5 Portraits of Gospel-Centered Counseling

Previously we asked, “How Does God Use His Word in Our Lives?” We pondered together what is most important in biblical counseling. Is the ministry of the Word primary and loving relationships are secondary? Or, is the relationship central and you need to wait to share truth until you’ve established a trusting relationship? We saw that God calls us to give both Scripture and soul, truth and love. We also noted that 1 Thessalonians 2 provides 5 portraits of a truth-and-love biblical counselor. Here we want to dig into those.

Portrait # 1: The Love of a Defending Brother

Portrait 1 paints the picture of the love of a defending brother. Paul uses the Greek word for “brother” twenty-one times in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. He starts his first letter to the believers in Thessalonica by letting them know that he always thanks God for them “for we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you” (1 Thess. 1:4). Paul is saying they are siblings in God’s family by grace. Imagine hearing from the great apostle Paul that you are family; you are equals—equally loved by God’s grace.

Paul’s use of the word “brothers” is not limited to a family context, but also extends to a military context in the sense of a band of brothers who have one another’s backs. Paul says it like this in 1 Thessalonians 2:1-2:

You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.

The word “opposition” means agonizing and struggling together. It was used of teammates training together and of soldiers fighting together in warfare.

Though persecuted, Paul courageously shares Scripture and soul because he cares. Paul’s brotherly relationship is not devoid of truth; it is richly focused on Christ’s gospel of grace.

Portrait # 2: The Love of a Cherishing Mother

In the first portrait, Paul says to his counselee, “I’ve got your back fam!” In this second portrait, Paul speaks as a mother who says, “I long for you with a nourishing and cherishing affection.” We read of Paul’s motherly love in 1 Thessalonians 2:7: “But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.”

Paul’s describes his gentle relational ministry like a nursing mother, literally picturing the tender nourishing of breast-feeding. The word “caring” highlights cherishing, keeping warm, and tenderly comforting.

John Calvin portrays the scene beautifully:

A mother nursing her children manifests a certain rare and wonderful affection, inasmuch as she spares no labor and trouble, shuns no anxiety, is worn out by no labor, and even with cheerfulness of spirit gives herself to her child.

In 1 Thessalonians 2:9, we learn the nature of the nourishment Paul shares. “While we preached the gospel of God to you.” Paul’s motherly love is not simply touchy-feely love devoid of truth. It is passionate love filled with the meat of God’s Word applied to people’s lives.

Paul continues his theme of motherly affection in 1 Thessalonians 2:8. “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”

I call this a ministry sandwich because Paul sandwiches loving them so much and being dear to us around sharing Scripture and soul. The phrase “we loved you so much” means to long for, to affectionately desire, and to yearn after tenderly. “Delighted” means to joyfully serve out of pleasure and not out of a sense of duty or obligation. “Impart” emphasizes sharing generously and personally.

Speaking about 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Milton Vincent, author of A Gospel Primer for Christians, describes well who we are, how we relate, and what we share:

We are significant players in each other’s gospel narrative, and it is in relationship with one another that we experience the fullness of God in Christ…. The greatest gift I can give to my fellow-Christian is the gospel itself.

Portrait # 3: The Love of a Shepherding Father

Paul’s third portrait of the biblical counselor communicates, “I love you as a father guiding you individually and uniquely.” We see this beginning in 1 Thessalonians 2:11, “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children.”

The Greek word highlights the individual, focused attention that Paul gives each person he ministers to—each of you, his own children. Leon Morris notes that this is not just general group concern, but individual pastoral care. To Paul, no one was simply a number, or an item on a “to do” list.

Paul further describes his fatherly focused attention with these words, “as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory” (1 Thess. 2:10b-11).

Paul’s ministry is not a one-size-fits-all ministry.

• To those in need of hope, Paul offers encouraging care—coming alongside to help and to en-courage (i.e., to implant courage into).
• To those struggling with loss, Paul offers comforting care—consoling the grieving and fainthearted, and sharing in their sorrows.
• To those in need of insight and direction, Paul provides guidance by urging them—discussing application of truth to the specifics of their lives.

Paul offers person-specific, situation-specific, and need-specific counsel (see also Ephesians 4:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:14; and Romans 12:15).

Portrait # 4: The Love of a Longing Child/Orphan

Paul now turns his portraits upside down. Previously he has described his relationships as a brother to a sibling, a mother to her infant children, and a father to his individual children. He now contrasts and communicates the love of an orphaned child bereaved of his parents. “But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of intense longing we made every effort to see you” (1 Thess. 2:17).

“Torn away” is a phrase used of a child bereft from a parent. Chrysostom, a Church Father, depicts the word powerfully,

He sought for a word that might fitly indicate his mental anguish. Though standing in relation of a father to them all, he yet utters the language of orphan children that have permanently lost their parent.

It reminds us of Paul’s description of his leave-taking with the Ephesian elders.

When he said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. – Acts 20:36-21:1

And what was the content of Paul’s relational ministry to the Ephesian believers? It was gospel truth for daily sanctification.

You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and house to house. … However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again…. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. … Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. – Acts 20:20, 24-25, 27, 31-32

When torn away, here’s how Paul responded. “Out of intense longing we made every effort to see you” (1 Thess. 2:17b). We could translate it like this, “We experienced such non-stop, eager desire to reconnect with you that we endeavored exceedingly to see you!”

Let’s be honest. There are some counselees whose struggles are so difficult and whose way of relating so troublesome that at times we think, “Couldn’t someone else counsel this person?” In those moments, we need to pray for the Spirit to empower us with the type of love and longing that Paul writes about in 1 Thessalonians 2:17.

Portrait # 5: The Loving Respect of a Proud Mentor

Paul’s final portrait of the personal ministry of the Word comes in a military context. He writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:18, “For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us.” “Stopped us” literally means a cut in the road—an obstacle placed in the road by a military opponent to impeded or slow the advance of oncoming troops.

Paul continues this military context in 2:19: “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes?” Paul now paints the image of the conquering king or general. Typically that general would gladly, and not-so-humbly, claim all the accolades for himself. Instead Paul turns to the “lowly private” and says, “You earned the victors crown. The glory wreath! You are a spiritual warrior. Well done!”

Sometimes we so focused on confronting the sins of our counselees that we forget that they are, by God’s grace, saints—victorious in Christ. And we forget to celebrate their victories.

As if to put an exclamation point on his respect for them, Paul concludes, “Indeed, you are our glory and joy.” Paul loves them and is proud of them. He publicly honors them for their esteemed service. They are spiritual champions in Christ.

Truth for Life and Ministry

Could the people we minister to say the following of us?

•  “I experienced you as a beloved brother embracing me as a fellow, equal member of God’s forever family by grace.”
•  “I experienced our relationship as a band of brothers and as a teammate who fights for me and agonizes on my behalf as you relate Christ’s grace to my life.”
•  “I experienced you as a nursing mother nourishing me with gospel truth through tender, cherishing love.”
•  “I experienced you as an affectionate, generous mother giving me Scripture and your very own soul because I am dearly loved by you.”
•  “I experienced you as a father focused on me with individual pastoral attention”
•  “I experienced you as a wise and caring father, shepherding me with exactly the biblical wisdom I uniquely needed at that specific moment.”
•  “I experienced you as longing for me so much that when we are apart you grieved like an orphan.”
•  “I experienced you as desperately longing for deep connection with me as a child longs for connection with a parent.”
•  “I experienced you as a mentor so proud of who I am in Christ that you give me a spiritual medal of honor.”
•  “I experienced you as a mentor so proud of who I am in Christ that I am your pride and joy.”

—

Dr. Robert W. Kellemen: Bob is the Vice President for Institutional Development and Chair of the Biblical Counseling Department at Crossroads Bible College, the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries, and served for five years as the founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. For seventeen years Bob served as the founding Chairman of and Professor in the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship department at Capital Bible Seminary. Bob pastored for 15 years and has trained pastors and counselors for three decades. Bob earned his BA in Pastoral Ministry from Baptist Bible College (PA), his Th.M. in Theology and Biblical Counseling from Grace Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Kent State University. Bob and his wife, Shirley, have been married for thirty-five years; they have two adult children, Josh and Marie, one daughter-in-law, Andi, and three granddaughters: Naomi, Penelope, and Phoebe. Dr. Kellemen is the author of thirteen books including Gospel-Centered Counseling and Gospel Conversations.

10¢ Moments; $10 Conversations

Small talk is one of my least favorite things ever. Most introverts like myself say they don’t like small talk because it forces them to step out of their shell and talk to people. They want to do as little talking as possible, especially about nominal matters like the weather. That’s part of the reason I don’t enjoy it, but there’s another reason. I find it difficult and even frustrating. Small talk, at its core, is a way for us to talk without asking or listening. Take this popular scenario for example. Chris walks into church and see Bill. Bill says, “Hey, Chris! How’s it going?” Chris, without hesitating, rattles off a, “Fine, how are you, Bill?” Bill wastes no time in replying that he is “fine” as well and asks how Chris’ wife is. “She’s doing well,” Chris responds and he returns the question to Bill. “The wife is good.” Chris and Bill do this tennis match of shallow interrogation for a few minutes, covering wife, kids, job, and remarkably, like we’re back in the Garden of Eden, it’s all good!

Have you been in this kind of exchange this week? I have. There is a “fine” syndrome we all fall into when small talk arises. Why do we do this? In Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands, Paul Tripp, counselor and pastor, addresses why he thinks we, especially as Christians, get “trapped in the casual.” He cites many reasons—busyness, feeling alone in struggles, and being blinded by our sin. But the biggest reason according to Tripp is that we get trapped because no one asks.

Tripp suggests that if we were more intentional in engaging others, we would find that everything is not fine. While it’s easy for Chris to say everything is great to Bill, he’d love to be encouraged by Bill to not lose heart at his job, or to be encouraged in his strained and depleting relationship with his wife and kids. In short, people fall into pits because we don’t take the time to ask if they need rescuing before its too late.

Fixing this will not be an easy, but we must, so that our conversations are more edifying than shop talk about a sports team. To borrow another concept from Tripp, we oftentimes have “10-cent moments,” short encounters with those around us and we must be a people who learn how to have “10-dollar conversations” in these short moments. How can we make our conversations with others more valuable?

Realizing Our Ministry

As Christians, we are called to people with names, faces, and souls. In the workplace, many of us are often crunching numbers, working with inanimate products, or using machinery. But this is not the case in personal ministry and discipleship. We are in the business of caring for souls. C.S. Lewis gets to the heart of the weightiness of caring for people:

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.^[1]

We should aspire to have valuable conversations because we deal with valuable people.Eternal souls, extraordinary beings created in God’s image. As we walk into a conversation, this must be our mindset. It’s crucial to disciple people well.

Asking Carefully

As Tripp showed us earlier, one of the biggest reasons we get “trapped in the casual” is because no one makes the effort to truly ask how we are and what’s really going on. We don’t want to be imposing, asking what we don’t need to know, but people are likely willing to open up to us if we give them the green light to through careful question asking. One simple way to do this is to ask the person responding with fine “Are you really?” Few expect this question and it also conveys a genuine desire to know how they truly are.

Careful question asking in disciple-making can take many forms. Maybe we ask for people to define their terms. A “huge fight” may mean something different to you than to them. Ask people how they responded when they share conflicts and situations with you. Ask them, most importantly, why they responded that particular way. These kinds of probing questions get to the heart of people and are where are gospel opportunities arise. This is where we get to discover what’s resonating in the hearts of those who need our encouragement and wisdom. 

Listening Intentionally

We can know who people are and ask careful questions, but if we do not take the time to listen with intentionality, we have likely missed our chance to disciple people well. We cannot disciple people well if we do not know how we need to disciple them and our chance to find out the “how” is found in listening well. “There’s a lot of difference between listening and hearing,” as G.K. Chesterton reminds us, and as Jesus models for us in Scripture.

Jesus, the one man who did not need to listen because he knew everything, made time to listen to so many people, even people against him like the Pharisees. He had every right and ability to build his ministry on giving answers, but he spent most of his time asking questions. Jesus took time to listen to the woman at the well, the woman who touched his garment, and the men on the road to Emmaus. And how much more time did he spend listening intentionally to his disciples? Not only was Jesus a great listener; he was a master at making “10-dollar conversations" out of every "10-cent moment" he found himself in.

How can we do the same? The next time you find yourself with a Bill or a Chris in a “10-cent moment,” try something different than small talk. Try going deeper. Remember the weightiness of people. Remember how much good you could do someone by asking careful questions and listening with intentionality. It could be the most powerful disciple-making tool in your belt.

^[1] C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (HarperOne, 2001), pp. 45-46.

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Zach Barnhart (@zachbarnhart) currently serves as a church planting intern with Fellowship Church in Knoxville, Tennessee and is pursuing pastoral ministry. He is a college graduate from Middle Tennessee State University and lives in Knoxville with his wife, Hannah. He is a blogger, contributor to For The Church and Servants of Grace, and manages a devotional/podcast at Cultivated.

Living as the New Covenant Temple

Temple language and activity saturate the New Testament, following in the footsteps of the Old Testament. Somewhat surprisingly, much of this temple imagery is not primarily concerned with Herod’s stunning Second Temple makeover, but rather, with the New Covenant Temple (NCT hereafter) that Jesus was building. NCT imagery was important for the New Testament authors and their community, and therefore, such imagery should also be enriching for the Church today.

NEW COVENANT TEMPLE IMAGERY

According to the New Testament’s NCT imagery, Jesus is the NCT (John 2:21), the cornerstone (Matt. 21:42, Eph. 2:20), and the high priest (Heb. 4:14, 10:21). The curtain is Jesus’ flesh (Heb. 10:20). Jesus is the atonement (1 Jn. 2:2, Rom. 3:25).

The foundation for this new temple is made up of the apostles and the prophets (Eph. 2:20, Rev. 21:14). The pillars are James, Cephas, John, and the one who conquers (Gal. 2:9, Rev. 3:12). The saints are the living stones being indwelt and built together by the Spirit (1 Pet. 2:5, Eph. 2:22). The saints are also the priests (1 Pet. 2:5, 9). The lives of the saints are daily sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).

Holy living, sacrificial giving, and the prayers of the saints are the daily incense (2 Cor. 2:14-16, Philip. 4:18, Rev. 5:8). The Holy of Holies is heaven (Heb. 4:14, 8:1). The Holy Place is the Church on earth (1 Cor. 3:16-17, 2 Cor. 6:16, Eph. 2:22). Ministry is care for (or cultivtion of) the saints, and expanding the reach of the earthly Holy Place (Acts 14:27, 1 Cor. 16:9, Rev. 3:8).

Therefore, the Holy of Holies in heaven and the Holy Place on earth are one temple, but YHWH’s people are still awaiting the final “summarization” in Christ (Eph. 1:10). The NCT is already a present reality, and it is the true temple, but it has not yet reached its full consummation (Rev. 21-22).

