“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:27
count the cost, yes, but what are you going to get out of it? what do you get in return?
discipleship is the greatest opportunity in human life. Jesus isn't talking about the exorbitant cost. He's talking about how to pay the totally-worth-it cost to get this amazing result.
If you want to succeed in d'ship, it has to be the most important thing in your life.
If you understand the cost v. the benefit, you absolutely won't let anything get in your way.
Yes, there's a cost of d'ship (cf. Bonhoeffer), but there's a much greater cost of non-d'ship.
[You pay the price of non-d'ship and you get back alienation, pain, sin, etc. You pay the price of d'ship and you get the Kingdom, you get Jesus, you get eternal life.]
Satan wants us to look at d'ship and think it's grim. It already is grim.
If all the people who are running on our sidewalks were running to catch up with Jesus, we'd have a transformed world
Mt 11.28-30
Come unto me all ye who are heavy laden and labor and I will give you rest...
these two passages are saying the same thing in context
we get into the harness with Jesus and learn to live in the KoG and it is easy and restful, certainly by comparison
Jesus is relaxed (sleeping in a storm)
[or exhausted ;-) ]
[compare carrying our cross with taking Jesus' yoke. Dallas would say it's the same thing from two different perspectives]
Seek ye first the KoG and then all these things shall be added
the KoG is what God is doing, so seek to be involved in it
[what are you doing, Lord? what are you doing today?]
same idea as the easy yoke and rest
am I a disciple? if not, confront it and become one.
our context says you can be a Xian but not a disciple
but that is why so many Xians have not found easiness and peace
call is not 'just do it'. call is: find out how to do it
if at first you don't succeed, find out why you failed, fix it and then try again
What is a Disciple?
One who is with Jesus, learning to be like Him.
am I with Jesus learning to be like Him? that's a perfectly definite question
we're all coming out of the desert and we need a stream. the desert is the place of no provision, where your needs are not met
Learning from Him how to lead my life as He would lead my life if He were I.
follow me as I follow X
I need help being me. He will live in my life if I invite me in by conforming me to the likeness of His Son
disciples are not those who have attained, not super-Xians, but those who are learning, green or experienced
His apprentice in Kingdom Living.
The easy way of living.
my most important identification: I am a disciple of JX. I have a ways to go, but I'm not worried about it b/c I am accepted by grace. I'm enrolled in the school. That's done and over with. I grieve when I don't do better. I get a C or F when I should get an A. But I want to do better, my heart longs to do better. That is what makes me stay with Jesus and walk with Him and ask Him to teach me and to talk with me and to send others to help me and so on
What is Your Cross?
Your cross – the one that you decide to carry after Christ – is your posture of not making getting your way primary, and certainly not essential, to your life.
not Jesus' cross
crucifixion was routine, men sentenced to die carrying their crosses
Obviously not a literal cross, but similar to the effect of a literal cross.
it means the end of your life. if you're carrying a literal cross you're going to die and you're not thinking about anything in the future
you have decided to follow X in such a way that getting your way is not primary, it's not essential to your life
Not the Burger King way -- have it your way
- the meaning of the cross is: it is no longer important for you to have your way. it has the power to liberate you from the burden of having your way. it is a crushing burden that will ruin your life. you can step out from under it and live in peace and joy b/c now you have objectives that are worth a life and having your way is not worth a life - the cross is where you find life. the place of death is the place of life. if you abandon the Burger King outlook then you are in a position to really begin to live. if you've taken up your cross, nothing will keep you from following Jesus. - otherwise, you're like a person in a marriage who is always looking for something better. that's why the classic marriage vows (better, worse, etc) are great. it's why marriage is a sacrament: you can only keep it if God sustains you in it. and having children is the same way. what you owe to a child can only be accomplished with God - 1 Cor 5.14-15: the love of Christ controls us ... He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for Him - Jesus did not go to the Cross so we wouldn't have to. He went so we could join Him there - Phil 2: Jesus didn't hold onto being God, but He let it go - we only find ourselves when we give up ourselves to God. we're able to see His view of us
The Outcome of the Cross
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. … You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:30-31
rejection is the deepest would humans receive and everyone gets a healthy dose
one of the many dimensions of the Cross is God accepting us: Rom 5.8: while we were yet sinners, X died for us
people have trouble distinguishing b/t being valuable and being lost
if you had the winning lottery ticket and you lost it, it would still be valuable
[the prodigal sons were still valuable to their father]
there are no unwanted children with God, He wanted you before the beginning of time. keeping up with a few billion people is no problem for God.
when we understand how God wants us our heart begins to swell with love for Him
[a humorous way to put this would be people wanted (and want) Jesus to be the Burger King: have it your way. 'what miracle will you do for us?' (i.e., give us more bread (or hamburgers ;-)) ]
Joyfully, and with strength!
