Endings (Part 2): The Cost of Discipleship

As those close to me should know by now, I have recently resigned from my position at Victory Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. This post is not about that. Rather, this post is about what I want my legacy to be at VBC (or really, anywhere else that I ever teach and minister).

I am teaching through a series called "Endings" with the students over my last weeks with them. These six messages will attempt to drive home the six main things I have tried to teach them over the past fifteen months that I have spent as their student minister, and would be the six things that I would focus on more than anything if I were to remain there indefinitely. Thus, I will teach six statements that sum up everything I am about. This blog series will communicate that to whomever else would like to know my heart.

Here's the second statement: Giving up all that we have and leading others to do the same is the cost of discipleship.

My last post focused on the exchange that occurs when Christ's righteousness was given to us and He took our sinfulness upon that bloody cross, bearing the weight of God's wrath on our behalf. That's how we have a relationship with God. It is freely given, even though we don't deserve it: that's what grace is, after all. However, once we have this salvation via exchange, there is a cost. That cost is a rather significant one.

When Jesus first called the twelve original disciples, He said a simple phrase: "follow me" (Matthew 4:19). In fact, as one reads the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), it becomes clear that His call to everyone wanting the exchange, wanting the freedom that He brings, is "follow me." This remains His call to all who wish to follow Him to this day. But what does that mean? What does it mean to "follow" Jesus. Allow me to give you two quick points that I believe truly encapsulate what it means to follow Jesus.

1. Give up everything you have. That seems like a pretty intense opening point, does it not? We must give up everything? What do I truly mean by that?

I mean that we give up everything. Wealth may be where you thought first (specifically in the Western culture I am surrounded by); must that go? Perhaps. Do you have an excess that brings you to look at your goods more than Christ? Then yes, it must go.

Perhaps you are more worried about other things: freedom, family, love, success, entertainment, sports, popularity, or something else. Allow me to show you a passage that likely will wreck your understanding of what it means to be a Christian:

As they were traveling on the road someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go!”

 Jesus told him, “Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.”  Then He said to another, “Follow Me.”

“Lord,” he said, “first let me go bury my father.”

 But He told him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.”

 Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at my house.”

 But Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” -Luke 9:57-62 (HCSB)

That's one of the most difficult passages in the Bible, if you ask me. Jesus seems pretty cold-hearted here, right? The first guy simply says he wants to follow Jesus, and our Lord said "bro, I'm homeless. You ready for that?" Then He tells another guy to skip his dad's funeral to follow Him. Finally, the last fellow that wanted to follow Jesus was told he couldn't even say goodbye to his living family. That doesn't seem fair, does it?

Yet, was the exchange fair? Did Jesus not give up everything, even His life, for our ability to live eternally? His request, in response to His own unfair bargain, is that we deem Him to be our Lord and Savior. That means we give up all that we have for His gain. We are willing to give up a life of security and pleasure (v.57-58). We are willing to follow Him, even when our personal life seems to just get worse and worse (perhaps even because of following Him!) (v. 59-60). We are even willing to follow Him away from family and friends that may not want us to go (v. 61). Luke 14:26-27 words it like this: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister--yes, and even his own life--he cannot be my disciple." You see, our devotion to and love for Jesus Christ must be so intense and all-consuming that we are willing to give up all that we have and pursue Him so passionately that our love for our loved ones (and even ourselves!) will seem to be hate in comparison.

Perhaps an illustration may help: I have a candle on my desk as I write this. It is burning with a fairly bright light. If my room were dark, then this candle would seem exceedingly bright. However, I also have a lamp on my desk, and it is considerably brighter than the candle's flame. Such should be our love for Christ and others. Our love for others should burn brightly in a dark world, making a sharp contrast with the selfish, hateful ways of the world. It should be a radiant, beautiful flame of love that warms the hearts of all that we give our affection to. However, in comparison with the burning love and passion that we have for Christ, our love for others should seem but a dim flame before a burning lamp. It is not hate for others; it is love for others with an even greater love for God.

