Discipleship – Will You Join the Ekklesia?

This week in class, we discussed being countercultural.  First of all, let me ask you a question: what does the Greek word Ekklesia mean?  Well, one English derivative of this word is ‘ecclesiastical’, which means ‘of the church’.  Ekklesia, then, essentially means the church, or a study of the church for us as Christians.  This word meant something completely different, however, before Jesus coined the term for his new creation that was the ‘church’.

In Rome, Caesar had conquered many territories.  Keeping these multitudes of people in line and following Caesar would be an insurmountable task in that time period, if it weren’t for ekklesia.  Ekklesia was basically a ‘cult’ in ancient Rome that swore complete loyalty to Caesar, the self-proclaimed ‘Son of God and Lord of all that would come to save the world for the renewal of humanity and the defeat of evil to eventually rise to the right hand of God’ as seen in the writings of that time period.  Does this sound remotely familiar?  Painfully familiar?  Is the connection I’m drawing not forcing you cry out in pain and agony at the sight of such a clear line connecting two concepts joined by the same Greek WORD?

Yes.  Jesus Christ is that ‘Son of God and Lord of all that would come to save the world for the renewal of humanity and the defeat of evil to eventually rise to the right hand of God’, and he asks us to swear our complete loyalty to him being in the church in what he calls the ekklesia.  He chose this term with it’s meaning pre-inscribed for a reason.  Those who were in Caesar’s ekklesia were VERY outspoken, and everyone hated them for it.  There was no doubt in any citizen’s mind of who was in the ekklesia.  It won’t always be easy being in God’s ekklesia, Matthew 10:22 says “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”  Standing firm doesn’t mean being a shy old couch potato, standing firm means standing firm.

Ephesians 6:13 states, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”  It doesn’t say to sit down with a bag of popcorn to watch the world go by, it says to STAND, and after you have done everything, to STAND.

You must give the Lord all your devotion, that you will wear the full armor of God to stand against the temptations of this world, and that you may conquer the world for God’s kingdom.  You must join that ekklesia.  You must be heard over the shouts of this world in God’s army.  You must show this fallen world that Jesus, our one and only savior, is Christ the Lord.

Discipleship – What it Means to Follow Jesus

Seeing as some of my previous blogs have gotten rather long, meaning less people read them, I’m going to follow an outline with today’s blog.

What is Discipleship?

This question can probably best be answered through reviewing scripture.  Read with me Mark 1:16-20,

¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹ When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰ Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

In this passage, the disciples stop what they are doing, drop their nets and their former lives, and follow Jesus.  They didn’t hesitate, they dropped it right then and there.  There is a visible sense of urgency in this passage that I think we must pay attention to.  If you are to follow your Lord and Savior, you can’t wait around till you are older.  As we covered in the previous post, the disciples were most likely teenagers.  In order to follow Jesus, you must stop what you are doing and give all your devotion to the Lord.

What will it cost?

1. Your worldly possessions/relations – Matthew 19:16-21

If you want to become a disciple of Christ, you must give up your worldly possessions.  “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” – Matthew 6:20

“Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you.”

The man asked, “What in particular?”

Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.”

The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?”

“If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.”” – Matthew 19:16-21

You must also, then, give up your worldly relations to be truly devoted to Christ.  “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” – Matthew 10:37

2.  Your old self – Ephesians 4:22-24

In this life, we are tempted.  Satan is actively working to bring you to sin and ultimate destruction.  All have their points at which they do not withhold from sin.  This is the old self.  When you commit to a life-long relationship with your Lord and savior, you must simply leave those ways behind you.  You must make a 180º turn and begin your walk in the direction Jesus wants you to go.  Ephesians 4:22-24 says,

“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

If you are to enter a Mark 1 discipleship, if you are to devote all that you have, all that you are to your Lord and savior as covered in the last post, then you must put off the old self, and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.  This can only come through Jesus the Christ by whom you have been saved.

Therefore, are you ready to stop what you are doing, drop all of your possessions and your old way of life, and follow your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?  To what end will you follow him as his disciple?

