Saturday, May 28, 2011
A Meeting on the Beach
I have been on vacation this week in Daytona Beach. It has been very good. Today is our last day, and this morning we rented an umbrella and stayed down at the beach for several hours. Tomorrow is Memorial Day, so a lot of people have come down, and the beach started to get crowded, a rather vibrant atmosphere.
I just finished the last book of "The Chronicles of Narnia" today. I greatly recommend the books. They are the sort of fiction that, at least for me, awaken my taste buds to things eternal. They call me away from the mundane to the glorious realization that I am covered by royal blood... a traitor known through and through, yet still brought in to the family.
While reading, I was approached by a couple of young college guys. I thought as they approached that they might be ready to draw me into a nearby game of frisbee or Bocci Ball. Instead, to my surprise and delight, they were there to share the Gospel. They asked if they could do a survey, and they asked some questions about my spiritual life and Jesus and such. They quickly realized that I was a fellow Christian, and I asked them if they were with Campus Outreach. They were! Jonathan Baggett, my big brother in Theta Xi, had done Beach Project at least a couple of years, so I knew of it already. Basically, these guys spend a summer doing a job but also sharing the Gospel with as many as possible.
These two guys, one of them more experienced and the other a first-timer, wanted to practice their tract. They had a simple tract that led through a discussion of what we are searching for, sin, and the solution. I was the first person they had come up to, and so I was an opportunity for them to sort-of get their feet wet. We talked back and forth as they went through the tract, and we stopped at some points to discuss different things, such as the nature of sin and death and the meaning of eternal life and the importance of grace in sanctification.
The Spirit has many ways of convicting me when I open my eyes because He is so creative and good, and I am so depraved. I felt this happening in myself. We would come to a point like the nature of sin. We would give explanations back and forth. Of course, I have thought much about the Gospel. I would throw in my two cents and back it up with Scripture. In them I had found like-minded souls, and they drank in some of the things I threw in that maybe they had never heard quite that way. And then the sinful part of my heart swelled with subtle pride as they appreciated what I had to say, as if I am wise. Of course, this is the way discipleship works - the older share with the younger, and there is growth, but pride corrupts all, even the passing on of spiritual truth as we can sadly see through church history, and especially in the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' own day.
Here is my conviction. I have read many books, and I have studied Scripture, not enough but more than many. I was sitting there just relaxing and taking in the sun, and here were young men laboring for the Kingdom. Now, I don't think vacation is evil, and I don't know that every waking minute must be devoted to explicitly sharing the Gospel, though my flesh is weak and might prompt me to be wrong about that. Nevertheless, I was convicted that while I read more and more books and carry around more conversation potentialities in my head, believers with (probably) less knowledge were practically doing far more than I for the advancement of the Kingdom.
Father forgive me. Jesus, help me to love you with all. Spirit, lead in all!
I just finished the last book of "The Chronicles of Narnia" today. I greatly recommend the books. They are the sort of fiction that, at least for me, awaken my taste buds to things eternal. They call me away from the mundane to the glorious realization that I am covered by royal blood... a traitor known through and through, yet still brought in to the family.
While reading, I was approached by a couple of young college guys. I thought as they approached that they might be ready to draw me into a nearby game of frisbee or Bocci Ball. Instead, to my surprise and delight, they were there to share the Gospel. They asked if they could do a survey, and they asked some questions about my spiritual life and Jesus and such. They quickly realized that I was a fellow Christian, and I asked them if they were with Campus Outreach. They were! Jonathan Baggett, my big brother in Theta Xi, had done Beach Project at least a couple of years, so I knew of it already. Basically, these guys spend a summer doing a job but also sharing the Gospel with as many as possible.
These two guys, one of them more experienced and the other a first-timer, wanted to practice their tract. They had a simple tract that led through a discussion of what we are searching for, sin, and the solution. I was the first person they had come up to, and so I was an opportunity for them to sort-of get their feet wet. We talked back and forth as they went through the tract, and we stopped at some points to discuss different things, such as the nature of sin and death and the meaning of eternal life and the importance of grace in sanctification.
The Spirit has many ways of convicting me when I open my eyes because He is so creative and good, and I am so depraved. I felt this happening in myself. We would come to a point like the nature of sin. We would give explanations back and forth. Of course, I have thought much about the Gospel. I would throw in my two cents and back it up with Scripture. In them I had found like-minded souls, and they drank in some of the things I threw in that maybe they had never heard quite that way. And then the sinful part of my heart swelled with subtle pride as they appreciated what I had to say, as if I am wise. Of course, this is the way discipleship works - the older share with the younger, and there is growth, but pride corrupts all, even the passing on of spiritual truth as we can sadly see through church history, and especially in the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus' own day.
Here is my conviction. I have read many books, and I have studied Scripture, not enough but more than many. I was sitting there just relaxing and taking in the sun, and here were young men laboring for the Kingdom. Now, I don't think vacation is evil, and I don't know that every waking minute must be devoted to explicitly sharing the Gospel, though my flesh is weak and might prompt me to be wrong about that. Nevertheless, I was convicted that while I read more and more books and carry around more conversation potentialities in my head, believers with (probably) less knowledge were practically doing far more than I for the advancement of the Kingdom.