This love and devotion, this passion that begins when the great exchange occurs in our lives and we are given new hearts with new passions and new devotions (Ezekiel 36:26-27), is what drives us to be willing to sacrifice whatever He asks of us for His glory. If that means leaving any and everything we have ever had and will have, then so be it. He is worth it. This is why we are willing to bear our own cross, taking punishment from the world (Luke 14:27) for His sake. This is why we say with Peter in Luke 18 that we have left all that we have! We have nowhere else to go but with Him!

The cost of discipleship isn't over with our own lives, however. It goes a bit further.

2. We lead others to follow Him. You see, Jesus gave up everything He had to bring us to follow Him. Now, it is our task to follow Him by bringing others along with us in this journey. No one is above His master, and the messenger does no better than the One who sent him (Luke 6:40, John 13:16). If our Teacher, Master and Sender gave up everything for the sake of bringing us along, then we give up everything for the sake of bringing others along, as well. This is why Jesus's last command to His disciples on Earth was to make disciples: bringing them to follow Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20). This is our "message" (John 13:16); this is how we "fish for men" (Matthew 4:19). The only way people ever experience the exchange that we have enjoyed is by our sharing the good news with them and training them in how to follow Jesus (Romans 10:14-15).

This is the cost of being a disciple of Jesus: we give up everything for the One that exchanged our sin for His righteousness, and then we lead others to follow that same path. That is the call of a Christian. There is no alternative route; there is no other option. You are either a follower of Christ or not. This is the fork in the road; which direction will you walk?



For more about how to follow Christ, check out the Multiply Movement and Radical.net for more information. These sites and the guys that lead them are largely responsible for my own personal understanding of what the cost of discipleship truly is. I hope they can help you, as well.

Endings (Part 1): Exchanged

As those close to me should know by now, I have recently resigned from my position at Victory Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. This post is not about that. Rather, this post is about what I want my legacy to be at VBC (or really, anywhere else that I ever teach and minister).

I am teaching through a series called "Endings" with the students over my last weeks with them. These six messages will attempt to drive home the six main things I have tried to teach them over the past fifteen months that I have spent as their student minister, and would be the six things that I would focus on more than anything if I were to remain there indefinitely. Thus, I will teach six statements that sum up everything I am about. This blog series will communicate that to whomever else would like to know my heart.

Here's the first statement: We were sinners before God, and now all He sees is Jesus.

That, my friends, is the gospel. That's the Christian's "good news." We were sinners before God, and now all God sees when He looks upon us is Jesus and His perfection. Where am I getting this?

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. -2 Corinthians 5:21 (HCSB)

There's a few things of note in this verse that should rock your world.

1. He had no sin. The "One" with no sin was Jesus. He was without any blame or flaw (1 Peter 2:22), despite the fact that He was tempted in every way, just like us (Hebrews 4:15). It wasn't like the devil left Jesus alone on this Earth. Rather, he came hard at our Lord, and He maintained His holiness, innocence, and purity. He was separate from sin and exalted above all (Hebrews 7:26).

2. God made Him a sin offering. So, why does it matter whether Jesus was without sin? Who cares? Is there any reason for why He had to remain perfect and pure? Yes, as it turns out.

If one were to read the account of the first Passover (Exodus 11-12), they would see that in order for the wrath of God to be satisfied, a pure, unblemished male animal had to be sacrificed (Exodus 12:5). This would begin a long line of sacrifices that God would require of the Israelites--all involving lots of blood and killing and death of pure animals. Why was all of this necessary? As we can see in Leviticus 17:11, it is in blood that a creature's life resides, and it is by the shedding of blood that God allowed for atonement (the payment of sins) to occur. So animal after animal after animal was killed under the Old Testament law, and that was how sins were atoned for. However, God was merely foreshadowing to a greater Sacrificial Lamb.

Jesus became the Great Passover Lamb, dying upon the cross and spilling His blood for our sake. He became the ultimate sin offering, and took the wrath of God upon Himself on behalf of sinful men. Do you realize the weight of that? Jesus took the blow for our sin when He had none. He was all of those things that 1 Peter and Hebrews stated above, and yet He also, as 1 Peter continues to point out, was the sacrifice for our sins (1 Peter 2:24). He bore our sin upon the cross. Fair? No. But it was for a purpose.

3. We become the righteousness of God. This is the great exchange; this is the great news of Christianity! We were hopelessly sinful, and yet, He became sin on our behalf so that we may live in His righteousness. He essentially traded our sinfulness for His righteousness. He gave us His peanut butter and jelly for our rotten apple at the great lunchtable of life.