JESUS OR THE CHURCH?

But is Jesus still the NCT or is it the Church or is it both? As observed above, the language used for the NCT is remarkably consistent, but a few issues do exist: namely, distinguishing between the NCT imagery used for the body of Jesus, the Universal Church, and the local church.

When Jesus walked upon the earth, the Gospel of John viewed Him as the locus of the presence of God on earth (John 1:14, 18). Therefore, Jesus was the true temple, and He transcended the Second Temple and all other temples. The Spirit was at work in the formation of the Old Covenant Temple, and the Spirit brought about the formation of Jesus as the temple (Matt. 1:18, Rom. 8:11).

After Jesus’ ascension, the Spirit was sent to build the NCT that Jesus founded on earth: the Lord’s community, which is the Universal Church. The Universal Church is made up of local churches, which are being joined together as the one NCT by the Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22).

As high priest, Jesus offered final atonement for His people through His death outside the city (Heb. 13:12, Lev. 16). Jesus now continues to span the gap between heaven and earth by constantly mediating for His followers and by allowing their prayers to be pleasing incense before the Father (Rev. 5:8). Jesus is a perfect high priest, and His people will never be guilty of sin because of Him (Lev. 4:3-12, Eph. 3:12).

Jesus’ continual presence in the heavenly Holy of Holies assures His people of their covenant status: which has always been a cause for great joy and trembling (Lev. 9:23-24). Also, as Josephus pointed out, the materials of the garments for the high priest were similar to the materials used to build the tabernacle. In other words, by representing Israel to YHWH and by representing YHWH to Israel, the fully clothed high priest becomes a microcosm of the tabernacle/temple.

Therefore, in one sense, Jesus is still the NCT, and one can only be part of the NCT by being in Jesus through the new creation of the Spirit. In another sense, Jesus is the high priest within the NCT, which is made up of the heavenly Holy of Holies and the earthly Holy Place, and He mediates between God the Father and His people. To put it another way, Jesus is a high priest who never takes off His high priestly garments. Through the Holy Spirit, the saints will one day be the high priests and the completed temple where God’s presence rests (Rev. 22:3-4, Exod. 28:36-38).

ALREADY AND NOT YET

The already/not yet temple that Jesus founded will one day be consummated as a fulfilled and improved Eden. In the end, through the Spirit’s power and the return of the true king, the current Holy Place will be unveiled as the newly created Holy of Holies (Rev. 21:16). The Book of Revelation seems to present this process in the following way: as the saints of the earthly, “already” Holy Place die, they are assimilated into the “not yet” Holy of Holies that is being prepared in a heavenly bridal dressing room until the king returns.

When He returns in His glory, then the Bride (the Church) will be revealed from heaven for the final consummation of the kingdom of God and the NCT. When YHWH fully indwells the New Jerusalem—the newly created Holy of Holies, the primary dwelling of His presence—then His people will be able to fully enjoy YHWH’s glory. They will serve in His presence as Christ Jesus, the current high priest, perpetually does. YHWH’s people will be both temple and high priest.

The foundation has been laid, the building has begun, and its completion is imminent, but the king has yet to bring the work to fruition. In the meantime, the Church-under-construction is the official place of God’s presence on earth.

A MORAL EXHORTATION FOR HOLY LIVING

In the “already,” New Testament authors employ NCT imagery to admonish their readers to live wholly consecrated lives to YHWH. As the Holy Place of the NCT, the Church is the locus of God’s presence on earth under the New Covenant, and one’s actions have extra weight when they are performed in the temple. Through the presence and work of the Holy Spirit, the Church’s character should mirror YHWH’s.

Following are two key passages that connect NCT language and holy living.

In 1 Pet. 2:1-12, Peter sandwiches his moral exhortations around obvious NCT language. Jesus is the “living stone,” and those who believe on him become as “living stones” being built into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood (1 Pet. 2:5). Peter then clarifies the building plan for these living stones by quoting from Isa. 28:16, Ps. 118:22, and Isa. 8:14 in succession: they are not just being built up as any other house, they are being built up as the NCT. Their priesthood is not only holy (2:5), but also royal (2:9), therefore, they must keep away from passions of the flesh.

In 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, Paul begins by listing several dichotomies for why members of the Corinthian church should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (6:14-16a). His closing dichotomy is between the temple of God and idols. Since the holy and living God dwells in the Church, the members of the Church should take every precaution in order to be holy. God’s presence is a great promise, but his presence should also create a healthy fear among his people (2 Cor. 7:1). The Church is the official place on earth where YHWH is worshipped, and all other temples, religions, and gods are treason. Therefore, individual believers should be characterized by their consecration to YHWH.

ESCHATOLOGICAL HOPE FOR SACRIFICIAL LIVING

The NCT’s “not yet” aspects help to provide the hope needed by YHWH’s people in order to live as sacrifices in two ways: (1) expanding the sacred space of the earthly Holy Place (evangelism), and (2) caring for the NCT on earth (building up other saints, i.e. sanctification).

The Holy Spirit not only binds the Church together as the NCT’s Holy Place, but also empowers the Church to continue Christ Jesus’ mission to reconcile creation through sacrificial love (2 Cor. 5:16-6:13).In other words, YHWH’s reconciled sacred space is expanded through the Spirit-empowered sacrifice of his people. YHWH’s priests are to serve by being living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1).

Similar to Hezekiah in 2 Chr. 29:3-19, YHWH opens doors (temple doors) to potential sacred space, and he bids his priests to enter and to serve, trusting that he will provide what they need in difficult circumstances (Rev. 3:8). Those who conquer, by the empowerment of the Spirit, will be made pillars in the temple of God and will have the name of the New Jerusalem and Jesus written on them (Rev. 3:12).

The hope of being part of the future consummation of the NCT should drive the Church to sacrifice for those in need as the Lord leads. The Church as the NCT on earth has a mission to reclaim creation as sacred space for YHWH, but – at the same time, as the NCT on earth—the Church must also allocate appropriate energies inwardly as well.

Not only is the Church part of the expansion of the NCT’s Holy Place through sacrificial living, but also, the Spirit uses the members of the Church to build itself up (1 Cor. 14:12). The Church should continually care for its members, for in doing so, the Church is actually caring for the hallmark of Jesus’ kingdom: YHWH’s NCT. Until the king returns, the Church should be more dedicated to the NCT than the faithful Davidic kings of the past were to the OCT because she knows that in caring for herself, she is a partaking in YHWH’s work and mission on earth. YHWH will bring it to completion (Philip. 1:6).

All in all, the Church should emphasize both (1) holiness for its members in order to be a pure and spotless Bride, and (2) sacrificial living to expand and care for the NCT on earth. The Spirit is once again making a new creation as the dwelling place of God—through the Church—as the NCT is being expanded and built up. The final consummation is coming, and the NCT eagerly awaits its rest in the undisputed coronation of Christ.

CONCLUSION

The New Testament authors employed NCT imagery throughout the New Testament in order to morally exhort the Church to holiness and to provide eschatological hope for sacrificial living. The New Testament authors believed that this language was especially effective because it accurately described the current inaugurated eschatology of God’s kingdom, and how humanity was being reconciled to its creator.

The Church’s privilege of being the NCT has many theological implications: it is the official place to worship YHWH, the sign to all of YHWH’s enemies that they stand no chance (Eph. 3:10), and the community where humanity is beginning to realize its goal. The NCT and the kingdom of God are both “already but not yet,” which will not be fully consummated until Christ Jesus returns.

Come Lord Jesus!

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Timothy Rucker earned a Th.M. degree from Western Seminary. He currently lives in the Tampa Bay Area with his family, where he worships with and serves the congregation of Keene Terrace Baptist Church

Cross-posted from Western Seminary's Transformed blog as part of a partnership. Adapted from Living as the New Covenant Temple - Part 1 & Part 2

A Guide for Discipling Believers One-on-One

You know John. God did a great work in John’s life after graduation from high school. He had been a typically rebellious teenager who had heard the gospel but was not truly converted. But God, in His kindness, reclaimed John’s prodigal life and brought Him to a point of repentance and faith in his college years. He immediately connected with a group of Christians from the local church adjacent to his home and poured himself into its ministry. His life was marked by an insatiable hunger for the Word, a longing for relationships with other Christians, a humble desire to serve, and a genuine pursuit of a life that honored God.

Before long John found himself overseeing a group of middle-school boys and assuming increasing levels of leadership within the church. While John was honored to be asked to lead, he knew that there was a problem.

He had never been discipled.

Sure, he attended the church service each week, went to the classes offered by the church, and occasionally listened to his favorite preacher via podcast. However, no one assumed spiritual responsibility for him or walked with him through a process of understanding and applying the gospel to his life. Even worse, he was now being asked to make disciples without having been discipled himself.

John felt trapped. He knew that he was ill-equipped for the task. It was exposing all sorts of sin in his heart and he knew that he lacked the maturity and training necessary to lead well. Not only that, but the stress of leadership in the church was having a negative impact on his family. On most days, he masked this insecurity behind sheer, white-knuckled will power. He worked hard and pretended that he knew what he was doing. But he didn’t. And he, his family, and the church were suffering as a result.

The church felt trapped, too. The pastor was busy and the never-ending needs of the church always seemed to crowd out meaningful time to train John. And what’s worse, he really didn’t have a good plan for discipling guys like John anyway. He had never been discipled either. So, on a good week he might share a meal with John and ask how he was doing or give him a book that had proved valuable in his own ministry. What else could he do? The only other option was to send him off to seminary and run the risk of never seeing him again. Young leaders were too rare and too valuable to the church to make this choice.

Our churches are filled with people like John. They love Jesus and the church, and they are looking to the church for discipleship. They are not all college aged men. Some are teenage girls, some business professionals, and some elderly church members. They need the church to create a intentional plan to take new converts and disciple them towards maturity and leadership in the church. This task is not optional for the church. Paul reminded Timothy that his task was to take “the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others (2 Tim 2:2).” Churches have a responsibility to create a culture of disciple-making and multiplication.

The church desperately needs an intentional plan for taking new believers, discipling them to maturity, and entrusting them with intentional leadership within God’s church.

If the task of discipleship is neglected the results are predictable. The developing disciples will have to do the following things on their own:

• Understand the gospel message and how it shapes their own spiritual formation;
• Apply the gospel to their lives and the lives of others through intentional disciple-making;
• Develop the fruit of the Spirit and the character of a leader in the church;
• Learn how to practice key spiritual disciplines and grow in the grace and knowledge of God;
• Make key life decisions, such as a spouse or a career;
• Join a healthy church and become a meaningful member;
• Discern their own gifting and calling;
• Find a leadership role that fits that gifting and calling;
• Learn how to care for fallen and broken people.

This is a weighty task that cannot be accomplished through simply shuffling people off to a new class in hopes that they will grow. More often than not the potential disciple will end up frustrated, burned-out, and stagnant in their own spiritual formation, because they are being asked to do in isolation what is meant to be done in the community of the church.

Churches who lack a strategy for disciple-making and leadership development will also have to do the following in isolation:

• See a host of their members fall away due to sin or neglect that results from a lack of maturity;
• Lament the lack of trained and skilled leaders for the ministries that God has entrusted to the church; such as, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers, or future staff members;
• Depend on classes and programs to do the arduous work of disciple-making;
• See new believers come to faith in Christ and yet lack any strategy for nurturing them to maturity;
• Fail to equip the church to do their most important task – make disciples;
• Place people in leadership roles that may exceed their maturity;
• Determine a good fit for staff positions in the church based on a resume alone;
• Depend on seminaries or parachurch agencies to train its leaders in the hopes that this feeder system will consistently produce enough leaders for the church’s needs;
• Remove leaders whose calling, character, or competence do not match the leadership needs to which they are called.

The result is wasted potential, immature church attendees, poorly led churches, and thousands of unreached men, women, and children littering our nation. The surpassing riches of God’s grace in the gospel, and the vast lostness of the world, compel the church to reproduce theologically robust, missionally active, and Spirit-led disciples (Eph 2:6-10). The development and deployment of future disciples in the church and for the church is vital for the church to thrive in the coming generation. This is a stewardship that we must not neglect.

Churches can train leaders—but most need tools to aid them in this task. Aspire is written in an effort to not only motivate churches to engage in this vital work but also to provide them with the basic framework for developing disciples and leaders in their context. There is no such thing as a plug-and-play model. What works for us in Greenville, SC may not work exactly the same way in an urban context on the West coast. Aspire can, however, provide a vital tool to mobilize the church to implement a pathway for discipleship that uses the tools provided here and yet supplements and applies these ideas with additional resources that are needed in their context.

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Matt Rogers is the pastor of The Church at Cherrydale in Greenville, South Carolina. He and his wife, Sarah, have three daughters, Corrie, Avery, and Willa and a son, Hudson. Matt holds a Master of Arts in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary as well as a Master of Divinity and a PhD  from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Matt writes and speaks for throughout the United States on discipleship, church planting, and missions. Find Matt online at www.mattrogers.bio or follow him on Twitter @mattrogers_

Adapted with permission from Aspire: Part One: Transformed by the Gospel. Receive a discount on orders of 10 or more here. Aspire is a 15-week study, written in two parts, designed to be used to disciple believers in the local church. Each week's study combines rich theological content and clear practical application in a journal-based format. Ideal for one-on-one discipleship relationships, Aspire guides believers toward life-long transformation.

The Righteousness Ladder

Most Christians, at some point in life, will stop and wonder whether or not they believe enough or have faith strong enough. What brings this doubt?

• Life just hurts. Have you been in a place when you could swear there was a steady beeping sound just before a load of grief or stress was dumped on your head? During these times, we are prone to wonder where we had fallen short of God's expectations, searching high and low for to uncover the area of life that still is not sufficiently yielded.
• I have sinned. We have relationships that need constant attention, but inevitably we come short of what is required of us, or we cross a line that should never be crossed. Someone is wronged at our hand. When the fault comes to light, confession and repentance are needed to bring that relationship back into working order. In order to inhibit or prevent another occurrence, we put in place preventive maintenance measures.
• I want to please God. There are times when we want God to work in and through us, so that the change might be palpable. We yearn for those things that just feel right—or as right as they can be in this world—and show to us that we can be satisfied with the results. We determine that this a good time to get more serious and to be “holy in all your conduct” (1 Pt. 1:15).

In each of these three scenarios, we resolve to double down on our efforts to close the distance between ourselves and the Lord through a regimen of spiritual disciplines (Bible study, prayer, and good works). We seek, through sheer determination, to work our way into God's good graces. There is one problem: that approach does not work. The work has already been completed. What do I mean?

