We've talked a lot about "discipleship." So much so that some might be tired of the topic, or even just the word. One of the reasons we've talked so much about it is because of a conviction that we've talked too little about it for far too long. Perhaps we're overcorrecting a bit, but given that discipling others is the thing Jesus told us to be about, it would be disobedient for us to not keep this as our primary activity.
Despite all the talk about discipleship, we still have a nagging question, "But how do I do it?" Where's the step-by-step guide? What does it look like? I agree I should be about it, but I'm not sure what it is I should be about.
The definition of "discipleship" that I like the most is: moving from unbelief to belief in every area of life in light of the Gospel.(1) This definition allows for important ideas: that discipleship begins before someone is born from above, that everyone can be discipled, and that even after believing in Christ there are still areas of unbelief that need to move toward belief. This definition is an ongoing process, not something that we finish after a 12-week study.
Given this definition, it's easy to see why we haven't presented a "how to" manual. The possibilities are endless on how we can help one another move from unbelief to belief in an area of life. It can be a Bible study, it can be working side by side for some cause, it can be while grieving over the loss of a loved one. It can be formal or informal, planned or unplanned, face-to-face or side-by-side. How do we help one another identify our areas of unbelief, and then without judgment, encourage one another to move toward belief?
Therefore, "making disciples" (I prefer "discipling") is not like making widgets. There is a set way to make a widget, and once you've made a widget, it's done. It's a widget or it's not. When we look at making disciples this way, we naturally begin to reduce disciplemaking down to things like doctrine, spiritual disciplines, and behavior. Just get those three things down, and boom ... you're a widget. Agree to the right doctrinal statement, be able to check off your list daily that you read and prayed, and stop doing bad stuff. This is not a "disciple"!!!
The word disciple means student or apprentice. Those words aren't like widgets. They are postures. One is a student if she has the posture of learning. One is an apprentice if he has an ongoing learning-by-example relationship with a journeyman. A disciple is defined by an orientation toward Jesus, not an accumulation of knowledge and behaviors.
Therefore, making a disciple is not like producing a product. Rather, it is helping someone assume certain posture toward Christ. It's not about giving them all the information, but helping them orient toward the Teacher for all things. It's not about learning spiritual disciplines, but adopting habits that orient us toward the Teacher. It's not about better behavior, but living a life of learning how to live from the Teacher. How do you make a student? By helping them adopt the posture of a student, not by grading pop quizzes.
I recently asked some middle school kids if they were able to disciple one another. They all said no. Then I asked them if they could help one another move from unbelief to belief in some areas of life. They all said yes. They certainly can disciple one another! (Just don't call it that.)
Can we help one another maintain a student posture? Can we help one another develop an apprentice relationship with Jesus? Certainly. Just do that. You'll learn better and better ways as we all move forward in this journey together, but just do that. Just encourage one another to move from unbelief to belief in specific areas of our lives. That, of course, requires authentic relationships.
(1) Caesar Kalinowski
Showing posts with label belief. Show all posts
Showing posts with label belief. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
With deep grief I have watched the events surrounding the Ferguson, MO, case and the Eric Garner case. I grieve over the loss of life, regardless of circumstance. I grieve over those who responded with violence, regardless of reason. I grieve over the angry divisiveness, heartlessness, and bitter words exchanged in the streets and online. I grieve that, no matter how you look at these stories, race is still an open-wound issue in our time.
I'm not going to tell you who I think is right or wrong, and I won't tell you who you should think is right or wrong, because that would reduce what you should think down to a single idea. The issues are complex, and I would hope that every one of us has a complex, even conflicting set of thoughts about them.
In all this, I have observed that people responded to the same set of facts based on how they were already bent. In other words, if I knew your socio-political leanings before these events occurred, I could have quite accurately predicted your responses to them. The facts of the case are the facts of the case, but how people responded to those facts was overwhelmingly conditioned by what they already believed before the facts were presented.
