Disciplining the Undisciplined

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27)! Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect. It matters how we practice. In order to get better, we need to get the fundamentals down. I need to know the fundamentals so well that it is unconsciously something I do. Following Jesus is all about the fundamentals. 

When I first got on the path to salvation, my focus was on loving God and loving my neighbor. I used to joke that I didn’t understand how folks had so much time to worry about prophecy and eschatology because I was still working on loving God and my neighbor. And that isn’t really a joke as much as it is a statement of my focus. I wanted to work on the fundamentals of being a Christian before I got so caught up in all the other stuff. And here I am nearly four years later still working on the fundamentals. 

Now, some of you will say that I should have got that worked out by now. I should be moving on to other studies. BUT I can see a deficiency in church people when it comes to love. Yesterday, the pastor at one of the churches I attend had a lot to say about love as folks gear up for St. Valentine’s day. Other folks are looking forward to Lent and the promise of Easter. Regardless, these are great times to work on developing a better and deeper love. And that means working on the fundamentals of what it means to follow Jesus.

Practicing the fundamentals of Christianity can help create that solid foundation. Last year and this year, I spent the dawning of a new year reviewing the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew. And having a concise teaching of Jesus that shows what and how we should follow is important to our fundamentals. The Bible Project is working through a year-long study of the Sermon on the Mount. There are many books about the Sermon on the Mount and the Jesus Creed that can provide more insight. Among them is Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven by Amy-Jill Levine and 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed by Scot McKnight but there are many others. In the Sermon on the Mount through the past few weeks, I have seen the importance of love, prayer, fasting, community, charity, and obedience and I hope you have seen those things as well. These are the basic fundamentals of following Jesus. As I move forward after this to start breaking down the remainder of the gospel of Matthew and beyond into other readings, I hope that my journey into deeper understanding will help guide you into working on those fundamentals as well. Fundamentals will help us build a foundation that will withstand when, “The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.”    

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH

Discipling the Undisciplined no. 30

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers” (Matthew 7:21-23). This one might be a little difficult to hear BUT it flows directly from the conversation on false prophets from yesterday. The Kingdom is for those that do the Will of God. And I am rather certain that Will was all about love. Loving God and loving neighbor, even enemy neighbors. Here Jesus says folks can do works that look like they are in right relationship with God without being in right relationship with God. And if that isn’t the situation with Christendom and the church today . . . folks playing church while living death.

The Way of right relationship is the way to life. He brings the Good News that He has won. He is enthroned. And He reigns. And if He is enthroned and He reigns, then He has established His Kingdom. It is only that folks don’t want to live out His Kingdom. And that is because living out His Kingdom means death to the parts of us that bring death and embracing His righteousness that brings life. This is not a religion of death, Christianity is all about living righteously here and now.

His Kingdom is right here and right now. Not tomorrow, not after His return, not after we die, BUT here and now. So, if He is my King, then I should act accordingly. I should act like He is enthroned. And that means showing allegiance by living out His Kingdom today. And that means all this Babylon creep, all this nationalism, all this patriotism, all this partisanship, all this power language needs to go away and die with my old self, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you; rather the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:25-27). We are serving God by serving each other, even those that do not serve Him. We are serving God by serving each other, even those to whom we disagree theologically. We are serving God by serving each other, even those that hold different political views. All people are served by us if we know God. Jesus was all about helping folks. He came to save us all. And He even personally helped folks while bodily here. And He still helps people through the Spirit today. We should want to model our life after His. And maybe that means opening our homes to refugees. And maybe that means being a missionary in our community. And maybe that means giving generously to folks that are in need despite what we think they will do with the money. And maybe that means being generous to our neighbors. And maybe that means giving out of our abundance to the community. And maybe that means paying extra for something to support our neighbors. And maybe that means comforting those in crisis. We all have our own calling to help others. Knowing God is knowing Jesus and knowing Jesus is understanding how He wants me to live. How can I know Him when I don’t try to learn His Way? How can I know Him if my allegiance is to a worldly system and not His Kingdom? I can’t. And He will let me know that I never knew Him. BUT I can know Him. I get to have a relationship with Him every day that helps bring about His Kingdom here and now.

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH