How seriously do we take our discipleship? I mean really?
(I know this is the second post immediately after the last but I had more and wanted to separate it, because really it is separate)
I've been reading a book called "Ten Things I Wish Jesus Never Said". Interesting title I know (He originally wanted to call it "Ten Tings I Hate About Jesus" but the publishers suggested otherwise. Shame though, cause he's trying to pick up on the difficult stuff Jesus said). Basically it examines some of the hardest teachings of Jesus (e.g. 'if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out' and 'If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross daily') and what they mean if we take them seriously insead of ignoring them becuase they're hard.
I really felt challenged reading this morning and wanted to share my thoughts.
As Christians, are we prepared to go all out for Christ? This question gets asked a lot, and we like to answer yes. I mean, how can we answer no? But in reality it's a question we have to wrestle with on our own, not when a speaker asks it in a sermon, or somewhere else equally disattached from real life. I've wrestled with it in the past but find it a question I constantly have to return to. Because, as Christians, we all tend to like to say "I would die for Jesus", and that's cool, but the question is followed with "Would you live for Him?". Today I have felt another question is appropriate, although it is going to sound strange - "Would you be the living dead for Him?".
Let me clarify. We are prepared to die and we are prepared to live our lives with Him in them. But I don't think that this is really enough. I mean, I think it goes deeper. If you say you are prepared to die for Him then I ask you this "are you prepared to spend months being tortured for Him?". Not so easy to answer anymore, I mean, if you think about that fully. None of us hope for a painful death, and I don't believe God exactly sits down and decides who to subject that to, but when we answer that question about dying for Him, have we thought it through? Obviously we hope He wouldn't let that happen to us, but if it came to it, are we really prepared to be tortured for Him?
So for that weird question, if we say dying for Him needs to be considered to the next level, as above, then what about living for Him?
Are we prepared to be the living dead? To remain living, but to have given up everything of what we consider to have been our lives? And I don't mean in a pack-your-bags-move-to-a-distant-place-to-be-a-missionary giving-up-what-is-our-lives way. I mean something deeper. And this is where it gets hard, for me and for all of us.
We take things for granted and think that God won't ask us to give them up. In fact we even consider them necessary for kingdom growth. I'm going to discuss this with one example, but it can be transfered further.
You, no doubt, have plenty of non-Christian friends. Are you prepared to lose them for Christ?
Many of us think that by being friends with the world we will make the gospel more attractive. And that if we become truly Christlike then the world will be attracted to us.
The thing is, a more biblically accurate statement would be that the more Christlike we become, the more the world will hate us. How prepared are we for that.
Again, that's not what we're pursuing directly, but if we look honestly, we know there's a good risk it's the case. I have to ask myself, is my discipleship (and therefore my witness to the world) suffering because I think I have to maintain these friendships. Don't get me wrong, I most definitly want to. But what if following Christ closer, as in my last post, means that people start to disown us as friends, or even persecute us. Because I think we misunderstand that word, persecute. We hear it in church and agree that believers will be persecuted, but we seem to think that means other believers, or that it means we wont be allowed to put a sign up in the town centre saying Christmas, we'll have to put up Winterville. But when we stop (and so much of this requires time of personal reflection) and think about it - that is what persecution would really be like. Our friends disown or abuse us, because we start following Christ further.
Sometimes, even, we should ask ourselves "If the world doesn't hate me, am I really become Christlike?", since Jesus told us that as the world hated Him it would hate us.
I realise that this is heavy, but I think it should be. I'm not advocating trying to lose friends. I'm not suggesting we need to get rid of things in our lives, but we need to constantly wrestle with the idea that as we get into closer fellowship with God, a lot of these kinds of things may have to be given up, even when we think they are good.
So my challenge is simply to consider how much you are really willing to give up for Christ. Your life (i.e. dying)? OR also your living (i.e. everything about your life)? Anything of your living that may get in the way? Even things that you think are good, like friendships?
Again, I find myself wondering what the Church would be like if we were like that. How much more powerful would the Church be if we pursued Christ relentlessly, even if it cost friendships and other things we think are important? Would revival spread?