39'
The Whole Person:
the Bible is a very analytic and intelligent book. when it lists a bunch of stuff, that means something
so these are the aspects of the self
loving God and being comfortable in that rela'p will allow you to love your neighbor and be comfortable in that rela'p
will is central, but some people don't know they have one. some don't even know they have a mind. young people don't want to be known as thinkers
marginalizing will and thought is a device of Satan to shrink people down to their feelings [and their bodies and rela'ps?]
you get whipsawed by your feelings into all kinds of relationships and situations that make your life absolutely miserable
we need to know we can stand apart from feelings like sexual lust and desire for praise and desire to get in best school and that we don't have to do what our feelings say b/c there's more to us than that.
when we put feelings in charge, we can't just demote them any time. they will grab us and habituate our bodies
the only way out is to find a place to stand, and that's what the Gospel does for us. it addresses the mind and the will is able to hear something that allows it to stand in a different way and life from above then begins to come in the self. so now, b/t you and the HS and the instrumentalities of the K, redemption of the full self will be possible and you will begin to be a person who loves the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
won't be 'all' at first. you can start with 'some'.
[what a word of grace!]
redemption is not a human project. it is something we have to act for. it won't happen to us. we are not passive. not even regular zinging church services will change us. the change comes in day to day walking with Jesus (which can involve a few zinging church services)
things begin to change. your mind is the first place of freedom.
the body will need to change. it's the place we live from.
social: fundamental problems are rejection and attack. much of this becomes bodily habits, but the body and social interaction has to be redeemed.
once you've rejected a person, it's easy to attack them. and if you have positioned them in a place of contempt, you don't even know you're attacking them. you're used to it. you think they deserve it.
soul runs the whole operation, and normally you don't want to hear from it. you hear from it when it's broken.
[David speaks to it when it is broken: 'why are you so downcast, oh my soul?']
you can't rely on will alone for change. you have to change the parts. AA is a beautiful example in this regard. you can't just decide to stop drinking (if you're addicted). you have to decide to do the things that will help you, including social relations, thoughts, etc.
[occupying time with good things (helping other alcoholics)
what if we were willing to go at least as far as AA-kinds of steps in redemption?]
and even AA is still not spiritual transformation (it is more behavior modification). spiritual formation aims to change a person. understanding: changing these dimensions will result in changed behavior. focusing on the behavior is Pharisaism. you just make hypocrites.
[spiritual formation might look hard, but it's the only game in town. the only other choices are prodigality (younger son) and Pharisaism (older son).]
we don't try to keep the Law or teach people to. we try to become the kind of people who naturally and easily keep the Law.
i have to come to terms with who I am and change it by the grace of God and by[/through] implementing wise means
We live in a time when will and thought are so marginalized that people are shrunk down to their feelings. You get whipsawed by your feelings into all kinds of relationships and actions that make your life absolutely miserable. We need to know we are not only our feelings and we can stand apart from them. We don't have to do what they say because there's more to us than that.
Two Subordinations
| Improper | Proper |
| • Body | • God |
| • Soul | • Spirit |
| • Mind (Thought/Feeling) | • Mind (Thought/Feeling) |
| • Spirit | • Soul |
| • God | • Body |
body incorporates social dimension and that's where most people focus and it's true even in churches.
our spirits are dead until God revives us by the new birth. it is our will and heart. it originates. it makes the choice to trust God or not. then mind (thoughts and feelings) can be subordinated to the spirit. then things begin to straighten out. eventually, soul can be re-integrated
the Law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul
then the body will be a temple of God. power will come through it. and this is the primary means of evangelism: God shining out through the body.
the revelation of the true nature of the body is the resurrection/transfigured body of X.
Session Two: What is "flesh"?
The Life of the Flesh
primary problem to be addressed in discipleship
feeling is what we live from, interface b/t world and actions
but when we are taken out of life in God, feeling goes crazy
The Burger King life is the life of the flesh: Have it YOURRRRRRRRR Way!
Flesh consists of our natural human abilities – what we can do without special divine interaction.
central example is Abraham, Sarah and Isaac and Hagar and Ishmael cf. interp. in Galatians
Not evil in itself, but death when made our ultimate point of reference. (Rom. 8:4-8)
Scriptures on Flesh
I John 2:15-17,
3 things in the world: lust of flesh, lust of eyes, pride of life
I Peter 2:11, Galatians 5:17-21, Romans 8:4-8, Colossians 3:5-9
Flesh and Your Kingdom
Your kingdom is the range of your effective will. It is of flesh if natural abilities are what you are trusting.