People get into their heads that they can be made right before God by doing the right things in the right way and some have enough foresight to recognize that all this effort may be really hard work. Actually, it is impossible—and that is a good thing. We tend to perform these in order to show our stuff or to gain approval. Either way the object of attention is me. I am the focal point, and I will get the credit with God for all this effort. The issue is that our righteousness cannot be worked out in that way. Our righteousness was never to be attained by works, but by faith.

We like a challenge to prove ourselves, and some will accept the extreme to prove something can be done. Paul wrote to the church in Rome about the effort:

For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim). – Romans 10:5-8

All of us want to work our way up the righteousness ladder: “If only I could do this,” or “If only I could do that.” We will go to almost any extent, even to go on some great trek to find Jesus, so He can do something for me. Paul says that none of this is necessary. God cannot be found through a mighty undertaking to find Christ, because He accomplished the undertaking for us. Jesus cannot be brought up from the grave to do something: having been given as the only acceptable sacrifice for our sin, He was raised for our justification (Rom 4:25). Neither can He be brought down from heaven: He is ascended, ever making intercession (Isa 53:12; Heb 7:25).

Jesus has died, risen, and ascended to the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb 1:3). Because He has finished the necessary work, our part is just to believe and confess it. No amount of effort can earn what has already been earned by the Lord Jesus.

“Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” —1 John 10:9-11

One might think, “This is all fine and good for the one who has never believed before, but I've been a Christian for some time now. How does this apply to me and wanting to grow in Christ?” The answer is the same: You cannot gain ground in your righteousness by your works.

The spiritual disciplines mentioned earlier are not our measuring stick of progress. Neither are they our path to attain more of Christ. Scripture, prayer, and good works are all gifts of God. Scripture reveals the Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of all things, and His work of redemption to purchase for Himself a people. Prayer is given that we might communicate rightly with the Lord of glory. Good works are given so that we might walk in them, and that those who see will give glory to God. When we take these and turn them into a tool to gain more of Christ, we turn the gifts into works and tell the Lord that we will finish what was left undone for our growth.

The good news is that Christ died for our sins—all sin past, present, and future—was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4). He appeared before God on our behalf only once to put away sin by Himself (Heb 9:24-26). Because of this we are lavished with wondrous benefits (Eph 1:3-14). Let's rest in all that and not try to add to it.

—

Steve Bricker is from Cedar Rapids, IA, where he shares his life with his wife of 35 years, Sandi. A software developer by training, he has a M.A. in Theological Studies from Faith Evangelical Seminary, Tacoma, WA. His main interests are Biblical Theology and Church History. He is active at Maranatha Bible Church through leading Bible studies and small groups and serving on the deacon board. In addition, Steve writes at What Accords with Sound Doctrine.

How Does God Use His Word in Our Lives?

Trudy and Tony were referred to you from another church. You’ve never met them before today. They’ve come to you after already having seen a divorce attorney. Trudy tells you that she is “100% motivated to be in counseling” and “desperately wanting to see our marriage saved.” Tony is meeting with you because he feels it’s his obligation to “make one more attempt to save this marriage.” What do Trudy and Tony need from you first? Do they need truth—scriptural insight about sacrificial love applied to their marital relationship? Or, do they need love—to connect with you and to build a relationship with you so that they are ready to hear truth from you?

Which is most important in biblical counseling? Is the ministry of the Word primary and loving relationships secondary? Or, is the relationship central and you need to wait to share truth until you’ve established a trusting relationship?

Are these even the right questions? Does Scripture divide truth from relationship in ministry? Does the Bible rank truth and love? Wouldn’t that be somewhat like asking, “Which counselor is least effective, the one who ignores the greatest commandment to love God and others, or the one who ignores commands to counsel from the Word?”

The Bible never pits truth against love. It never lays them out on a gradation or ranking system.The Bible presents equal couplets: truth/love, Scripture/soul, Bible/relationship, and truth/grace.   

Just the UPS Delivery Man?

And yet we’re forced to ponder these questions about truth and love every time we minister to others. I was forced to ponder the issue again recently when I listened to an excellent closing session at a biblical counseling conference. The message was biblical, relevant, and powerful. The wise, godly speaker wrapped the entire message around the theme that the power in our ministry comes solely from the power inherent in God’s Word.

His concluding illustration put an exclamation point on his theme as he shared about the Christmas present he purchased for his daughter. The gift arrived two days before Christmas, delivered by the UPS guy. The speaker’s daughter, hearing the UPS truck pull into the driveway, bolted to the door to meet the delivery man. She snatched the package from his hands and raced to place it under the tree, not the least bit focused on the UPS delivery guy. The speaker concluded with the phrase, “We’re just the UPS delivery guy. The real gift, the great present is the Word that we deliver. We’re just the UPS delivery guy!”

I joined the crowd in “Amening!” I loved the illustration. I got the theme—the power is in the Word of God!

More Than Just the UPS Delivery Guy

But later that evening, I started asking myself: Is that the complete biblical picture? Don’t we always say that God calls us to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15), to make our love abound in knowledge and depth of insight (Phil. 1:9-11), and to share not only the gospel but our very own souls (1 Thess. 2:8)? Does the Bible really teach that only the message matters, or does it teach that the messenger’s character and relationship to the hearer also matter greatly?

Once these questions started whirring through my mind, I couldn’t sleep. Thinking about sharing Scripture and our soul, I turned to 1 Thessalonians 2. As I read those twenty verses, five biblical portraits of the biblical counselor emerged from the pages. I saw then what I share with you now:

Biblical counseling involves gospel conversations where we engage in soul-to-soul relationships as brothers, mothers, fathers, children, and mentors who relate Christ’s gospel story to our friends’ daily stories.

God calls us to love well and wisely. That’s why, in biblical counseling, we must weave together in our ministries what is always united in God’s Word—truth and love, which is comprehensive biblical wisdom and compassionate Christlike care. Biblical counseling is not either/or: either be a brilliant but uncaring soul physician, or be a loving but unwise spiritual friend. God calls us to be wise and loving biblical counselors.

We are more than just the UPS delivery guy. According to 1 Thessalonians 2, God calls us to share his Word with the love of a brother, mother, father, child, and mentor. This is vital to our ministries today, just as it was vital to Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica. Based upon 1 Thessalonians 2:2-3, 5-6, commentator Leon Morris notes that:

It is clear from the epistle that Paul had been accused of insincerity. His enemies said that he was more concerned to make money out of his converts than to present true teaching. The accusation would be made easier in virtue of the well-known fact that itinerant preachers concerned only to feather their own nests were common in those days. Paul was being represented as nothing more than another of this class of preaching vagrants.

Morris goes on to explain that in Paul’s day:

Holy men of all creeds and countries, popular philosophers, magicians, astrologers, crack-pots, and cranks; the sincere and the spurious, the righteous and the rogue, swindlers and saints, jostled and clamored for the attention of the credulous and the skeptical.

The Message and the Messenger

That’s why the unity of Scripture and soul and truth and relationship was so vital to Paul. In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul is saying, “You doubt my credentials? Then be a good Berean who examines the message and the messenger—what I say, who I am, and how I relate to you.” It’s the identical message that Paul sends to every young minister anywhere. If you want to validate your ministry, then “watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16, emphasis mine).

Paul writes 1 Thessalonians 2 to affirm his ministry as from God and to affirm the nature of all ministry from God by modeling the sharing of Scripture and soul, by embodying truth in love. It is God’s plan to use his Word powerfully when we share it truthfully and lovingly—like a brother, mother, father, child, and mentor.

The Rest of the Story: Ministering to Trudy and Tony 

What Trudy and Tony need from you is truth and love. They need scriptural insight about sacrificial love applied to their relationship in the context of a family relationship where you share Scripture and your soul as a brother, mother, father, child, and mentor.

What does that mean? What does that look like? In my next two posts for Gospel-Centered Discipleship, we’ll explore in greater detail Paul’s practical teaching from 1 Thessalonians about 5 Portraits of Gospel-Centered Counseling.

—

Dr. Robert W. Kellemen: Bob is the Vice President for Institutional Development and Chair of the Biblical Counseling Department at Crossroads Bible College, the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries, and served for five years as the founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. For seventeen years Bob served as the founding Chairman of and Professor in the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship department at Capital Bible Seminary. Bob pastored for 15 years and has trained pastors and counselors for three decades. Bob earned his BA in Pastoral Ministry from Baptist Bible College (PA), his Th.M. in Theology and Biblical Counseling from Grace Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Kent State University. Bob and his wife, Shirley, have been married for thirty-five years; they have two adult children, Josh and Marie, one daughter-in-law, Andi, and three granddaughters: Naomi, Penelope, and Phoebe. Dr. Kellemen is the author of thirteen books including Gospel-Centered Counseling and Gospel Conversations.

It is Finished

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. – John 19:28-30

In 1862, French poet, playwright, and novelist Victor Hugo released his magnum opus Les Miserables, considered one of the greatest novels of the nineteenth century. In 1998, Hugo’s masterpiece found its cinematic zenith in the Bille August-directed film by the same name. In both works, one scene stands out above the rest.

At the beginning of the narrative, we meet ex-convict Jean Valjean who has just been released from a nineteen year prison sentence for stealing a loaf of bread. Trying to get on his feet, Valjean attempts to find a place to live but no one would take him in except for one—Bishop Myriel.

It doesn’t take long for Valjean’s old temptation to rear its ugly head. When everyone is asleep one night, Valjean goes to the cupboard and pilfers some of the bishop's silver. He makes a run for it but is eventually caught red-handed. The police bring him before the bishop.

Valjean stands before the bishop, being held by the police. Bishop Myriel looks at the police and proclaims something extraordinary. He says that he gave the silver to Valjean as a gift. If that wasn't enough, the bishop goes over to the mantelpiece, takes two silver candlesticks, and says that actually more silver had been forgotten by Valjean. He places the candlesticks in Valjean’s hands. The police have no choice but to let Valjean go free. But the story doesn’t end there.

After the authorities leave, the bishop looks at Valjean and says this to him, “Now, go in peace. By the way, my friend, when you come again, you needn't come through the garden. You can always come and go by the front door. It is only closed with a latch, day or night.”

The bishop not only gives him mercy by forgetting the original crime and letting him keep the silver he stole, he gives him more mercy by giving him more silver. And then, he gives him even more mercy by giving him the best gift of all: his trust. The bishop does something so radically counter-intuitive to us. Something that feels so unnatural to us. He gives him unconditional grace.

Quid Pro Quo

We live in a society based on conditions. When you look at the world around us, everything in our culture demands a trade of some kind. “You do this for me; I’ll do this for you.” “You scratch my back; I’ll scratch yours.” But unconditional grace? We just can’t seem to wrap our feeble minds around that. It doesn’t’ make any sense to us. We are so acclimated to a culture of quid pro quo that we believe everything must have a catch.

We impose this idea upon God as well. We think that in order for God to truly extend his mercy to us, we must give him back something in return. We feel like we owe him something. So we resort to a spiritual checklists because they feel much safer. We like conditions because they keep us in “control.” If we can complete our spiritual “to do” list, it gives us the illusion that things are good between God and us because we have played a part in it. Gerhard Forde, a Lutheran theologian, can help here:

The gospel … is such a shocker … because it is an absolutely unconditional promise. It is not an “if-then” kind of statement, but a “because-therefore” pronouncement: because Jesus died and rose, your sins are forgiven and you are righteous in the sight of god! It bursts in upon our little world all shut up and barricaded behind our accustomed conditional thinking as some strange comet from goodness-knows-where.

God’s grace isn’t conditional. It’s unreserved. It’s not a back-and-forth, two-way love. God’s grace always moves in one direction. And that is why it disturbs us. Forde continues:

How can it be entirely unconditional? Isn’t it terribly dangerous? How can anyone say flat out, “you are righteous for Jesus’ sake?” Is there not some price to be paid, something (however minuscule) to be done? After all, there can’t be such thing as a free lunch, can there?

That’s exactly what we do with God’s grace. We put conditions on it. We take a “yes grace but …” position. We think there is something that must be done on our end. There can’t just be free grace for the taking, can there?

The Beauty of Grace

The last words that Jesus spoke before he gave up his spirit on the cross were three words we need to massage into our hearts. “It is finished.” Grace announces that Jesus met all of God’s conditions on our behalf so that God’s mercy towards us could be unreserved. That’s the beauty of grace. It requires no work on our part. The work of redemption is complete in Jesus. In Christ, we are completely accepted. We are completely loved. In full. The work is done. It is finished.

This rightly rages against our insatiable need to work for our salvation. When we look to the cross and see the Savior of the world proclaim that the work is finished, it disorients us because we are a “conditional” people. Work, not rest, is our modus operandi. But that is exactly why Jesus breathed out those three words. God knew we would need to hear over and over, “Your effort is not needed. It is finished,” because to rest feels like a waste of time.

But deep gospel rest is exactly what we can find in the finished work of Jesus. Our hearts can truly engage with the words from Hebrews, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Heb. 4:9-10). Entering spiritual rest means that we are resting in Christ’s finished work on our behalf—not our work or our reputation or our accomplishments. It means we are swapping effort for rest. It’s at the heart of what Jesus achieved on Calvary’s cross.

As we hear again the crucified Jesus’ final words this Holy Week, hope is uncovered. We are saved solely by grace through Christ’s work. In Jesus, we can be forgiven. We can be made clean. We don’t earn it. We simply receive grace because that’s the only way grace is received. Grace isn’t grace unless it’s unconditional. It looks as if there is such a thing as a free lunch after all.

—

Brad Andrews is a husband of one, a father of seven, and an advocate for grace. He serves as pastor for preaching, vision, and leadership at Mercyview in Tulsa, OK. He blogs at graceuntamed.com and his articles can also be found on Gospel-Centered Discipleship, For the Church, and Grace For Sinners. He served as a religion columnist for the former Urban Tulsa Weekly and was also one of the ten framers of The Missional Manifesto.

Today you will be with me in Paradise

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” – Luke 23:39-43

On the cross, Jesus reveals a huge truth when he invites the criminal hanging next to him into Paradise.“And [the thief] said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ And [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise’” (v. 43). This man didn’t know religious jargon, but his confession is raw and authentic. He speaks in defense of Jesus, saying that he is innocent of the punishment he and the other criminal deserve. Yet, Jesus still hangs in the same place they do. This confession is a beautiful presentation of the gospel. Spoken by a man unworthy of the inheritance of Christ. His offense had to be among the worst if his punishment was death on a cross. The severe contrast of the two criminals is nothing but a posture of heart and the grace of God. Their reputation, infliction, and condemnation is the same, but Christ changed one man’s eternity.

