I am feeling a tension within myself between two ideas regarding this venture, and I want to tell you about it.
The first idea: Jesus is telling us to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." So if we're supposed to teach people to obey everything Christ commands, and not just the highlights but truly "everything," then we better know what those commands are. And we better be obeying them ourselves before we try to teach anybody else how to do so. Right? Therefore, the organized, checklist-y part of me wants to embark on a project of systematically going through all the Gospels and making a numbered list of each of Christ's separate commands. Once I have each command on an index card, I want to shuffle and organize them into a highly ordered outline with a few major categories which contain subsets which contain further subsets. Then I want to memorize my outline and meditate on it. Then I want to make a big chart for myself and put a star sticker in a box next to each command as I have success obeying it. This is how I like to attack a project--in a highly systematic, ordered, duckies-in-a-row kind of way.
The second idea: the Pharisees were a very duckies-in-a-row kind of people. They had systems and order coming out their ears. I'm afraid that if I did Idea #1, that I would just take the life-giving words of Jesus and turn them into a life-killing law. I'd be turning the New Covenant back into the Old one. Idea #2, therefore, makes me despair of doing anything like #1 before I even start it.
So does anyone have any ideas about how we can be serious, organized, and disciplined about identifying and pursuing Christ's commands without turning them into a new Leviticus?
Thanks,
Heath
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8 comments:
Don't take this as being sarcastic, because it's not meant that way.
I say we could start with the old Leviticus. It wasn't the law that was legalistic, but the people who interpreted the law. It's in Leviticus that we get the idea of being holy because God is holy. In Leviticus we get the two greatest commands - Love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Maybe if we dwell with the heart of God in Leviticus for a while we will understand the way in which lists (with subsets even) can be holy things that help us to serve a holy God.
Heath, My mind follows the path that you have skillfully put into words, and is one of the reasons I find myself stuck sometimes, going nowhere in spiritual growth.
But I have learned recently, again, that sometimes what I have to do is take it one "thing" at a time, learn it, live it, do it well, and then add the next "thing" to that. That way I can be fully focused on the one thing and not feel so frustrated.
As my first post will show, the "thing" I am currently working on is being real.
Great thoughts Heath. I'm thinking that starting with the Greatest Command to love God and others is a great place to start. For me, this means getting serious about relationships, with God, and with others. Organized would be cool, but relationships and discipleship are messy. The disciplined aspect is something I must work on. I need to be way more intentional about this discipleship thing. Hmmmmm.....I guess....I might.... have to remove the ME from the equation. It's difficult for me to identify and persue Christ's commands, because I spend sooo much time identifying and persuing what I want!
Jesus is more than a huge list of commands; He is the person "God with us." The Gospels are not necessary to learn obedience to Jesus, people became disciples for decades before the Gospels were circulated. The Gospels are an amazing gift of God for becoming a disciple, but if they are all we have, then we are doomed. Jesus is well and alive today; if we have Him, we have what we need.
I like your point Ike. I love that the stories of Jesus were told and re-told for centuries. Before it was written down, His message and His actions were passed along by word of mouth. I think we could go a long way to encourage one another, and others, by simply telling these stories again. I love parables for that reason. We go a step further when we include how our relatinship with Him -has- and continues to transform us.
I was speaking to someone yesterday who is considering making a commitment to Christ through baptism (she is already committed to the church and to Him through her disciplines). Her greatest roadblock? She's in a tough marriage and can't reconcile now how she could get divorced, if things come to that, once she is baptized. That is a problem with the legalistic side of following the Lord - one becomes paralyzed with the fear of "messing up", totally missing out on the relationship with Jesus. He will walk alongside her (us) through that sticky, messy stuff that life throws, but she may not see him there, missing out on his company.
I think it is also important for us to remember that "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free." When I embrace that freedom, I find that the legalism falls away. I'm learning to do and act--to live out discipline--from a desire to love the Lord, honor Him, and know Him better. I also find that there is allowance for the Spirit to work and teach me those disciplines.
great thoughts everyone. I find myself like Heath, wanting to get all organized before I get going on some things. But I learned this from doing too much jumping without looking in my younger days. What I find necessary (and challenging) is a balance between the two. Knowing the commands and walking with God. It's been so easy to go from one extreme to another. I'm thankful that in our tension God leads us and hopefully we can keep our eyes focused on Him to follow.
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