Most memorable (shockingly accurate) transformative lesson

DAVE'S SUMMARY: Along the line of family tensions, my lifelong buddy and I, both followers of Jesus, have talked and fretted over wayward children, now grown. Now we’ve discovered a book, shedding light on God’s Word and God’s Word shedding light on this book. The book is called Renovation of the Heart, Putting On the Character of Christ by Dallas Willard.

The author talks about our messed up hearts or souls that need godly formation or transformation.

Consider jotting down, if you will, four words. What contributes to messing up our soul or heart or spirit:

Rejection – in my own life: favoritism shown to my siblings, translating into rebellion and reinforced by lack of self-esteem and rejection by dates and unfaithful wives.

Assault – we observe put-downs and mockery in marriages GROWING UP & AS ADULTS, as well as outright shouting & sometimes violence (one wife threw a flowerpot at me. If she had better aim, I’d be dead). As kids, we take these observations in marriages to the playground, where they are practiced in abundance.

Withdrawal – being attacked or guilty of such results in withdrawal or distancing in marriage, and then socially, we self-distance.

Defensiveness – with assaults & distancing in our experience, we think we must defend our every thought and action.

We bring these problems into our own marriage and raise kids who observe them and carry on the vicious cycle. That’s what’s wrong with America and the whole world today.

God, however, offers ways to refocus our thoughts, feelings and actions to transform our lives. Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. Few of us dare to say that. 

DALLAS WILLARD:

THE FIRST MAIN ELEMENT in the transformed social dimension is for individuals to come to see themselves whole, as God himself sees them. Such a vision sets them beyond the wounds and limitations they have received in their past relationships to others. It is this vision of oneself from God’s point of view that makes it possible to regard oneself as blessed, no matter what has happened. 

“We are dead,” Paul tells us, and “our life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then we will appear with him, glorious” (Colossians 3:3-4, PAR). We have stepped into a new life where the primary relationship is with Christ and we are assured of a glorious existence forever. 

God has a plan for each of us in the work he is doing during our lifetime, and no one can prevent this from being fulfilled if we place our hope entirely in him. The part we play in his plans now will extend to the role he has set before us for eternity. Our life in him is whole and it is blessed, no matter what has or has not been done to us, no matter how shamefully our human circles of sufficiency have been violated. 

It is God’s sufficiency to us that secures everything else. Paul again said, “Our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5; 9:8, PAR). It is the God-given vision of us as whole in him that draws all the poisons from our relationships to others and enables us to go forward with sincere forgiveness and blessing toward them. Only in this way can we stand free from the wounds of the past and from those who have assaulted or forsaken us. DEFENSIVENESS GONE 

THE SECOND ELEMENT IN the spiritually transformed social dimension is abandonment of all defensiveness. This of course could occur only in a social context where Christ dwells—that is, among his special people. But it is natural it would occur in the absence of attack and withdrawal, wherever that may be, or where we have an impregnable defense against it.

GENUINE LOVE PREDOMINATES IN OUR GATHERINGS AND THEN ALL PRETENSE would vanish from our lives. That would be the THIRD element in the spiritually transformed social dimension of the self. Love between Christians then would, as Paul says to the Romans, “be genuine.”

The FOURTH element is an opening up of our broader social dimension to redemption. Not having the burden of defending and securing ourselves, and acting now from the resources of our new “life from above,” we can devote our lives to the service of others. This is the positive moment in redemption of the social side of the self. It is not just a matter of not attacking or withdrawing. That redemption will naturally and rightly be chiefly focused in blessing upon those closest to us, beginning with our family members and moving out from there, proportional to our degree of life involvement with others.

And that is the central factor in the beautiful picture of what the local gatherings of disciples into “churches” should be like, given by Paul in Romans 12:1-21, WHICH OFFERS A PICTURE OF WHAT A TRANSFORMED HEART WOULD LOOK LIKE.  Christ’s apprentices would be carrying out their particular work in the group life with a grace and power that is not from themselves, but from God. CONSIDER THE FIRST 8 VERSES (verses 3-8), EACH ONE would be exhibiting the following qualities (verses 9-21):

WRAP-UP

1. Letting love be completely real
2. Abhorring what is evil
3. Clinging to what is good
4. Being devoted to one another in family-like love (philostorgoi)
5. Outdoing one another in giving honor
6. Serving the Lord with ardent spirit and all diligence
7. Rejoicing in hope 8. Being patient in troubles
9. Being devoted constantly to prayer
10. Contributing to the needs of the saints
11. Pursuing (running after) hospitality
12. Blessing persecutors and not cursing them
13. Being joyful with those who are rejoicing and being sorrowful with those in sorrow
14. Living in harmony with each other
15. Not being haughty, but fitting right in with the “lowly” in human terms
16. Not seeing yourself as wise
17. Never repaying evil for evil
18. Having due regard for what everyone takes to be right
19. Being at peace with everyone, so far as it depends on you
20. Never taking revenge, but leaving that to whatever God may decide
21. Providing for needy enemies
22. Not being overwhelmed by evil, but overwhelming evil with good.