Have you ever prayed for terrorists? Do you know drug addicts? Have you watched cyclic homelessness? What about pimps and prostitutes? A subtle lie has infected evangelicalism. It’s that someone can be too far gone to be saved. I realized this when I had a friend pray for a family member of mine. I sat in awe as she passionately pleaded for God’s mercy to be lavished upon my loved one. Her faith invigorated my own, even though at the time my hope for my family member’s salvation was extinguished. Honestly, I had stopped praying for them altogether. The infection of this lie dulls our hearts and minds. We choose to reside in the welfare of apathy rather than the dangerousness of compassion. The root is nothing more than hope deferred and rotted.

I grew up hearing that sin can’t be ranked because God sees it all as rebellion. It seemed simple. But a murderer can not simply be equated with a liar. It doesn’t seem natural, right, or moral to equate all injustice. However, no matter our sin when God considers those who believe in Jesus, the Father see us as the blameless Jesus. That truth that defeats the lie. If everyone who believes is seen in Christ, then we should boldly pray for the worst sinners. Because if they believe, they too will be justified by the blood of Jesus and seen as righteous in him. There is no boundary of too far and no unforgivable sin. We are blameless because of the Son before the Father. This justification is our victory and invites us into the very presence of God. We bear no weight of sin. Victory is ours and it’s for all. We can pray for the biggest sinner hoping to hear, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Nothing Outweighs Grace

Christ resurrects hope when we least expect it, when we least deserve it, and even when we seem to be out of time. Every story of the gospel’s work in the life of a sinner may not be told through a lifetime. It may be told in a short few minutes, or even seconds. The thief on the cross is delivered within moments of his death. He confessed with his mouth and believed in his heart (Rom 10:9). Therefore, he was justified and saved. But Jesus etched his story forever in the Gospels. This man may have wasted away his life. He may have killed and stolen and abused people. At the end of the day, he was rescued from the captivity of his sin. And in the last seconds of their lives, Jesus resurrected hope for this hope and so for all sinners. If God can save this man, then none of us are beyond hope. This man may not have had a lifetime to share the Good News of Christ, but his testimony lives.

When my friend prayed for the salvation and sanctification of my family member, it felt as though she showed me an empty well within my heart, but as she prayed, she began pouring water into the well until it was overflowing. Her prayer filled me with a hope that I had lost, but even more, she led me to the throne so that I could pray myself. God rescues us when we admit our insufficiency, just like the criminal hanging next to Jesus. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Rom. 15:13). The simple part of salvation is that we don’t do it. God alone through Christ alone uses the Holy Spirit alone to change the hearts of people. No sin outweighs the grace of God. My advice is this, don’t be afraid to ask for prayer. Even more, ask someone to pray over you and let the hope in their voice and the power of the Spirit remind you of the truth. Also, if you know someone who is lost or hurting, approach them and offer a prayer. The timing of God is not accidental, but absolutely providential. Trust and believe that Christ’s gift of salvation can be offered to anyone.

—

Chelsea Vaughn (@chelsea725) has served a ministry she helped start in the DFW Metroplex since she graduated from college. She received her undergraduate degree at Dallas Baptist University in Communication Theory. She does freelance writing, editing, and speaking for various organizations and non-profits. She hopes to spend her life using her gift for communication to reach culture and communities with the love of Jesus.

Father, Forgive Them

Under the scorching heat of the desert, Jesus uttered the first words past his dry, cracked, and bleeding lips, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). That must have puzzled those standing at the foot of the cross. His body had writhed in agony after being beaten throughout the night, only to be nailed to a rugged, splintered, and wooden cross the next morning. What Father could have stood idly by while his perfect and innocent Son was being crucified alongside criminals? Who is this Son, who cries out to such a Father? Who is this Man who in the midst of being crucified pleads for the forgiveness of his torturers? His cry from the cross is as much a conviction as it is a comfort.

The Conviction

There is no indemnity for us from the crimes committed against Jesus at the cross. We are all complicit. Scripture says that we have all sinned and that our sins must be punished. It is our hands driving in the nails and our fingers pressing down the thorns into his brow. We have unjustly tried, convicted and sentenced him to death. We are spitting upon, mocking and reviling him. When he’d made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem days ago, we cheered, “Hail! Hail!” (Lk.19:37-38) Today we shout, “Nail! Nail!” Humanity proved its total depravity at that cross. Filled with self-righteous bloodlust, we were thrilled to kill the man who had healed our sick, raised our dead, fed our multitudes, and forgave our sins. Yet he pled for our forgiveness. “Father, forgive them” (Lk. 23:34).

But Jesus does not only die by our hands, he also died for us. “He was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed,” (Is. 53:5). Jesus was not the only victim on that cross. Those who put faith in him become victims because his death was vicarious. He died instead of us. He wasn’t just taking our punches at the cross; he was also taking our sins and bearing the punishment due us. As we murdered him, we witnessed our desperate need of his sacrifice. We didn’t know that we were crying out for blood at that cross because we needed it for our salvation—“for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34).

The Comfort

Death, hell, and the devil all surrounded the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross. The powers of darkness reveled as, “He breathed his last,” (Lk. 23:46b). They had won. Humanity and all of creation would forever remain under their dominion.

But Jesus was not only victim, but willing sacrifice—working out the eternal plan of the Trinity (Eph 1:1-10). The first word he’d cried out was, “Father” (v. 34) and he had said earlier, “My Father is working until now, and I [too] am working” (Jn. 5:17). Jesus was triumphing through the cross the whole time! It looked like the devil was winning, but God was working. “He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets,” (Col. 2:15, MSG). What a fool's parade God made of death, hell, and the grave at Calvary. If they had only known, they wouldn’t have showed up for work that day!

The wickedness of man had peaked at the cross—“but where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more” (Rom. 5:20). We bristle against this sharp rebuke, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23). The wickedness of lawless men paved a path of redemption for those who would repent and believe this scandalous gospel. Paul describes this truth as “a secret and hidden wisdom of God” that if the rulers of his age had understood it “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory,” (1 Cor. 2:7-8). We didn’t know that we were killing God and that through our wickedness God had planned to secure our redemption! But God offers comfort at the cross! Jesus proclaimed a cure as surely as he pronounced conviction.

The Collide

Conviction and comfort both collide in joy as I marvel at Christ’s words. Psalm 85:10 says, “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.”

We didn’t know that God had set the scene for the most cosmic kiss of the ages: justice and mercy! The force of this kiss shook the gates of hell and rang all of heaven’s bells. Angels longed to look into these things. How could God the Father be completely just to his own character while completely merciful towards rebellious sinners? He did it by the same means the devil used Judas to betray Jesus, the Son—with a kiss (Mk. 14:44).

The righteous requirement of death for our sins by God was met by the merciful provision of God’s own Son as a sacrifice in our place. Justice and mercy kissed at Calvary. Our ignorance of our sinfulness was no excuse. But our ignorance of God’s plan was our rescue! Who would have ever have imagined such a harmonious union? They converged to adorn God’s divine wisdom for rebels who “know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34). “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” (Lk. 23:34). But you knew, O God. You knew.

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” – Romans 11:33

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Kileeo Rashad is based in Philadelphia, PA, where he serves his local church in many capacities; speaker, preacher, deacon, and hospitality director. He is currently working on a debut writing project which will address breaking silence on sexual brokenness within the church. Kileeo is also the founder of Restoring the Breaches, a ministry that aims to help churches and individuals facilitate gospel-centered conversations around sexuality.

Into Your Hands I Commit My Spirit

 “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.” – Luke 23:46

“Do you trust me?” As my children were first being introduced to the pleasure of swimming it took some effort to get them to jump from the ledge into my arms. Standing there ready to receive them as they shook in fear at jumping into the unknown watery world I would ask, “Do you trust me?” In the same way I had to confront my own fears as I waded through the darkness of my own life in 2014. In the midst of a soul-crushing employer, the devastation of my wife’s health, and the overwhelming anguish of my mother’s battle with Ebola, I had to look passages like Romans 8:28 straight in the eye and listen to the voice of God asking me, “do you trust me?”

In the storyline of the Bible, this question pierces to the heart. Will you trust God? In some ways, this question is the very essence of true discipleship. Jesus calls each of us to turn from our former lives of death and sin and turn to a life of following him. That is predicated on this very question: do you trust God? And while the question may be something we want to answer quickly, we should consider Jesus’ life so that we answer it wisely.

Adam and Eve didn’t trust God, so they took and ate the fruit. Abraham failed to trust God and trusted his own cleverness to produce the offspring God was promising. Rebecca and Jacob didn’t trust God’s plan and stole the birthright and blessing of his older brother Esau. Moses didn’t trust God and struck the rock failing to enter the promised land. The Israelites after the Exodus didn’t trust God as they listened to the spies’ report and determined God couldn’t handle a few tall men. Israel continued a pattern of mistrust through the entire time of Judges and instead did everything that was right in their own eyes. David, in stubborn weakness, failed to trust God’s provision for him and seized what was not his then murdered to cover his tracks. His son Solomon failed to trust God’s gift of wisdom and instead lusted after the gods of the nations. The kingdom fell and the track record continues on to this day in all of us: We all fail to trust God.

Yet for Jesus the question of trust was raised before the foundation of the world. Did he trust the Father in his “definite plan and foreknowledge” to send the Son as a human (Acts 2:23)? Did he trust the Father as he submitted himself to baptism? As he was sent to the wilderness in temptation? As he endured hostility from his family and neighbors? As he was criticized by the religious leaders? As he was attacked by demon-possessed accusers? As he was denied by a close friend? As he was betrayed for thirty silver peices by someone in his inner circle? As he was handed over to an unjust court? As he was passed over for a crooked murderer? As he was beaten by a foreign army? As he laughed at by his own people? As he was abandoned by his followers? As he was humiliated to carry the instrument of his death? As he was mocked and jeered at by the entire world? And as his Father turned his back on him and Jesus took the sins of his people? The contrast with the other characters in Scripture couldn’t be clearer.

In every way, we are living failures. We don’t trust God or his word. He had laid out the promises, the covenant, the goal, and the glory for us. And we continually, like our fathers and mothers before us, fail to trust God. Perhaps it the hardships that we must endure that keep us away from embracing the promises. Perhaps its the seduction of this world that beckons us away from the goodness of God. It’s quite possible we’re too ambitious or too lazy to trust God and prefer our own way.

Yet as Jesus hung on the cross he says, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” At his death, he demonstrates the heart of true discipleship. He with his last breath could have said, “NO! Enough!” and vindicated his name in his own power and for his own glory. He could have cursed all humanity with his last words and obliterated the entire race. But as he hung without strength and without hope of rescue coming, with no better tomorrow in view, and feeling his communion with the Father break, he portrayed perfect trust in the Father for all of us to see and hear. He trusted God in the midst of his suffering and with his last breath.

When we consider what it means to be a disciple, we must ask: Do we trust God? In the midst of the loss of family for the sake of his name, do we trust God? In the heartbreak of a cancer diagnosis, do we trust God? When we’re unjustly accused and mistreated, do we trust God? When we lose it all because the economy tanks and jobs are gone, do we trust God? When the seduction of the world calls and offers us an easier path, do we trust God? When the pleasures of this world are put before us and beckons us to give into temptation, do we trust God? When the dark night of our soul brings us to depression and anxiety, do we trust God? In every high place, in every difficult choice, and in every valley of despair, do I trust God? Our maturation into the image of Jesus Christ rests on the answer to this question.

Jesus trusted God through his entire life. Through every action and thought, Jesus looked to his Father and trusted him. And at the end, as death’s curtain fell over his eyes, he gazed up to his Father and answered fully and finally “I TRUST YOU!”

So the question stands for us. Do we trust him enough to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and go and follow him? He trusted his Father and was rewarded (Heb 12:1-2). If so, then everything about us will change. We will turn and look to his good, perfect, and pleasing ways and follow him to every pleasant pasture and through every valley of the shadow of death. We will say with the Psalmist “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack anything.”

As Jesus hung on the cross and cried out with his last breath “Father, I entrust myself to you,” he purchased for us the power to cry out with our every breath, “Jesus, I entrust myself to you.”

As disciples we must answer this question and follow Jesus in answering that we entrust ourselves to the Father.

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Jeremy Writebol (@jwritebol) has been training leaders in the church for over fourteen years. He is the author of everPresent: How the Gospel Relocates Us in the Present (GCD Books, 2014) and writes at jwritebol.net. He is the pastor of Woodside Bible Church’s Plymouth, MI campus.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

For centuries Psalm 22:1-2 has shaped the grief and bewilderment God’s people have felt in their darkest hour. The Psalmist expresses anguish only known to the innocent sufferer who feels abandoned by everyone including God:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.

I’ve choked out these words during seasons of suffering. Having battled chronic health difficulties and episodes of clinical depression, I know what it’s like to feel God-forsaken, what it’s like to cry out by day but not hear an answer or by night and find no rest for my anxious soul. The sense of desolation that accompanies depression is terrifying. It feels like you’ve been plunged into a black abyss. You can’t help but wonder if God is displeased with you, if your suffering is a sign of his judgment.

That kind of suffering crushes, confuses, and leads to overwhelming feelings of abandonment, even by God. These feelings are genuine and should not be minimized. But the question that I’ve had to resolve in the face of such suffering is: Does God ever truly abandon those who are in Christ? Will God ever abandon me?

The Cry of Dereliction

We’re not the only ones who have cried out the words of Psalm 22 in our agony. We find these very words on the lips of Jesus as he, the innocent sufferer par excellence, prepares to die for the sins of the world. Understanding Jesus’ cry of abandonment is the key to dealing with our feelings of abandonment.

Matthew 27:45-47 (also Mark 15:33-34) says:

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew describes a thick, unnatural darkness covering the land for three hours. In Scripture, darkness is a visible sign of God’s judgment and displeasure. It’s symbolic of separation from the very One who is light. This same “felt” darkness covered Egypt in Exodus 10:21-22 as a means of God judging the Egyptians separating them from Israel. So the darkness that fell upon Jesus should be understood as something more than a purely natural phenomenon; it’s a sign of God’s judgment and displeasure.

Jesus certainly understands the darkness this way. He suffers beneath the weight of it for three hours and around the ninth hour (3 PM) he emerges out of the darkness and breaks the silence, crying out in anguished desolation, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1 pours forth from the sinless Son of God as he faces abandonment from everyone, including his Father.

Did God Really Abandon Jesus?

Jesus’ cry of dereliction is difficult to understand. Was Jesus truly God-forsaken or did he merely feel God-forsaken? Some understand his cry of dereliction to be a cry of loneliness. Others see it as a cry of triumph (e.g., the end of this psalm ends on triumphant note). But we must take Jesus’ cry at face value—as a genuine cry of abandonment. R.T. France notes, “The words Jesus chose to utter are those of unqualified desolation, and Matthew and Mark give no hint that he did not mean exactly what he said.”[1]

This Scripture expresses the depth and horror of what Jesus was suffering. In that moment, Jesus was plunged into outer darkness away from the Father’s presence to bear the sins of the world. France again says, “In giving his life as a ransom for many for the forgiveness of sins he must, for the moment, be separated from his Father.”[2] Having experienced unbroken communion with the Father from eternity past, Jesus now enveloped in darkness felt the full weight of separation from God that our sin demanded and for the first time he was truly alone, utterly God-forsaken.

