Bible

Be the Disciple You Were Called to Be

/ mhowellw / Leave a comment

It has been a week since the Charlie Kirk assassination and reports are coming out that there has been a resurgence of interest in reading the Bible, praying to God, and in church attendance. In an age of rapid news cycles and highly divisive politics, the death of Charlie Kirk continues to resonate with many people. During this critical time, Christians must ensure they represent their faith and the Lord Jesus Christ well by being prepared to answer any questions a seeker or a person returning to church after many years of absence may have. But we must do so with gentleness and respect. Follow the instructions of Titus 3:2, which says we ought “to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.”

It may feel counterintuitive in a time of anger, grief, confusion, or suffering to respond like this, but Christ taught us that it is the unconditional nature of our love for each other that distinguishes us as Christians. (John 13:35) The apostle Peter helps us understand how to respond to those whom we deem as our enemies, saying, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” (1 Pet. 3:9)

There may be new people in your church you never expected to see. There may be relatives or friends showing interest in reading the Bible for the first time in their lives. There may even be people at work who ask you to pray for them Regardless of the person, or your preconceptions, “walk in wisdom toward outsiders and let our speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.” (Col. 4:5-6)

We are not trying to persuade anyone to adopt a particular political viewpoint. Nor are we trying to help them see the evil that lies behind their own political party. Our job is to win men and women for the kingdom of God, not to win an argument. This is why Jesus says that we are to: 1) Go – in other words, do not wait for someone to approach you. If you see someone new at your church, or if you meet someone who has questions about Christianity, the Bible, prayer, etc., recognize this encounter for what it is: God inviting you to join Him in the work that He is doing around you.  Go. And join God in where He is leading you. 2) Make disciples – This means to take the time to get to know the person. They should be your friend, not your project. This is not about counting how many people you can get to pray the Sinner’s Prayer. This is about developing a relationship with the seekers, answering their questions, and using the way that you love them to lead them into an unconditional loving relationship with Christ.  3) Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – As part of your discipling, have those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 10:9) to make a public profession of faith through the symbolic act of baptism. This demonstrates not only whose they are, but is also a tangible expression of what Christ has done in their life as He buried them with Christ and raised them to walk in newness of life, cleansing them of all their unrighteousness. Finally, 4) Teach them to observe all that Christ has commanded us – This means that your role as their discipler is not over. You have a lot of work ahead of you. Be prepared to be challenged. Be willing to have the late-night talks. But most of all, stay diligent in the word and learn to handle it correctly (2 Tim. 2:15) so that you are not ashamed. Discipline your body and keep it under control, so that after teaching them about Christ, you will not be disqualified. (1 Cor. 9:27) And supplement your faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, steadfastness, godliness, brotherly affection, and love so that you will be protected from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 1:5-8). Like parenting, discipling someone is a long-term commitment, not a short-term endeavor.

People seeking God in crisis should not be a cultural phenomenon that we objectively observe from a distance. You are not a scientist collecting data. You are a disciple of Christ who is commanded to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” (Eph. 4:1) Engage! Make disciples, not talking points. And win the person (not the argument) for the kingdom and glory of God. As the apostle Paul says, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.”

Now, go!  Be the disciple you were called to be.

Why I Decided to Stop Reading the Bible Every Year

/ mhowellw / Leave a comment

fasting1When I was a teenager, I began the practice of daily Bible reading. My pattern was to read a chapter in the morning and a chapter in the evening in order to bookend my day with the thoughts of God.  Using this method allowed me to finish the Word approximately every two years. But this changed four years ago after I downloaded a Bible app to my phone. Excited with all of the functionality and options for studying that it allowed me to do, I chose to begin a new Bible reading plan, one that would allow me to read through the entire text in a single year. This meant that I would be reading four or five chapters a day from the Bible.

Admittedly, ego drove this decision more than devotion or fervency for God. I wanted to be able to say, at least to myself, that I had read through the Bible “x” number of times in my life. Something about the number made me feel good about my walk with God. In hindsight, though, this gory self-righteousness led me down a path that was neither spiritual nor helpful for my Christian life. Thus, I have decided it is time to stop reading the Bible every year. Below are my top 10 reasons why:

 

  1. The Bible is to be absorbed, not raced through like a NASCAR race
  2. The Bible is made for man and is best understood in small doses in order to understand its application to life, but reading through it in a year only provides a large 30,000 foot overview.
  3. The Bible is designed to reveal God but, as with all things, speed blurs perception.
  4. If I only have 20-30 minutes each morning to read my Bible, I will get more out of it by examining how this passage connects to others or meditating on a manageable bite size piece, rather than reading 4 chapters and having no time for meditation or study.
  5. The Bible is not only to be meditated upon but also applied. I cannot apply a lesson I have not taken the time to learn. Most likely the only lessons that I am “hearing” when I read through the Bible in a year are the ones I remember the Lord teaching me from the past, not new ones that challenge me.
  6. Reading it through in a year can be more about successfully accomplishing a goal than becoming closer to or more like the LORD.  If my life is to be lived in such a way so that others may see the perfections of God publicly displayed through me, then I must take the time to understand how to exalt the LORD with all of who I am. To learn how, as John the Baptist said, I must become less so that He becomes more.
  7. As Chaucer once said, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” This year I began to realize that I was reading the Bible much like a movie I have seen a hundred times, anticipating the memorable or favorite scenes, but not enjoying it. Such an exercise feels like a duty, not a relationship with the text or the Creator who wrote it.
  8. It taps into my sinful nature much more easily than I anticipated: perfectionism masquerading as holiness, self-righteousness obscuring shame, self-blame and feelings of failure when I miss days that I should have read, as well as pride in doing the safe and private task of reading instead of the dangerous task of actively serving others with the power that God provides.
  9. The Bible is to be a starting point, not an ending point, for Christian living. It points us towards God and holy living. Making our calling and election sure is more than an intellectual agreement with a specific set of teachings. It is also a daily behavior that confirms that we are Christ’s and that He is ours. That the two have become one. The choice to love God is not one we make only at a singular point in time. Rather, it is one that we continue to make throughout our lives, sometimes even several times a day, so that we may know the joy of continually turning towards each other, even when our beloved makes no sense or hurts us. In other words, it is embracing the vulnerability of love in order to gain the intimacy of relationship.
  10. Aside from the incarnation, the Bible is God’s most vulnerable expression of who He is. It is the place where He bares His heart, communicates His desires, shares the joys and sorrows of His past, explains His frustrations, and voices His profound yearning for a deeper relationship. But if I am trying to get through four or five chapters before I start my day, I will often hear His mouth, but miss the message of His heart.

 

What am I going to do instead? I think I will go backward in order to move forwards. Get out my pen, annotate the text, and really try to see how all the parts connect to each other. A chapter or two each day. As they say in the South, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”