Woodstock

I’m watching a Woodstock documentary. I am filled with sadness. I’ve been trying to put into words why, but I can’t find them. It has something to do with how deeply people hurt and desperately long for something better, yet they look to behaviors and philosophies that ultimately enslave them instead of free them.  With that in mind, it also has something to do with my failure and the church’s failure, by and large, to authentically live in and accurately portray the life and love of Jesus.  When I look at some of the things that have been done in the name of Christ, things he himself would not do or approve of, I am not surprised that the people who experienced or witnessed those things reject him rather than embrace him.  Even so, God continues to woo people to himself, and people continue to embrace the life he offers them.  This is only possible because, among other things, God is merciful, kind, loving, forgiving and patient.

The temptation is to say we need to do better.  We need to find better ways to communicate who Jesus really is to our culture.  We need to live better lives.  We need to try harder.  While I would agree the quality of what we do and how we do needs to  improve, to focus on improving it is to fall into a performance trap. 

I think the answer is to draw nearer.  The only way our lives will ever authentically reflect the beauty and majesty of Jesus, is for us to nurture his life within us.  Our behavior will never be perfect, for we are infected with a tendency to reject God and his ways.  Still, when we nurture the life of Christ in us, that life will show up in the way we live.

The Mature Disciple

I caught a tweet identifying the need for a definition or description of what a mature disciple of Christ looks like. (Yes, I am twittering now.  Even if you don’t twitter, you can follow me here.)  This has been something my mind has been mulling over for several months, years even, without a satisfactory conclusion.  So I wanted to post my thoughts here, in the hope that you can help me and I can help you sharpen your thinking in this area. 

Like the person in the tweet intimated, as a pastor I feel a need to identify the characteristics and qualities of a mature disciple.  After all, my call to ministry is to make disciples.  To do that, it is helpful to know what one looks like, so, in as much is possible, I can orchestrate events and experiences that provide opportunity for me and others to mature.  That’s where I start, but even as I write there is something inside me that screams “Noooooo!”

That approach seems a bit pharisaical in nature to me.  Once we identify what the marks are and are not of a mature disciple, does that not lend itself to an approach where people are identified, based on exterior appearances, as to whether or not they are “truly” following Christ?  Even if I don’t use it that way and only use it in reference to myself, does it not provide for sinful pride in what I have “achieved?” I think so.

Still, there is the need to understand what a disciple is in order for one to be one and for one to make one.

Lately I’ve been opting for a process based model of discipleship, but it has its flaws as well.  By process I mean to focus on what I believe every follower of Christ needs to do in order to mature – namely that which is found in Acts 2:42.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

I see four things here in which the early community of believers engaged that formed them into God’s community of people.  After coming to faith in Christ, then engaged in understanding what they believed, developing friendships with other believers, worshipping and communicating with God.  I think these activities, engaged with frequency and regularity, form the character of God within us so the outer expressions of maturity manifest as we inwardly grow close to God, but there are two problems with this approach.

This assumes that discipleship is about a growing intimacy with Jesus Christ.  I don’t see that as problematic. I see that as truth.  The problem is that we sometimes see the things we do to get close to God as an end in themselves. (i.e. Bible study, Prayer, Worship, Small Groups, and any other spiritual discipline you wish to name) This opens the door for another pharisaic trap that is very similar to one cited above.  That is to judge our maturity based on whether or not we engage the spiritual disciplines with fervor.  Unfortunately, we all know people who do these things faithfully but whose character is no more like the character of Christ’s than a toad is like a butterfly. (Another assumption I make about the being a mature follower of Christ is that such a person’s character exemplifies the character of Jesus.)

The second problem is the New Testament does show evidence of early instruction that is focused on behavior.  One need look no further than Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to “expel the immoral brother!”  So we cannot discount behavior all together. 

Several years ago I attended a church conference at Ginghamsburg Church.  I picked up a illustration which I believe was entitled, “The Anatomy of a Disciple.”  I’ve misplaced the original illustration, and this illustration I have I edited a bit.  I’m a bit embarrassed by the quality, or should I say lack of quality, of the clip art below. Still, it helps make a point.

The graphic above is a mixture of characteristics that may be desirable in a mature believer.  Some of these characteristics are observable while others speak to motive. It’s not really meant as an attempt to bring two divergent thought streams together, but I guess it could be viewed that way.

A couple of book resources might be helpful here.

“The Lost Art of Disciple Making” published by NavPress.  In its appendix it has a list of objectives to be achieved in the disciple making process. 

A second book would be “The Master Plan of Evangelism” by Robert Coleman and published by Revell. Don’t let the title fool you.  This not merely about introducing people to Christ but about how Jesus himself discipled others through relationship.

If you are still reading, you are a brave soul.  I recognize the above is neither well-written nor does it come to an adequate conclusion.  It’s just to get my thoughts out there to invite others into a process where we might help each other in our thinking. Having said that, I treasure your comments.

When God is Silent

Any disciple of Christ who has followed Jesus for some time will confess times in their journey when they felt God was nowhere to be found. For whatever reason, there was no sense of God’s presence in any of their endeavors to draw near to Him. Philip Yancey, in Prayer: Does It Make Any Difference, offers the following “survival strategies” for those times when God is silent, those times when our prayers seem not to connect. (pp. 202ff)

First, Yancey runs through a checklist of what might be blocking the communication.

