Last night in our group, someone asked how we hear God. I love when people ask this question because it points to someone who is really trying to listen and follow the Lord.

When I talk about listening to God, I usually go in one of several places in scripture. Last night, I think I went to more than usual. I really love how John 5 describes how Jesus watched for God’s work and joined him when it was obvious (I have the Blackabys to thank for this insight). John describes Jesus as allowing God to interrupt his day. So we talked about waiting and watching.

This wasn’t enough for our young people. I could see that they wanted more. So I went to John 10 where Jesus describes himself as a shepherd whose voice the sheep will follow. I didn’t know this until way after I had read the passage, but sheep aren’t herded. Herding sheep sends them running because they are afraid. Most shepherds walk ahead of their sheep and talk to them. Some sing. Either way, the shepherds voice is important in gathering the sheep. So we talked about how to recognize God’s voice and follow it.

This led to a paradox in our group. Some though it was obvious what God’s leading is and others thought it was less obvious. This brought us to Galatians 5 where Paul the Apostle talks about fruit and outcomes. He says it’s obvious what the leading of the Spirit is.

Here is where I could use some help. I am always looking for new ways to teach this idea of listening to God. Does anyone have any other ways they use to teach people how to listen for God’s voice?

Links

• When pastors collide – Jeremy Zach troubleshoots the all too regular collision between Youth Pastors and their Sr. Pastor.
• Musculinity, Emasculation, and the Masculine Soul – Chuck Degroat discusses misogyny from a place of authority.
• Custom In-Ear Monitors – Lifehacker tells you how to make a pair of custom molded in ear headphones.
• Holistic Discipleship – Amy Jacober writes an interesting article here for Immerse.

Books

• Leading With a Limp – Dan Allender writes a great book about leading from your weakness.
• Delivering Happiness - The CEO of Zappos writes about his success. ht - Marko

I read a tweet recently that said, “The imitation of Christ is the core of discipleship and goal of disciple-making.” I’m not sure I disagree with the sentiment of this statement as a goal of a Christian. Christian implies the nature of Christ, right? It means that we should be little Christs.

For discipleship though, this reminds me of the WWJD movement. I don’t think Jesus asked himself, “What would Jesus do?” In fact, the precedent for Jesus work is actually fairly explicit in John 5. Jesus says that the Father (God) is always at work, and the son joins him in that work. According to that statement, Jesus should wear a WITFD bracelet that says, “What is the Father doing?”

My question in this rises from the goal of discipleship. Is discipleship spiritual formation where the goal is to make people like Christ? Or is the goal of discipleship to reveal the particular characteristics and qualities that a person is created with?

My perspective has shifted more and more into the latter question. I am seeing my role as leader and mentor become more about finding a person’s unique gifting. It dives into created identity to find how our particular talents point to God’s purpose.

What do you think? Should our goal in discipleship be formation or revelation?

There is a unique connection between art and creation. The work of art amazes, but it also points to the artist more than the art. Look at Water Lilies and you see a work of art. Look deeper at each brush stroke and choice of color and you see the artist. Art highlights the artist more than the actual piece itself.

Discipleship mirrors art in the same way. When God the artist created us, he did so with a deliberate plan. He carefully thought through each detail that would become an essential part of us. Nothing went unnoticed in his eye. The job of discipleship isn’t for a leader to leave his mark on a disciple. Instead, the work of discipleship reveals God’s work in creating that person.

In this way, spiritual formation gets it wrong. Our created identity is more revealed than it is formed.

Much like a sculptor, a person discipling another knocks away all of the pieces that obscure the work of art underneath. It might be insecurity, shame or self-condemnation that obscures someone from seeing the work of art that they are. Maybe it’s arrogance or avoidance that keeps a person from living as God’s glory. What ever the case, the leader sets his goal in discipleship to reveal the truth underneath all of that.

Then discipleship becomes art.

Last week I talked about how Donald Miller visited our group. It was an amazing time for our group. This week, I expanded on each of one of the points from last week’s discussion: purpose. Specifically, we talked about how we can find our purpose. Here’s what happened.

After reviewing last week’s discussion, we began thinking through the many ways we might be able to find out our own purpose. In the group we wanted to have a test for what would work and what wouldn’t. For something to reveal our purpose it would have to be

• true
• specific
• intrinsic (to the person)
• obvious after speculation
• and draw that person into a closer relationship with the Lord.

Almost everything that was brought up failed our test. The Bible is true, but it isn’t very specific to an individual. Prayer, while being a great practice, doesn’t always lead to truth being revealed. It also depends on the ability of the person to hear, so it may or may not be true according to the hearer. Creeds like the Westminster Catechism are great summaries of the truths of the Bible, but fail in being specific as well. They also mostly point to extrinsic details in a person’s life rather than those things already inside them.

So after a long discussion, we concluded that there was no absolute proven way of knowing your purpose. We then talked about how using many of these tools together would be the best scenario. Enter discipleship 101.

Discipleship uses all of these tools, the Bible, prayer, intrinsic value that becomes obvious in a way that draws people closer to God. How that works is still being developed, but I will hopefully have some big help coming soon for those who are interested.

Links

• Embracing failure in discipleship – Andy does a great job of thinking through the role of authenticity.
• Five Traits of a Discipler – Seth does it again with an insightful post on what we should look like.
• Success in Youth Ministry – This great article talks from Danny Ferguson is about the success trap in ministry.
• How to be Creative even if your not “a creative” – Friend Chuck Hillman nails this post with some great advice for those who don’t think of themselves as creatives.
• How/When to Upgrade – From Michael Bayne, an article on making changes.

