There are times when we have an “Aha!’ moment, and we discover that the ordinary in our life is actually extraordinary. This thought crossed my mind as I meditated on Genesis 28: 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”
I am at the age where I do not seek out big risks. In my youth, when I felt somewhat invincible and ready to take a chance, a simple thing like driving a car –fast, would be little more than a ‘so what?” kind of thought. In effect, I was a consumer.
I had a ’69 muscle car, and I could go fast. For those that knew me at the time, they would have been like-minded. “Yeah — if we can go fast, lets do it!” My style was pretty much “use whatever life hands you”.
Somewhere around that time I became a Christian, and my desire to consume and use faded significantly. You see, the gospel message I share is similar to my change in lifestyle. I can either share a message that produces disciples, or a message that results in being a consumer .
On a straight, lonely stretch of highway where I am the only car, I face the
discipline factors of 1) my driving ability, 2) guardrails, and 3) the road itself. If any of those factors are beyond my control, I am in trouble. It is a story of knowing what I am and what I do. Am I a good driver, is the road good, can I handle the car? If I answer ‘No” to any of these factors, I better not speed. It is important for each of us to have an understanding of what we are and what we do. We also need to recognize that we are in subjection to God, created in His likeness — given dominion over the earth, while also knowing that God is present in our lives, through Jesus the son. He is the only Being who is independent of everything else. God is not isolated to a single place. He is everywhere, such that I can worship anywhere I am. He is at work where we are. In order to take Him with us we need to recognize God is already there. Like Jacob we need to face this statement every day: “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I need to be aware of it.”
At this point it may take some self probing to know what we truly think of God.
- To think magnificently of Him will require some work.
- To get to a place where we wait on God, we need to train ourselves to not take things into our own hands.
- To consider we are beings created and conformed to God’s likeness requires faithful dependence on Christ, for life , in a whole-life discipleship.
For whole-life discipleship,
- I have to do what He asks (which requires my trust).
- I have to learn to do the ordinary with Jesus (not to stand out, but to be Christ for someone)
- I have to live and act in the power of God (through prayer and embracing whatever I need to).
If I am only a a consumer of what I learn in devotions or church, I am not a disciple. To be a disciple requires discipline of yourself. It does not stop there. We then have to teach it or we deprive abilities to those who could master them.
Christianity is not about learning rules, instead it is an understanding of our place, under God. Our understanding of our place enables an understanding of control, and an interesting truth is revealed: When it is not part of our discipline; we cannot control it and it will be outside our control.
In summary, being a producer rather than a consumer of discipline puts us in the right place.
- It does not earn us anything It is simply a way towards wisdom or a means of grace.
- It enables us to weave the texture of God into our lives.
- Discipleship starts in church though it is intended for the world.
- Through our participation in the life Jesus is now living on earth, we are helping with His plan of salvation.