In other words, the facts matter less than our preconceived narratives. We all have agendas - things we want to happen, ways we want to be followed, structures we want in place. We have a narrative in our minds of how things have been and ought to be. Sadly, the real lives of the real people involved in real events are merely props to affirm the narratives in our minds. We're using them ... and their tragedies ... to affirm what we already believe. It doesn't matter which side of these issues people are on; I observe the same phenomenon in both directions.
Facts should change us, not vice versa. But we're letting it happen. How else could our differing responses be so easily predictable before the facts even came to light? The facts could have been different, but our respective conclusions would have been the same! And we're pretty angry about these "facts" - even though they don't really matter.
It's not just these two events. The same thing happens daily with politics, religion, international relations, and of course sports. It's not just them who do this; it's us. No sense in pointing fingers - both sides of every issue are filled with rhetoric that could be scripted without looking at a single fact.
Jesus once said that even if a man rose from the dead and warned people, they wouldn't listen. Facts don't matter - they just get repurposed. Therefore, the facts of your life don't matter, either, because my narrative is already set. I'll twist your story to fit my narrative, so you don't really matter.
The only way I can be different than this is to allow people to mess up my narrative.
When I was a young kid, we didn't have any pets. Somehow, I had it in my mind that dogs and cats were the same animal, but that dogs were the boys and cats were the girls. (To save my own life, I will not explain how that conclusion actuallymakes made some sense.) Our neighbors had a cat and a dog ... but the cat was male and the dog was female! That totally messed up my young narrative! I fought it, but eventually I allowed reality to change my narrative. The only way I could retain my narrative would have been to slander the reputations those two animals. (Sound familiar?)
Allowing your narrative to be changed doesn't mean you have to put your core beliefs on the chopping block. Whatever core beliefs are true need not change, even when the narratives must. Even though I have discovered halfway decent people who graduated from KU, I don't have to abandon my core belief in the absolute superiority of Mizzou. They changed my narrative, but not my core belief!
This is especially crucial when we consider our kids, who encounter narrative-busting people every day. If our narrative fails to accommodate the variety of lifestories they eat lunch with and study algebra together with, they will abandon the narrative - they will not abandon the busters. And if they abandon the narrative, they are far more likely to abandon the core beliefs you want to pass on.
I'm not going to tell you who I think is right or wrong, and I won't tell you who you should think is right or wrong, because that would reduce what you should think down to a single idea. The issues are complex, and I would hope that every one of us has a complex, even conflicting set of thoughts about them.
In all this, I have observed that people responded to the same set of facts based on how they were already bent. In other words, if I knew your socio-political leanings before these events occurred, I could have quite accurately predicted your responses to them. The facts of the case are the facts of the case, but how people responded to those facts was overwhelmingly conditioned by what they already believed before the facts were presented.
In other words, the facts matter less than our preconceived narratives. We all have agendas - things we want to happen, ways we want to be followed, structures we want in place. We have a narrative in our minds of how things have been and ought to be. Sadly, the real lives of the real people involved in real events are merely props to affirm the narratives in our minds. We're using them ... and their tragedies ... to affirm what we already believe. It doesn't matter which side of these issues people are on; I observe the same phenomenon in both directions.
Facts should change us, not vice versa. But we're letting it happen. How else could our differing responses be so easily predictable before the facts even came to light? The facts could have been different, but our respective conclusions would have been the same! And we're pretty angry about these "facts" - even though they don't really matter.
It's not just these two events. The same thing happens daily with politics, religion, international relations, and of course sports. It's not just them who do this; it's us. No sense in pointing fingers - both sides of every issue are filled with rhetoric that could be scripted without looking at a single fact.
Jesus once said that even if a man rose from the dead and warned people, they wouldn't listen. Facts don't matter - they just get repurposed. Therefore, the facts of your life don't matter, either, because my narrative is already set. I'll twist your story to fit my narrative, so you don't really matter.
The only way I can be different than this is to allow people to mess up my narrative.