Saturday, 22 November 2008
How should we be?
So I've been challenged to go deeper with God recently, to really step it up a notch in how my relationship with Him looks.
I've found myself in an interesting quandary since getting to uni.
See, if I'm honest with you, I find it easy to think that I've got it sorted as a Christian, that I'm doing pretty well. I mean, I can point to things that make it look like I must be on track and generally great - like 3 years with Youth For Christ. I mean I must be doing well to have achieved that. However, stuff like that is a load of rubbish.
I've felt more challenged about stepping up in my walk with God since coming to uni than I think I ever did on YFC. Not to say that I never felt challenged on YFC, I did, a lot. But this is different. This is like next level stuff.
Before, I felt that I needed to grow in things and I definitly feel that that has happened, but I've reached a point now where it feels like I need to do one of two things - take the next step and level it up, or walk away from it all.
I've been wrestling with what God about His power at work in the world and feel like that is the conclusion I have reached. Because I don't see Him at work in the ways that I think He should be. I don't see miracles in my life, I don't see healings, I don't see Words of Knowledge and so on, but I believe I should. Not because I think I should see them because I'm me, but because I think as disciples we should see them. Jesus and the disciples ministries and the life of the early church was soaked in this kind of stuff and yet I don't see it. So I feel that I have reached a point where one of two things is the case - either God is not there (and so I walk away), or I'm so far from where I should be as a disciple (and need to step it up).
As an aside, that walking away part sounds so tempting. It's so easy, there's all those lures of a pleasure based life that I could succumb to, and Satan keeps reminding me of that. I have felt more tempted by that kind of stuff recently than I think I ever have. Thank God that I have a strong foundation in Christ and in the Church, that I know going for this would not be worth it, no matter how appealing it became.
So I'm left with trying to work out how to step it up. If I want to see miracles, healing, etc but I'm not, what about me needs to change? And I really feel that God's been talking to me about this. I went to a day conference thing called Jesus Culture a few weeks back and that was all about this, and ever since it's constantly in my head and I feel challenged about it everywhere - in conversation with other Christians, in church, in my own prayer times.
But this part sucks because it requires me to drastically change. Y'kno there's the general growth we need - like reading our bibles more, praying more, etc - but this is something else. If I want to see this kind of stuff not only doI need to pray for it, etc, but I need to start seeing, creating and taking opportunities for it. If I want to see healing then I need to pray for people who are sick or injured. If I want Words of Knowledge for people then I need to pray for them and then actually speak to them about it when I feel I have something.
So this is why I'm in a hard place. On the one hand I know that I need to start this kind of stuff. Spending time praying about it then actually going out to try and see it happen. On the other hand, if I don't, the only real option is for me to walk away from it all, which tempting as that may be, is not allowed to happen.
It makes me wonder though. How much more powerful would the Church be if we all thought about it like this. I mean I suspect many would take the second option. But if they went for the first, really too discipleship seriously, wouldn't that rock the world just like back in the first century?
I've found myself in an interesting quandary since getting to uni.
See, if I'm honest with you, I find it easy to think that I've got it sorted as a Christian, that I'm doing pretty well. I mean, I can point to things that make it look like I must be on track and generally great - like 3 years with Youth For Christ. I mean I must be doing well to have achieved that. However, stuff like that is a load of rubbish.
I've felt more challenged about stepping up in my walk with God since coming to uni than I think I ever did on YFC. Not to say that I never felt challenged on YFC, I did, a lot. But this is different. This is like next level stuff.
Before, I felt that I needed to grow in things and I definitly feel that that has happened, but I've reached a point now where it feels like I need to do one of two things - take the next step and level it up, or walk away from it all.
I've been wrestling with what God about His power at work in the world and feel like that is the conclusion I have reached. Because I don't see Him at work in the ways that I think He should be. I don't see miracles in my life, I don't see healings, I don't see Words of Knowledge and so on, but I believe I should. Not because I think I should see them because I'm me, but because I think as disciples we should see them. Jesus and the disciples ministries and the life of the early church was soaked in this kind of stuff and yet I don't see it. So I feel that I have reached a point where one of two things is the case - either God is not there (and so I walk away), or I'm so far from where I should be as a disciple (and need to step it up).