Books

• Fathered by God – John Eldredge – I really don’t have to say much more. It’s John Eldredge. If you have a father wound, or don’t know that you do, read this.
• Poke the Box – Seth Godin – This manifesto on scarcity is a must read for people who are literate.

My agent has told me more than once that I can be a bit esoteric. There, you have been warned.

I have been recently convicted about a particular bent I have. The same agent who described me as esoteric also identified my arrogance. I own that arrogance, but I don’t let it define me. As someone truly empathic, I understand people on a deep level. It is a gift and a curse. It’s a gift when I can understand another and help them through a tough spot. It’s a curse when I pile on my own judgement of them and eisegete their situation.

Enter the Father of Existentialism.

I have always been a fan of Kierkegaard. His works have been a balm for my particular “bent” because he seems to have suffered similarly. He wrote a brilliant book called Either/Or. In this book, he stresses the need in life to choose. That is, he proposes that we live only when we make distinctions and act on them.

Then came the idea of “Both/And.” In an “Either/Or” life, creativity and fullness come from distinctions. In the “Both/And” life, it comes from seeing what is there (yes I’m an empath), understanding how it works and making it work in your bit of the universe. This approach challenges me. My very important distinctions only matter in this world when I integrate those distinctions in my life.

What does this mean? It means that instead of making distinctions that separate, I choose to find those that include those differences. I think this is the key to how Jesus did discipleship.

When Jesus discipled others, he saw many of the differences and challenges they faced. It didn’t separate him from a person, it moved him to compassion. In this way, Jesus made a connection with people others thought hopeless. Jesus was an expert at making connections.

When I disciple someone, I want to connect with them deeply. I want to be able to see them for who they are. If I let this empathy call out distinctions in my life and eisegete my story into theirs, I will always fail. When I can empathize with them and be moved to compassion, God will win.

I have read the Jesus Creed blog for I don’t know how long. Now, they are offering a book that is in my niche.

Here.

Several people have blogged about March Madness or asked me personally about which team or bracket I was pulling for. So I thought I would get some of my thoughts out in public view.

To start, I am not completely against sports or even watching sports, and I am not against playing sports. Sometimes I am a bit competitive.

Having said that, I think sports are one of the most anti-kingdom creations of man. This started with the idea of thousands of people screaming themselves hoarse on Saturday because the care so much about their favorite team. Sunday roles around, and they feel amazing if they can get up and make it to church, but when they arrive, they are marginally  as enthusiastic about worship. Something looks like an idol when that happens to me.

Performance and Grace
In sports, winning counts more than anything. Occasionally  you might hear of someone who focuses on how you play the game, but the majority of hype revolves around the winners. In fact, coaches use every form of manipulation they can to produce winners. They nag, badger, shame, guilt, equivocate, verbally abuse, punish and use any other form of lever they can to get the best performance possible out of their athletes. When we win, they offer us praise. When we lose, they shame and then remove all attention. Then they leaves us alone in our imposed condemnation.

Grace focuses on inclusion because it’s based on freedom and gift giving. It always invites us into relationships that are redeeming and restoring. It cares more about the person than what they do. Practicing grace involves us in our grief and brings fellowship where there was condemnation.

Competitive Divisiveness and Unity
Being competitive only separates winners from losers. This competition gives a false sense of value. When you win, you feel like a winner. You feel better than everyone else. At least until the next competition. Then it’s time to ramp up and perform again. Anxiety sets in. What if we can’t beat the competition? What if we lose this sense of being better? This is self-condemnation at it’s best. It bases self-worth on performance.

Grace treats everyone as equals. It thrives in celebrating distinctions but dies in feelings of separation due to superiority. With grace, we know our need. We live in the tension of being needy and being completely accepted in our needs. We live in the freedom of having to perform.

Imposed Identity over Revealed Identity
The thing that bugs me the most about sport is the way people say, “We won!” Really, I didn’t see you out there on the field. People, for whatever reason, identify with a team and the team becomes their identity. This identity is false though, because it comes from outside of a person. The ease in which we celebrate others is corrupted by our own need to own what is good about something else. It’s a false sense of who we are.

Grace reveals identity by allowing us to accept ourselves for who we are. We see the good and the bad. This true self becomes our focus instead of the performance of something outside of us.

All of this is probably a buzz kill for many sports fans. Don’t let it be. If you enjoy sports, please don’t let this blog change that. However, if any of this made sense, please do search yourself for what grace gives you.

I have been working on a teaching moment for a couple of weeks now. It revolves around a play on the words James the Apostle is probably known best for. His “faith without works is dead” is probably one of the most quoted lines in discipleship. I believe that, but I have a phrase of my own that is similar.

Knowledge without purpose is dead.

One of the issues I have with the western church is that they teach so much but expect so little. We really have one of the most educated generations alive. And yet, there is little difference in the lives of believers compared to those who have no faith. If what James says is true, we have a lot of believers, but not a lot of practitioners of faith.

So I have this idea about knowledge informs purpose and how purpose guides our actions. It has percolated in my head now for years but recently come back into my thoughts. Enter Donald Miller. I read his blog pretty regularly. He wrote something so simple. It wasn’t event he point of the post, but it had a profound impact on my thinking and gave me a context for teaching this though.

His words:

”

The elements of a meaningful story are the same as the elements of a meaningful life:

1. A character.

2. That knows what they want.

3. And is willing to overcome conflict.

4. To get it.”

So last night, I opened our discussion with the question of “What’s your story?” After a few questions about what I meant, we got down to business. Each person had a chance to think and talk about their character (who they are), their purpose, and what they were willing to do to get it. WOW! I hadn’t imagined that it would have such an impact.

I also read James’ passage about faith and ended with Philippians 2:13 (it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose). I think some big decisions were made last night.