When I was a young kid, we didn't have any pets. Somehow, I had it in my mind that dogs and cats were the same animal, but that dogs were the boys and cats were the girls. (To save my own life, I will not explain how that conclusion actually
Allowing your narrative to be changed doesn't mean you have to put your core beliefs on the chopping block. Whatever core beliefs are true need not change, even when the narratives must. Even though I have discovered halfway decent people who graduated from KU, I don't have to abandon my core belief in the absolute superiority of Mizzou. They changed my narrative, but not my core belief!
This is especially crucial when we consider our kids, who encounter narrative-busting people every day. If our narrative fails to accommodate the variety of lifestories they eat lunch with and study algebra together with, they will abandon the narrative - they will not abandon the busters. And if they abandon the narrative, they are far more likely to abandon the core beliefs you want to pass on.
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
D17 P10: Never Not a Chance
Jesus and His disciples are in a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee, rowing (not leisurely motoring) their way across. There was no Igloo cooler on the boat, and there was no drive-through McDonald's waiting for them on the other side. You will eat if and only if you bring your own food. Except that they didn't. With no apparent gluten allergy, it was bread they were missing. (Mark 8:14-21)
WWJD? What will Jesus do? Will He tell a parable about ten virgins, of whom five were not prepared with oil in their lamps? Will He turn crumbs into a feast, with leftovers? Will He quote Isaiah's teaching on the value of fasting? Nope, nope, and nope.
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees!" What? What in the world does that mean? What's that have to do with anything we've been talking about for the last two years? And most importantly ... does this mean we're not getting any bread???
Jesus took this moment of a not-so-serious problem to explain something about the Kingdom of God. For the Master Discipler, every moment was a discipleship opportunity, which is our 10th of 17 truths about discipleship (the "D17"):
What this doesn't mean: We become annoying busybodies always trying to drive the conversation to the "deep" stuff. Most of discipleship doesn't happen in the rarefied air of lofty theological monologues. Rather, most of it happens in the daily rhythms of life, when you're talking about baseball and gardening and children's shoes and sock-eating clothes dryers. It happens seated next to each other on the bleachers at the kids' game or while changing the brakes.
What this does mean: Our radar is always on. The radar is good for recognizing those sudden opportunities to drive down to the deep stuff. But the radar is also good for being constantly aware that the person I'm sitting next to at the game or talking with about kids' shoes is someone I can influence to follow Jesus more in some way. Not necessarily taking them from 0 to 100 in 5 minutes, but offering a new idea, an attitude, an offer to pray, or just unconditional love. Always.
Recall our first truth of the D17: Discipleship is moving from unbelief to belief in every area of life in light of the Gospel. Based on that definition, considering every moment a discipleship opportunity means that every minute of every day is a chance that I might encourage someone to move away from unbelief toward belief is one area of life.
That means every moment of your life has the potential to see Jesus followed more faithfully. That makes every moment important.
* This idea is based on writings by Caesar Kalinowski.
WWJD? What will Jesus do? Will He tell a parable about ten virgins, of whom five were not prepared with oil in their lamps? Will He turn crumbs into a feast, with leftovers? Will He quote Isaiah's teaching on the value of fasting? Nope, nope, and nope.
"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees!" What? What in the world does that mean? What's that have to do with anything we've been talking about for the last two years? And most importantly ... does this mean we're not getting any bread???
Jesus took this moment of a not-so-serious problem to explain something about the Kingdom of God. For the Master Discipler, every moment was a discipleship opportunity, which is our 10th of 17 truths about discipleship (the "D17"):
Every moment is a discipleship opportunity.*
What this doesn't mean: We become annoying busybodies always trying to drive the conversation to the "deep" stuff. Most of discipleship doesn't happen in the rarefied air of lofty theological monologues. Rather, most of it happens in the daily rhythms of life, when you're talking about baseball and gardening and children's shoes and sock-eating clothes dryers. It happens seated next to each other on the bleachers at the kids' game or while changing the brakes.