Take some time and look up these verses in Romans: 1:17, 2:13, 3:21, 3:24. They show our hopelessness that became the ultimate hope by receiving the righteousness of Christ. We gained His relationship with and standing before God the Father. That's ours. In fact, our relationship with God is so great that He made us His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20). Doesn't that seem reckless on His part?

It should. However, this is how we must trust the righteousness that has been imputed to (put on) us. That is how we must see ourselves: as holy before God. He knows we still sin. I'll talk about that in another post. However, when it comes to our relationship and standing before Him, He sees Jesus and His sinless perfection. We cannot be removed from Him. We cannot be too sinful to read our Bible or pray. We cannot undo what Christ did. We cannot lose Him as our Father. We cannot expel the Spirit from our hearts when we mess up. We're as secure in our relationship with our God as Jesus is with the Father. That's some Trinitarian-tight bonds right there, and I am beyond thankful that I find myself amongst such a Trio. May we never doubt our relationship with our God and think we can undo the work of His offering!

I Am Not Bradley Cooper

I'm officially done with my first year of graduate school. Sure, I've got a summer class in a few weeks (let's not talk about that...), but I have completed a fall and spring semester. That happened.

Woah.

It is during this year that I have come to see how much of a work in progress that I am,a dn my awareness of that only continues to grow. I'm a construction zone, and God is the foreman for a number of people sledgehammering away my old and decrepit parts or building up new parts of me.

I really have no idea what I'm doing most of the time. I think I do, but I don't. I just try my best, put my heart in it and go. So, what do I do? How can a person that knows very little do much of anything? Let's chat.

We are made to glorify God. That's what Isaiah says in 43:7. The real question comes down to how we do that (or avoid it), and it's here that I am really trying to grow. I want nothing more than for people to look at my life (and everything I'm doing in it) and see Jesus. I want God to radiate through me like sun through a window.

And yet, ain't it easy to get discouraged? You see, here's the part where I am trying to figure this out, and maybe you are, too. I try and try and try to do what I know to do, but I feel like there is never enough time in the day or people I can love or sermons I can preach or what-have-you. I am limited.

I don't know what to do in the moments that God does give me. I've had two ministry opportunities so far today, and honestly had no idea of what to do or say in either of them. I find myself Googling about this stuff and what to say to these people, because I haven't got a clue. I am limited.

I have people close to me that need me, and I don't even know how to help them. I have family and friends that want to spend time with me, and I am unable to do it all. I have ideas upon ideas for my ministries, and lack so much to make them happen. I am limited.

And so here's maybe what I'm learning most right now: I'm limited. I know that. You, if you know me, are probably more aware of my limits than I am. Ya know who else knows about my limits? God does. He gave me my limits. Like, they are on purpose. God didn't accidentally leave the parental controls on my abilities, blocking off things that I could be doing; He limits me on purpose. And I think I know why: so I depend on Him.

I'm one of those overly-scheduled, overly-independent, type-A kinda folks. I don't depend on anyone for anything if I can help it. I'm the Lone Ranger, Lone Wolf or Lonely Island or something like that. The problem with that is that I'm not an omni-God like the Lord that can truly pull that off. All my schedules and charts and calendars and what-not can do is help me use the limited time I have to use the limited energy I have to the best of my limited knowledge for His infinite glory.

And that's okay.

That's all He is asking for me to do. He just wants my best and my whole heart. To pour out myself for Him and others and do what I can. The best way to do that: rely on Him to help me do it. I can do infinitely more with my limitedness with His non-limited help. I am not Bradley Cooper in Limitless, but I worship a God that is all that and more, who loves me and cares for me and wants to help me through this life.

I'm a work in progress. Fines are doubled as you pass me. But if I rely on Him to get the project done, I can trust and hope that He will. He is my Rest, my Rock, my Salvation, my Stronghold and my refuge. So imma pour my heart out to Him, and hope and trust He'll get it done. I am confident in His promises.

That's certainly more than Lexington can say for Centrepointe, and that's all I need.

