Drunken Mystic

“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

The very nature of discipleship is change.  And change is difficult.  And when things get difficult, people want to quit.

The Gospels and the New Testament constantly deal with this.  In Jesus’ parable of the soils, the good soil that ended up living to produce fruit is contrasted with those that quit after hard times and those who left the path of life to follow the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth.  The man who built his house on the rock and the one who built it on the sand both had to go through the storm.  Only the one who heard and obeyed had the foundation to make it through the storm.

As I mentioned before, the writer of Hebrews contrasts the Israelites who turned back because of their unbelief with those that believe in Jesus and will not “shrink back.”

There was an old song that we used to sing at the altar call back when we used to have those things, and it went like this: “I have decided to follow Jesus.  No turning back.  No turning back.”

With all the encouragements through the New Testament to have hope and look forward and not give up, seems safe to assume that at some point we will all really want to give up on following Jesus with all our heart.

It’s not that difficult to follow Jesus for a while.  In fact, depending on your personality, you even look really cool and on fire for a time.  But then it gets really difficult, and God begins to put you through some really hard things.  Or maybe you just get tired.

Did you know the Bible says, “Do not weary of doing good?”  Probably means you will.

There are some general things that happen to people that make them want to give up on being a real disciple.  Maybe just being tired of carrying another cross, or being given one you really don’t want, or the wealth of this life becomes too tempting, or persecution causes too much fear, or there are too many self-proclaimed Christians that are hypocrites, or there is a doctrine or truth about God that deeply offends a cultural idea or philosophy.

Whether it is one or two or all of these, they are more common than you think for a reason, and they can be dealt with, but they must be dealt with in endurance and faith.  Giving up effectively aborts the whole discipleship process.

There are some things that God delivers you from.  Other things you must endure to produce deep Christ-like character.  Christ “learned to obey through the things He suffered.”  If you are to be truly like Him, so will you.

But ultimately the idea is that there is no turning back.  Read the Old Testament and see what happened whenever Israel tried to go back to Egypt.  God would kill them before He let that happen.  Once you’re in, going back is taking your life back into your own hands.

After Jesus died and rose again and all that, you know what Peter did?  He went back to fishing.  He and his buds went back to Galilee and just started fishing, getting on with their life again after a three and a half year “missions trip.”

But then Jesus shows up, the one who called Peter, gave him a new name and everything, and made Peter a “fisher of men”, and Jesus was sitting on the beach.

Jesus asks Peter, “You got any food?”  Peter says, “No.”  Jesus says, “Put your net on the right side and you’ll get some.”

Of course they did, got more fish than they could carry, and they figured out it was Jesus.  Peter jumps in the water and goes to the beach, the rest of them dragging all the fish behind them.

What was Jesus doing while on the beach?  Cooking breakfast, fish and bread that He had provided for them.  And then Jesus invited them to breakfast.

Then after feeding them, Jesus then gives Peter a command … well, three actually.  “Feed My lambs.  Tend My sheep.  Feed my sheep.”

Do we see what’s going on here?  Peter goes back to work for himself, and Jesus provides for everyone and then says, “Peter.  I gave you a job.  You’re responsible for my sheep.”

When Peter put down his nets to follow Jesus, was told he was now a “fisher of men”, was given the keys to the kingdom, all that was a permanent change.  Peter wasn’t allowed to go back to who he was before.  The three years of ministry with Jesus wasn’t a nice little adventure.  He was called to seek first the Kingdom of God, now and for the rest of his life.

There’s no retirement in the Kingdom of God.  Following Jesus with all of your heart isn’t just until you get married and settle down and have some kids and a nice house or get a little older and let the younguns take over.  It is for life.

There is plenty of teaching out there that calls seeking a nice suburban lifestyle Christianity.  But it isn’t. It isn’t really seeking first the Kingdom of God.  And if we’re honest we’ll admit that is true.

And as I close this series down, there are two things to remember.  There is a difference between being someone who just believes a few nice doctrines and people who are true disciples of Christ.  A disciple of Christ is a radical change that challenges every culture and philosophy and way of life.  It is its own way of life and its own culture.  Discipleship will have its own testimony and fruit.