What this does mean: Our radar is always on. The radar is good for recognizing those sudden opportunities to drive down to the deep stuff. But the radar is also good for being constantly aware that the person I'm sitting next to at the game or talking with about kids' shoes is someone I can influence to follow Jesus more in some way. Not necessarily taking them from 0 to 100 in 5 minutes, but offering a new idea, an attitude, an offer to pray, or just unconditional love. Always.
Recall our first truth of the D17: Discipleship is moving from unbelief to belief in every area of life in light of the Gospel. Based on that definition, considering every moment a discipleship opportunity means that every minute of every day is a chance that I might encourage someone to move away from unbelief toward belief is one area of life.
That means every moment of your life has the potential to see Jesus followed more faithfully. That makes every moment important.
* This idea is based on writings by Caesar Kalinowski.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
D17 Part 1: From Unbelief to Belief in Every Area
A frantic man steps out of the buzzing crowd, his son in his arms, and the weariness of his son's affliction carved deep into his face. "Teacher! Here's my son. He can't talk. A spirit has possessed him - it thrashes him and pounds him into the ground. My son ... he ... foams at the mouth and grinds his teeth uncontrollably. And then he stiffens up as hard as a board. I've tried everything ... everything! I tried your disciples, and not even they could help." He didn't need to ask Jesus for anything - his utter helplessness was enough of a plea. Jesus steps forward, and the demon attacks the boy yet again, but for the last time.
What an amazing admission! "I believe; help my unbelief!" I believe. I believe enough to bring my boy to your disciples. Even their failure doesn't deter me - I still believe you can have compassion and can help us. But I also don't believe. I hedge my request by asking "if you are able," because I don't yet fully believe you are. I don't really understand you, and I don't know all that it means for me if you actually pull this off. So, not only will you help us by saving my son, will you help me with my unbelief? Because you said anything is possible for those who believe.
Too often, we reduce following Jesus to a binary question, yes or no. Do you believe? Yes or no! Check one. How cruel would Jesus have been shove a note into this man's hand with only two checkboxes, yes or no, like the binary love letters we passed around in grade school. The man believes, but he doesn't believe. We believe, but we don't believe.
Yes, there is a singular moment when a person can pass from the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of God, and that happens only through believing. But we don't pass so cleanly in binary fashion from belief to unbelief. We believe unto salvation, but even as we are born anew, we are not completely rid of unbelief. There remain areas of our lives where we continue in unbelief, sometimes for years.
I have received the irrevocable gift of eternal life (by grace through faith), but I still don't fully believe God in every area of life. For me, it's sometimes about my future. Sometimes, it's about taking a risk in the present, needing God to "show up," but not fully believing that He will. Sometimes, it's unbelief about where my true happiness will be found - in things or experiences, rather than in Christ alone. I believe! Help my unbelief!
"Discipleship is the process of moving from unbelief to belief in every area of your life in light of the Gospel." If we understand that the moment of salvation where we become "regenerate" (reborn) is an event of incomplete faith, but faith nonetheless, we can then see that the rest of our walk with Christ is the ongoing process of replacing every remaining area of unbelief with belief. My unbelief about my happiness or my future replaced by belief in the Gospel of Christ says about happiness and the future - that's me being discipled. In other words, becoming a more complete follower of Jesus. It's not "just believe Jesus more," but "believe Jesus in ways that I have been stuck in unbelief."
But remember, "discipleship" is not something that begins after salvation. Discipling someone can (and should!) happen before salvation. We see it in the pages of the Gospels, but also in our daily lives - those curious about Jesus, moving from ways of unbelief to belief in areas of their lives before they receive eternal life. Eventually, that faith intersects with God's sovereign election, and a person becomes regenerate. But he merely continues on, moving from unbelief to belief in more areas of life. Discipleship.