Discipleship – We are God’s Children

Alrighty, well this week we were told in class to ‘have fun’ with our blogs.  I decided to do just that.  PICTURES, ILLUSTRATIONS, AND VIDEOS GALORE!!!

In class today, we discussed the Old Testament process through which the Jewish children went through in preparation for becoming a priest.  These children would begin the process described in the group of writings called Misnah, beginning Beth Sepher.  In Beth Sepher, they would begin memorizing the Tora and reading scripture.  At age 10, the students would enter Beth Mishra, in which they would begin seriously memorizing scripture. Let me not make the mistake of understating this, the best and most successful students, by the end of Beth Mishra, will have memorized 39 BOOKS OF SCRIPTURE.  That is 39 books, not chapters, not verses, entire books.  This was incredible dedication and determination, something our culture for young adults currently lacks.  Anyways, those who had gone through the program with flying colors were called Talmidim, or disciple.  They would serve as a sort of ‘apprentice’ or disciple under a prophet or priest, and later on become a priest themselves.

The point of this, though, is to show you how dedicated those Jewish children were.  At age 10 they were already well on their way to memorizing the ENTIRE Tora, and yes that includes Leviticus and Numbers!  They were completely devoted to their work and to the Lord as his disciples.

Now I want you to watch this video about the calling of Simon and Andrew.  There is something wrong with how the characters of Simon and Andrew are portrayed…see if you can tell what is wrong:

I am nearly positive you did not notice the main error in their portrayal, because most people wouldn’t picture Simon and Andrew, the disciples of Jesus, as teenagers.  That means that everything Jesus taught the disciples, all that he commanded them to do, he was telling to a bunch of teenagers (with the exception of Peter).  They were also Talmidim, or disciples, of Jesus.  Jesus commanded them to go and make disciples of all nations in what we know as the great commission, and as teenagers on into their twenties and on until their death, they did just that.  They followed their Lord, they learned from him, and all as men not too much older than me, a 15 year old.

By now, you may be asking why this is important.  When I heard such things in class, I was stuck on the same question.  Now, however, I’ll provide you with an answer.  These points are important because they show us just how dedicated Jesus expects us to be as teenagers, tweens, and even those in the 5-10 age range.  We are all his disciples.  And, in Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  I want you to recall, for a moment, how much time and effort the Jewish students put in as Talmidim.  They had committed to memory thirty-nine books of the Old Testament by age 17, that’s just one year older than me and the rest of my class.  I know I have only memorized an average of 100 Bible verses, with Awana and all when I was younger, and I only remember about 15 of them.  When these teenagers about my age, they were able to recite THOUSANDS of verses from memory at that very point in time.  That sure speaks to me on motivation level.

With this in mind, listen through this song by the Newsboys, paying close attention to the lyrics (perhaps as you continue reading the rest of the blog):

Here are the lyrics for this song:

All my world, all I’ve lost
The wrecks I’ve made here
The lives it cost
Your hand restores
Your words make whole
With all my soul
I thank You, I owe You
All my

Devotion
All that I have to give
Here’s my devotion
You’re all that it means to live

All my past, my tainted name
You stole it’s legacy
Of pride and shame
You’re all I love
You’re all I fear
I’m drawing near
To face You, to know You
To show You

Devotion
All that I have to give
Here’s my devotion
You’re all that it means to live

You found me in a shallow grave
You dragged me out from beneath it all
You healed me, saved me
In the nick of time
Your perfect time

You found me in a shallow grave
You called me out from beneath it all
You touched me, saved me
In the nick of time
Your perfect time

I’ll devote all I have to You
I’ll devote all that You’ve made new
All You restored that day You bled
All that You brought back from the dead, oh

Devotion
All that I have to give
Here’s my devotion
You’re all that it means to live

You’re all that it means to live
My Lord my devotion

This is a wonderful song – and it captures the spirit of what I’m trying to say.  Not only does God deserve our praise and faith in him, he deserves our devotion.  And, in fact, he expects it from us.  In Romans 12:1, the author writes, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