As we digest this difficult truth, remember two things. First, this was not divine child abuse/divine child neglect. The Father and the Son willingly chose to carry out this plan of redemption and both the Father and the Son were in agony during Jesus’ crucifixion. To obtain our salvation the Father painstakingly separated himself from the Son but only temporarily. Second, the unity of the Trinity was not broken. The Father, Son, and Spirit exist eternally in perfect, unbroken fellowship. We aren’t privy to the details of the “psychology of the Son of God” in this moment.[3] We affirm that Jesus experienced a real abandonment by the Father while simultaneously affirming the unity of the Triune God.

Will God Ever Abandon Us?

So will God ever truly abandon those who are in Christ? If Jesus’ cry of dereliction was the result of temporary abandonment by the Father, does that mean we could be abandoned by the Father also? When we crumble to the floor and cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” does this express our feelings or represent our reality

The good news we celebrate during Easter (and always!) is that God will never abandon those who are in Christ.Jesus’ cry of dereliction helps us understand this—he was abandoned momentarily so that we can live with assurance eternally. The innocent sufferer was God-forsaken so that we would never be. That’s startling.

Even when we suffer innocently, we are still sinful. And it is this sin that separates us from God. On our best day, we don’t love God with everything we are, treasure him as our greatest good, or love our brothers as ourselves. Thus, we deserve to be plunged into outer darkness and separated from the presence of God. God could justly desert us and leave us to die in our sins.

Yet, Jesus on his worst day loved God with everything he was and treasured him as the greatest good and loved his brothers as himself. Jesus then chose to be separated from the Father that we might be reunited to God through him. Jesus was forsaken by God so that we might be forgiven. Nothing can change that! Not your circumstances. Not your suffering. And not your sin.

This is the good news I preach to myself again and again in my pain and depression. Were it not for the light of the gospel, the darkness would crush me. But Jesus was crushed on my behalf, so I have hope. I constantly remind myself, “There is always hope in Jesus!”

Suffering saint, I want you to know that there is always hope in Jesus. Whatever you are walking through this Easter season, remember that God will not abandon you because you are in Christ. It may feel like you have been abandoned. The darkness may feel as though it’s going to crush you. But the unshakeable truth that you stand on in the midst of your suffering is that Jesus was temporarily abandoned on your behalf, so you will never be truly abandoned.

[1] France, R.T. The Gospel of Matthew. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007. Print. [2] ibid. [3] ibid.

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Whitney Woollard is passionate about equipping others to read and study God’s Word well resulting maturing affection for Christ and his glorious gospel message. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and a Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary. Whitney and her husband Neal currently live in Portland, OR where they call Hinson Baptist Church home. Visit her writing homepage whitneywoollard.com.

How We Read the Bible Matters

• I don’t really enjoy reading the Bible.
• I don’t get what a book written thousands of years ago has to do with my life today.
• I’m not really a reader.
• Did you know that people get drunk and have sex in the Bible?!
• I don’t understand what I’m reading.
• Did you know in the Bible there are these two people who were naked in the forest, eating fruit?
• I read the Bible everyday…Jesus Calling is my favorite.

These are all comments people have shared with me in regards to reading the Bible. One of them was from an 80-year-old grandmother, the other from a fourth grade student (bet you can’t guess which one).

So what is it about this book that is so complicated? Is it really that difficult to understand? Is it really relevant for today? What is going on with all the sex, drunkenness, murder, and naked people?

I didn’t grow up in the church, so my experience with the Bible was limited until I was about 20 years old. I just thought it was a list of rules to live by or some ancient book that told the story of the “two naked people in the forest, eating fruit.”

For many of us, perhaps we have learned that the Bible should only be opened on special occasions. Or that you should only turn to it when you want to feel good. Better yet, maybe you could just rip a verse out of context and make it mean what you what it to mean (hello, Jeremiah 29:11, anyone?).

It wasn’t until the Lord opened my heart to seek out truth that I discovered the life found on the pages of Scripture. And that’s when the paradigm shift happened: I learned that it’s not just if you read your Bible, but how you read it that will change everything. I learned a lie and three truths about the Bible that helped me understand who God is and what his plan is for us.

Let’s start with the lie.

Lie: The Bible is all about me

While the Bible is certainly for you, it is not all about you. It’s about God.

When we read the Bible, it’s to know and love God more. It isn’t to pull a verse out of context to apply like a Band-Aid; it isn’t to find a verse to thump those “in sin”; and it isn’t just to fill your head with more knowledge. It should produce a deeper understanding of God, a greater love for him, and lead us into worship.

Part of the reason I’m not a fan of many devotionals is they take you all over the place, pulling a verse here and there out of context, and slapping someone else’s meaning or application on it rather than reading an entire book of the Bible in its context.

Reading the Bible in a way just to “get something for me” is like only eating dessert at every meal. We all want it and it tastes delicious, but you can live off dessert. In the same way, if we only read for application, our diet of God’s Word won’t be sufficient. We need to observe what is happening and discover the meaning of the text to properly apply it.  This means we let Scripture interpret Scripture, or as my seminary professor would say, “We let the clear interpret the cloudy.” We look to other passages to help determine the meaning of the text we’re studying and allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Truth of God’s word. Understanding the literal, historical, and grammatical context will help reveal the correct interpretation of a passage, discovering what it first meant “back then” before we can understand how to apply it to our lives today. We also interpret correctly when studying within community or the context of the local church, under the leadership of elders and encouragement of other believers.

What a paradigm shift from what is sold to us in Christian bookstores: “Read this devotional for five steps to a better life!” That kind of me-focused-faith distorts what God’s Word is really for: to tell the redemption story of God’s people through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Truth: The Bible is meant to be studied

One of the best ways to help grow in the Word is to pick one book or section of Scripture and study it. Sit in the passage for a while, reread it, come back to it, look up words, and become familiar with it. Like a letter written to a loved one, you read it from beginning to end. So it is with books of the Bible.

Reading a book in its entirety changes how you understand it and, therefore, deepens your understanding of God and his redemptive plan. When we read, we read to observe (What do we see?), interpret (What does it mean?), and only then apply (How should it change me?).

When I began to study the Bible inductively (observation-interpretation-application), when I began to look for what it teaches me about God and how I fit into his greater story, the Bible came to life. Actually, it became my life. I enjoy reading the Bible, I see its relevance for my life and the world today, it increases my understanding of God, and it helps me know why all those people were getting drunk, having sex, and committing murder—to help me see that I am just like those people, a sinner in desperate need of a Rescuer.

Truth: The Bible has many applications, but only one meaning

While there are many translations of the Bible and many applications, Scripture has one meaning. Our job is to discover that meaning. We should never ask, “What does this verse mean to me?” but rather, “What does this verse mean?” Our job as readers and students of the Bible is to uncover the original meaning of the text, which reveals how it is relevant and applies to us today. Biblical truth can apply to us in many ways, but it only has one meaning.

Truth: The Bible is all about Jesus

The Bible is a collection of books and stories that point to a greater hero: Jesus. The Bible has 66 books, written over a time span of 1,500 years, by 40 different authors, in three different languages, on three different continents, about one message: God’s rescue mission for his people through the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Bible is a story meant to be read that points to One who makes the unrighteous, righteous; the unclean, clean; the outcast, redeemed; the sinner, a saint.

This paradigm shift helped me to understand the Bible and, therefore, to better love and understand God and live in obedience to him. What has anchored me in times of pain and suffering has not been a verse I ripped out of context to chant when I’m anxious or afraid, but studying God’s Word in a deeper way. It’s knowing his character through understanding the big picture of Scripture from beginning to end that helps me (and all of us) endure suffering.

How we read the Bible matters—reading it will change your life and shift your paradigm completely.

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Melissa Danisi serves at The Well Community Church in Fresno, CA and has been married for nine years. She spends her days encouraging and equipping women by teaching God’s Word and shepherding women. Her greatest passion is to see women walk in the freedom of the gospel and grow in their love of Jesus through the study of Scripture. She has written several bible studies and also enjoys one-to-one mentoring or small group discipleship. She is a graduate of Western Seminary, pursuing a M.A. in Ministry and Leadership with an emphasis in pastoral care to women. You can find her writing gospel-centered articles at selftalkthegospel.com, her church's blog , and her personal blog melissadanisi.com.

Adapted with permission from Unlocking the Bible 

I Thirst

At the cross-roads of history, Jesus hung nailed to a cross. The loss of blood from the beating alone would have killed most men, but this was no ordinary man. This was the Son of God and his death was ordained in covenant with his Father. The crowds gathered around the Place of the Skull to see their King lifted high. Above our Lord was a sign that read, “King of the Jews.” Pilate unknowingly proclaimed the greatest truth to a watching world. The Messiah was raised up like the bronze serpent in the wilderness and though it did not look like it Jesus was being prepared to sit on the Father’s heavenly throne. The Gospel of John records the scene,

Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved [John] standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. – John 19:25-30 (italics mine)

SUBVERSIVE PARALLELS

“I thirst” subverts. For instance, the man who said, “I thirst,” is the same man who said to the Samaritan woman, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirst again. The water that I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn. 4:13-14). How can the same man who offered living water to the Samaritan now be dehydrated? Jesus offered the “gift of God” (v. 10, “living water”), which quenches all thirst to sinners, but he hung on the cross thirsty.

Jesus quenched the thirst of weary souls by thirsting himself. When Hebrews points out that we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with sinners, part of the sympathy is tasting our spiritual drought. In order to provide spiritual relief, Jesus Christ thirsted. The Bread of Life took on our affliction of spiritual dehydration so that in him, we might hunger and thirst for righteousness—and find it.

After Jesus says that he thirsts, a soldier dips a sponge on a hyssop branch and into a jar of sour wine and gives it to Jesus. Sour wine is the cheap stuff, the dollar-store watered down wine that doesn’t taste great. Jesus drank the sour wine while serving the best wine to sinners (Jn. 2:1-12). He thirsts for the thirsty and drinks sour wine for us providing the best wine in return. What a Savior he is!

INEXAUSTIBLE GRACE

Jesus didn’t fancy himself a man of luxury. We don’t have a Savior who was too preoccupied with himself to care much for the people around him. Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. To be acquainted means to taste and see. Jesus wasn’t flashy or a show off. He understood what it was like to be an ordinary man because he was man. God-in-flesh dwelt among thirsty sinners, so he understood human plight. All of the Kingdom talk had pointed to the cross—the moment of Christ’s substitutionary suffering.

As I hear Jesus say that he thirst, I wonder: Has the fountain of living water run dry? Has the good wine run out forever? Has the Messiah’s message of triumph that resonated with Israel for three short years been squelched? Have the powers and principalities won the war? The cross subverts the disciples’ expectations, which caused their confusion. This is why they couldn’t piece it together. Their Teacher had run out of words, had no more commands, and could not console them any longer. Their Savior could not be saved from the wrath of God.

In order for the unending supply of God’s grace to burst forth from heaven, Jesus had to come to the place of desperation, death, sorrow, and thirst—a place common to man. John notes that there is still one more piece of ancient Scripture left for Jesus to fulfill. In Psalm 69:21, Scripture says, “They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.”

If the true and better wine was to be given and the abundant living water was to flow, Jesus needed to thirst. The Messiah needed to get to the place where all men find themselves. For God’s inexhaustible grace to flow like the Niagara falls, Jesus had to endure the most bitter of trials. Every moment on the cross mattered.

As you prepare your hearts for Resurrection Sunday, remember the infinite depth Christ was plunged to rescue you. Never forget the exhaustion he endured so that you could never thirst. As we approach Easter, remind yourself that Jesus’ thirsting then dying wasn’t his final scene, he was buried, rose again, and now sits on the throne of heaven. Although no words in the English could describe the immensity of what Christ accomplished on the cross, the two words “I thirst” remind us in tangible, earthy ways what he endured for us.

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Rev. Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI and author of Be Holy and The Fight for Joy. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.

Tasting What’s Good

When spring rolled around, color splashed on our front lawn. Snapdragons, impatience, and geraniums, all in their black plastic containers, were waiting to colonize our garden. My mother issued the invitation to join her in beautifying our lawn. But first, we had to pull the weeds. We kneeled down and dug into East Texas clay to pull up what threatened growth. Only then would our plants be safe. Only then would their beauty last. We are created to bloom in holiness and love. But to do so, we have to kneel down and pull the weeds.

Pulling Evil

Saint Peter puts it this way, “So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander” (1 Pt 2:1). To “put away” means disrobe or change clothes. He’s telling Christians to take off malice like a dirty garment and throw it to the ground. But what is malice? In verse 16, the same word is translated “evil.” We rarely think of ourselves as possessing evil. It’s usually something “out there,” like ISIS or serial killers, but as David Brooks notes, the moral realist is humble enough to acknowledge inner evil. In the words of philosopher Immanuel Kant, we’re all made from “crooked timber.”

If we are to straighten out, if we’re to bloom in holiness and love, we have to admit our evil. But it’s not enough to admit inner evil; we have to see the evil and come face to face with it, before we can pull it out. One weed we rarely consider is envy. Envy opposes love by hoping for others downfall, instead of desiring their best. Envy seeks personal advance over the joy of others. Instead of being happy for someone’s new home or car, we silently discredit them, telling ourselves that we deserve a bigger house or nicer car.

Envy isn’t restricted to materialism; it trespasses all territory. We envy good things. People who struggle to conceive may begin to despise other parents instead of taking joy in their children. Singles without a spouse may grate against the joy of married couples instead of taking pleasure in it. And married couples can envy the freedom of singles.

Envy gets tinier. It desires, not the house, but the ability to decorate the house. Not the car, but the features of the car. Not the children, but judges how poorly or how well the children behave, while secretly praising or condemning the self. Not the married or single but their companionship or freedom. Envy destroys community by creating invisible walls of distrust, hatred, and meanness.

Don’t Struggle with Sin

What are we to do? Pull the weeds! Peter says that we must get them out! All of them. All malice, all envy, and all slander. “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pt. 2:11). He tightens the language. It’s not enough to put evil off; we must abstain from it. Abstain means to create distance by getting away. Modern Christians aren’t known for putting distance between themselves and sin. We use the language of “struggles,” so it’s popular to say, “I’m really struggling X” (drinking too much, lusting, or envying), but what that often means is “I’m putting this sin on, I’m close to it, and I really kind of like it. I know I shouldn’t, so I’m going to confess that I’m struggling with sin.” Peter says, “Run, your passions are waging war against your soul!”