The Elders have been wrestling with a list we're calling "The Discipleship 17" - 17 truths about discipleship that cause us to dig deeper into what it means to follow Jesus and live life on mission. This truth of moving from unbelief to belief is the first of the "D17," a definition we pulled from a book by Cesar Kalinowski.
Spend a few moments pondering this definition. How does this truth affect what your life as a follower should be? How can you help one another move from unbelief to belief in various areas of light in light of the Gospel? How does this change how to raise your children? How does this help you interact with those who are unconvinced that Jesus is the Son of God? What would it mean for the areas of unbelief in your life were one by one replaced by belief?
9:21 Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 9:22 It has often thrown him into fire or water to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you are able?’ All things are possible for the one who believes.” 9:24 Immediately the father of the boy cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
(Mark 9:21-24)
Too often, we reduce following Jesus to a binary question, yes or no. Do you believe? Yes or no! Check one. How cruel would Jesus have been shove a note into this man's hand with only two checkboxes, yes or no, like the binary love letters we passed around in grade school. The man believes, but he doesn't believe. We believe, but we don't believe.
Yes, there is a singular moment when a person can pass from the kingdom of this world to the Kingdom of God, and that happens only through believing. But we don't pass so cleanly in binary fashion from belief to unbelief. We believe unto salvation, but even as we are born anew, we are not completely rid of unbelief. There remain areas of our lives where we continue in unbelief, sometimes for years.
I have received the irrevocable gift of eternal life (by grace through faith), but I still don't fully believe God in every area of life. For me, it's sometimes about my future. Sometimes, it's about taking a risk in the present, needing God to "show up," but not fully believing that He will. Sometimes, it's unbelief about where my true happiness will be found - in things or experiences, rather than in Christ alone. I believe! Help my unbelief!
"Discipleship is the process of moving from unbelief to belief in every area of your life in light of the Gospel." If we understand that the moment of salvation where we become "regenerate" (reborn) is an event of incomplete faith, but faith nonetheless, we can then see that the rest of our walk with Christ is the ongoing process of replacing every remaining area of unbelief with belief. My unbelief about my happiness or my future replaced by belief in the Gospel of Christ says about happiness and the future - that's me being discipled. In other words, becoming a more complete follower of Jesus. It's not "just believe Jesus more," but "believe Jesus in ways that I have been stuck in unbelief."
But remember, "discipleship" is not something that begins after salvation. Discipling someone can (and should!) happen before salvation. We see it in the pages of the Gospels, but also in our daily lives - those curious about Jesus, moving from ways of unbelief to belief in areas of their lives before they receive eternal life. Eventually, that faith intersects with God's sovereign election, and a person becomes regenerate. But he merely continues on, moving from unbelief to belief in more areas of life. Discipleship.
The Elders have been wrestling with a list we're calling "The Discipleship 17" - 17 truths about discipleship that cause us to dig deeper into what it means to follow Jesus and live life on mission. This truth of moving from unbelief to belief is the first of the "D17," a definition we pulled from a book by Cesar Kalinowski.
Spend a few moments pondering this definition. How does this truth affect what your life as a follower should be? How can you help one another move from unbelief to belief in various areas of light in light of the Gospel? How does this change how to raise your children? How does this help you interact with those who are unconvinced that Jesus is the Son of God? What would it mean for the areas of unbelief in your life were one by one replaced by belief?
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Banned for Life
This week, Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team, was banned for life from participating in the NBA. A recorded phone conversation between him and his mistress was made public, which revealed blatantly racist comments. Public reaction was swift and strong, overwhelmingly critical of his comments. His own team silently protested in a recent playoff game by wearing their shirts inside out during the introductions.
The comments he made were undeniably racist and are indefensible. I'm not going to argue whether or not a lifelong ban is appropriate for ugly racism. But I am struck by the severity of the reaction. Banned for life, not for racist actions but for racist thoughts. Yes, once public, those words inflict damage to the league, and if the reaction were just for that, there's a good argument that the severity is justified. My impression, however, is that they are not reacting to the actual damage done, but for how much they don't like those thoughts.
