What is real discipleship?

I have been reading about Hudson Taylor and just blown away by his radical commitment to really follow Jesus. I mean I often look foolish to the world but even to me he seems radical. Yet his joy in The Lord and the fruit of the kingdom coming makes me wonder. What if he is right? Maybe following Jesus is even more radical than I imagined.

As I thought about this question of what is real discipleship (what does it mean to really follow Jesus?) I turned to the middle of mark which is a major turning point of the gospel.

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. (Mark 8:29, 30 NIV)

This is the turning point of Mark and of Jesus ministry I think. In fact this is the exact middle of mark that splits it in half. A friend on InterVarsity staff James Butler said that Jesus from this point turns toward Jerusalem and sets his ministry on that course. And you can feel the heat. Even Peter is blown out of the water.

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mark 8:31-33 NIV)

Even Peter who had given up almost everything to follow Jesus to be a disciple doesn't come close to getting it. It's the most radical plan ever. Jesus who we just get confirmation is the Messiah is knowingly going to suffer and die. And what I think peter doesn't get is that is the way of Jesus suffer and die, but then in death you will rise eternal.

And then Jesus turns to the disciples and to you and me and says:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:34-36 NIV)

Jesus invites us all to something radical I don't think even Peter or the disciples understood until later it became reality.

Jesus invites his followers to suffer and to die to this world. Only in death following Jesus will we rise to eternity and our lives or our souls will be saved. And he certainly has the authority to call us to this because he walked that road first. He is the first to die and the first to rise and so we follow in his footsteps. 

But now I ask myself: how far am I willing to go? Will I suffer and die in order to stand and rise with Jesus? I don't think it's an if. We often say would we be willing to do it if it happened. But Jesus didn't say no if. He said we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. And Jesus carried his cross to his death. There is no if about it. I am becoming more and more convinced of what it really means to follow Jesus.

But for those who persevere there is an eternal promise:

And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9:1 NIV)

For they will see the kingdom of God and know that the kingdom of God has come with power! 

But the kingdom is not far off for Jesus also said as recorded in Luke:

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20, 21 NIV)

And so the 3 disciples of Jesus: Peter James and John got to see some compelling evidence that the kingdom of God has already come with power. In Mark immediately folliwing this:

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2 NIV)

So what will I choose: to lose my life and find it in Jesus or not?

What is real discipleship?

I have been reading about Hudson Taylor and just blown away by his radical commitment to really follow Jesus. I mean I often look foolish to the world but even to me he seems radical. Yet his joy in The Lord and the fruit of the kingdom coming makes me wonder. What if he is right? Maybe following Jesus is even more radical than I imagined.

As I thought about this question of what is real discipleship (what does it mean to really follow Jesus?) I turned to the middle of mark which is a major turning point of the gospel.

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.” Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. (Mark 8:29, 30 NIV)

This is the turning point of Mark and of Jesus ministry I think. In fact this is the exact middle of mark that splits it in half. A friend on InterVarsity staff James Butler said that Jesus from this point turns toward Jerusalem and sets his ministry on that course to the cross to suffering and death. And you can feel the heat as Mark continues. Even Peter is blown out of the water. For in the church we often stop at the question: who do you say Jesus is? And if you say Savior and your Lord check you are pretty much in. But Jesus is only just getting started in his discipleship of Peter and the others. It gets more and more intense.

This is how Jesus goes on from Peters declaration the Jesus is the Messiah:

He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Mark 8:31-33 NIV)

Even Peter who had given up almost everything to follow Jesus to be a disciple doesn't come close to getting it. It's the most radical plan ever. Jesus who we just finally get confirmation is the Messiah is knowingly going to suffer and die. And what I think Peter doesn't get is that is the way of Jesus suffer and die, but then in death you will rise eternal.

And then Jesus turns to the disciples and to you and me and says:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mark 8:34-36 NIV)

Jesus invites us all to something radical I don't think even Peter or the disciples understood until later it became reality.

Jesus invites his followers to suffer and to die to this world. Only in death following Jesus will we rise to eternity and our lives or our souls will be saved. And he certainly has the authority to call us to this because he walked that road first. He is the first to die and the first to rise and so we follow in his footsteps. 

But now I ask myself: how far am I willing to go? Will I suffer and die in order to stand and rise with Jesus? I don't think it's an if. We often say would we be willing to do it if it happened. But Jesus didn't say no if. He said we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. And Jesus carried his cross to his death. There is no if about it. I am becoming more and more convinced of what it really means to follow Jesus. Not just for a few not just for missionaries or Christians in other countries, but for all of us. Not the few radical exceptions but the norm the standard the beginning for all of us. 

For death to this life in following Jesus is the beginning of eternal life in the kingdom of God.

And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.” (Mark 9:1 NIV)

For they will see the kingdom of God and know that the kingdom of God has come with power! 

But the kingdom is not far off for Jesus also said as recorded in Luke:

Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20, 21 NIV)

And so the 3 disciples of Jesus: Peter James and John got to see some compelling evidence that the kingdom of God has already come with power. In Mark immediately following this:

After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. (Mark 9:2 NIV)

So what will I choose: to lose my life and find it in Jesus or not?

Eternal Perspective

What if I lived from the eternal perspective?

No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them— the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough— so that they should live on forever and not see decay. For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others. Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves. But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself. (Psalm 49:7-11, 15 NIV)

This is the hope I confess in Jesus Christ my savior and Lord. But what does it mean to live with this eternal perspective?