(Alright, I’m now only targeting the younger, less scholarly folks in the audience (teens or younger).  Be sure to read this with the preface of what I said above)

I challenge you to read the Bible tomorrow morning, and instead of simply reading through a whole chapter and forgetting the content the next day 70% of the time, I challenge you to sit in your room and memorize one, two, three, or more verses that you read.  Memorize something of an attribute of God so that you may worship him more fervently and reverently.  Memorize something of a trait of one who loves the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, that you may imitate it in daily life.  Memorize something about the story of Jesus Christ, his life on earth, his death, his resurrection, etc.  Find a passage that you feel you need to memorize, a passage that you feel you need to hear for whatever reason, practical or spiritual.  Then continue to do this, memorizing a few verses each week.

I’ve begun to do this with myself, and this week I memorized Ephesians 4:1-3 (Here’s the passage from memory):

As a prisoner of the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Are you willing to do this?  Are you willing to give all of your devotion, all that you have to give, to the one who created you, and has rescued you from the shackles of sin even through death on a cross?

Introduction to the Trinitarian Concept

Have you ever felt confused when trying to understand the Trinity?  Well, if you haven’t then you don’t understand it at all.  In fact, it is impossible for us as rational humans to understand such a concept.  It is simply beyond us.  Well, it was beyond the Israelites as well.

The Israelites wouldn’t have understood the Trinity when Mark described it, for they had never heard of it before.  Yes, some would argue that the trinity is very evident in the Old Testament, and I would agree, but the Israelites wouldn’t have seen it that way.  Take, for example, in the creation account where God says “Let US make man in OUR own image”.  Although we might interpret that as evidence of a trinity, the Israelites would have probably interpreted this as God using the ‘royal we’.  This is the concept that royalty uses the plural in reference to himself to show his power and position.  Even if they didn’t interpret it this way, chances are the Israelites didn’t fully understand the concept of a Trinity.

Anyways, In Mark 1:9-11, all three persons of the trinity are present and interact with one another.

⁹ At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹ And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.

Here the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all present, and all three interact with one another.  For the Israelites, this was a new and confusing concept to wrap their heads around, and understandably!  If it’s hard for me to understand it having grown up being taught the concept, think about how hard it would be for the Israelites to accept and understand it.  It is very wise for Mark to start off the Gospel (well yes, Matthew is the start, but Mark restarts) with this concept, because the Israelites can begin their reading with this new and intensely important concept in mind.

Why is the concept of a trinity so important?

Because without the trinity, both creation and redemption would fall apart (among other things I won’t be able to cover in this post).

Creation was God’s magnificent… well… creation.  It brought him great joy to create beings that would bring him glory in all that they did.  Imagine for a moment, however, that there was and is no trinity.  Instead, God is one person and one being.  If this were true, than God would have needed to create humanity to glorify him, because there would be no one to do so.  This would imply that creation fills a NEED of God, a sort of gap that only we can fill.  This, of course, is utter heresy, for humanity filled no gap or hole of God.  God is completely ‘self-sustained’ (for lack of better phrasing).   The person of the son is the one who brings God ultimate glory, a glory that humanity and all of creation couldn’t even begin to match.  In John 14:13, Jesus speaks to the disciples saying, “And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.”  Even all that we can say and do bring glory to the father through the son.  This is why the concept of a trinity is so important in creation.

Redemption was God’s great work in humanity, when the Son entered into his own creation to dwell among them and to teach them his commands.  Again, assume for a moment that God was and is only one person, and there is no Trinity.  If this were true, first of all the entire Bible would have to be tossed.  The Bible is constantly making reference to the Trinity throughout the old and new testament (specifically the new).  The gospel is packed full of trinity references (i.e. John 3:16, Luke 14:34, etc.).  Who would be brought glory in Jesus’ death and resurrection if he was the only person of God?  In the garden of Gethsemene, who would Jesus be praying to if he was the only person of God?  How would you explain Mark 1:9-11 as we looked at before?  These and other such questions are not easily answered, and only by labeling such passages as figurative or throwing them out of the Bible can one argue that there is no Trinity.