students of jesus

The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
       but the earth he has given to man. ~ Psalm 115: 16

Several months ago Steve Thompson visited the irenic hills of Kentucky to talk about the Kingdom of God.  During one of his chats, almost as an aside, he observed, “People like to say ‘God is in control.’ I’ve got news for you--he’s not.  If God were in control the world would look a lot different than it does.”  His words have echoed around this place for months.

Some people were scandalized, some were energized.  Steve’s point: we have been told a great many things about God in our lives, but have we examined them to see if they fit with our personal experience?  For example, if Jesus came to proclaim and demonstrate the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom, doesn’t that mean there are places on the earth where God does not rule and reign?  What is the evidence in my own life: is God “in control” of my heart? my thoughts? my actions?  Or perhaps my world: is God in control of my neighborhood or community?  We can extend these same questions further and further outward.

Jesus invited his disciples to participate with him in the mission.  He included them early and often (see Matthew 10, Luke 9, and Luke 10).  He was still inviting and including the disciples even as he prepared to go to the Father:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. ~ Acts 1: 8

Each Monday is an opportunity for meditation.  Perhaps these questions can influence your week:

• What is my role as an agent of God’s Kingdom?
• How does my job differ from God’s job?
• Is God in control?

I knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left my mouth. Sitting in my office was a young man who had been cheated out of $200 by someone else in the church. Both men attended our church, and one guy really did owe the other $200. But the guilty party wasn’t in the office, the other guy was--and he was full of anger and frustration because of his loss. That’s when I made my hasty suggestion:

“You could forgive him his debt,” I suggested. “Jesus told us to do just that.” Big mistake.

“Well I’m not Jesus!” he nearly shouted back at me. End of discussion, end of ministry time, end of opportunity to take the yoke Jesus offers. It was my mistake. Not for suggesting a perfectly Biblical remedy to his anger and frustration, but for expressing the solution in such a way that he would consider it impossible.

It’s impossible to be like Jesus, isn’t it? Jesus was perfect. He led a sinless life. He was God-come-to-earth and his life sets the bar impossibly high for any of us.

I believe that the central problem in nurturing followers of Jesus in North America is our view of Jesus as the Impossible Mentor. It’s a paradox: nearly everyone is willing to acknowledge Jesus as a worthy role model, but almost no one seriously believes it is possible to live up to his example. Our esteem for Jesus’ life of obedience to the Father and our desire to be “just like Jesus” does battle with the deep-seated notion that it is impossible to be like him. Who would choose a mentor who is impossible to imitate?

Some passages in the Scripture inspire fill us with confidence. Some light the fires of hope in our hearts. Other passages seem too idealistic, too fantastic to find their way into even our dreams, much less our daily lives: “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8: 29) Is this possible? Does God really look at each one of us and see a destiny in which we look like Jesus?

Whatever our theological foundations regarding this passage we should all recognize that it is about God’s intention for each of one us--to become “conformed to the likeness of his Son.” Simply put, God desires to have more children like Jesus. Jesus is God’s only begotten Son, but we become his sons and daughters by adoption. The destiny of those adopted into the family of God is that we, too, should bear the family likeness. That is: we will look just like Jesus.

In a conversation with a dozen young Christians this week, I asked them if they felt it was possible to live a life without sin for even one day. No takers. So I rephrased the question and asked if it is possible to go for an hour without sinning. Only one of them thought it was possible to stay within the will of God for a single hour.

These questions are not academic. They go to the heart of our life “in Christ.” If our intuition tells us that following His example is impossible, for one day or even an hour, how can we have the confidence to pursue his vision for us? The bottom line is that God has a greater vision for what is possible in our lives than we do. Perhaps the reason the Apostle Paul instructs us later in Romans to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds” is so we can see the possibilities of a life lived in harmony with Jesus. A practical, day-to-day moment-by-moment harmony capable of generating the rest and peace he promises.

Let me encourage you this week to ponder the foundations of your commitment to be a disciple of Jesus. Here are a few suggestions for meditation and prayer:
• Is it possible to learn from him?
• If Jesus is my mentor, have I committed myself to failure with no possibility of success?
• What kind of Master would invite me to be his apprentice if he thought there was no possibility to follow in his footsteps?
The answers spoken from our heart will determine whether discipleship is possible.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.  For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” ~ I Peter 1: 22 - 23

Part of the mystery of the new birth is the power of the seed.  New life in Jesus is something more than a resolution to follow him, more than human determination to become a better person.  No: it really is a new birth, and Peter describes this new birth in terms of an “imperishable seed.”  It’s true in the natural world.  Inside of an apple seed are the instructions--the potential for an entire apple tree.  Deep inside the seed is the DNA, and it sets the course for the seed.  An apple seed can only produce an apple tree, nothing else.

But DNA is not destiny, it is potential.  Without the right soil or the right temperature, without enough water, the seed cannot reach its potential.  The imperishable seed inside of each believer contains the possibilities of Christlikeness.  To be born from above means that we have heaven’s genetic code implanted within us.  But we are the soil: the choices we make shape our future in Christ.  Becoming like Jesus is a partnership: our choices are the soil; the DNA guarantees the outcome.

Peter was there when Jesus talked about seed falling into the ground.  He heard the Lord teach about the different kind of soil and their effect on the seed.  And here in Peter’s letter, written decades after Jesus ascended to heaven, he reflects on the potential of that imperishable seed.  He encourages us to choose obedience and heart-felt love, because these ingredients are essential to reaching the full destiny of the seed.

Here’s a meditation for a Monday: how will I tend the seed inside of me?  Christlikeness is built into the imperishable seed.  He graciously planted it there.  His DNA makes it possible for me to become like him, but my choices contribute to the outcome.