The Answer Is Who?

Stay with me on this one.  The answer is Who.

Need some direction?  Have a question?  The answer is not what, where, when or how, but Who?

Think about it.  We say we want to follow Jesus Christ.   We ask questions like these. 

• What does Jesus want me to do?
• Where does he want me to do it?
• When do I start?
• How does he want it done?  What’s the plan?

These questions may reveal the difference between “wanting” to following Jesus and following Jesus.  This is my experience.  I’ve discovered a big difference between wanting to follow Jesus and following Jesus.  Think about it.

After 20 years of service with some incredible Christians in the eastern part of Texas, I moved my family to Austin, Texas.  We had seen many come to faith, trained them to serve (Over 30 ministries in the church), built buildings, supported missionaries, had strong community ties and enjoyed sweet fellowship.  Our lives were busy but comfortable.  These great people provided a wonderful compensation package.  What’s not to like, right?

God began to discomfort me.  He used two things.  You may recognize them.

1. I saw an exploding number of young adults accross the globe and doubted we could impact them “doing church” the way we were doing it.  Our church was designed to bring religious people to faith but not the irreligious who were far from God.  I sensed God saying to me, “The people I want to reach will never be reached this way.”
2. The second discomforting factor was this.  We enjoyed fellowship but were missing true biblical community. 

To do what I believed God wanted us to do would require a new way of  “doing church”.  It would be relational, participatory, flexible and buildingless.  (I had no idea what other changes and challenges God had for us.)  I did not want to harm this great fellowship.  So, I walked away.

Two survey trips and much prayer later (wrong order but ending in the right place), Dee and I were making plans to move to Austin.  We envisioned a cell church where the cells met in homes, coffee houses, etc. and came together once a week for worship.  We set a launch date for over a year out and began raising funds and putting a leadership team together.  (Sounds conventional enough.)  The leadership team adjusted “our vision” as we went.   We launched in a bar in downtown Austin.  I won’t bore you with anymore details here.   The numbers grew.  We moved to a comedy theater.  More numbers.  Not more community.  Not more like Jesus.  Not what we expected. 

What happened?

We were so sure we had the answers to:  What?  Where?  When? and How?  But now, we were not sure of the “how?.  Later, we would begin to question the “what?”…Soon we had more questions than answers.

Several years later (At times we wanted to quit and give up.) we felt we finally knew the “what?. Yes!…  Now…Now, how did God want to do this?  If we had learned anything, it was this, we were not going to start until he showed us how to do what he wanted done.  More waiting…and more waiting…Que up the Jeopardy music…

When, oh Lord?…How?…What must we do?…How long do we have to wait for an answer?…Where are you?  What are you up to? 

Reading.  Crying out.  Then it happened.  In that familiar still small voice God whispered, “It’s not ’How?’ It’s ’Who?’”  In a flash I understood!  I still wanted to hang on to some control.  I wanted to have some part in the decision.  I still wanted some say in who was “targeted”, who was reached.  I wanted some “say” in how the effort would be financed.  I wanted some of the glory!  I wanted…Oops!

Nothing else matters if you get the ”who” wrong.

Please consider your situation as you read these questions deliberately.

• Who decides the what? 
• Who initiates the plan?
•  Who is in charge?
•  Who decides the where?
•  Who is empowering?
• Who is leading?
• Who decides when?
• Who is speaking?
• Who is giving directions?
• Who decides the “how”?
• Who decides “who”?
• Whose purpose is it?
• Who gets the glory?

I’m sure you’ve got it.  I missed it.  I thought all I wanted was the will of God.  I was wrong.

When God told me back in East Texas, “The people I want to reach will never be reached this way”, he was not talking about “how”.  He was talking about “Who”.

The answers are coming now.  The answer is Who?

Discipling Viral Disciplers

by Roger Thoman in his Simple Church Jouranl blog

I’m at it again…

Digging around in Roger Thoman’s “stuff”.  Here’s some great thoughts on church planting/disciple making.   Read it with an open heart and a ready mind.  Thanks again Roger!

_____________________________

I no longer try to start simple/house churches.  I think house churches are great.  They provide a place for people to experience participatory, everyone-matters church life.  They provide a way for people to really connect into authentic, one-another community.  They often provide a place for people to recover from some of the pains caused by institutional church life.  But house churches are no longer the end game for me.

