Tag Archives: life
Take Your Place in the Adventure
We’ve looked at the fact that we were actually created for something greater than this life, and that Jesus command to us is to take the truth about His saving grace to the world. Which means we’ve established that we are made for the adventure, and we’ve seen what the adventure is; leaving only the question of will we embrace our true role and get in the adventure?
Now if you’re like me and you’ve been around church for very long the command to make disciples isn’t some revelation to you. You probably aren’t sitting in your chair going, ” Wow! This Rothacher guy is just spitting new truth all over the place.” In fact you quite possibly were a bit let down by the revealing of the adventure and frankly feel like I gypped you. Let me tell you why I think that is. We associate the command to make disciples with an uncomfortable evangelism class. We have tried hard in the past to live that way, you know have the awkward conversation with the waitress, and it was just another thing you’re supposed to do as a Christian. What we’ve been trained to believe is that being a follower of Christ is following a big long list of rules without grumbling, because if you grumble or worse don’t follow the rules God will send you to Hell. So, you hear make disciples, and you instantly check out. It’s why more and more young people are leaving the church, it simply isn’t worth it. What if being a follower of Christ isn’t about following the list of rules? What if it isn’t about doing better or more? What if in actuality it only requires one thing from you? Die.
Jesus tells us in Luke 14:
“27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” -Luke 14:27
He says this multiple times, recorded by multiple witnesses. We like to down play these verses, and try and make it sound like Jesus is really saying to give up R rated movies, or alcohol and thats bearing your cross for Jesus today, but we’re wrong. Jesus is straight up saying, “You want to follow me? It’ll cost you everything.” This is certainly not the come down front, pray a prayer, fill out a card and stand in the back while every old lady in the church comes by and hugs you simplicity that we have made it. It’s a call to stop existing. You lay down your wants, your passions, your desires and you become something greater.
Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (the verses that follow are some of my favorites and give us more insight into how to accomplish the mission, so it’d be a good idea to go back after reading this and read them):
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.t The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17
It’s very plainly telling us that when you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Look what happens to you, “the old has passed away.” Sometimes we like to apply some hyper spiritual application to the text when we’re reading the Bible cause all the words must have come from a different plane of thinking. So I’ll put it this way. If I told you that someone you loved had “passed away” what would you conclude happened to them? Exactly! They died! So we don’t try harder, we don’t do anything. We don’t exist anymore. Jesus in and through us is leading us in this adventure just like He led the heroes of the past.
Have you ever wondered why God didn’t save Paul for our generation? There are more people alive today than ever before, and with the internet he could have boldly taught thousands. How about Moses? Or Abraham? Peter? They could have done really well today. Why didn’t God save them for now? Because he has you! You are His plan for today, it is your time in the epic eternal adventure. You have the chance to take your place along the line of human history and make a difference. He has chosen you to carry the message of salvation to the world.
I want to point out one last thing, look at the scene in Revelation chapter seven:
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Do you see the picture of this amazing scene at the end of time? It says he saw “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne”. So here in John’s vision of the end of time there are people of every nation, tribe and language which means the word of Jesus’s salvation makes it to the ends of the earth. I want you to see that, because what that means is God doesn’t need you! He will accomplish bringing salvation to the world with or without you and me. Which leads me to the conclusion that His command to be a part of the epic adventure of saving the world is for me, not because he needs me. In other words, Jesus commands you to make disciples, because it is what is best for you. It is what connects that yearning in your soul with the divine purpose you have. Will you join up? Take your place in the landscape of human history, leave the rules and traditions behind and come and die so that you may truly live the fullness of life and adventure that He has in store for you!
This is part three of a three part series. You can find the first two here (#1) and here (#2)
Your Epic Adventure
In the last post we looked at the fact that we were created to be a part of an epic adventure. One that has been written on our hearts, and whether we are followers of Christ or not is deep at the center of our souls. The longing is always there, we just don’t identify it or want to acknowledge it (we’ll talk more about it in the next post). So this begs the question, what is this adventure that I have been created to be a part of? That’s simple.
“Save the World!”