I don't like those thoughts, either. Not one bit. They are entirely repugnant. And the league has every right to ban someone for public comments that directly damage their organization. But I'm still brewing on the possibility of a lifelong ban because of what someone thinks.
Other examples are becoming more common. Scientists denied work if they believe the universe originates with God, restaurant owners being denied business licenses if they hold a personal belief about the boundaries of marriage (or shaggy men losing their TV show), CEOs ousted by popular demand for personally supporting a particular bill, and so on. Because of what they think, ugly or not, even if they never treat people unequally, they are banned from engaging in commerce.
I'm not writing a piece on American free speech rights. I'm not writing an alarmist article to incite people to hunker down for a fight. Rather, in the face of increasing, severe, and potentially expensive consequences for holding a view deemed unacceptable by a vocal crowd, Christians have a decision to make now.
We must decide in this moment that we're willing to be banned for life for what we believe - banned from a league, from a job, from an industry, from a community. Before the heat comes, before the crowd gets vocal, we must have already established that we would rather be banned than abandon our beliefs. After the heat comes, the temptation to falter is stronger, and for anyone unprepared, resisting will be all the harder. The "heat" may be mild or sizzling hot, but it seems clear that the temperature is rising. We must settle this while it's still relatively cool.
A word of warning: It's crucial that we're sure which beliefs are core and which ones aren't. Put a gun to my head, and I won't deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, but I'm not going to insist on a mid-tribulation, pre-millennial eschatology! Burn me at the stake over the Trinity, but it's not even worth breaking a sweat over determining which political party has the most avarice. Fire me for believing God made everything, but it's not important to me that we agree on how long He took to do it.
Be willing to be banned for life over the Gospel. Because others will be banned for eternal life without it.
The comments he made were undeniably racist and are indefensible. I'm not going to argue whether or not a lifelong ban is appropriate for ugly racism. But I am struck by the severity of the reaction. Banned for life, not for racist actions but for racist thoughts. Yes, once public, those words inflict damage to the league, and if the reaction were just for that, there's a good argument that the severity is justified. My impression, however, is that they are not reacting to the actual damage done, but for how much they don't like those thoughts.
I don't like those thoughts, either. Not one bit. They are entirely repugnant. And the league has every right to ban someone for public comments that directly damage their organization. But I'm still brewing on the possibility of a lifelong ban because of what someone thinks.
Other examples are becoming more common. Scientists denied work if they believe the universe originates with God, restaurant owners being denied business licenses if they hold a personal belief about the boundaries of marriage (or shaggy men losing their TV show), CEOs ousted by popular demand for personally supporting a particular bill, and so on. Because of what they think, ugly or not, even if they never treat people unequally, they are banned from engaging in commerce.
I'm not writing a piece on American free speech rights. I'm not writing an alarmist article to incite people to hunker down for a fight. Rather, in the face of increasing, severe, and potentially expensive consequences for holding a view deemed unacceptable by a vocal crowd, Christians have a decision to make now.
We must decide in this moment that we're willing to be banned for life for what we believe - banned from a league, from a job, from an industry, from a community. Before the heat comes, before the crowd gets vocal, we must have already established that we would rather be banned than abandon our beliefs. After the heat comes, the temptation to falter is stronger, and for anyone unprepared, resisting will be all the harder. The "heat" may be mild or sizzling hot, but it seems clear that the temperature is rising. We must settle this while it's still relatively cool.
A word of warning: It's crucial that we're sure which beliefs are core and which ones aren't. Put a gun to my head, and I won't deny that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, but I'm not going to insist on a mid-tribulation, pre-millennial eschatology! Burn me at the stake over the Trinity, but it's not even worth breaking a sweat over determining which political party has the most avarice. Fire me for believing God made everything, but it's not important to me that we agree on how long He took to do it.
Be willing to be banned for life over the Gospel. Because others will be banned for eternal life without it.
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