D17 Part 8: Stop telling me what to do ... and just show me

Then Jesus began talking about pouring water into the basin as He showed a PowerPoint picture of a basin on the screen, and then He began to colorfully describe washing the disciples’ feet, gesturing with His hands in the air. He then surprised them by pulling out a towel as an illustration, which He then put on the pulpit so people could see it as He spoke. 

So He walked over to Simon Peter, who was seated in the 3rd row. Peter interrupted the monologue and said to Him, “Lord, do You talk about washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I have been talking about, you do not realize now, but you will understand when you stream the video of this later.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You talk about washing my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not talk about washing you, you totally ruin the wordpicture.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then not only talk about washing my feet, but also talk about washing my hands and my head.”

Jesus said to him, “He who has studied all about bathing needs only to talk about his feet, but has pretty much talked about being clean in general. And you talk a lot about being clean, but not all of you.” For He knew the one who was thinking really hard about betraying Him; for this reason He said, “Not all of you talk about being clean.”

So when He had finished talking about washing their feet, and put away His lesson props and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have illustrated for you? You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, talked about washing your feet, you also ought to talk about washing one another’s feet.”

On the night Jesus was betrayed and arrested, knowing He had so very little time left to teach His disciples, He takes all the time necessary to wash 12 pairs of filthy feet. Why? It takes less than a 10 seconds to say, “You should serve one another with the same kind of humility as it takes to wash a bunch of dirty feet.” Boom. Done. Lesson over, discipleship accomplished (right?). Instead, He just washes their feet, and then talks about it.

His entire ministry is filled with doing all the things He would later expect the disciples to do. He even had them do some of those things while He observed and then gave them feedback on it. That was how Jesus discipled them. Like the washing of the feet, Jesus showed them how to disciple one another by discipling them as He expected us to imitate.

Our 8th truth of discipleship of the Seventeen Truths of Discipleship (the "D17") is:

Discipleship has to be modeled and experienced.

We are called to disciple one another, and to do so as Jesus discipled the Twelve. We can assume that Jesus demonstrated for us not only the what but the how. Disciples are learners, but they learn primarily by doing. That's how Jesus discipled them. We are too much in the habit of trying to disciple one another by talking only.

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. (James 1:22)

Let's drop any expectation that any disciple will learn anything significant about the life of a disciple unless they see it modeled and experience it firsthand. Don't expect disciples to learn how to pray without prayer being modeled (by the way, the Lord's Prayer is nothing except Jesus modeling prayer rather than lecturing about prayer). Don't expect disciples to learn how to read the Bible devotionally until it's modeled for them. Or talking about their faith, or being generous, or serving those in need, or using his or her talents to bring human flourishing in others, or anything else about the genuine Christian life. And especially, don't expect disciples to learn how to disciple others without experiencing being discipled.

Model for others what you want them to learn about following Christ. Seek out those who can model for you what you want to learn about following Christ. Talk about discipleship ... but wait until after actually doing something disciples do.

I'm sorry I'm in your way

We have just reached the halfway point in Ephesians. The first three chapters are primarily about what's true ("indicative"), and the last three chapters are more about what to do ("imperative"). We are presently right between the two halves, holding in our back pocket what we have learned about God's work while reaching forward to how those truths should find be expressed in how we walk day after day.

One thing that is abundantly clear from those first three chapters is that the real power that changes our lives is not our lone effort, but the very hand of God. He called us and provided salvation for us (chapter 1), He made us alive and brought us near (chapter 2), and He displays His manifold wisdom and can fill us beyond our own ability to imagine (chapter 3). The hand that truly changes lives is not mere flesh.

Therefore, the ideal in ministry is to cultivate God's work in the lives of people. Not to do the work, not to be the hero, not to implement the jazziest program, and not to have all the answers. Rather, the best we can do in ministry is provide the ripest environment for someone to receive the only real work that changes us in eternal ways. A farmer doesn't make plants grow - but he works hard to create the richest environment for that growth to occur.

However, sometimes in our efforts, we get in the way. More to the point, sometimes I get in the way. Just recently, as I was mowing the lawn (so, you know it wasn't all that recent), I was tumbling through my head several ways that I have gotten in the way. In just about every area of responsibility, I can name ways that I have occasionally gotten in the way instead of making the way straight. Teaching, administrating, communicating, preaching, praying, counseling, coaching - you name an area, I can point to ways that I get between God's power and the people I'm supposed to be assisting.

For that, I apologize. And I admit that I have not yet figured out how to keep out of the way, so I will get in the way again. But I'm interested in far more than issuing an apology for past and future shortcomings. My main purpose here is to encourage all of us, including me, to be ongoing students of what it really means that only God's power transforms.

Whether we are teaching or sharing our faith or being involved in ministry activities, how can we get out of the way? How are we tempted to get in the way, and then how can we step aside? How can we prepare the soil for God's power to be most effective in others (and in ourselves)? For example, do I teach in a way that adds the burden of lone human effort, or do I connect people with God's potent eagerness to be at work in us?

I'm prompted to write not because of some particular incident, and I'm not beating myself up. But I did have one of those too-infrequent moments of clarity in seeing some specific ways where my efforts occlude rather than reveal. I suspect that I'm not alone in this. With our continued partnership, we have everything we need in order to have a greater impact by learning better how to just get out of the way.

Of course, that only makes sense if God's power is in fact reliable. It comes down to whether or not we really believe this to be true.