Don’t believe me? Let’s check out scripture and see if we can find a bit more clarity by listening to the words of the One who created us, the One who put eternity in our hearts. We see Jesus in Matthew 28 walking up a hill getting ready to leave the eleven guys He poured His life into and He gets ready to give them His farewell address, His final charge to them. Check it out.
“16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted.18 And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them int the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ ” – Matthew 28:16-20
Did you see it? He says “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” What He is essentially saying to them is, “Ok. I conquered sin and death and I’ve been teaching you all these things for the last three years. I’ve given you the tools you need to take hold of this task now go take word of my salvation to the world.”He literally charges them and by proxy us to take word of His salvation to the world! Not convinced? Look at Luke’s account of the moment before Jesus leaves in Acts 1.
“6 So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’7 He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ ” -Acts 1:6-8
There it is again, the whole world. He tells them “you will be my witnesses… and to the end of the earth.” So the epic adventure/battle that we are engaged in the middle of is literally a fight for the fate of the world. We as Christ followers, have the truth of Jesus’s salvation and we are expected to take it to the world. That’s a pretty daunting task if we really think about it, and my initial reaction is to dismiss it as impossible. “I’m just a _____________. I can’t reach the world.” You know something you’re right.
“What? Wait a minute, you just got done saying that our command from Jesus was to be a part of saving the world, and now you’re saying I can’t?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t get it.”
Let’s go back and look at both of those again and see if it’ll make more sense. Look back at the verses in Matthew, and check out the parts that we like to skip over.
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them int the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:19-20
So Jesus starts with the “All authority” then tells us to “Go and make” then closes out with “I am with you always…” What He’s saying is “Look, I beat sin and death on the cross and on account of being the perfect sacrifice all authority in heaven and earth is mine. Now go spread the word, pass on the good news, save the world. You can do it, because I am with you always ,to the very end.”
“8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” -Acts 1:6-8
This is part two of a three part series of posts click here to read the previous one.
I’m looking into AA…
What’s does Alcoholics Anonymous and the church have in common? Well before you scoff about how different they are, let’s take a look at the basics of A.A. and then we’ll lay it up against the function/purpose of the church and see what’s what.
Ok, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid movement which says its “primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety.” AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith (Bill W. and Dr. Bob) in Akron, Ohio.With other early members, Wilson and Smith developed AA’s Twelve Step program of spiritual and character development. (source)
Knowing then that the 12 steps are the central focus of AA, it’d probably be wise to see what they say.
These are the original Twelve Steps as published by Alcoholics Anonymous:
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12.Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. (source)
Follow with me now as we look at the twelve steps through the lens of the global church and its mission. I think that if you haven’t been shocked already by the twelve step program of AA you will be after this glance.
Alright let’s get started; first off for our purposes I want to step back from the word alcohol and swap the word alcohol out and replace it with what alcoholism is - sin.
1. We admitted we were powerless over sin—that our lives had become unmanageable.
This is good theology. The Word tells us multiple places that we were “dead in our sin” for example Ephesians 2:1-3 says
“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the bodyt and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”
So Step one is admit you’re sinful, and as a result of your sin your life will be unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
This step is phenomenal for a couple reasons, first we acknowledge that there is a God (Power) that’s greater than ourselves, and we put our faith in Him (came to believe). Which is exactly what scripture tells us happens:
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” -Ephesians 2:8-10
second, we trust that he can restore us
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.t The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” -2 Corinthians 5:17
Step two is we believe that there is a God greater than us who can restore us and make us right.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
“31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” -Acts 16:31
I’m hoping that this one doesn’t need much explaining, its a pretty clear picture of salvation, so long as we understand God to be Jesus Christ.
So the first three steps pretty much lead you to the realization that there is sin in your life, the result of you will not be able to manage on your own, and that our only hope is that we place our lives in the hands of the God who can restore us and make us right before Him. AA just laid out the essential building block for becoming a committed follower of Christ. If the first three are this good I can’t wait to dig into the next nine. But on account of the fact that this is rapidly becoming an incredibly lengthy post I’ll do what the best preachers do and pick up next time and call it a series.
Think I’m way off base? Have something to add? Let me know.
Picture on top courtesy of alcoholics anonymous