Recently, a drug deal went down close to my kids’ school. A shot was fired. An armed criminal fled to the school campus. Two things happened: The school went into immediate lock down and a couple courageous men tackled the perpetrator. When evil comes knocking, we don’t “struggle” with evil. We fight or we flee! It’s not enough to admit evil, or even see evil; we have to flee evil. As John Owen famously said, “Be killing sin, lest it be killing you.” This is not an exaggeration. Think about how envy plays out. Envy leads to debt, divorce, divided relationships, and distance from Christ. For the love of God, pull the weeds.

Babies or Engines?

That’s the dirty work, but growing together also includes lovely work: absorbing what makes us grow. “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (2:2-3). In order to grow into our new selves, we have to long. The word is hyper-desire. In true religion, desires are not evil and God is not a killjoy. He insists on our joy by insisting our desires go in the right direction.

Babies long for milk and engines run on gas, but the modern dilemma is that we don’t know the baby from the engine. We don’t know what to run on. So we try a little of everything: career, friends, diets, exercise, breweries, books, films, music, but it all comes up short. In Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, Anna is a person with all the wealth, all the comforts, all the power she could ever dream. She’s even enjoyed an illicit affair but confesses: “I don’t know myself; I only know my appetites.”

Do we only know our appetites? What are we running on? Social connection, productivity, fun? A text, a tweet, a status—compelled by envy we scramble to stay up with a culture that is in overdrive. Where should our desires turn? We have to know who we are—a newborn infant, a new creation, born again to a living hope through the resurrection—only then can we direct our appetites to a place of satisfaction.

When Peter says we’re like babies, he’s not speaking down to us. He’s trying to show us that we live by craving milk. Pure spiritual milk grows us. Pure means a hundred proof. What’s in it? Spiritual milk. Now this word “spiritual” is a little tricky. It’s not the typical word for spiritual (used later). In fact, the word has more in common with reason. It’s the word logikos, from which we get logos or logic. So how do we grow? Well it depends how we read this word.

Some will say, the way we grow is to think better, to have the right beliefs, and to read our Bible. They take a more rational approach. Others say, no it’s more mystical than that, which may be why its translated spiritual. What we need to grow is an experience in prayer, worship, and blessing. And so we’ve got the Bible people and the Prayer people, the rational and the spiritual. The people who take theology classes and the people who join the prayer team. So who’s right?

Tasting What’s Good

Neither or both, kinda. It’s not the person who reads or the person who prays, but the person who tastes. Peter says, “Long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (2:2-3). The spiritual milk that causes us to grow requires tasting the goodness of the Lord. How can we taste the milk of God’s presence? Consider three things.

1. Tasting takes time

First, we have to take time. When I used to wash windows with my grandfather in the summers, we would take a break and have lunch together. Famished, I would inhale my food. Poppa would say to me, “Johnny, did you taste it?” He knew something I didn’t. He knew how to taste, how to linger, how to enjoy, not just God’s gifts but God’s presence. We can read the Bible and miss his presence; we can pray and not taste his goodness. Are we tasting or just reading or just praying? Tasting takes time and meditation. “On your law I meditate day and night” (Ps. 1:2). How do we do it? We take a piece of truth and mull it over, sit with it, chew on it, and converse with God about it. Ask him for understanding: what it means, how to experience it, how it applies (rejoice, repent, obey), and for desire and ability to respond. This takes time, but not a ton of it. We have to chew slowly and, when we do, we taste the goodness of the Lord.

2. Ask for Hunger

Second, we have to be hungry. If we’re not hungry, we have to figure out why. Hunger begins by taking the position of a baby—crying out (not assuming) for God to satisfy us. “Satisfy me in the morning with your lovingkindness, O Lord” (Ps. 90:14). Ask for hunger. We may need to confess misdirected appetites, which have dulled us to the goodness of God. On Monday, I woke up and checked my phone. I saw a message that sent my heart and mind reeling. I stood in the shower and worked it over and over. And when I sat down to commune with God, it was very hard to meditate, to taste him because I was hungry for something else, resolution. I’ve resolved to not make checking my phone my first act of devotion.

3. Find Silence

Third, we have to find a place of silence. German theologian Josef Pieper said, “Only the one who is silent can hear.” To taste God, we have to turn off all other appetites. Tune out the things that clamor for our attention: phones, screens, sleep, work, play. We have to find a place of silence—in a corner, outside, by the bed, early/late, on a walk, wherever we can be still and know he is God.

A hundred proof spiritual milk comes, not through Bible study (rational), not through prayer (mystical), but when they overlap and we taste the goodness of the Lord (personal). Are we cultivating a garden where people pull the weeds and taste what’s good? If we do, we’ll blossom in holiness and love. Let’s pull the weeds, taste what’s good, and bend towards the light.

—

Jonathan K. Dodson (MDiv; ThM) serves as a pastor of City Life Church in Austin, Texas. He is the author of Gospel-Centered Discipleship, Unbelievable Gospel, and Raised? He has discipled men and women abroad and at home for almost two decades, taking great delight in communicating the gospel and seeing Christ formed in others. Twitter: @Jonathan_Dodson

The Secret Ingredient

Social media and news headlines bombard us with the truth that we already know: we live in a fallen world. While the culture at large resists using the label “sin” to describe all that is broke around us, the concept is unavoidable. Sin is a reality in this age, as it is in every age. But Jesus Christ entered real time and space to offer a foretaste of a future age that will no longer be tainted by the presence of sin. John writes the following of that entrance: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:14).

Grace and Truth

Jesus embodied truth. He did not claim to know the truth, or the way to the truth, but to actually be the truth (Jn. 14:6). And he tells us the truth about ourselves.

After instructing his disciples how to pray by modeling what is now called the Lord’s Prayer, he says the following:

If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk. 11:13, emphasis mine)

We can almost become numb to the sting of the words. He doesn’t offer the issue up for debate but matter of factly tells those in his presence they are evil. To be sure even an evil person does some things that aren’t bad—like buy his son an xBox—but that doesn’t make him good in the eyes of God. He reminds his audience of their inherent sinfulness in matter of fact style.

Another encounter highlights Jesus’ radical commitment to the truth: his interaction with the woman at the well. The dialogue recorded by John (4:1-30) contains some seemingly stinging remarks by Jesus. He brings up her colorful love life (vv. 17-18), her improper worship (v. 22), and even confesses to her that he is the Messiah (v. 26).

Yet, even while broaching taboo topics even for today, Jesus never does so flippantly. While being full of truth, he is also full of grace. Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save it (Jn. 3:17). As such, while never compromising truth, his demeanor was always full of compassion. We see this in his contribution to the “trial” of the woman caught in adultery (Jn. 8:1-11). While he was the only one fit to condemn her, he instead sends her on her way with the single charge to repent of her sins (Jn. 8:11). We see his grace at the restoration of Peter who had denied him three times (Jn. 21:15-19). Even those who abandon Jesus are welcomed back to the fold in Jesus’ economy of grace.

While we as humans oscillate imperfectly between these two characteristics—and often even view them in opposition to one another—Jesus displayed them perfectly at all times in his life. Grace and truth are not mutually exclusive, despite our failings to get the recipe right. However, Jesus’ embodiment of these characteristics has one more important quality that we do well to take note of. Jesus was present among them.

His Presence

It’s possible to exhibit the qualities of grace and truth in our human attempts to follow Jesus and yet still be ineffective in our ministry. This possibility exists when we neglect a meaningful presence with those we are ministering to. Presence is the platform from which grace and truth are to be proclaimed.

Jesus’ presence changes everything about his mission. As the creator of the world he is the author of truth. From a distance, he could call out from the heavens commands for obedience and consequences for disobedience, yet he gets his hands dirty. A king doesn't need to "earn" a platform with his subjects to issue a decree. Yet, Jesus, as king of the universe, chooses to enter into loving relationship with his subjects when he speaks truth into their lives. While no platform has to be “earned” for the one in authority to dictate decrees, Jesus condescends to enter into relationship with us. Our God is a good God and a relational one. In him we see the wisdom of Solomon who wrote: “Faithful are the wounds of a friend” (Pr. 27:6).

How stinging Jesus’ wounds must have been for the woman at the well, for Peter when hearing he would deny Jesus, and for the disciples being told they were evil. Yet, Jesus was not malicious when speaking these truths. He loved them enough to share with them who they really were. He revealed the things that enslaved them, as painful as they were and gave them himself. He called them to follow him, the only master who would liberate them and truly fulfill them, and he would be faithful to go to the cross for them.

God’s primary motive for dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ was to save us from sin and its consequences. The means of rescuing us that were chosen by the all-powerful creator were personal in nature. He dwelt among us. He is calling us to dwell among sinners as well.

The Formula for His Bride

God bought his church with his own blood (Acts 20:28). It was no small sacrifice on his part. His bride does well to follow him in this incarnational and costly ministry.Visit a few churches to see the various ways Christians get the trifecta of presence, grace, and truth wrong. If we put only two of the three into practice a lopsided church body emerges.

Take truth and grace divorced from presence and a bombastic fundamentalism emerges. In this formula the gospel is proclaimed, but only to those who already believe it. The surrounding culture is rejected wholesale instead of being engaged with discerningly. If an outsider were to stumble into this kind of church service, she’d be a fish out of water as the church attempts to “contextualize” the gospel to look more Leave it to Beaver than Modern Family. This brand of Christianity is content with a holy huddle inside a church as bomb shelter. Its members only occasionally emerge to throw “grace” grenades at unsuspecting strangers before quickly ducking back into safety. The approach to discipleship of those outside the walls is essentially the equivalent of evangelical “stranger danger” and as such less than effective.

On the other end of the spectrum, some have embraced a model of ministry in which grace and presence are married while being devoid of truth. This marriage seems appealing on the surface as there is little within it to offend the surrounding culture. However, as many of the mainline protestant denominations have found, this is no surefire way to growth. When the truth and offense (1 Pt. 2:8) of the gospel are removed in an attempt to “love” everyone the church has little to offer those outside of its walls. In fact, it becomes indistinguishable from the culture at large and has nothing to offer it that the culture can’t already provide itself (and usually at a better quality level).

Jesus calls his bride to a better way. He said the gates of Hell would not withstand his church (Mt. 16:18). Our call is not to remain stationary and hope the lost world will come to us, but to charge into the dark with the light of Christ. While it is not the easiest way, it is the way he embodied. Again, Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (Jn. 14:6).

He didn’t claim to know the way, but to be the way. His way was marked by grace and truth and fueled by his presence. He went where sinners were.

Are you a part of his bride, the Church? Do you desire to obey his commission to make disciples? Do you, being evil, know how to give your children good gifts? Pray to your heavenly Father who is perfect that his Holy Spirit would spur you on to walk in his ways. Pray God would give you the gifts of presence, grace, and truth that you would gain a platform of presence in the lives of unbelievers and would be used to make disciples among them, that you would be bold in speaking truth to them and that they would mature, and that God’s grace would be displayed through you and be multiplied.

—

Sean Nolan (B.S. and M.A., Summit University) is the Family Life Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Fallston, MD. Prior to that he served at a church plant in Troy, NY for seven years and taught Hermeneutics to ninth and tenth graders. He is married to Hannah and is father to Knox and Hazel. He blogs at Hardcore Grace and the recently started Family Life Pastor.

Leading Like the Good Shepherd

The stream of Christian social media outlets teemed with the news of the comeback of this former mega-pastor. For a time, he had been the brightest star in modern evangelicalism. He’d led a rock-star crusade through culture by preaching solid biblical truth and bringing out followers in droves. With prophetic precision, his preaching made what God said way-back-when so relevant for right now. In my eyes, the man was a prophet! I adored him. I looked up to him the way teenagers look up to the posters of their favorite celebrities on their bedroom walls. I was younger then and had not yet stood like Jesus. “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt. 9:36). I hadn’t yet experienced the wreckage of a church when its shepherd is struck by accusations, slander, and gossip and the flock is scattered in confusion and uncertainty. I hadn’t yet been one of those sheep so distracted by the pandemonium in the fold, that I blindly wandered off until I was alone, defenseless, and in the company of a ravenous wolf. I had not yet suffered the pain of a church split or the moral failure of a spiritual leader. Until then, I did not know that a good shepherd dies for the cause when the Father has made the sheep the cause.

JESUS IS THE GOOD SHEPHERD

In the Gospel of John, Jesus boldly demonstrates his power (e.g., the seven “I AM” statements) and uses everyday images to to explain spiritual truths about his identity. My favorite everyday image used by Jesus is, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (Jn. 10:11). He is speaking to the Pharisees. They should have easily understood his analogy. First, Israel was a Bedouin people, nomadic people of the desert, usually sheepherders; Second, the Pharisees were the current shepherds of Israel, responsible for leading the people into true worship and observance of Yahweh. But they’re not being very good ones.

Their shepherding is characterized by showing off in the synagogues and in the streets with charming eloquence in their preaching, memorizing and quoting the Law by rote, and lording their public demonstrations of piety over those under their care for admiration and accolades. Jesus goes straight for the jugular by showing them that the validation of their ministry is not in the praise they get from men but by the sacrifice they are compelled to make by God, for men.

Jesus is that kind of shepherd. He prophetically throws down the Calvary card on the table and says, “Boom! You’re taking, but I’m giving. You’re fleecing, but I’m feeding. You’re skating, but I’m staying.” Jesus makes the pinnacle proof of his ministry as a shepherd, not that he lived well off the sheep, but that he died willingly for the sheep. The good shepherd has the Father’s best intention at heart for the sheep and will give his life to secure it. “Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep” (10:15). The small word “for” (Gk. huper, “in behalf of” or “instead of”) contrasts Jesus with these other cast members in regards to the way they shepherd the sheep. Jesus, the good shepherd, guards, guides, protects, and preserves God’s flock by dying “in behalf of” and “instead of” the sheep to give them abundant life. Leading well, for this shepherd, looks like dying (1 Pt. 5:1-4).

