
56. Do not marvel that the Father has given Jesus authority – John 5:25-32
57. Do not work for bread that perishes, but eat the bread of life – John 6:26-58
58. If you are thirsty, drink from Jesus – John 7:37-39
59. Believe in the Light, while you have it, so that you may become sons of Light – John 12:27-36a
60. Wash one another’s feet – John 13:5-20
61. Abide in me and I in you – John 15:1-11
62. Love one another as I have loved you – John 15:12-17
63. Receive the Holy Spirit – John 20:22
64. You shall be my witnesses – Acts 1:6-8

Like a Child

Mark 10:13-31

Most of us, when we were children, probably had hopes and dreams of what we wanted to become when we grew up.  I wanted to be a CPA (and also a computer aided drafter, but without the computers … I still do).  That’s right, a Certified Public Accountant.  I don’t think I even knew what that meant, but I wanted to become one nonetheless.  At some point though I began to grow up and I didn’t want to be a CPA any more.  I wanted to be a doctor.  Mostly, I wanted to be a doctor because doctors were somebodies.  Since I didn’t even know what a CPA was, much less what they did, I didn’t have the same certainty as to whether or not CPAs were somebodies.  (I have since learned that some CPAs are somebodies and others, well, not so much.)

It’s funny how when we’re children we’re not too concerned about status.  I know we wanted to have the same clothes that the “cool” kids wore, but that had more to do with not getting picked on or beat up than it did with status.  However, at some point we began to care about status, about becoming somebodies.  Once, Jesus’ disciples were arguing with one another about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  James and John even won’t s far as to have their mom go to bat for them and ask that they receive the honored seats at the right and left of Jesus.  Jesus answered their question – really, our question, too – by placing a little child in front of them and saying, ”Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

There we have it.  All we have to do is become children again and then we will be in a position to enter into the kingdom.  Perhaps that is easier said than done.

This passage has led many to speculate as to the child-esque qualities Jesus admires most: innocence (though I have 6 children and I must say even the littlest isn’t always all that innocent); trust; imagination; playfulness.  We kind of like the Hallmark sentimentality of children.  However, the problem with this is that the cost of following Jesus is anything but sentimental.  Following Jesus is hard and costly.

Perhaps Jesus admired (for the sake of entering the kingdom) their vulnerability, susceptibility, utter dependence on others, their lack of pretentious knowledge, their inability to survive on their own.

Consider the lesson at hand (Mark 10:13-31), which, in most Bibles, goes by the heading “The Rich Young Ruler.”  (As a side, there is nothing in the story that indicates the man is a ruler.  Unless you consider that the guy can run and fall straight to his knees as a sign of youth then there is nothing to indicate that he is young either.)  It’s easy to miss the connection between this story and the one before.  After all, this story is about a grown up and we’re accustomed to setting children aside.

The man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  What must I do?  Granted, it is possible to read too much into this one question, but the very question stands in stark contrast to the image of the child who just assumes he is where he needs to be because he can do nothing else but be.  There is very little in this world that a child can do on his or her own.

The point is made even more clear as the conversation continues.  Jesus says, “You know the commands,” and then lists several of them (the ones that have to do with loving others, but not the ones that have to do with loving God).  The man is so excited and says, “I have kept all of these since I was a child.”  Implication – I am no longer a child and I have arrived, I am a somebody and I have the stuff to prove it.

“One thing you lack,” Jesus said, “go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”  But at these words the man simply lowered his face and turned away, for he was one who had much property.

He just couldn’t do it.  He couldn’t become a child again.  He couldn’t give up all his stuff, all the things that made him a somebody.  The disciples are shocked (which is another blog post altogether) and they remind Jesus that they have in fact given up their possessions.  The disciples exhibit (and will continue to) the less desirable qualities of children: they are vulnerable because they have left everything to follow Jesus; they are susceptible to the evil forces of this world; they are utterly dependent upon Jesus; they clearly are not know-it-alls; they have no chance apart from Jesus (John 15:5).

Jesus reassures his “children” (v. 24), as any good parent would do, that though they have forsaken everything, they will not be without in this life or the life to come (vv. 29-31).  And this reassurance, for a child, is enough.

O Lord, let your reassurance be enough for us as well, your children.  May we let go of status and our dreams of being somebodies to embrace the likeness of a child that we may enter into the kingdom of God.  Let us not turn away like the rich man, but turn toward you like a child toward his father.  Amen.