Classes started this week! And between them and language school, I haven't had a lot of time to process and generate new thoughts... so instead, I am going to share part of a post I read today. I hope you are challenged and encouraged by it also!
- - - -
Discipleship and the Paradoxes of Growth
by: Garrett Kell
(for full article, click here)
As I studied the Scriptures with other Christians I discovered many truths that were both clear and unclear. I learned that there is one God who is eternally three. I learned that Jesus is fully God and fully man. I learned that God is completely sovereign and that people are responsible for their actions. These ideas were mysterious, puzzling, and, at the same time, wonderfully edifying.
But the paradoxes of the Christian life didn’t end there. Looking into the Scriptures I saw that Christian growth and maturity happened in paradoxical ways. If we want to grow as Christians and to help others to grow, it is essential to understand these paradoxes.
WE LIVE BY DYING
In Mark 8:35 Jesus says, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will find it.” If we want to live, we must die. This advice seems foolish in a world that constantly counsels us to “follow our hearts” and “seize the day!” We are told we only live once, and that we should drink up every moment as we climb to the top.
Being a disciple of Jesus, however, means surrendering our lives and embracing the life that Christ gives. This is the only way to true life. As Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” This death happens thousands of times before heaven, and is always an act of faith in Jesus.
Several years ago, I became entangled in a web of sin. Discontentment, lust, and a lack of faith had crept into my heart like a python and were slowly crushing my devotion to the Lord. In that season, a dear brother spoke into my life in a powerful way: he called me to live by dying. He showed me that my love for the world was quenching my love for Christ. He spoke with truth and grace. God used that brother to open my eyes to the promise of life that would only come through dying. I am not sure where I would be if he hadn’t brought Jesus’ call before me afresh, and I am forever grateful that he did.
In discipleship, we must consistently hold the lens of eternity before each other’s eyes to ensure that we are not being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). The world constantly calls us to find life in its pleasures. The only antidote to this powerful demand is to meditate on how Christ surrendered his life for our sake. Consider how he hated sin. Ponder how he loved us. Remember how he bled. Think of how he died. Rejoice in how he glorified the Father.
Our discipleship must be marked by helping each other meditate on Christ’s call to take up our cross daily and follow him. Dying is the only way to live.
© 9Marks | Website: www.9Marks.org | Email: info@9marks.org | Toll Free: (888) 543-1030
But the paradoxes of the Christian life didn’t end there. Looking into the Scriptures I saw that Christian growth and maturity happened in paradoxical ways. If we want to grow as Christians and to help others to grow, it is essential to understand these paradoxes.
WE LIVE BY DYING
In Mark 8:35 Jesus says, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will find it.” If we want to live, we must die. This advice seems foolish in a world that constantly counsels us to “follow our hearts” and “seize the day!” We are told we only live once, and that we should drink up every moment as we climb to the top.
Being a disciple of Jesus, however, means surrendering our lives and embracing the life that Christ gives. This is the only way to true life. As Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” This death happens thousands of times before heaven, and is always an act of faith in Jesus.
Several years ago, I became entangled in a web of sin. Discontentment, lust, and a lack of faith had crept into my heart like a python and were slowly crushing my devotion to the Lord. In that season, a dear brother spoke into my life in a powerful way: he called me to live by dying. He showed me that my love for the world was quenching my love for Christ. He spoke with truth and grace. God used that brother to open my eyes to the promise of life that would only come through dying. I am not sure where I would be if he hadn’t brought Jesus’ call before me afresh, and I am forever grateful that he did.
In discipleship, we must consistently hold the lens of eternity before each other’s eyes to ensure that we are not being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). The world constantly calls us to find life in its pleasures. The only antidote to this powerful demand is to meditate on how Christ surrendered his life for our sake. Consider how he hated sin. Ponder how he loved us. Remember how he bled. Think of how he died. Rejoice in how he glorified the Father.
Our discipleship must be marked by helping each other meditate on Christ’s call to take up our cross daily and follow him. Dying is the only way to live.
© 9Marks | Website: www.9Marks.org | Email: info@9marks.org | Toll Free: (888) 543-1030
No comments:
Post a Comment