Hi neighbor! It's been about 20+ days since i've posted anything and the sad truth of that is because I kind of ran out of things to blog about. All the "deep" thoughts of my brain were about spent on what little topics I touched on and then finals took over all my brain space and then I went off to Africa.
Good news, the trip was amazing and much needed. More good news, I had gained a lot of perspective on some things and now have new things to share with my friends (at least 3 blog post worth).
I'll start with this one....
For some reason I had began meditating on 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In the first few verses Paul says that he has to break down the spiritual instruction for the Corinthians, because they couldn't get it straight Paul had to relate the word of God to them. "For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?" (verses 4+ 5) We as the body, fall into this pattern of behavior as well. We get so caught up with following trends and people that we get very sidetracked from the work God has set before us. No knock to guys like Piper or Platt or Giglio or any of the men and women of today who are strong public figures who strive for the mark and push other believers to do the same, but sometimes we deviate from searching out what God has to say to us from His own word, and we borrow and regurgitate someone else's theology. Again, I'm not saying anything against these people except what the Spirit of God moved Paul to write about them. Who are they, but ministers that received the same full measure as any other believer? There is no need for us to be carbon copies of others, and align ourselves with someone else's beliefs. We are to join hand in hand and learn from one another, but ultimately seeking the Lord to teach our hearts.
But this verse has another twist. Just as there is nothing special about Paul, Apollos, Frances Chan or Driscoll there is also nothing special about us either. We the same are not to try and form our own brand of theology (and by that I mean heresy) just to have our own mind about the Scripture, or going out into the world trying to make carbon copies of ourselves. Instead we are to teach all people the HOW TO SEEK the Lord and hear from Him themselves. The call of every Follower of Christ is the command he gave to us before His ascension. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." (Matt. 28:19-20)
Maybe we have miss understood what it means to make disciples. We think it means make disciples of ourselves because of the success we've had in our walk. If making disciples is about making someone else think like us, the fruit of that is one of prideful corruption, one that is all about making the tree (us) look good. We are to make disciples of Christ, teaching people to follow Christ. If Christ is the tree and we abide in Him as the vine (John 15:5), the fruit will be of the same. "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit." (Matt. 12:33)
I’ll leave you here because this all prefaces what the Lord began to show me on my Journey in Senegal, and transitions really well.
It’s good to be back! Grace and Peace.
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