Jesus invited us to join him, organically, in the reproduction of life.  His church is a living, thriving, reproducing organism (Mark 4) that allows life-in-the-Spirit to spread virally from one disciple to the next.  His church is alive as illustrated by a seed (Mark 4) that brings forth 30, 60, or 100-fold reproduction.  That is the life of the kingdom.  His life in me is passed on to the life of another (2-fold) which is passed to the life of another (4-fold) which is passed to the life of another (8-fold), etc.  That is the way of organic/viral life and this is what the kingdom IS.  This is ultimately what Jesus invited us to become part of: discipling viral disciplers.

Kingdom life is viral, organic, and, by nature, a movement.

When I have made house churches the end game, I have discovered that they do not naturally reproduce nor become movements.  In fact, house churches have a shelf life.  They may serve a purpose for a season, but when that season ends (and it will) the “movement” is over.  The influence of a house church is temporary.

This explains why Jesus did not ask us to go and “make gatherings or churches.”  He did not ask us to go and “make house churches.”  He said, “go and make disciples.”  This shift from starting gatherings to making disciples (who go and make disciples) goes to the very heart of the matter.  Discipling viral disciplers is the end game.  This places us squarely in the midst of reproductive life that the kingdom is intrinsically about.  We become movement-starters not church-starters.  We release disciples who will influence the world throughout their lifetime and beyond as those they disciple disciple still others.

Now, not to confuse the issue, but often in the work of discipling viral disciplers I will be gathering people together in a manner that looks an awful lot like a simple/house church.  Absolutely!  But the underlying DNA makes all the difference.  When I reach and disciple a viral discipler, that person is going to gather with other viral disciplers for encouragement, and then, as each of them reaches others, still more gatherings will take place.  So, along the way, house churches are started.  But, but rather than being the end game, they become a means to support the life that is being reproduced from one disciple to the next.  The house church gatherings themselves will shift, change, morph, end, and re-establish themselves in new forms but the movement of disciples who are reproducing disciples will continue.

Sustainable kingdom-life does not take place just because of the way we gather.  But it does take place when we step into the role Jesus called us to: making disciples who know how to make disciples.

As mentioned, starting house churches and discipling viral disciplers (who gather in house churches) might look very similar on the outside.  But the process is very different!  When we start house churches, our focus tends to be on the gathering—what to do, how to do it, what it looks like, etc.  We say to ourselves that we are learning to “be” the church 24/7 (and we may even go do missional things), but often our priority remains on developing the structure/form of simple house church gatherings.  When following Jesus and inviting others to follow him becomes our focus (discipling viral disciples), we will have to shift from the “gathering” mentality to the “lifestyle-going” mentality.  This shift changes the processes we walk out from top to bottom.  And, this shift will propel us from being church-starters to movement starters (where churches spring up along the way).

There is much more to share about the process of discipling viral disciplers, but suffice it to say that it does ask us to examine our own “followership” as a starting point.  Jesus, the adventurous, undomesticated, on-the-move God invites us to join him daily where He is working.  What does that look like for me today?  What does it really mean for me, today, to be the church (Jesus’ follower) in the world?  From that starting point, we can begin to look at and grasp a process that will “infect” others who will then “infect” others to fully follow Jesus.  Ah… a movement!

 ________________________________________

The above was quoted from Roger Thoman’s blog of May 6, 2009.  www.simplechurchjournal.com/

The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ and His Teachings

Why we follow Jesus?

This is the second blog in a series of blogs reviewing the Jesus Manifesto (www.thejesusmanifesto.com/).  I quote the Manifesto one section at a time and  share my observations.  You may read the manifest0 in it’s entirety by clicking on the tab at the top of this page.  Thanks to Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola for making us think.

Manifesto #2

2. Jesus Christ cannot be separated from his teachings. Aristotle says to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Socrates says to his disciples, “Follow my teachings.” Buddha says to his disciples, “Follow my meditations.” Confucius says to his disciples, “Follow my sayings.” Muhammad says to his disciples, “Follow my noble pillars.” Jesus says to his disciples, “Follow me.” In all other religions, a follower can follow the teachings of its founder without having a relationship with that founder. Not so with Jesus Christ. The teachings of Jesus cannot be separated from Jesus himself. Jesus Christ is still alive and he embodies his teachings. It is a profound mistake, therefore, to treat Christ as simply the founder of a set of moral, ethical, or social teaching. The Lord Jesus and his teaching are one. The Medium and the Message are One. Christ is the incarnation of the Kingdom of God and the Sermon on the Mount.

