A disciple needs the power of the kingdom of God if he wants Jesus to rule in his life. The kingdom of God is near; we can find the power of the kingdom. If we have not found it, we need change. This is what Jesus preached; it is what John the Baptist had preached.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17
The imperative is to change the mind, metanoeo. But everyone thinks they are doing what they have to do; the mind maintains that illusion.
“There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12
The kingdom of God is near, we can take a very different path. We are not forced to live like victims of the twenty-first century. There is power to change the plagues of our heart.
This is basic to discipleship; discipleship is meaningless if there is no power. But if the kingdom of God is near, it is not here. The power of the kingdom cannot be found in our culture.
Pragmatism focuses on what is necessary. If your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. Do whatever is necessary to find the kingdom of God. Like Pilgrim in Pilgrim’s Progress, we are on a journey looking for the City of God.
If whatever we thought would work doesn’t lead to life, keep searching. We cannot trust our mind to direct us; it can be deceived. There is no reason to listen to every myth in Christianity; if the myth didn’t work in others, it won’t work in you. There is no time to play other people’s games.
In this chaos there is a voice that is not part of the delusion.
“And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ whenever you turn to the right or to the left.” Isaiah 30:21
He wants to lead you in the way of a disciple; He wants to bring you into His kingdom. He knows what works; He is pragmatic.
Listen; it works.
-Greg Whitten
July 06, 2009
July 01, 2009
A TABLE FOR DISCIPLES
We have ignored the obvious for two thousand years; what we call “church” is the consequence.
Jesus made disciples face to face; He made disciples of those who ate with Him every night. It is at the table that disciples should gather now, in the same way that His disciples gathered two thousand years ago. Discipleship is based on friendship, not form.
The disciples of Jesus were actually following Jesus. Everyone gathered at His table had paid the price of discipleship. Discipleship is a simple choice; following requires leaving. There was no one at His table who had not left his life behind.
We have tried to build a church out of those who are not disciples; we have tried to use form to compensate for the lack of discipleship. What we call “church” abandoned discipleship a long time ago.
At times we have tried to fix the form of “church”. But we continue to return to the old pattern, honoring Him with our lips, while our heart is far from Him.
Two things are necessary to escape this strange attractor of deterministic chaos. We must gather as friends; we must only allow disciples at this table. What Jesus did, we must do.
Discipleship is about reality. Form cannot have a part in this; we can not allow anyone to play the part of a disciple. We must sit down at a real table in a real house, with real food and real noise. We must see each others eyes; we must speak real truth about real life.
We do not meet God here; disciples meet Him in secret. Those who gather must be those who have a secret life. They give alms in secret; they pray in secret; they fast in secret.
When we gather, we meet each other. We are to encourage one another; we are to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. We gather as friends who care about one another, not actors in a performance. We know that each is carrying a cross. No one is talking the talk, without walking the walk.
Twenty-first century Christianity has “church”; discipleship has a table.
-Greg Whitten
Jesus made disciples face to face; He made disciples of those who ate with Him every night. It is at the table that disciples should gather now, in the same way that His disciples gathered two thousand years ago. Discipleship is based on friendship, not form.
The disciples of Jesus were actually following Jesus. Everyone gathered at His table had paid the price of discipleship. Discipleship is a simple choice; following requires leaving. There was no one at His table who had not left his life behind.
We have tried to build a church out of those who are not disciples; we have tried to use form to compensate for the lack of discipleship. What we call “church” abandoned discipleship a long time ago.
At times we have tried to fix the form of “church”. But we continue to return to the old pattern, honoring Him with our lips, while our heart is far from Him.
Two things are necessary to escape this strange attractor of deterministic chaos. We must gather as friends; we must only allow disciples at this table. What Jesus did, we must do.
Discipleship is about reality. Form cannot have a part in this; we can not allow anyone to play the part of a disciple. We must sit down at a real table in a real house, with real food and real noise. We must see each others eyes; we must speak real truth about real life.