As an aside, that walking away part sounds so tempting. It's so easy, there's all those lures of a pleasure based life that I could succumb to, and Satan keeps reminding me of that. I have felt more tempted by that kind of stuff recently than I think I ever have. Thank God that I have a strong foundation in Christ and in the Church, that I know going for this would not be worth it, no matter how appealing it became.
So I'm left with trying to work out how to step it up. If I want to see miracles, healing, etc but I'm not, what about me needs to change? And I really feel that God's been talking to me about this. I went to a day conference thing called Jesus Culture a few weeks back and that was all about this, and ever since it's constantly in my head and I feel challenged about it everywhere - in conversation with other Christians, in church, in my own prayer times.
But this part sucks because it requires me to drastically change. Y'kno there's the general growth we need - like reading our bibles more, praying more, etc - but this is something else. If I want to see this kind of stuff not only doI need to pray for it, etc, but I need to start seeing, creating and taking opportunities for it. If I want to see healing then I need to pray for people who are sick or injured. If I want Words of Knowledge for people then I need to pray for them and then actually speak to them about it when I feel I have something.
So this is why I'm in a hard place. On the one hand I know that I need to start this kind of stuff. Spending time praying about it then actually going out to try and see it happen. On the other hand, if I don't, the only real option is for me to walk away from it all, which tempting as that may be, is not allowed to happen.
It makes me wonder though. How much more powerful would the Church be if we all thought about it like this. I mean I suspect many would take the second option. But if they went for the first, really too discipleship seriously, wouldn't that rock the world just like back in the first century?
Thursday, 13 November 2008
You're my healer
So something that's been on my mind recently is the whole fiasco with Mike Gugliulmucci.
In case you don't know who he is, Mike Gugliulmucci (interesting name I know) is an Australian Pastor who for the last 2 years was travelling around Christian conferences and churches sharing about his struggle with cancer. He has been encouraging people in their struggles and generally being an inspiration to Christians around the world. One thing he did was that he wrote an amazing song, very moving and powerful, called "Healer". I recommend listening to it:
I saw him during the 24 hours I was at Soul Survivor A this year. He told us about how he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and hadnt expected to still be alive, but here he was. It was like a miracle, as he spoke about the encouraging things that he has seen since being diagnosed and we all sang this song together. It was very inspiring, and, like many other Christians around the world had done so far already, we spent time together, right there praying for him.
However, recently it has been revealed that he lied. He doesn't have cancer and never did. The truth has now come out that he made up the story of cancer to cover up his secret shame - being addicted to pornography since being a young teenager. He became so consumed with guilt that it started manifesting physically - he was violently sick at times, he did find himself needing the oxygen tube for real and he did lose his hair. But he made up the cancer to avoid the truth - to keep others from the truth and to keep himself from it. But it meant that he went around the world and lied to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people.
Unsurprisingly, people have spoken about their shock at discovering this. I felt so weird when I discovered it was a lie - knowing what that meant globally.
But the thing I find amazing about it all is the other response, and this really encourages me. Go and youtube him and watch the clip of him on the TodayTonight show. This covers the story in some more detail and shows responses.
What I am encouraged by is the fact that most of the people who respond, including those from his own church, are supportive! It's great! This could have stirred such an outrage and done a lot of major damage to the church. Now I know that it has caused hurt and damage and I'm not retracting from that, but the response is a truly Christian one. People recognise that he is only human, that he has messed up and that "we've all sinned".
Yes people have spoken out about betrayal and so on, but most of the comments I have come across are forgiving and kind. Christians are urging each other to forgive him and where they prayed for his physical healing they now pray for his emotional healing, spiritual healing, the healing of his marriage and so on.
I love the church that turns are to the person in their midst who has betrayed them and forgives him and prays for him further.
That is the church that Jesus came to make, the Kingdom he called into the world. Let's see more of that!
Bring it on!