My thoughts

Jesus Christ is the physical, visible expression of God.  Seeing him allows us to know what God is like.  He is God in human flesh.

The teachings and practices of Jesus reveal the nature and character of God.  He taught as one having authority.

The character of God is reproduced in us through the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Christ “in me” gives me all I will ever need for life and godliness.  He is eternal life.

Jesus Christ is alive today and seeks relationship with us this day.  He said, “Follow me”.

While he will not lead me contrary to his character or his teachings, I am not following his teachings.  I am following a person, the living Christ.  The difference is as different as a living faith and a dead faith…the letter of the Law and the life of the Spirit.   We might think of it this way…

What might it mean?

Jesus taught us that what goes into a man does not defile him.  He declared all foods clean (Mark 7:19).  Paul said all meats are lawful to eat, just be grateful and “chow down” (Texan for “bon appetit”). (Romans 14, 1 Corinthians 8) I’m free to offer thanks and eat any cut of meat I want.  But, wait.  As a follower of Jesus Christ I surrender all of my rights.  It’s his decision what I eat, when I eat, and if I eat.  I follow him.  In one situation he may say “no” because it would cause someone to stumble (or he knows the meat is poisoned!).  On another day in a different situation he may give me the freedom to enjoy the same meal.  Eating or not eating this meal may not violate Jesus’ teachings, but eating it may or may not be the result of following him.  Jesus is with us in the person and work of the Holy Spirit to lead us.  He has promised to never leave us or forsake us.  He is here. 

He is totally unique.  His teachings are superior to all others.  His call is to follow him, not his teachings.

 

Discipling Followers of Jesus

From a blog by Roger Thoman at Simple Church Journal.

Sometimes you read something you wish you had written…

Well, here’s one example.  This blog is from Roger Thoman’s SimpleChurch Journal of June 4, 2009.  I’ll give you the link later.  The article is “spot on”.  I will add it to my resource page (when I create it.).  Thanks Roger!  Before you read the entire blog, please pray something like, “Jesus, help me understand what you are saying to me in these words.”

Thanks.  Enjoy the blog!

_________________________________

Continuing on the discussion of discipleship, I want to talk about what I call the “Jesus and dot dot dot” syndrome.  This means that we have often been discipled (and are thus discipling others) by learning to follow Jesus… and… something in addition.  We follow Jesus… and… the set of doctrines that our church teaches in order to “protect” the Gospel.  We follow Jesus… and… the rules (mostly unspoken) that we must follow to fully belong to the Christian culture we are a part of.  We follow Jesus… and… the teachings of our pastor who works hard to make Jesus relevant and understandable.  We follow Jesus… and… the latest pop-teacher that we are listening to.  We follow Jesus… and… the core teachings of our denomination.  We follow Jesus… and… the instructions of our latest church-leadership guru (even house-church-leadership guru).

The problem is not that we are listening to good teachers, or learning from others.  The problem is that, in our own insecurity or anxiety around being a pure follower of just-Jesus, we take comfort in following others who interpret what it means to be a follower.  This provides us with an easier path and gives us a sense of security in the journey.  The result is that we end up putting this alternative body of information/teaching right up there alongside of Jesus.  We look to Him, yes, but then we look to others to make sure that we are interpreting Him correctly.  We end up seeing Him through the lenses of others.  We end up with human mediators between us and Jesus.  We end up with a watered-down experience of daily following just-Jesus.

The “Jesus and dot dot dot” syndrome leads to two significant (as in huge) problems:

1. We, ourselves, lose sight of what it means to radically follow the untamed Jesus.
2. We make the issue of discipling others far too complicated, difficult, and inaccessible.

Let’s briefly look at each of these.

When Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone (which meets our daily physical needs) but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, he was pointing to a daily followership.  We digest, grasp, listen to, and walk out what God is speaking to us each and every day.  Yesterday’s digested word will not provide direction for our lives today.  That he meant to lead us in such a consistent, radical way is further seen by his challenges to wannabe-disciples who first want to bury a father or say good-bye to their family before following Jesus in-the-now (Luke 9).

