Works For Me

I tend to be a very relational guy. For me discipling is all about the journey, the relationship. It is not about having the right curriculum, God already gave us that, nor it is about having all the right answers, I don't. As Jesus walked with his disciples he often assessed their understanding of himself, of the Father, of the mission. One of those times, out of his time of communion with the Father, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" This opened the door to a new revelation that the disciples may not have been able to articulate had he not asked. Good questions help those we are discipling to think through what they think, believe and know in the depths of their hearts. Good disciplers practice forming questions until they have developed a habit of asking the right question at the right time to help those they are discipling come to a greater understanding, and a deeper commitment to following Christ.

Careful to Love

"So be very careful to love the LORD your God" (Joshua 23:11).

Be careful to love. This is so different from our culture's view! So often love is proclaimed as something that just happens, something to celebrate while it lasts and to mourn when whatever happens that causes the magical bits to go away. Genuine love, though, is a decision which results in action. It is nurtured and, by the grace of God, it grows. Deep, lasting, genuine love does not just happen. We must be careful to love.

Mark and I are privileged to have families who are careful to love. My parents, for example, are quite different from each other. They have different personalities, different perspectives, different styles. But each chooses to honor the other, to respect those differences and see them as completing rather than competing within their marriage. They are committed to each other. They are careful to love.

As love for each other is nurtured by commitment and action, so is love for God. When we choose to engage in actions which strengthen such love, Christianity calls it "spiritual disciplines." We are careful to love God when we choose to celebrate His goodness, rely on Him in prayer, engage in service for His kingdom, read His story and share His character with the people around us.

Joshua was an experienced and influential leader. He couldn't know all the details of what they would encounter in coming years, but he'd seen enough to realize the temptations involved. He recognized that God had chosen them for relationship, not just religion.

We don't know what we'll encounter in the coming year, or even in the next twenty minutes, but we do know our human tendency to wander. I want to be careful to love, knowing that my commitment to God can stand strong, and God's commitment to me will never fail.

Creating Space

So many of us want to know God, but we struggle in our busy lives to fit in spiritual things. We want to study God in the Bible, interact with God in prayer, and worship God in community with others. Yet too often we find our lives too full of other things, and there is not space for God. Life never seems to slow down, and we can find ourselves drifting away, losing focus of the One who wants to walk through life with us.

For some, there is a sense of obligation to spiritual matters, and a defeated guilt when spiritual things are not part of each day. Friends, this is not the relationship God invites us into!

Henri Nouwen described the spiritual disciplines as "the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God... a time and a place where God's gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to" (see reference). It is slowing down enough to allow God to re-align our souls with his. It is giving him room to work in our lives.

Dallas Willard notes that, just as there are sins of commission (things we do, but we shouldn't) and sins of omission (things we don't do, but we should), there are disciplines of engagement (things we intentionally do) and disciplines of abstention (things we intentionally avoid doing). Further, he suggests that one struggling with a sin of commission (such as backbiting) ought to consider a discipline of abstention (such as silence). Similarly, one struggling with a sin of omission (such as joylessness) will likely grow through a discipline of engagement (such as celebration).

What is God calling you to, right now?

Discipleship is intentional. When we choose to accept God's invitation to be disciples -- that is, Christ-followers -- it is not a decision to be made lightly. Let's be attentive, and stay in step with the Master.