CONSIDER THE CAST

The good shepherd does not leave his sheep or under-shepherds ignorant. One shepherd wrote to his mentee, “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers,” (1 Tim. 4:16). Good shepherds can fall into these categories below, by neglecting that charge from the Apostle Paul. A good shepherd must persist in this: he must believe and continually return to the gospel that saved him. A good shepherd always acknowledges need of the gospel for himself. This rebuke to the Pharisees warns the sheep what to beware. Let’s consider that cast:

• Thieves (10:1,8): Both the thief and robber refuse to enter by the door, both abuse, use, misuse the sheep, but the thief is more covert, steals by fraud and in secret, operates by unethical means, with a motive to kill and destroy.
• Robbers (10:1,8): Robbers differ slightly by immorally depriving one of his possession openly and by violence. They can also boldly be on a self-righteous, renegade campaign, or under the guise of a false crusade.
• Wolf (10:12): Wild, hungry, cruel, rapacious, ravenous, destructive and greedy. Will upset the whole flock in order to murder by isolation. One agenda, to satisfy hunger. One agenda, to satisfy hunger.
• Strangers (10:5): Ones who have no intimacy with the sheep and doesn’t even know their names, but will attempt to call them out and summon them as their own.
• Hireling: He is the most dangerous character of all. Get this scene in your mind and it is most certainly not PG-13. A wolf descends upon the flock from a distance. Jesus said the hireling “sees the wolf coming.” (10:12), but does he pray, plan, rally the troops, or load his weapons? Jesus says, “[he] leaves the sheep … because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep” (10:12b,14). The wolf tears into the sheep—bleating and bleeding, carnage and chaos. The hireling watches from a secure vantage point. Though he is responsible for the rampage, he has calculated the cost and the sheep aren’t worth it. The wolf then turns on him with glowering, steel eyes and a mouth rimmed red with blood, unmasking his location. In fear, the hireling thinks, “There could be others out there!” So “He flees” (10:14). He sacrifices the sheep for his own safety.

The hireling says, “bye!”

The sheep says, “baa-aah!”

The wolf says, “dinner!”

But Jesus said, “You’ve got to go through me.”

THE GOOD SHEPHERD’S EXAMPLE

There was no price too high and no length too far. Jesus set an example of what to expect from the ministry of shepherding and of the minister as shepherd. It’s big, up front and in bold: Are you prepared to die?

We live in a culture of sore losers. Church leadership is being populated by hired hands; people who would quit to save face before falling on the sword of their own failure and assuming responsibility. We want the honor from God of presiding over his people—but not the responsibility of protecting them at all costs. I’ve heard it said that we have ministers today, who love the crowds, but hate the people. That’s the hireling. He loves the benefit of their following, their likes on his statuses, and the adoration in their eyes-but he doesn’t even know their names and wouldn’t die for these people.

There is a difference between a leader falling and a leader taking the fall. I am terribly afraid that there’s a spirit at work in the Church which is seducing us into celebrating failure so much so that our leaders are excused from accountability and lauded for a so-called resiliency, expressed by packing up and moving on to another ministry. And the sheep are left holding the bag of confusion, bewilderment, loss, mistrust and abandonment. To see fatherlessness and abdication of responsibility in the world is expected. But not in God’s church! We are fathering a generation of pastors, leaders, and laypersons who cannot do hard things, be accountable, submit to spiritual authority, suffer well, or hold a long onto obedience.

But what if the legacy of some of our greatest leaders is to be their repentance? I believe that God positions great leaders to make great impact—even when they fail. Hello, King David! Rosaria Champagne Butterfield says, “Repentance is the only no shame solution to a renewed Christian conscience, because it only proves the obvious: God was right all along.” How about we prove that and model that to a generation. Wouldn’t that give glory to God! Look at what Joshua says to Achan when he urges him to confess and stop the plague of judgment against the nation of Israel, “My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to Him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me.” (Josh 7:19).

Confession is not only good for the individual soul, but also for the corporate body. When leaders repent, we discern for ourselves whether we are hirelings or good shepherds. Our sheep are able to discern whether they are being sacrificed on the altar of the hireling’s lust or preserved by the sacrifice of the shepherd. We also inspire repentance in our congregations instead of inciting a culture of disobedience. I’ve sat in the midst of sheep who were in emotional turmoil and shepherds, so blinded by their own sin and the sins they believed others had perpetrated against them and I’ve thought: This whole storm could be over if this person just died; died to their want to justify themselves, died to their want to be right, died to their want to have control and died to their lack of trusting in God’s sovereignty and goodness as the true Lord of their circumstances.

Especially, since that’s what Jesus told us we were signing up for.

THE GREAT REWARD

Because of Jesus’ example, we should be encouraged as shepherds. The writer of Hebrews says, “Consider Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2). If we follow Jesus’ lead as the good shepherd, we are promised great reward! “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pt. 5:4). Jesus “will provide a crown of glory to those who serve in his own pattern of selfless leadership for his flock. Herein lies the [your] power to obey: looking back to Jesus’ sacrifice that justifies us and looking forward to Jesus’ return that will glorify us.”

Oh, brother shepherd, Peter was not a perfect shepherd, but God made him a good one. Now he is “a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed,” (1 Pt. 5:1b). And he is calling you to come up where he and Jesus are. But you must shepherd well by fixing your eyes on Jesus as he fixed his eyes on his future glory. No cross, no crown. Christ is glad to share his glory with those who share his cross. Let God take the opposition of death and turn it into an opportunity to manifest his glory in you and you will share the great reward of the good Shepherd forever. “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you” (5:6).

—

Kileeo Rashad is based in Philadelphia, PA, where he serves his local church in many capacities; speaker, preacher, deacon, and hospitality director. He is currently working on a debut writing project which will address breaking silence on sexual brokenness within the church. Kileeo is also the founder of Restoring the Breaches, a ministry that aims to help churches and individuals facilitate gospel-centered conversations around sexuality. 

Woman, Behold, Your Son!

When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,

“They divided my garments among them,

and for my clothing they cast lots.”

So the soldiers did these things, but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

 — John 19:23-26

Woman, Behold, Your Son!

The crowd gathered and looked up at Jesus and the words inscribed above him: “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” But no throne was in sight, just the rugged, wooden cross. Scarlet did not represent royalty, but death. Blood alone adorned his body. He writhed, life draining out of him.

Mary was reeling. In horror, she had watched her son disfigured on the cross and his words jarred her. It was not the first time she received news of an unasked for son. Her mind flashed back to an event that had shaped her more than any other. When she was a young girl an angel had appeared to her and said:

“behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” – Luke 1:31-33

Mary had treasured this news and it was now at the forefront of her mind. She looked at John, the new son she did not ask for. Then back at Jesus, naked now, as he was when he entered the world in that dirty stable some thirty years prior. His cries of agony reminded her of his cries as a child. She remembered those protective feelings so new to her as a young mother. She would’ve done anything to prevent him from experiencing pain. She wept, helpless to save him from his current agony.

She looked back at John. She was now unexpectedly asked to mother once again. This son too, she accepted, despite the host of questions swirling in her mind. While Jesus was going through his final hours alone, Mary was comforted by her new son despite the sword-like pain piercing her soul (Lk. 2:35) as she witnessed her firstborn’s final moments.

John was bewildered and overwhelmed as he heard Jesus’ words. Maybe John thought: What does he mean? How can I stand in the place of him? Perhaps He has become delusional from the loss of blood. Does he not remember the bold request of my own mother? She had asked “[Can] these two sons of mine … sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom” (Lk. 20:21).

Surely Jesus did remember. His response to John’s mother now made sense, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink” (Lk. 20:22)?

John dropped his head in shame, remembering how he naively thought he could drink that cup. How foolish. He had no idea what he had been asking.

He looked to Jesus, then to the criminals on the left and the right. If Jesus had granted his mother’s request, would he and James, his brother, be in the position of those criminals?

Jesus had done nothing to merit this brutality. John wept. He could not shake the thought that he and his brother did deserve to be in Jesus’ place.

Instead Jesus had just tasked him with the care of Mary. He was unworthy and no substitute for Jesus. How could God allow the perfect one to die, while he allowed John, blemished by sin, to take his place as the caregiver for Mary?

Then he thought that it was even more shocking that God could allow Jesus to die this death, the death that John and his brother deserved. He wished he had never arrogantly assumed he could drink the cup that Jesus was now drinking.

Uniting Through Death

While Jesus was alone and abandoned by most of his closest disciples, he would not leave John or Mary aloneAnd Mary at John. While they were pained from watching Jesus die, they didn’t feel it the way he did—isolated—because they had each other. Mary had a new son. John a new mother. But Jesus was separated and being tormented, not only from them but also from the Father. Scripture reads, “Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree” (Deut. 21:23; Gal. 3:13;). Jesus would finish his mission alone. Most of His disciples had deserted him, but he would establish through his death a new family. He unites others in a community of life and love, even while being subject to death and hatred.

Many onlookers in the crowd continued to scoff and ridicule, but some noticed, “Who is this man Jesus, Who even while facing a cruel and unjust death treats others with such selfless love and compassion?” His disciples would suffer for their trust in him, but never alone.

He had given his body up for them, but they now would become his body, the Church. He would call his people to join together. They would bear one another’s burdens in response to Jesus bearing their burdens on the cross.

The purpose and depth of that community would not be fully comprehended at that moment, but Jesus’ words, “Woman, behold your son!” harkened back to God’s words to Adam in the Garden, “It is not good for man to be alone.”

Christ’s body had been given to establish a new, interdependent body. A family united not through the blood of shared ancestry, but through the blood of Christ. As a family they would rely on one another in times of rejoicing as well as suffering.

Alone he builds community; empty handed he gives gifts.

Woman, behold, your son.

—

Sean Nolan (B.S. and M.A., Summit University) is the Family Life Pastor at Christ Fellowship Church in Fallston, MD. Prior to that he served at a church plant in Troy, NY for seven years and taught Hermeneutics to ninth and tenth graders. He is married to Hannah and is father to Knox and Hazel. He blogs at Hardcore Grace and the recently started Family Life Pastor.

Answering Life’s 8 Ultimate Questions

Whenever I talk about gospel-centered counseling, I discuss what I call 8 ultimate life questions. From time to time, I’m asked, “Why don’t you call them 8 ultimate life answers”? Michael Horton answers this question, in his fine work, The Gospel-Driven Life, by noting: We typically introduce the Bible as the “answer to life’s questions.” This is where the Bible becomes relevant to people “where they are” in their experience. Accordingly, it is often said that we must apply the Scriptures to daily living. But this is to invoke the Bible too late, as if we already knew what “life” or “daily living” meant. The problem is not merely that we lack the right answers, but that we don’t even have the right questions until God introduces us to His interpretation of reality.

Exactly!

So let’s compare the world’s 8 ultimate life questions to the Bible’s 8 ultimate life questions—to see that the world doesn’t even get the questions right!

Ultimate Life Question # 1

The World’s Question: “What is truth?”

The Word’s Question: “Where do we find wisdom for life in a broken world?”

Do you see how rich and robust the Word’s question is? And how real, raw, and relevant the Word’s question is? The world asks about truth in the abstract—philosophical truth. The Word asks about and provides the ultimate source of wisdom for living—how broken people live wisely in a broken world.

Ultimate Life Question # 2

The World’s Question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?”

The Word’s Question: “Who Is God?” “What comes into our mind when we think about God?” “Whose view of God will we believe—Satan’s or Christ’s?”

When Shirley and I recently visited the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, we read displays that constantly pondered why there was something instead of nothing. They not only failed to provide an answer, they were asking a shallow and foolish question.

See again the richness of the Word’s question: “Whose view of God will we believe—Satan’s or Christ’s?” We all have a view of God. We are all worshipping beings. And we all follow someone’s portrait of God—either an evil portrait painted by Satan or the beautiful portrait painted by Christ—in His blood.

Ultimate Life Question # 3

The World’s Question: “Who am I?”

The Word’s Question: “Whose are we?” “In what story do we find ourselves?”

Wow! Just add those two letters—s and e—and what a world of difference we find between the world’s question and the Word’s question.

“Who am I” is such a tiny, puny, and self-centered question. It is a question that pictures the world revolving around me. “Who am I?” is a question that can only be answered by self-sufficiency and self-reference—I am who I see and make myself to be.

“Whose are we?” is such a gigantic, even infinite, question. It is a question that pictures the universe revolving around God. “Whose am I?” is a question that can only be answered in-reference-to our Creator—coram Deo. The story of our life is not an auto-biography. The story of our life is a God-biography—we are each an epic poem (Eph. 2:10) written by God as pages in chapters in God’s book of eternal life.

Paul answers this ultimate life question in Romans 1:7: “Beloved by the Father and called to be saints.” We are loved sons/daughters and cleansed saints—that’s who we are because of Whose we are!

Ultimate Life Question # 4

The World’s Question: “Why do we do the things we do?”

The Word’s Question: “What went wrong?” “What’s the root source of our problem?”

The world answers its wrong question with a wrong answer. “I do the things I do because of others—it’s my spouse’s fault, my boss’ fault, my parents’ fault.” Or, “I do the things I do because of my feelings—they are out of control, beyond my control.” Or, “I do the things I do because of my body—I need better medication because my physical brain is the ultimate source of my soulful problems.”

The Word gets to the heart of our heart problem. Yes, our life situation influences our actions. Yes, our emotions are tricky and complex. Yes, our bodies are frail and fallen jars of clay. However, the root of our problem is spiritual—it is a worship disorder. It is a loss-of-awe disorder. We are all spiritual adulterers and heart idolaters—that’s the root of our problem.

Recognition of that root compels us to cry out in God-sufficiency for an Answer—a Person—who has paid the price for adultery and idolatry.

Ultimate Life Question # 5

The World’s Question: “How do people change?”

The Word’s Question: “How does Christ change people?” “How does Christ bring us peace with God?”

The world’s question focuses on human self-effort—which is the very definition of secular thinking. It’s all about me and my self-sufficient efforts to be a “better me” in my power for my good.

The Word’s question focuses on Christ-sufficiency—it’s all about Him, His power, for His glory—and becoming more like Christ, not simply a “better me.” Yes, there is a role that we play—but that role is a grace-empowered role. Already changed by Christ, we now put off the vestiges of the old us and put on the new person we already are in Christ—through the Spirit’s empowerment. Christ not only changes our inner person, but also changes our relationship with the Father from enemy to family, from alienation to peace.

Ultimate Life Question # 6

The World’s Question: “Where can we find help?”

The Word’s Question: “Where can we find a place to believe, belong, and to become—like Christ?”

The world says, “It takes a village.”

The Word says, “It takes a church.” Sanctification is a community journey with our brothers and sisters in Christ. As Ephesians 3:14-21 reminds us, it is together with all the saints that we grasp grace and grow in grace to glorify our gracious God.

Ultimate Life Question # 7 

The World’s Question: “Where are we headed?”

The Word’s Question: “How does our future destiny impact our lives today?”

We all want to know, “What’s the point?” “What’s our purpose?” The world asks these questions in a vacuum.

The Word asks the destiny question knowing the answer and relevantly tying our future to our present. As Christians, our future destiny is in eternity with God on a new heaven and a new earth where we have intimacy with God, purity in our hearts, and victory in our lives. Since this is true, the Bible urges us to live today in light of eternity. As saints who struggle against suffering and sin—our future makes all the difference in our lives now.

Ultimate Life Question # 8

The World’s Question: “Why are we here?”

The Word’s Question: “What’s our calling/purpose?” “How do we become like Christ”?

The world’s take on the question of ultimate meaning begins with a shallow question and responds with an even more superficial answer: “To be a better me.”