The prospect of actually facing Jesus head-on, in daily followership, leads to a radical, obedience-oriented, undomesticated lifestyle.  If this prospect does not make us tremble somewhat (both fear and excitement), then we may have lost our taste for it.  Instead, we prefer to look at the lifestyles of those who have interpreted Jesus to us and do our best to emulate them or implement their understanding of the Jesus-lifestyle.  This is so much safer (seemingly) though the consequences may leave us far from the mark of a true disciple.

Terry Eagleton says:

“[Jesus] is presented [in the Gospels] as homeless, propertyless, peripatetic, socially marginal, disdainful of kinfolk, without a trade or occupation, a friend of outcasts and pariahs, averse to material possessions, without fear for his own safety, a thorn in the side of the Establishment and a scourge of the rich and powerful.” (Quote taken from Frost & Hirsch, ReJesus, p. 20)

My own life-as-a-disciple hinges on this question: Do I really want to listen to, today, and wrestle with, today, that Jesus (as he reveals himself in his own word) and make the decision, today, to fully be his follower.

This issue takes on even greater significance as we turn our attention to discipling others.  Why?  Because it takes a great deal of human effort and energy to “properly” disciple someone to follow Jesus and to understand all that needs to be explained and interpreted so that the new disciple can follow Jesus “properly” (according to whatever comes after the dot dot dot).  We commit ourselves (remarkably) to gargantuan efforts to make sure that new disciples are properly taught a Christian worldview (how to think), a Christian theology (what to believe), and a Christian culture (how to behave).  Yet in this massive knowledge-focused download, we often sidestep the central issue of discipleship: what is Jesus showing you (speaking to you, revealing to you by his word) today and how are you going to walk that out?

When discipleship becomes truly focused on following Jesus today, the new disciple can pick this up almost instantaneously when it is modeled by a practitioner (discipler who is also following daily).

This does not mean that there is no purpose in walking alongside of new disciples.  But it does mean that we shift the heavy lifting from the shoulders of the discipler (imparting all of the necessary knowledge and information about thoughts, beliefs, and behavior) to the shoulders of the Holy Spirit who actually is big enough to transform those who are choosing to listen and follow daily.  Furthermore, the activity of the Holy Spirit in this process is not primarily facilitated by the “gifted” efforts of the discipler, rather the Holy Spirit is engaged as the new disciple picks up the task of discovering God’s communication to her daily and then wrestling with how to apply it in her life.

We have made discipleship far too complicated (the need to impart massive amounts of information in transformative ways—as if we can do that) yet also too comfortable (not requiring the discipler and disciple to follow Jesus radically.  By turning this around, discipleship does become far more challenging in terms of our own followership, yet also far easier, simpler, more transferable and accessible as we simply invite others to learn how to do the same.

We could wrap up by looking at some tools for this, but sometimes we take tools and use them as shortcuts.  Perhaps we just need to focus, for now, on the basic issue of being a follower today.

www.simplechurchjournal.com/

The Centrality of Jesus Christ

Do you have time to reorient your spiritual compass?

Here is the central question to authentic Christianity:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

In other words, Jesus asked, who do people say I am?

Jesus then asked his disciples:

“But what about you?”  Who do you say I am?”

                                                                            Matthew 16

What we believe about Jesus Christ makes all the difference in time and eternity.

So, how would I answer that question?  What do I believe about the person of Jesus?  What do I believe about the life he lived and the death he died?

What do you believe about Jesus Christ?

The man Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples in the 1st century, answered Jesus this way.

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

What did this mean?  What does this mean?  What difference does it make?  All the difference… think about it.

Those claiming to be Christian do not always believe the same facts about Jesus Christ.  I was surprised as a 16 year old.  I’m not surprised any more.

I am concerned we’ve lost sight of Jesus.  We’ve taken the focus off of him.  We talk about him rather than to him.  We claim to follow his teachings.  I wonder if we should be following him.

These questions are addressed in a recent joint document written by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola.  It’s entitled:  A Magna Carta for Restoring the Supremacy of Jesus Christ a.k.a. A Jesus Manifesto for the 21^st Century Church.  I’m going to refer to it simply as the Jesus Manifesto.  I’m grateful to these two servants for their efforts. 

