Are you a Christian or a Disciple?

We have been working our way through the book of Luke this year in Church. Today's sermon was on Luke 6. Randy started out with a tongue in cheek statement, that there were too many Christians and not enough Disciples. Christians promote a "follow this" attitude. Meaning do this, don't do that. A list that they don't follow very well themselves, and leave the world wondering why would I want to be a Christian. There are many more groups/clubs that I can join that have easier "rules" to play by. Disciples on the other hand have a follow me approach, where the me of course is Jesus. To understand better what is meant by follow me, one needs to understand a little about the Jewish Community of the time. Both boys and girls would be educated until about age 12. At that time the girls would go back to the home to help there. Most of the boys would go back to work with their dads and learn the family business, but the best and the brightest would have an opportunity to continue their training. However to continue their education they had to be attached to a Rabi. This was no simple task. They would have to seek after, beg, plead to find one to take them. And this wasn't a normal teacher/student situation like today. These students would pledge themselves to the Rabi, the Rabi would take them in like family. And they would learn and mimic everything that the Rabi did. It was a close, life long relationship. In fact Rabi's often said their students knew them better than their own children. In Luke 6:40, it says, "A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone, after he has been fully trained will be like his teacher." Jesus is our teach, we are to pledge ourselves to him, learn to be like him. The things that are important to Him should be what is important to us. The way he treats other people, is how we should treat other people. In other words, we are giving up who we are, to be who He is. Why would I give up my life to follow a 2000 year old Galilean Teacher if all he has is bunch of rules to follow? You wouldn't. But if Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living God, then that changes everything. Luke 6:46 says, "And why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" Cultural Christians have their lists of rules, and are very quick to point out others who violate the rules, but most fail to follow those same rules. We don't always practice what we preach. The world sees us as hypocrites, how can we avoid that. Jesus wasn't about rule followers, in fact the religious leaders of the time were experts, and Jesus had some choice words to say about them. Jesus on the other hand was compassionate, Gentle, Loving. He was interested in building relationships with the people. Because he had the relationship, people were more open to what he had to say about what was right and wrong, and why they needed to change. Three things we can do to live like a disciple. 1. We need to be accountable - Everyone should have 2-3 people they meet with regularly that hold us accountable. Asking the tough questions. One idea was texting them what scripture you studied that particular day, and if you didn't text anything, they would know you didn't that day. Everyone misses, but if it becomes a pattern then they can get involved to see what's going on. 2. Admit that we struggle and talk about what we struggle with. 3. Realize that the power to be what Christ calls us to is not from ourselves, but from the Holy Spirit working through us.

Commandment #3 Ex 20:7

We had such an awesome message this morning that I wanted to share some of it with you. We are currently in a sermon series on the 10 commandments. As a preface, the sermon series started with the question why did God give us rules to follow? Quickly followed by, why do we give our children rules to follow. Is it to be mean? Is it to exert some sort of power or control over them? Not at all, we have a relationship of love with our children and we did it for their protection. Not rocket science to figure out that as Children of God, our Father gave us rules because he loved us and wanted to protect us. Rules without relationship leads to rebellion.

Today's sermon was on the 3rd commandment.

Ex 20:7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
Growing up I was always taught that this meant purely do not cuss. I did have one teacher that took it farther and said Gosh Darn it was just as bad as using the more profane version, as it was a slang way of saying the same thing. Today's message made me really evaluate whether I have been right all these years. This commandment appears before don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't lie, etc..

I still believe that it refers in part to our language but also to our actions. From the sermon it goes much deeper, into the intent of the heart. To illustrate let's look in Acts 3:36 - 4:11. The story begins with a righteous man named Joseph who sold a field and gave all of it to the church. Ananias & Sapphira also sold land but only gave part of the land to the church. So what was the problem? It was their land to do with as they saw fit. Right? They lied and said they gave the whole amount in the name of God. The intent of their heart was to deceive those in the church so they could receive the praise of men for the sacrifice of selling the land and giving the money to the church.

The Jewish leaders of the old testament were so afraid of breaking this commandment, that even when just reading the scripture they would insert the word Lord for God, so they wouldn't risk using the name of God incorrectly. They created traditions around the laws, and over time those traditions were treated as laws. For instance they would dedicate everything to God that they owned. This is good right? Well according to "Tradition", they would then shirk their responsibility to take care of their parents in their old age, because it was no longer theirs but God's. Even though God's commandment was "Honor your Father and your Mother." They became more obsessed with following the rules, that they no longer had a relationship with God. So much so that when Jesus, The living breathing Son of God, showed up they didn't recognize him and openly criticized him, that he did not follow the "traditions" of the elders.

So as we become involved in church activities, and service projects, etc. we need to keep in mind are we doing this for our God we love, or ourselves to look good in the eyes of our fellow man.

The sermon concluded with this verse.

Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

I was reminded of a song by Michael W Smith, Cross of Gold. The song talks of a Cross of Gold, but I see the application to our lives in general.

Where do you stand
What is your statement
What is it you’re trying to say
What’s in your hand
What’s in your basement
What’s in the cards you don’t play
Are you holding the key
Or are you intending
To pick the lock of heaven’s gate
It’s confusing to me
The message you’re sending
And I don’t know if I can relate
Chorus:
What’s you line
Tell me why you wear your cross of gold
State of mind
Or does it find a way into your soul

Is it a flame
Is it a passion
A symbol of love living in you
Or is it a game
Religion in fashion
Some kind of pahse you’re going thru
We all travel the extremes
From cellar to rafter
Looking for a place in the sun
So I’m trying to see
What you’re headed after
But I don’t know where you’re coming from

Chorus bridge: (spoken)
For some it’s simply something to wear around your neck
Just a chain
Jewelry
Is it decoration?
Is it an icon
Or proclomation?
An icon of what?
What?
For some it’s simply something to wear around your neck
Just a chain
It means a lot more than that to me

How Many Ways to Heaven???

There was recently an article on the front page of the OWH that says that 'religious tolerance up'. It says that the majority of people believe there are many ways to get to heaven (just like what Oprah is telling everyone). I know what I believe, that Christ is THE way, and the ONLY way. BUT, I have a question. What happens to folks that are brought up in a foreign land that were never given the gospel? It's hard for me to fathom that our loving God will condemn those that do not know better. My wife argues that if we had been raised as a hindu or some other religion, that that's what we'd believe, not knowing any better. It's hard to argue. Have you ever studied this and can you provide any insight?

Many Thanks

Thanks for setting this up Jeff. I hope it allows us to share our beliefs, and help each of us grow to be who God intends us to be.