And this is for life.  You don’t just live like a disciple for a while and then get to live for yourself later on, like you’ve earned a vacation or retirement.

You’re learning to be like Jesus.  You are being raised up to take over your Father’s business for eternity.  The end of your training happens when you pass from this life to the next.

And don’t quit.  Whatever you do, don’t quit.  It might feel easier, the grass might be greener, but believe me it is not.  Just stick it out through the valley of death.  There are green pastures on the other side.

And if you need rest, don’t rest in the things of this world.  Find your rest in Jesus and His people.

Peace.

Yes, this does go to eleven.  Actually, twelve, so we’re almost done.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you.  By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

A defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ is that he will love other disciples as Christ loved him.

Pretty simple, but let me further expound a little.

There are some interesting implications in this, the first of which is that this is a determination the world will make about followers of Christ.  Looking at the Church today, the world could make several distinctions about us, but few would be able to say, as was said about the early church, “behold how they love one another.”  But if we want people to believe that we belong to Jesus, it has way less to do with a doctrinal statement, the name on the door, or a political affiliation as it does the love we have for one another.

And this leads us to the second implication, which is that no disciple can prove he is such by himself.  In other words, you can say you are a follower of Christ all day long, but if your life doesn’t testify to a loving, committed relationship to other disciples, you’re wasting your breath.

There is much of the Christian life that is individual.  But our modern society has so individualized religion that it has become an idol.  Yes, an idol.  We have raised up a standard of our own individualism to the detriment of the testimony of what really following Jesus is all about.

I once visited a church where a friend of mine was teaching Sunday School (he wanted me to come to his class, so he kinda asked for it).  The gist of his teaching in the class was that Christianity was an individual sport, like boxing or tennis.  I looked at him and said, “Then what are we doing here?”  The irony of the situation made everyone quiet enough that allowed me to launch into scriptures that obviously speak of a very different life.  And that was almost twenty years ago now.

In the interim, I’ve become even more convinced that the Bible testifies of a life more interdependent in fellowship with other disciples than independent and individual.  You may come to it as an individual, but you become a part of a new family where your individualism only goes so far.

A true disciple will commit his life to a local body of believers deeper than even his physical family could express.  This doesn’t mean you form cliques and fully isolate yourself from others, but then again at times you will.  Because it is good and  right to do so.

I am married and have three kids.  Sometimes we just do things as a family.  Sure I have extended family, to varying degrees of intimacy, but the living of day in and day out goes on with these individuals.

It is the same with the Church.  Yes, there is a universal reality to the Church that is biblical and no one could or should deny.  I have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world, and I thank God for things like Facebook and email and ways that I can stay in contact and some amount of fellowship with them.  At the same time, there is a clear testimony from scripture that there were individual churches, plural, and to deny the reality therein is to deny the responsibility of a local spiritual family that God has called us to commit our hearts and lives within.  Just as my primary physical and earthly responsibility is to my physical family, Becca and Micah and Elisha and Hosanna, my primary spiritual responsibility is to those who have decided to join and commit their spiritual journey to my own so we can take care of one another and grow deeper in relationship.

It is within this local body of believers first, and the Church at large in the world second, that we are meant to fulfill “love one another as I have loved you.”

Jesus spent an inordinate amount of time with these men, his twelve, over the three and a half years of his earthly ministry.  They lived life together, even to the point where the disciples said, “Well, let’s go die with Him.”

Their attachment to Jesus was such that Peter said, “Where can we go?  You have the words of life.”

The Word was made flesh then in Christ and is now made flesh in His Church by His Spirit.  There are some things of God you can only get from an intimate relationship with the Body of Christ because that is how God has designed it.  Without it, at the very least, you’re missing out on a major expression and truth of the kingdom of God.  At worst you might not be a disciple at all.

But my point here is that there is life in the Body of Christ.  There is a revelation of Christ that happens only when the saints of God gather together unto Him and one another.

“Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!  It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down the beard of Aaron, running down the edge of his garments.  It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded blessing – life forevermore.”

For there – where brethren dwell in unity – the Lord has commanded blessing – LIFE FOREVERMORE.

Peace.