God’s kingdom is the range of His effective will into which Jesus invites you as His disciple.
Addiction and the Flesh
The addicted person has conceded to feeling the right to rule over the will.
How fleshly lusts war against the soul:
– They are servants who have usurped the place of the proper master of the human self.
– Feeling takes the place of will.
the will is greater than feeling and can find a way to resist the action that is prompted by feeling and in time the feeling can be changed
we want real love and joy and not just the feeling of them. if we go for just the feeling of joy, we will find things to push our buttons even when we don't have reason to be happy
Session Three: Gospel and Salvation
humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that in due season he may exalt you, casting all your cares on Him b/c He cares for you
God intends to exalt you, but not on your terms. on His terms. and they're much better.
you don't have to run things, abandon outcomes.
we still work hard, but we trust God for the outcome
Gospel and Salvation
The Gospel: You can now take your kingdom into His by placing your confidence in Jesus. (Matt. 4:17)
Salvation: Being caught up in the life Jesus is now living on earth. (Col. 3:1-4)
– Interactive relationship with the Father and the Son (John 17:3)
being lost is not a matter of not knowing where you're going (eg Heaven), it's not knowing where you are
the Cross lifts the burden of having to be happy
if all you want is to be happy, you're headed for addiction
you can be happy, but it's a side effect. actually, you'll be joyful
The Cross Sets Aside the Flesh
The cross as God’s act (Col. 2:11-15)
The cross as your choice (Luke 14:27)
“We enter through the wounds of His humanity into the depths of His divinity.”
it doesn't cure all our problems, but it gives us a way of working on them that is hopeful and will certainly succeed
The cross sets aside the flesh as our life.
there is a life in which I am whole in X and I have to stand there
Our Two Wills
Vital Will – Patterns of willing oriented to attractive objects without reference to other possible willings or life as a whole: practically identical with desire.
Reflective Will – Here will is oriented toward what is good for the person as a whole, not toward the merely desired.
“Good” is not the same thing as “the desired.”
Redeeming the Will
Apprenticeship to Jesus in His kingdom restores the will to service for God and what is true, good and beautiful.
part of the drama of human life is to live for these things. living for those things in God is full life
some people try just those things w/o God. but you can't w/o being alive in the KoG and experiencing the influx of His grace
The body, now the servant of the spirit or will under God.
Remember the proper and improper subordination (previous slide).
Three Dimensions of Discipleship
• Learning to do what Jesus said in scripture
• Learning to obey Him in the non-commanded details of actual life and business
• Learning to exercise His power—”training for reigning”
• Prayer
• Speaking and acting under authority
The Reliable Pattern of Kingdom Growth
Vision
Intension [sic. preserving Dallas' typo :-)]
Means
Means
Proclamation
Ministry
Teaching
leads us into action and that's where character is formed
we have to step into His teaching and say 'Yes, this is for me.'
[and that is part of what I'm doing in deciding to be a disciple. I'm saying 'I intend to learn to do what Jesus said']
eg, bless those who curse you. will the good of another under the invocation of God. that alone would make a huge difference in our lives. you can only do it by grace, but the grace is available
it's hard in our context b/c most of our training has been 'you can't do what Jesus commands'
and you can't if you just try, but if you also train, you can do it all
Disciplines– planning for spiritual transformation
if you have to get yours, you won't be able to bless others. if you experience God's care for you, you will have more than what you need (not what you wanted in the flesh) and you will be able to bless others, not least b/c you won't be so mad
[this is part of my problem with driving and wanting my rights when driving]
solitude and silence can help us not be so mad, and break the habit of trying to do everything (trying to get ours)
Sabbath: 1/7 of time should be no work
most of us need solitude and silence to break out habit of rushing from one thing to another. you have to stop jerking and then you may realize you have a soul and God is interested in you
what you and God get out of your life is the person you become, not what you accomplish
blessing those who curse you will then become a breeze
if you struggle with sexual temptation, you have to view the object differently. the only cure for lust is love.
don't just try to avoid the action; avoid the condition that leads to the action
All that Jesus taught, we can do – from the heart out. (Matt. 5:20)
Relational Wholeness
Relations purged of rejection and attack as we walk with Jesus in His kingdom
it's a process. since we're working with grace, if/when we fail, we don't want to fall into self-condemnation. we turn to the Cross and say He died for me. Be my teacher. I'm Your disciple. Teach me how to do this.
And freed up from the weight of wounds
relational problems take care of themselves with minimal attention when relationship to X and His K is in place. obsessing over problems will keep us from moving on.
Conducted in the power, hope and joy of Jesus’ life in us (Rom. 15:13) “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Gal. 5:24
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