1. Is there deliberate sin or callous inattention to God? If so, the channel must be cleared through confession.
2. He examines his motives. Am I seeking particular feelings? Am I pursuing God on my own terms rather than His? Perhaps I am seeking new revelation, when, instead, I should be focusing on the revelation that God has already given.
3. Have I been pursing results from my prayer, rather than companionship with God?
   

Second, if he finds no reason for God’s silence from his checklist, he begins to treat the silence in prayer the same way he treats suffering. Saying it does little good to ponder the “Why?” questions of suffering, he points out that the Bible moves the emphasis from the past to the future. The Bible, particularly the New Testament, talks of the future benefit of present suffering: character, hope, perseverance, etc. In like fashion, Yancey asks God to use this time of spiritual dryness for future growth.

A final survival strategy he uses is to rely on the faith of others. Pointing out that the Bible gives strong emphasis to the practice of praying with others, he talks about the help he has gained by praying with others who are currently not experiencing the dryness he is experiencing. “At times, when I have no words and my faith falters, I find solace in listening to the prayers of others and realizing that not everyone is sharing my sense of desolation.” The most meaningful prayer in many churches is prayer like this, prayer that happens in the context of a small group when someone takes the vulnerable step of confessing to the group a recurring failure and asking for help. Everything else is pushed to the side while the group lovingly lifts up “a friend” to the One who cares most.

When God is silent, we often assume there is fault on our end, rather than realizing there may be purpose or something else on God’s end. Yancey speaks of a pair of red foxes on the hill behind his mountain home that raises a litter of kits each spring. They have become accustomed to his roaming the hill and occasionally stopping in front of their den. Sometimes the young ones poke their faces out at him. Sometimes he can hear them scurrying around in the den. Sometimes there is only silence.

In taking a friend to see them, he reminds the friend that there is no guarantee they will see anything. “They are wild animals, you know. We’re not in charge. It’s up to them whether they make an appearance or not.” (p. 207) Weeks later his friend wrote him about that moment and how it helped him understand God. His friend had just gone through a long season of depression. Sometimes God felt very close, and at other times he had no sense of His presence at all. His friend wrote of God, “He is wild, you know. We’re not in charge.”

Personally, I believe we often want to tame God. We would never say it this way, but we act as if God were a service animal trained to perform on command. After all, it is in our sinful nature to subjugate God and raise ourselves to the position of “master of all.” When I take time to pray and intentionally enter into God’s presence, how dare He not show up in ways I expect and can understand. Yancey says, “When I am tempted to complain about God’s lack of presence, I remind myself that God has much more reason to complain about my lack of presence.” (p. 208) That sentence is self-explanatory; but in case you missed it, God never neglects us, but we often neglect Him.

The Life of Every Believer

Whether you are new to the faith or have been following Jesus for some time, it's important to focus on the most foundational aspects of our faith. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we have grown past a need to return to the basics; but I assure you, none of us can afford to think like that. Consider John Wooden.

Even if you are not a basketball fan or don’t like sports in general, you would have to agree, John Wooden is impressive. He was a three-time, all-state player in high school, winning a state championship. He was a three-time, all-American player in college, winning a national championship and named collegiate player of the year. As a coach, his UCLA Bruins won ten national championships, including seven in a row; and they still hold the record for consecutive games won (88). He is enshrined not once, but twice, in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, once as a player and later as a coach.

How did Wooden achieve such greatness? He focused on the basics, the fundamentals of the game, including passing, dribbling, shooting, running, and teamwork. So fanatical was his devotion to the basics, it is even rumored he taught his players, on the first day of practice, how to tie their shoes. Wooden’s teams never got too big for the basics, and we should never think that way about our faith.

Earlier today I was reading an author (Dallas Willard) who claimed most of the dissatisfaction people experience in their faith and most of the problems Christian congregations experience can be traced back to a failure to properly understand and apply the most foundational truths of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. As a pastor with close to twenty years of experience helping people grow and leading ministries, I would have to agree.

Let’s make sure we are not numbered among those who are missing the fulfilling life God offers because of our inattention to foundational truth. Let’s not gloss over the basics in favor of some supposedly deeper truth or more advanced ministry design. Let’s give ourselves to mastering the fundamentals so that we can live out our faith with integrity, grace, and power. Let's remember the basics.

A life surrendered to Jesus Christ.
A life empowered by the Spirit of Christ.
A life directed by God’s Word.
A life committed to Christian community.
A life engaged in worship.
A life communing with God in prayer.
A life reflecting the character of Christ.
A life inviting others into God’s love.

When we get these things right, they provide the tools we need, to grow deep and strong in our faith, so we can experience the very fullness of life that comes through Jesus.

The Benefits of Intimacy with Jesus

I thought you might be encouraged by the following short paragraph. I so want these words to be more than words on a page. It is my prayer, and sure hope, that this is what we each experience together at Ranch Community Fellowship and in other communities that honor Jesus Christ.

"When once we get intimate with Jesus we are never lonely, we never need sympathy, we can pour out all the time without being pathetic. The saint who is intimate with Jesus will never leave impressions of himself, but only the impression that Jesus is having unhindered way, because the last abyss of his nature has been satisfied by Him. The only impression left by such a life is that of the strong calm sanity that Our Lord gives to those who are intimate with Him."

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (January 7). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.