Until next time,
The Free-Flying Lightning Bug

Freedom: A Call to Prayer

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." -Galatians 5:1, NIV

This verse (and all of Galatians 5-6, as we will see) speaks of freedom, which is a word near and dear to my American-born heart. When we as Americans hear the word "freedom," our hearts ring like the Liberty Bell with nationalistic pride and we say things like "I can do what I want!" or "I have rights and can exercise them!" And to be honest, there is an element of that in this passage. 

We are, in a sense, able to do as we like and can exercise rights...that honor God, that is. Christ freed us for a freedom that goes deeper than our nation's sense. Think of the 21 Christians that were recently killed by the Islamic State (ISIS). The Islamic State doesn't allow freedoms like the United States' Constitution, so how is Galatians 5:1 relevant to Christians in those positions? Are they freed for freedom?

Most certainly.

The freedom here is a freedom from sin, which enslaves us (5:1). An enslaved person lives a life gratifying the desires of a sinful nature (5:16-17), which looks like such: sexual immorality, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies (the Bible said this, not me!) and "the like."

The problem we find here is that people enslaved to lives like the list I just mentioned are headed to Hell. They will not inherit the Kingdom of God or any benefit from Christ (5:18-21). And yet, isn't this all of us in our natural state? Aren't we all guilty of having lived at some point for one or most of those things (and if you're saying no, you are lying and that falls into the "the like" category)? Have we not all been enslaved to that life? Have we not all been "contrary to the Spirit?"

This is why Christ must free us! We were directly opposed to the Spirit (which is God, so we opposed GOD) until we were freed for freedom in the Spirit of God through the death and resurrection and sacrifice of the Son of God by the hand of the Father God. We have had the gratification of the sinful nature replaced with a desire and goal to gratify the Spirit, and this brings a new list of things: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (5:22-26)! Our sinful nature, our enslavement, was put on the cross with Christ! He took it for us!

So now we live in the Spirit. That is why we bear with one another, rebuke one another and fight through sin's last grasps at our souls together (6:1-8). This is why we love one another (5:13). This is why we teach each other (6:6). We do good without ceasing, even looking for opportunities to do so (6:9-10)!

We also must stand with those who face persecution. They may have the same spiritual freedom as us, but they do not have the other freedoms we enjoy. Paul says twice in Chapter Six (v. 12 & 17) to be with those in persecution/have sympathy towards a persecuted state in a person's life. These are our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Islamic State is just the latest group of people that are out to destroy the people of God, the "people of the Cross."

So, how can we do this? Some great people that I respect dearly have started 21martyrs.com, a website devoted to ways that we can stand with our brothers and sisters in IS-controlled countries. Specifically, they are praying at 7:03am until 7:14am (times and more explained here) for ourselves to take back up our crosses, to pray for Him to work through us in this world, to pray for His restoration of everything to how it is supposed to be, for our hearts to be looking for opportunities to "do good" toward people, as Galatians 6 said, and more.

Also, please join me and many others with a moment of silence tomorrow, Sunday, February 22, 2015, while we pray for churches in persecution to stand strong for Christ, to continue being a witness for Him, and for our hearts to break with them. Below, I have placed a video to help with that time of reflection and prayer. I urge you, Christian, fellow person of the Cross: do not abandon these opportunities to live out Galatians 5-6. We have been freed for freedom; let us now live in that freedom.



Here's a link if this video doesn't work: 21 Martyrs Video

The Thrill of Victory: Meditations and Thoughts on NASCAR and Jesus

So, this weekend is the Daytona 500. Last night, I spent the evening on the couch, watching the qualifying races for the Great American Race on Sunday. This got me thinking: everything good in the world points to Christ. NASCAR is not, by definition, sinful, and so therefore, there should be evidences of grace (of God) in the sport. What can I think of in NASCAR that shows God in His general revelation? What traits of Him can I see in it? Here’s a list I quickly have jotted down:

1. The drivers are made in His image, and thus have all of His traits that all humans show. Last night, I saw His grace and patience being shown as the cars moved about in the pack. I saw His wrath after the race, when Danica Patrick approached Denny Hamlin about wrecking her. I saw His creativity in the paint schemes and the sponsor logos and the grass in the infield. 