The document has generated some discussion in “Blogsville” for which I’m also grateful.  I plan to review the 10 points of the document in 10 new blogs.  You may read all ten points immediately by opening the “Manifesto” tag at the top of this page.  Or, you may view an unedited version without comments at this link:  www.ajesusmanifesto.wordpress.com/

I’ll call the first manifest point simply, The Centrality of Jesus Christ.  Read it carefully and contemplatively.

 Manifesto #1

1. The center and circumference of the Christian life is none other than the person of Christ. All other things, including things related to him and about him, are eclipsed by the sight of his peerless worth. Knowing Christ is Eternal Life. And knowing him profoundly, deeply, and in reality, as well as experiencing his unsearchable riches, is the chief pursuit of our lives, as it was for the first Christians. God is not so much about fixing things that have gone wrong in our lives as finding us in our brokenness and giving us Christ.

My comments:

• I wonder how many professing Christians live as if Jesus Christ is the center and circumference of our lives?
• Jesus prayed, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”  What does he mean?  Is seeking, knowing and following Jesus Christ enough?  Do I worship his gifts or do I worship the Giver of the gifts?  Do I satisfy myself with knowing “about him” or do I long to know him personally and intimately?
• Is knowing him and following him the chief pursuit of my life?

Let the dialog begin between those who profess to know and follow Jesus Christ.

 

What Makes You Angry?

What makes you angry?

I know that doesn’t sound very spiritual.  I mean, I know we’re not supposed to get angry.  Oh really!  (Eph. 4:26)   Oops!  There I go again…back to the point…

Reading through Mark’s record of Jesus’ life this week raised this question in my mind.  What makes me angry?  What upsets me?  When am I most likely to lose my “cool”?

Three times in the NIV and NASB translations of Mark’s gospel the words “indignant” or “indignantly” are used.  The same root word is translated “much displeased” and “indignant” in the KJV.  I find each of these incidents interesting for different reasons.  Here’s how each went down.

Parents are bringing their children to Jesus for him to put his hands on them and bless them.  The disciples begin running interference and forbid the parents to bring their children to him.  Jesus is said to be “indignant” and strongly rebukes his disciples.  (Mark 10)

James and John ask Jesus to assign them prominent seating (positions of authority) in his coming kingdom.  When the other disciples find out about it, they are said to be “indignant”.  (Mark 10)

Jesus sits in a home in Bethany on his way to the cross.  A woman takes a bottle of perfume worth an extravagant amount of money and pours it over Jesus’ head.  Some of the disciples are said to respond “indignantly” saying the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor.  (Mark 14)

What is Jesus saying to me?

• Have I been with Jesus all these years and still don’t understand the necessity of living life in the Kingdom of God as a little child?  Simple faith.   Simple trust.  What does my attitude toward the weakest and innocents of this world say about me?
• Have I missed the mark?  Do I understand it’s about Him and not me?  When I recognize his supremacy, do I see others differently?  Am I ready to become a servant of all?  Can I even begin to comprehend true greatness?
• Does it bother me when others live extravagant lives toward Jesus?  Do I want some of their “stuff”?  Does it embarrass me?  Does it convict me when I see others “sell all” to follow Jesus?  (I admit it I don’t see this happen much in America.)  Am I ready to be extravegant towards Jesus?

What makes me angry?

• Does it anger me when I value so little of what Jesus values?
• Does it anger me when I judge others, devalue others or want to exercise authority over others?
• Does it anger me when I recognize my selfishness?
• Does it anger me when I allow myself to be deceived and substitute the work of the flesh for the work of the Spirit?
• What about injustice, greed, corruption, abortion, erosion of the ecology, people bound by sin, hypocrisy?  Do these make me indignant?
• Does it anger me when I get caught in the details (even the details listed here) and miss Jesus?

What makes me angry says more about me than it does about others.

What do I want God to do for me?

What do you want me to do for you?

                                         Jesus (from Mark 10:36,51)

If I were asked this question by the Creator/King of all the universe, how would I answer?  What would I say?  What would my answer say about me?  What would it reveal about my heart and mind?  My character?  My motives?  My focus?

Jesus asked this question twice in just a few verses in Mark 10.

Going up to Jerusalem with his disciples he predicts his coming death on the cross.  The weight of the world’s sin awaits his arrival.   His followers argue over who is going to be the greatest in His kingdom.  James and John have the hutzpah to say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”

His response, “What do you want me to do for you?”