We do not meet God here; disciples meet Him in secret. Those who gather must be those who have a secret life. They give alms in secret; they pray in secret; they fast in secret.
When we gather, we meet each other. We are to encourage one another; we are to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. We gather as friends who care about one another, not actors in a performance. We know that each is carrying a cross. No one is talking the talk, without walking the walk.
Twenty-first century Christianity has “church”; discipleship has a table.
-Greg Whitten
A CURRICULUM FOR DISCIPLES
The original twelve apostles were discipled by Jesus in the course of the three years that He preached. What is written in the Gospels can be seen as a curriculum for disciples; this is what Jesus used to make disciples of those who were following Him.
This curriculum, however, looks nothing like any curriculum at any school we know. There was no academic program; there was no classroom.
This curriculum appears to lack any training in spiritual disciplines. At one point they even asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and only got a short prayer as an answer. These disciples of Jesus were questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist about their lack of fasting. In the Garden of Gethsemane, they were obviously unable to pray even for a short time.
His curriculum does not fit any expectation of what we think discipleship should be.
Yet what Jesus did was discipleship; what He did gives us the priorities of discipleship. What He did, we must do to make disciples.
In three years they had come to know Jesus. They knew who He was as a person, even if they knew little of the theology of incarnation and atonement. These men, upon whom the church would be built, knew how Jesus felt about people.
What they saw was that Jesus always put value on the individual; people were never just part of a herd. He always received anyone who came to Him; more than anything else He called individuals to come to Him. Jesus always sought to build faith; even in the midst of a crowd He verbally engaged individuals to trust Him. He was good; He did good. He taught a significant righteousness, one that was truly good. They did not learn a creed; they watched a person.
This is what discipleship must be. A disciple must first see that Jesus is good; the rest of discipleship follows. Without faith in the person of Jesus, all we have is a religious studies class. Spiritual disciplines can follow; obedience can follow. But Jesus must be first.
To make a disciple we must do what Jesus did. We must be imitators of Christ so that they can see Christ in us. We must teach them the words of Christ so they can hear what He said. We must help them to experience that He is good and does good.
The curriculum for disciples must start with the whole person of Jesus; dissection can wait.
-Greg Whitten
This curriculum, however, looks nothing like any curriculum at any school we know. There was no academic program; there was no classroom.
This curriculum appears to lack any training in spiritual disciplines. At one point they even asked Jesus to teach them to pray, and only got a short prayer as an answer. These disciples of Jesus were questioned by the disciples of John the Baptist about their lack of fasting. In the Garden of Gethsemane, they were obviously unable to pray even for a short time.
His curriculum does not fit any expectation of what we think discipleship should be.
Yet what Jesus did was discipleship; what He did gives us the priorities of discipleship. What He did, we must do to make disciples.
In three years they had come to know Jesus. They knew who He was as a person, even if they knew little of the theology of incarnation and atonement. These men, upon whom the church would be built, knew how Jesus felt about people.
What they saw was that Jesus always put value on the individual; people were never just part of a herd. He always received anyone who came to Him; more than anything else He called individuals to come to Him. Jesus always sought to build faith; even in the midst of a crowd He verbally engaged individuals to trust Him. He was good; He did good. He taught a significant righteousness, one that was truly good. They did not learn a creed; they watched a person.
This is what discipleship must be. A disciple must first see that Jesus is good; the rest of discipleship follows. Without faith in the person of Jesus, all we have is a religious studies class. Spiritual disciplines can follow; obedience can follow. But Jesus must be first.
To make a disciple we must do what Jesus did. We must be imitators of Christ so that they can see Christ in us. We must teach them the words of Christ so they can hear what He said. We must help them to experience that He is good and does good.
The curriculum for disciples must start with the whole person of Jesus; dissection can wait.
-Greg Whitten
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