In case you don't know who he is, Mike Gugliulmucci (interesting name I know) is an Australian Pastor who for the last 2 years was travelling around Christian conferences and churches sharing about his struggle with cancer. He has been encouraging people in their struggles and generally being an inspiration to Christians around the world. One thing he did was that he wrote an amazing song, very moving and powerful, called "Healer". I recommend listening to it:
I saw him during the 24 hours I was at Soul Survivor A this year. He told us about how he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and hadnt expected to still be alive, but here he was. It was like a miracle, as he spoke about the encouraging things that he has seen since being diagnosed and we all sang this song together. It was very inspiring, and, like many other Christians around the world had done so far already, we spent time together, right there praying for him.
However, recently it has been revealed that he lied. He doesn't have cancer and never did. The truth has now come out that he made up the story of cancer to cover up his secret shame - being addicted to pornography since being a young teenager. He became so consumed with guilt that it started manifesting physically - he was violently sick at times, he did find himself needing the oxygen tube for real and he did lose his hair. But he made up the cancer to avoid the truth - to keep others from the truth and to keep himself from it. But it meant that he went around the world and lied to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people.
Unsurprisingly, people have spoken about their shock at discovering this. I felt so weird when I discovered it was a lie - knowing what that meant globally.
But the thing I find amazing about it all is the other response, and this really encourages me. Go and youtube him and watch the clip of him on the TodayTonight show. This covers the story in some more detail and shows responses.
What I am encouraged by is the fact that most of the people who respond, including those from his own church, are supportive! It's great! This could have stirred such an outrage and done a lot of major damage to the church. Now I know that it has caused hurt and damage and I'm not retracting from that, but the response is a truly Christian one. People recognise that he is only human, that he has messed up and that "we've all sinned".
Yes people have spoken out about betrayal and so on, but most of the comments I have come across are forgiving and kind. Christians are urging each other to forgive him and where they prayed for his physical healing they now pray for his emotional healing, spiritual healing, the healing of his marriage and so on.
I love the church that turns are to the person in their midst who has betrayed them and forgives him and prays for him further.
That is the church that Jesus came to make, the Kingdom he called into the world. Let's see more of that!
Bring it on!
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Is it worth doing?
So I've been reading the blogs of several friends and have found them to be something that draws me in. It's so inspiring and encouraging to see my friends share their life experiences and how God is working in and through them.
So I'm giving it a go again. I've taken stabs at blog writing before, usually setting myself rigid goals or things to work too. I think that might be why I get rubbish at them. I'm just gonna let this be somewhere to write if and when I want to. No commitments, no necessity.
Cause I've always wanted somewhere to just record what's going on, what I'm thinking, what I see God doing; as a way of being able to focus on it myself, but also because I really want to share some of the things I discover. I want to be able to help people know more. I dont expect to start a revolution through this, but if I can inspire people a little in the ways that they inspire me, well that's a start.
I mean life is new again for me. I'm at Uni now, finally. And I'm finding new challenges and struggles to work through. I've had a load of experiences so far that are already lost somewhere in memory, but I hope I can record somethings here and, who knows, see something happen.
Becuase God is good. I don't understand him and heck I don't even get what's going on in my own head, but I know that. God is good. I hope I can show that to people in the things that I do and say and in the ways that I live.
We'll see.
So I'm giving it a go again. I've taken stabs at blog writing before, usually setting myself rigid goals or things to work too. I think that might be why I get rubbish at them. I'm just gonna let this be somewhere to write if and when I want to. No commitments, no necessity.
Cause I've always wanted somewhere to just record what's going on, what I'm thinking, what I see God doing; as a way of being able to focus on it myself, but also because I really want to share some of the things I discover. I want to be able to help people know more. I dont expect to start a revolution through this, but if I can inspire people a little in the ways that they inspire me, well that's a start.
I mean life is new again for me. I'm at Uni now, finally. And I'm finding new challenges and struggles to work through. I've had a load of experiences so far that are already lost somewhere in memory, but I hope I can record somethings here and, who knows, see something happen.
Becuase God is good. I don't understand him and heck I don't even get what's going on in my own head, but I know that. God is good. I hope I can show that to people in the things that I do and say and in the ways that I live.
We'll see.
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