The Word sees our purpose as a calling in relationship to God and others. And the Word focuses our answer on Christlikeness. We are here to glorify the Father the way the Son glorified the Father. We are here to increasingly reflect Jesus. Each of us will do so in unique, idiosyncratic ways because we are each fearfully and wonderfully made to reflect Christ in a billion different ways.

The Right Questions and the Right Answers

Here’s my tweet-size summary of the implication of getting both the questions and the answers correct: To offer wise & loving biblical counsel, we must ask & answer gospel-centered biblical questions. [Add tweet link]

The world not only gets the answers wrong, the world’s questions are impoverished. The Word not only gets the answers right, the Word’s questions are rich, robust, and relevant. Is it a new thought for you that the world not only has foolish answers, but also shallow questions? If so, what impact might this realization have on your life and ministry?

How are you biblically answering life’s 8 ultimate questions?

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Dr. Robert W. Kellemen: Bob is the Vice President for Institutional Development and Chair of the Biblical Counseling Department at Crossroads Bible College, the Founder and CEO of RPM Ministries, and served for five years as the founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. For seventeen years Bob served as the founding Chairman of and Professor in the MA in Christian Counseling and Discipleship department at Capital Bible Seminary. Bob pastored for 15 years and has trained pastors and counselors for three decades. Bob earned his BA in Pastoral Ministry from Baptist Bible College (PA), his Th.M. in Theology and Biblical Counseling from Grace Theological Seminary, and his Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Kent State University. Bob and his wife, Shirley, have been married for thirty-five years; they have two adult children, Josh and Marie, one daughter-in-law, Andi, and three granddaughters: Naomi, Penelope, and Phoebe. Dr. Kellemen is the author of thirteen books including Gospel-Centered Counseling and Gospel Conversations.

Adapted with permission from RPM Ministries (here & here)

5 Effortless Ways to Be Formed by God’s Word

Five years ago if you would have told me I would be susceptible to the black hole of social media and Netflix, I would have laughed. But these days I find myself increasingly formed by hours of screen time rather than God’s Word. I might spend ten minutes on Facebook or USA Today before I get out of bed to read my Bible. Or watch Netflix at the end of a long day in the place of meditating on Scripture. Or scan fitness blogs instead talking about God’s Word with my spouse. It feels harmless, yet these voices unconsciously shape me. More than any other time in history, God’s people are distracted by endless cultural noise in our limited 24 hour days. When we give thoughtless hours to these distractions, something will inevitably get crowded out. God’s Word is often the first thing pushed aside. Entertainment isn’t evil in and of itself; rather it’s a gift from God if enjoyed in a way that leads to worship. However, if we don’t intentionally prioritize biblical formation above other formation, these outside voices will unconsciously shape us more than God.

How Can We Recover Biblical Formation?

The Bible always has been and always will be formational for the church. God gave it to us that we might orient our lives, identities, and practices around the God who has spoken. Over and above every other word in our lives, God’s authoritative Word must form our lives, our families, and our missional communities. We must commit ourselves to not only hearing God’s voice but also submitting ourselves to obeying that voice. In a culture of endless voices ready to shape us in their image, we must fight to recover biblical formation.

1. Meditate on a passage for five minutes in the morning and night

Psalm 1:1-2 depicts a man who delights in the law so intensely that he pores over God’s words morning and night. This practice shapes him in such a way that he becomes like a deeply rooted tree which yields fruit in due season. Every single one of us (regardless of busy schedules) could set apart five minutes in the morning and evening to reflect on God’s Word. What would it look like for you to build this into your daily routine? What changes need to be made to reserve ten minutes for biblical meditation?

For me it’s easier to read the Word in the morning and then zone out to TV/phone at night. I’ve set a cut-off time for all screens and put my Bible next to my bed as the only thing within my reach. I’m not suggesting this as a “legalistic” boundary, but I am sharing what’s helped create an atmosphere that enables me to prioritize the word of God over other distractions. Examine your routine, decide where you could prioritize God’s Word, pick a passage, and ask the Spirit to shape your heart and mind through the Word every morning and night.

2. Talk about God’s Word with those around you

Deuteronomy 6:6-7 explains how God’s Word shapes his people as they talk about it with their children, as they walk along the roads, as they lie down, and as they get up. This wasn’t formal “theological training,” it was biblical formation as they went about their daily routines. God’s people today must learn to weave his Word into the fabric of our lives in this same manner.

This can be implemented in endless ways! Talk to your children about Jesus in the small tasks throughout the day, tell your family what God is teaching you through his Word, talk to your friends about what you’re wrestling through in the Scriptures, tell co-workers (even unbelievers) what verse you’re pondering that day. I find that people don’t naturally talk about God’s Word in informal settings. This isn’t a scripted gospel-presentation, rather it’s talking about God’s Word as you might your favorite TV show the night after an explosive episode. Perhaps, this would be the most formative change you could make.

3. Listen to the Bible during “empty” periods

Throughout history God’s people primarily heard his Word. As a matter of fact, many ancient texts were written to be heard rather than read. This should not replace Bible reading and study (praise God we now have access to many translations of the Bible!), but it’s helpful to hear God’s Word as its original hearers did.

Download an audio Bible translation and listen to it during “empty” periods in your day, times when you have tasks to complete that take little to no brainpower. These are the moments we are most tempted to turn on a sports broadcast, the TV, or listen to our own self-talk. Instead, listen to the Bible when you do laundry, exercise, mow the lawn, fix the car, drive to work, clean the house, or cook or bake. Don’t obsess about giving the audio 100% of your focus; just throw it on in the background. You will be shaped by it more than you think. This has been one of my favorite habits I’ve recently implemented!

4. Gather to hear God’s Word corporately

There’s a powerful story in Nehemiah 8:1-8 in which God’s people gathered to hear the Law read and interpreted. It changed them as they corporately heard and responded to the Scriptures. The practice of gathering to hear and respond to God’s Word has been an integral part of his people throughout redemptive history.

Today, we must be committed to gathering each week to hear God’s Word preached. This actually takes a small amount of effort (outside of getting ready and driving to church). Simply attend your local church gathering and actively listen to biblical exposition. A steady diet of the preached Word week in and week out has power to form you. Of course, there are times you just can’t get there but the norm should be gathering with God’s people on a set apart day to hear God’s Word.

5. Meet for regular Bible study

Colossians 3:16 exhorts believers to “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom.” Meeting weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly with other people to study the Scriptures is a formative practice. Many of my most fruitful relationships have been borne out of faithful Bible study.

Don’t overcomplicate this. Set a regular time and place to meet. Do it in a convenient place such as your home, a park, or your office. Build it naturally into your schedule—meet forty-five minutes before work with co-workers or during your child’s play date with another mom or thirty minutes before class with a fellow student. Pick a short book (e.g., 1 John) and commit to read through it separately then meet to discuss. Talk about points of conviction and how you will respond.¹

These simple practices are the regular ploughing of our heart with God's word. You will be more apt to think God’s thoughts, challenge cultural norms, spot your own blindspots, feel spiritually nourished, and grow in godliness. As your appetite for and commitment to God’s Word grows, it will drown out the cultural noise all around you. Also, the recovered art of biblical formation in your life will produce marked transformation in the life of your community as you seek to make, mature, and multiply disciples.

1. For in-depth Bible study, download this easy-to-use guide will provide a solid launching pad (right-click here).

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Whitney Woollard is passionate about equipping others to read and study God’s Word well resulting maturing affection for Christ and his glorious gospel message. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute and a Masters of Arts in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary. Whitney and her husband Neal currently live in Portland, OR where they call Hinson Baptist Church home. Visit her writing homepage whitneywoollard.com.

Biblical Meditation As Experiential Reading

Perhaps one of the greatest ironies should be assigned to our current situation: we have more access to Scripture and its rich historical truths than ever before and yet we have in our churches an ever-increasing lethargy when it comes to the exploration of said truths. In other words, we have the Bible in our pockets with information at our fingertips and yet we lack a desire to experience the Word afresh. Maybe instead of calling it an irony we could call it a tragedy. The truth is, we have Study Bibles, Bible software, Bible studies, Bible apps, Bible commentaries, Bible dictionaries, Bible lexicons, and voluminous works after voluminous works of history’s finest theologians—and we’re not any smarter, any more holy, or any more passionate about God and his Word. What’s the problem?

Biblical Meditation

In our drive-through Christianity in America, we value our time and our dollars, which means we don’t have the time or the capital to slow down and digest Scripture. Either we’re not hungry because we’re not walking with Christ, or we are hungry but we prefer the dollar menu rather than the fine dining banquet. We lack time and we lack passion.

Consequently, Biblical meditation requires us to swim upstream from our culture. When the Apostle Paul challenged Timothy to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV), I can’t believe for one second that he meant it should be easy.

Biblical meditation is when the Spirit-filled reader ruminates on the word of God and is shaped by the Spirit to its message. When a person desires to meditate on the Word as we are told to do often in Scripture (e.g., Josh. 1:8; Ps. 1:2, 19:14, 119:97-99, 143:5; Eph. 4:17-18), she reads the words on the page, brings its truth to mind, ponders it in light of what it says about God and herself, and seeks to apply it to every aspect of her being. While many various eastern religions emphasize the “emptying” of one’s mind, Christian meditation emphasizes the filling of one’s mind so as to align with the Triune God.

Experiential Meditation

It is my contention that in order to have a healthy spiritual life built on sound, fervent, and frequent meditation on Scripture, we must do so experientially. This is by no means a new concept, for the Puritans built their ministries on this concept. What does it mean to mediate on the Bible experientially? Simply put, we are to “love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5).

Experiential Bible meditation is different from what’s practiced by many Christians today. Typically the Bible is read in a superficial way. The words are read in our minds or even aloud, and instead of getting out the exegetical shovel and doing the hard labor, we move on to the next thing. (Hence the appeal to short devotional readings—we don’t have time to spend processing and pondering a passage, so we need someone to help us get a little nugget and get it quickly).

In our 140-character world, it’s no wonder we can’t dig deep and do honest experiential Bible meditation. We’re trained to consume short amounts of information, oftentimes sharing an article on Facebook, for example, because of the headline instead of actually reading the entire article.

Inevitably, this type of consumption of content breeds spiritual lethargy. Therefore, we must slow down and return to experiential meditation—the process whereby we take a verse, or a set of verses and we spend time allowing our hearts, minds, souls, and hands to be shaped by the Spirit through the Word. It’s not enough to just read the Bible; the Bible must read us. Meditation is the key to experiential Bible reading. Instead of just reading words and passively processing them, true experiential meditation ought to stir the heart and motivate the hands. To read the Bible is to simply hold up a mirror. To read the Bible experientially is to gaze upon the mirror with inquisitive wonder.

Experiential Christian Living

So how does this work? What does it practically look like? To meditate biblically is to read the Bible through the power and promises of God in Christ. Bible reading ought to point us to Christ and the implications of his Kingdom in the world. Not only do we mediate on the Word for knowledge and understanding, we meditate on the Word for practice and piety. Orthodoxy leads to orthopraxy. The Christian life consists of theology going in and doxology going out; doctrine in the heart and mind, worship with our lives. We dare not only hear the word; we must do the word, too (Jas. 1:22).

Biblical, experiential meditation means that we focus in on what the Holy Spirit inspired so we align our heads, hearts, and hands with what God intends to impress upon the soul. The head, heart, and hands paradigm coincides with repentance, faith, and mission.

• Repentance (Head) – When reading Scripture, we should, like King David, weep. “I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping” (Ps. 6:6). The reason many people fail to exhibit righteous behavior and the fruit of the Spirit is because in our efforts to follow Jesus, we’ve forgotten about repentance. The Christian life is a life of ongoing repentance. If we wish to follow Jesus into the world, we must follow him with repentant hearts. The reason this must start in the head? “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). When our minds are renewed and refreshed, our hearts follow along. Instead of being deceived by our hearts (Jer. 17:9), we can be guided by the truth—the Word of God. Biblical, experiential meditation on Scripture aims to answer the question: “What sin have I let run amuck in my heart?” This type of meditation requires a true examination of self before God in his presence in front of his Word.

• Faith (Heart) – The charge of experiential meditation focuses on the gospel of King Jesus which corresponds with the Apostle Paul’s words: “[A] love…from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith” (1 Tim. 1:5). Because the mind is prone to wander, the heart is not far behind. Instead of shrinking back into a lethargically obtuse spirituality, experiential meditation ought to push us to “draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith” (Heb. 10:22). We read the Bible to know not just about God, but to know God. When the Spirit works in us, he works via the means of his inspired Word. The Bible ought to be stuffed deep in the soul so our hearts are set on fire with a passion for the glory of God. It does no good to read the words of Scripture at the surface—we must plunge ourselves by faith into the Word of God so the Spirit can change us. It takes time, energy, focus, and affection. The Lord is near to the broken-hearted, so step one is to acknowledge our brokenness. We can then rely on the promises that he is near us, challenging us to grow with a heart full of child-like faith.

• Mission (Hands) – It’s not experiential if it doesn’t lead us to act. The Spirit works in the life of Christians who make it their practice to meditate on Scripture producing heads full of repentance, hearts full of faith, and hands toiling for the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58). Part of the reason the American church has been lazy in mission is because we’ve been lazy to pursue a heart of faith and repentance. It does no good to talk about disciple making if we can’t get the full-orbed Christian life straightened out. The mission of disciple making and maturing cannot flourish if the mind and heart is not full of the gospel. Biblical, experiential meditation fuels mission. When we are saturated in the Word of God because we’ve gazed into the mirror of God’s Word, love in action for our homes, church, neighborhoods, and cities is the result. We want experiential disciples who make disciples who make more disciples. We can’t do this without loving others and we can’t love others when we do not love the Lord.

Experiential meditation on the Word of God isn’t an end to itself; it begins as a life transformed from the inside out. It is the duty of God’s people to shape their minds through godly repentance, aligning their affections with hearts full of faith in a very big God, while cultivating a life of obedience to what God has tasked us with: discipling all nations.

Ultimately, experiential meditation does not make us more righteous. Reading the Bible doesn’t some how magically transform your standing before the Throne of God. The righteousness you need is in Christ and you have every last ounce of it. Experiential meditation helps us live in light of the righteous standing you have before God and leads us to a vibrant, difficult, real, sorrowful, joyful, and holistic walk with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You have been justified by his grace through faith, so now you can go in that same inebriating, experiential grace and live an abundant life for his glory.

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Rev. Jason M. Garwood (M.Div., Th.D.) serves as Lead Pastor of Colwood Church in Caro, MI and author of Be Holy and The Fight for Joy. Jason and his wife Mary have three children, Elijah, Avery and Nathan. He blogs at www.jasongarwood.com. Connect with him on Twitter: @jasongarwood.