2. The easy thing to point to is the race analogy from 2 Timothy 4:7, where Paul is speaking to Timothy about “finishing the race, keeping the faith.” A NASCAR race is a long, arduous test of skill, patience, mental fortitude and adrenaline—much like our lives! 

3. There is a joy in victory, you know? I watched Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Jimmie Johnson leap from their cars in victory last night, thrilled to win a race that didn’t even matter for anything beyond qualifying places in the race on Sunday. There was no money, and no championship points were awarded. Jimmie Johnson did not even improve his starting place for Sunday’s race. However, I think there is something in humans that makes us just enjoy victory, and I think that comes from a longing for the victory over sin and death in this world by the Savior of the world. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to wait for a finish line to know the final standings. 1 Corinthians 15 speaks of the victory we have in Christ over sin and death now, and Revelation reminds us that while sin and death were wrecked out of the race back in AD 33, the checkered flag won’t fly until sometime in the future, when the Champion, the Lord of the Universe, will ride in on some real horsepower and finish the race that He started long ago. Now, that is something to celebrate!

I don't know if you watch NASCAR or not, but what I do know is that He can be found in nearly everything. Here's something to try out today: think of something that you enjoy. Maybe it's a hobby, book, sport, movie or song. Then spend a few minutes and see if you can tie your life experiences back to some truth about God and His Word. I'd love to hear what you come up with!

Puritan Musings: Sovereignty and Success?

I am currently reading through Michael A.G. Haykin's book "To honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell" for one of my classes at seminary. Each week throughout the semester, I am supposed to read a portion of this book, which is a collection of Cromwell's writings, and have a small reflection upon something that he says. Therefore, I have decided to share these "Puritan Musings" with you. They won't be very long, but I hope that perhaps someone may get something from them.
  

Today, my musings upon Oliver Cromwell’s writings come from two sources: his letter to the Honourable William Lenthall in June of 1645 (pg. 53), and the other from his letter to Sir Thomas Fairfax on March 7, 1646 (pg. 59). Both letters contain words about someone giving God credit for their achievements. The former is talking about a brave soldier, and how this man gave God all glory and honor for his battlefield heroics, despite the fact that this was a rather brave and skilled man. The latter speaks directly about Cromwell himself, as he admits to giving God the glory for as many things as he can. 

I have long pondered on, say, a professional fighter giving thanks and props to God for the knockout he just scored. Did God really give him that knockout? If I say yes, then it almost seems God is playing favorites in the ring, but to say no denies that He is sovereign and in control of even the most trivial of matches. That is obviously false, and both men in the Cromwell reading knew that. He is a sovereign God; He deserves honor in all good that we do. 

What successes are being given to us by God that we need to give Him credit for? How can we better give Him the glory for what we do, win or loss?

Puritan Musings: Declaring His Works for His Honor

I am currently reading through Michael A.G. Haykin's book "To honour God: The Spirituality of Oliver Cromwell" for one of my classes at seminary. Each week throughout the semester, I am supposed to read a portion of this book, which is a collection of Cromwell's writings, and have a small reflection upon something that he says. Therefore, I have decided to share these "Puritan Musings" with you. They won't be very long, but I hope that perhaps someone may get something from them.
 

I am currently in Timothy Beougher’s Personal Evangelism class at Southern Baptist Seminary, and in that class, we talk about our motivations for the spreading of the Gospel, among other things related to evangelism. After all, the entire class is about sharing the Gospel with those who need it. Today, as I read Oliver Cromwell’s letter to his cousin Mrs. St. John, I was struck by a phrase: “Yet, to honour my God by declaring what he hath done for my soul, in this I am confident, and I will be so” (pg. 47). 

How often do we ponder on how we may honor God? How often do we view evangelism, or conversation in general, or anything we do in our day-to-day lives as being for His honor and glory? That is our primary focus, as Cromwell was right in stating, so why are we not more confident in doing so? Why I am not? What more motivation do I need to share the truth (or you could say “declare!”) than to do so for His honor? What a noble task the Christian has! It is our job to proclaim and declare the glory of the God of the universe, our Lord and Savior!

My hope is that I may grow in this manner. I pray that I become more confident in my purpose of bringing Him glory and honor, and that an out-pouring of that is that I would boldly declare His name whenever He prompts. I pray that I might tell of what He has done for my soul.