They’re response is dramatic.   We want to occupy the 2nd and 3rd most prominent places in your comming Kingdom glory.  “Seat one of us on your right and the other on your left,” they would say. 

What were they thinking?  What was in their hearts?  What was their motivation?  I don’t know.  I’m not even sure how to take their request.  I am clear about the other disciples response.   They became indignant.  Jesus uses the opportunity (again) to teach them and me about true greatness. 

I return to the question.

What do I want Jesus to do for me?

I contrast the answer of James and John with another man’s answer in the same chapter of Mark.  Jesus continues his redemptive journey to Jerusalem.  A begger named Bartimaeus sits on the side of the road in Jericho.  Hearing Jesus is near, he shouts over and over as loud as he can, “Son of David, have mercy on me.”  He won’t shut up.  Others try to quiet him.  He shouts more.  He refuses to stop!

Jesus instructs him to be brought to him.  Now for the second time he asks the question, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Imagine.  Bartimaeus is a blind man.   He begs a subsistence day after day.  His future is like his present.  His darkness today will be his darkness tomorrow.  He can’t see himself.  He can’t see others.  He can’t see the trees, the mountains, the sky, the children.  He can’t see.  He answers Jesus…

“Rabbi, I want to see!”

Enough said.  Jesus responds, “Go, your faith has healed you.”  He sees!  Everything changes!  Forever changes!  “…he received his sight and followed Jesus…”

I want that!  I cry for that!  Lord, I’m poor and wretched and blind.  I want to see…

• I want to clearly see myself and my circumstances.  No more self-delusion.  Just the facts.
• I want to see others the way God sees them and be moved with the compassion of my Lord.
• More than anything, yes, more than anything, I want to see you Jesus, high and lifted up, reigning in majesty, ready to fill all the earth with your glory.  I want to see you.  I want to move at your command.  I want to see… so I may follow.

I want to see Jesus.  That’s what I want God to do for me.

What do you want God to do for you?

Wow! What an Invitation!

“Follow me,”  Jesus invites. 

I think of the significance.  Imagine the grandness.  Recognize the implications.

I read these words with fresh eyes…

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  (Colossians 1:15-20)

Jesus…

• God in human flesh…
• Creator and sustainer of all things…
• Supreme ruler over all kings and kingdoms…
• The One who reconciles us to God, the head of his body, the Church…

…invites me to follow him!

Wow!  What an invitation!  What a grand and glorious calling.  What a simple, all consuming command…”follow me”.

Here is the heart of the Christian life.  Here’s what it means to be Christian.  Follow Jesus… 

• Think as he thinks…
• See things as he sees things…
• Hear what he is saying…
• Do what he is doing…

It is a relationship with the living God.   He’s alive and at work in me and in our world today.  He seeks to accomplish his eternal purposes.   He invites me to join him in his work…

to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
                                                                                                                                                                                  (Romans 8:29)

How?  How will he accomplish such a grand purpose through people like me?

Jesus tells me in his invitation.

… ”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.  

                                                                                                                                              Matthew 16:24,25

I die to myself in the person and work of Christ.   The resurectted Christ now lives his life in and through me.  I now surrender my rights, give up my independence and become dependent and obedient to Jesus Christ.  I quit thinking of myself and for myself.   I submit myself to him.  I surrender my life to enter the joy and freedom of “doing right” in and through the person of Christ himself.  He becomes my life. 

Radical?  I wonder…What did Jesus think?

Who, being in very nature God,
      did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 
 but made himself nothing,
      taking the very nature of a servant,
      being made in human likeness. 
 And being found in appearance as a man,
      he humbled himself
      and became obedient to death—
         even death on a cross!

                                       (Philippians 2:6-8)

Jesus was made in our likeness .  He became obedient to his death on a cross so we might be remade in his likeness.  He invites us to die daily and join him in this work of reconciling man to himself.  How?

I will not DO like Jesus until I BECOME like Jesus.

I wonder when we’ll stop DO-ing church and start BE-ing the Church of Jesus Christ?  Oops!  I guess that’s what happens when I accept his invitation. 

Jesus said, “Follow me…”

I must go.  Did you get your invitation?  Will you go with me?