Discipleship Archives - Page 104 of 167

Bob Roberts questions the usefulness of having a Christian worldview. See his post WHY I’M COMING TO NOT LIKE “CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW”. These two paragraphs really got me thinking:

Third, the kingdom of God is an unfolding journey moving towards God – not a rigid play book. For we Christians to believe in grace and the priesthood of the believer so much – we practice it very little. I’m reformed – but I’m no robot – I love the adventure, the journey, the unexpected turns, the people that come in and out of your life, the treasures you find unexpectedly and the deep learning you go through in times of pain and trouble. When we have a tight Christian worldview – there’s not much room for people to hear from God and move in ways we normally wouldn’t in mass.

Fourth, if I limit myself to my worldview – I will never truly understand where others are coming from. What made me, for good or bad, what I am today was not staying in Texas – but getting out of it and even more than that developing deep friendships with people of different cultures, ideas, religions, nations, etc., It enriched my faith and my dramatically and continues to do so.

The End of the World as We Know It

By Jeremy Myers

Give Presence

By Jeremy Myers

5 Comments

If pastors are serious about getting people to serve in the community, they must lead the way. I have suggested earlier that one way to show such seriousness is by cancelling one or two Sunday services per month and taking the people into the community serve others.

Such leadership-led church service in the community will show the people that church is not about entering a brick building on Sunday morning, but having a tangible presence in our cities, towns, and neighborhoods. This ultimately is what incarnation is all about, to be present among the people, not asking them to come join us in what we are doing, but to go join them in their activities and events, their sorrow and their pain, their laughter and their joy.

Follow Jesus into the world, not away from it

Too many Christians are trying to escape the world when we should be entering more fully into it. Following Jesus is not about escape. We are not here on earth to say prayers, sing songs, study the Bible, and wait for the rapture. We still have something to do. We must love and serve. We must restore peace and joy. We must announce that the morning has come, the sun has risen, the exile is over. People must be shown that God is not mad, the world is not all evil, and the kingdom is at hand. We must reveal hope, restoration, and redemption. And the only way we can reveal such things is by being present in the world with the people.

Give Presence

But presence is not about going where the people are so we can preach on the street corner, sing Christian songs, or hand out bottles of water with Bible verses on them. Presence is not simply being among people. Presence is sharing life with people, spending time with them, being friends for the long haul. It’s not about getting people to reform their lives so they can be accepted by us and our community. It’s about us entering fully into their lives if they will accept us into their community.

To be present with people, it is quite possible that we must change more than they. We must become more like them then ask them to become more like us. Remember Jesus, according to Philippians 2, when He entered this world, emptied Himself of nearly everything which identified Himself as God, and became fully human. Jesus did not ask us to become more like God; He became like us.

And as we enter into the world, we must do the same.

Starting a New Church

By Jeremy Myers

Dropping your Pants to Enter Church

By Jeremy Myers

Leave a Comment

There might be a reason circumcision lost it’s significance as a sign of covenant membership…there’s only one way to tell who is “in.”

Temple Inscription warning Gentiles to keep out of Court of Israelites — A Greek script inscription from Herod's Temple, late 1st century BCE. It warns gentiles to refrain from entering the Temple enclosure, on pain of death.

Herod’s Temple, which was the one Jesus and the disciples would have used, had several different courts, a court of Gentiles, a Court of Women, a Court of Israelites (for men only), and a Court of Priests. One of the duties of the temple priests was to make sure that only the right people got into the right courts. Anyone could be in the Court of Gentiles, and it was easy to figure out who could enter the Court of Women, but how could the priest stationed at the entrance to the Court of Israelite men keep out all those who were not Israelites? There was really only one way to distinguish them from everyone else, and that is through their circumcision. It’s possible that all they did was post a warning sign (like the stone inscription on the left), but it’s also possible that they took other measures to keep out all who were not Gentiles… After all, the Jews were known to do everything necessary to maintain the purity of their temple.

This gives new meaning to the handshake of welcome you receive from the greeter when you enter some churches. Sometimes they even hug you. As forced and as awkward as that is, it could be much, much worse.

Dump Your Christian Worldview

The End of the World as We Know It

Give Presence

Follow Jesus into the world, not away from it

Give Presence

Starting a New Church

Dropping your Pants to Enter Church

Theological Study Archives

Bible Study Archives

Advertise or Donate

Search (and you Shall Find)

Get Books by Jeremy Myers

Schedule Jeremy for an interview

Click here to Contact Me!