How should it shape my perspective on Work

Moving

Suffering

Wealth

Pleasure and fun

Etc?

True Rest and sabbath rest

Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. (Hebrews 3:1 NIV)

But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory. (Hebrews 3:6 NIV)

Our hope is heaven and a true satisfying rest. That is the heavenly calling Christ has earned for us by God's grace.

So sabbath rest on day per week is a regular reminder to set our hopes on eternity not on the work or pleasures of the week. Often we celebrate the sabbath on Sundays with musical worship and church. 

But as Ivanna and I return from China we seek to rest from the work God has given us.

Lord teach us to rest during this time. Help us to have time and space to rest. Use this time to fix our hearts on our future home in your family in the eternal kingdom of God as you told the disciples after their little mission:

However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20 NIV)

Lord teach Ivanna and me to rejoice that our names are written in heaven.  Write this hope on our hearts. And help us to make every effort to enter that rest by faith and belief in Jesus Christ and God's promise as we live and act in obedience.

For all people?

I have been digging into the book of 1 Timothy for about 8 months now. This past couple weeks I was meditating on these verses:

1 Timothy 2:3-6

3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 

But I couldn't understand why verse 4 and 6 emphasize God's desire and Christ's ransom for all people. It seems so simple right: God loves all people and  Christ died for all people. Yet the reality seems so befuddling: not all people come to a knowledge of the truth and many reject being saved through the ransom of Christ. 

Then in the midst of my own struggle around ministry and what defines success I think I came to understand a little more. I have said for years that in ministry faithfulness is the only measure of success. For Jeremiah was as successful as Paul because both were faithful to God's mission he gave them. Paul saw more tangible fruit in his life. Yet what seemed fruitless in Jeremiah's ministry has come to bear much fruit as the words of Jeremiah comfort us today in hard times. 

But our theology and doctrine is tested by our circumstances and our actions. And in the face of this year of ministry what I truly believed has become clear. I actually did measure myself and my ministry by the tangible fruit it bore or didn't bear. And I found myself wanting by my standards. There are some amazing and powerful things happening that have happened this year in the ministry and in my life. But I was blinded from it by my own expectations and demands of myself and God. 

As I prepare for East Asia I feel the weight of leading a trip that is beyond my abilities and yet also my responsibility. I began to ask this question: What if God is more concerned about people than events? What would that look like? At first I couldn't imagine it because through my lens people are impacted by events and the events have to go a certain way. But as I grow and see the mysteries of life I think I am finding that people are shaped not by events being successful again after again but by the mix of life and success and failure and the slow shaping of our character. In fact what seems a failure to the world may actually bear the most fruit in the heart of a man. 

So I thought if a ministry or mission trip doesn't see tangible fruit is it worth it? I began to count the costs and quickly say how could it be worth it if nothing comes of it. But what if this one event of a short mission trip is just one part of a series of events and God changes our hearts or the hearts of those we go to. But even then what if someone never accepts Jesus. Would it still be worth it? Would a life of fundraising and looking foolish on campus be worth it? 

And 1 timothy:5,6 came back to me. 

Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people.

And I thought was it worth it for Jesus to suffer and die as a ransom for someone even if they never accept it. For it says he gave himself as a ransom for all people, not only the ones who would believe. 

If Jesus-God himself counted a person worth suffering and dying for a person knowing that they would never come to believe and receive it then the most precious sacrifice and gift was still worth giving. Jesus willingly looked at those who accuses and rejected and persecuted him with love. He counted them worthy, he loved them like no other even as they rejected his love and sacrifice. 

If my model is Jesus then I have to say yes it is absolutely worth it to love and sacrifice hoping they might receive what Jesus did for them, but endure in loving never knowing if they will receive the Love of Christ that hopefully flows through me. 

Lord do a new work work in my heart to love like this, to love like Jesus to the very end believing it is absolutely worth the cost. 

Amen

True Righteousness

Sometimes I struggle to keep a righteousness by the law or by my own strength.

But this is what Isaiah says in chapter 64:6

All of us have become like one who is unclean,

    and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

    and like the wind our sins sweep us away.

Our righteousness the best we can do not even considering our sins are like filthy rags.  Yet in Christ we can say Amen my righteousness does not come from my works. In fact we bring nothing except sin and punishment by our acts. For it is Christ's righteousness on which we stand.

2 Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Lord teach me to say with Paul even as he counts his "good" works as he repeats his resume of righteousness by his own strength as he wrote in Philippians 3

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

I think sometimes I trade the law for a law of my heart condition instead of the grace of God through Christ. Lord God you know my heart, you know that by my own strength I cannot attain righteous, and I cannot will my heart to change. But on my knees I might find in you God strength and healing and grace as I ask you to change my heart God. 

Lord teach me this, sink it deep in my heart as I struggle in the face of ministry and the seemingly insurmountable China GP. Lord teach it to me in my works and in my sins that my identity and righteousness come from Christ alone through faith. Bring me back to faith in what Jesus has already done for me and all people.
Amen

Jesus' attitude

Philippians 2

Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.

As I prepare for China I am counting the costs of giving up my rights and loving and accepting a system foreign and at first uncomfortable to me. It makes me appreciate Jesus so much more!

Lord help me to be humble like you in love. 
Amen