Father forgive me. Jesus, help me to love you with all. Spirit, lead in all!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Microwave Discipleship
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:29-30)
I have been reading the first chapters of Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines, and I want to briefly share the heart of the first chapter with you.
God's salvation is about more than mere forgiveness, though the forgiveness we receive is inestimably glorious. We are not saved to exist in some neutral state; rather, we are saved and given new identities in Christ and led to walk in newness of life - abundant life! We do not merely have God as judge declaring "not guilty"; we have him as loving Father welcoming us into a warm embrace.
We have the four gospels and the record of Jesus' life and ministry for a reason. There is great value in more than just the book of Romans, which I take to be, at least and much more, a profound explanation of the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection, an explanation that when received is very properly called Good News. Though we are saved by grace through faith alone, not by works, does not mean that works have no place in the Christian life. Read James to learn this. Though they are not the foundation of our being saved or staying saved, they are intimately connected to the essence of the life that has been imparted to us. What we do matters. Let me repeat - what we do matters!
And Jesus calls us into a serious discipleship to himself. Our business while we are still here is to know Christ and to make him known. We know Christ not by merely professing faith and doing Christian-ish things; we know him by having a faith that takes seriously Christ's call to follow.
The main analogy from the first chapter of the book deals with training. A child who plays a sport will want to imitate his favorite pro athlete's stance and mannerisms that he displays in the game. But will the child experience the same success as his favorite athlete? The answer is almost certainly no. Why? Because the pro-athlete has given himself over to a comprehensive mental, physical, emotional pattern of life that makes possible his on-the-spot success in the game. Do we do the same with Jesus? We are given commands that seem impossible - loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, sharing the Gospel with the nations, etc... And we look to Jesus as our example and favorite "athlete", and we hope to be able to imitate him when we find those opportunities. But should expect a Christ-like response from ourselves in those situations if we have not oriented our entire lives around training for Christ-likeness? Probably not. We should discipline our lives in a holistic way around living like Christ. I do not plan to go into it here, but this leads into the heart of the book - spiritual disciplines practiced and taught in the Bible for spiritual growth.
I suppose that following Jesus is a greater calling than hitting a baseball, and I should not expect to be able to cruise easily into the former just as I would not do for the latter. Jesus guide me, by your grace, into a lifestyle that lives under your Lordship and friendship and guidance each minute. You are infinitely smarter than I am, and you want me to grow in your ways. Lead me. Thank you for saving me, and thank you for this resurrection hope I have. Pour your Spirit on me. To you be all glory! In your name, amen.
I have been reading the first chapters of Dallas Willard's The Spirit of the Disciplines, and I want to briefly share the heart of the first chapter with you.
God's salvation is about more than mere forgiveness, though the forgiveness we receive is inestimably glorious. We are not saved to exist in some neutral state; rather, we are saved and given new identities in Christ and led to walk in newness of life - abundant life! We do not merely have God as judge declaring "not guilty"; we have him as loving Father welcoming us into a warm embrace.
We have the four gospels and the record of Jesus' life and ministry for a reason. There is great value in more than just the book of Romans, which I take to be, at least and much more, a profound explanation of the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection, an explanation that when received is very properly called Good News. Though we are saved by grace through faith alone, not by works, does not mean that works have no place in the Christian life. Read James to learn this. Though they are not the foundation of our being saved or staying saved, they are intimately connected to the essence of the life that has been imparted to us. What we do matters. Let me repeat - what we do matters!
And Jesus calls us into a serious discipleship to himself. Our business while we are still here is to know Christ and to make him known. We know Christ not by merely professing faith and doing Christian-ish things; we know him by having a faith that takes seriously Christ's call to follow.
The main analogy from the first chapter of the book deals with training. A child who plays a sport will want to imitate his favorite pro athlete's stance and mannerisms that he displays in the game. But will the child experience the same success as his favorite athlete? The answer is almost certainly no. Why? Because the pro-athlete has given himself over to a comprehensive mental, physical, emotional pattern of life that makes possible his on-the-spot success in the game. Do we do the same with Jesus? We are given commands that seem impossible - loving our enemies, turning the other cheek, sharing the Gospel with the nations, etc... And we look to Jesus as our example and favorite "athlete", and we hope to be able to imitate him when we find those opportunities. But should expect a Christ-like response from ourselves in those situations if we have not oriented our entire lives around training for Christ-likeness? Probably not. We should discipline our lives in a holistic way around living like Christ. I do not plan to go into it here, but this leads into the heart of the book - spiritual disciplines practiced and taught in the Bible for spiritual growth.
I suppose that following Jesus is a greater calling than hitting a baseball, and I should not expect to be able to cruise easily into the former just as I would not do for the latter. Jesus guide me, by your grace, into a lifestyle that lives under your Lordship and friendship and guidance each minute. You are infinitely smarter than I am, and you want me to grow in your ways. Lead me. Thank you for saving me, and thank you for this resurrection hope I have. Pour your Spirit on me. To you be all glory! In your name, amen.
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