This is the most adequate biblical description of what the details of a spiritually transformed social dimension look like. We should pause to contemplate it. Just think for a moment what it would be like to be part of a group of disciples in which this list was the conscious, shared intention, and where it was actually lived out, even if with some imperfection. 

You can see, I think, how it would totally transform the marriage relation and the home and family. Its effect on the community would be incalculable, as it in fact has been wherever realized throughout the history of Christ’s people on earth. The abandonment of all defensiveness and its many strategies would clearly be achieved in such a group. There would no longer be any need for them. In their place would be receptiveness and blessing for all, even enemies. 

Certainly, to achieve this in our social dimension we must have heard and accepted the gospel of grace, of Jesus’ defenseless death on the cross on our behalf, and of his acceptance of us into his life beyond death and beyond the worst that could be done to him or to us. We must stand safe and solid in his kingdom. 

The social world is set before us as an infinite task, which can only be carried out in the power of God. We accept that. Just as we cannot be the husband or wife or parent God intends except in the power of God, so for our life as a whole. We do not even know how to pray as we ought, Paul tells us (Romans 8:26). What then, shall we not pray? By no means, for “the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (verse 26). And the Spirit of God will enter into all of our social connections if we invite him, wait on him, and proceed as best we can. 

We have the promise of Jesus to those who live by his “living water.” That water “shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:14), and “‘from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38; compare Isaiah 58:11). Spiritual formation in Christ obviously requires that we increasingly be happily reconciled to living in and by the direct upholding of the hand of God. 

This is clearly what the entire biblical view of life calls for, and especially what Jesus himself lived and presented as the truth. Only from within this gospel outlook on life can we begin to approach the godly reformation of the self in its social world. But from within that outlook we can cease from assault and withdrawal and can extend ourselves in blessing to all whose lives we touch.

Willard, Dallas. Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ (pp. 195-197). The Navigators. Kindle Edition.
To review the life-transforming action steps, click on the white links above the pictured book recommendations here:
roundtableministries.com  

 

Well-directed activities that are under the personal supervision of Christ

 

Spiritual formation in Christlikeness is the sure outcome of well-directed activities that are under the personal supervision of Christ and are sustained by all of the instrumentalities of his grace. This aching world is waiting for the people explicitly identified with Christ to be, through and through, the people he intends them to be. “Christ in you, the hope of glory” is possible (Colossians 1:27, NIV). Christ can live in all the dimensions of you. God’s grace will do it, but God wants your cooperation. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Consider how God may be leading you as you’ve worked through this book to focus your mind on the things of Christ—to examine the ideas and images you picture there; to ponder Scripture in a slow, full way; to read material that stretches you; to memorize a passage that describes who you need to be.  

Consider how God is leading you to examine where you routinely let your feelings dwell—to investigate what ideas and images guide your feelings; to cultivate feelings of faith, hope, and love, which build the underlying conditions of love, joy, and peace. 

Consider how God is leading you to examine your character based on what automatically slips out without your thinking about it—to explore where you are on the continuum of identifying your will with God’s (surrender, abandonment, contentment, participation in accomplishing God’s will in our world); to ask God what spiritual disciplines would help you align your will with his. 

Consider how God is leading you to review what you discovered about what your body is poised to do—to walk through the steps of releasing your body to God if you did not do so and to review it if you did; to admit ways you have idolized your body or misused it to dominate or manipulate others; to arrange your life for rest and Sabbath. 

Consider how God is leading you in your social dimension—to review your sense of ease or lack of ease at being reciprocally rooted in others; to admit the routine ways of attack and withdrawal you have continued to discover about yourself; to pray that God will work “genuine love” in you.  

Consider how God is leading you to review the kinds of things you routinely say to your soul and that your soul cries out—to abandon outcomes in humility to God; to embrace the teachings of Scripture (law) as sweetness and light.

Who or what's in charge? Planning & aligning with the Spirit & Word for transformation

MOVING FORWARD - The path of renovation of the heart is one in which the revitalized will takes grace-provided measures to change the content of the thought life, the dominant feeling tones, what the body is ready to do, the prevailing social atmosphere, and the deep currents of the soul. These all are to be progressively transformed toward the character they each have in Jesus Christ. 

Willpower is not the key to personal transformation. Rather, the will and character progress in effectual well-being and well-doing only as all other essential aspects of the person come into line with the intent of a will brought to newness of life from above by the Word and the Spirit. Now is the time for specific planning. 

Are there areas where our will is not abandoned to God’s will or where old segments of fallen character remain unchallenged? 

Do some of our thoughts, images, or patterns of thinking show more of our kingdom or the kingdom of evil than they do God’s kingdom—for example, as they relate to money or social practices or efforts to bring the world to Christ? 

Is our body still our master in some area? Are we its servant rather than it ours? 

And if we have some role in leadership among Christ’s people, are we doing all we reasonably can to aid and direct their progress in inward transformation into Christlikeness? 

Is that progress the true aim of our lives together, and are there ways in which our activities might be more supportive of that aim? 

Is the teaching that goes out from us appropriate to the condition of the people, and is our example one that gives clear assurance and direction? Is “our progress evident to all”? (1 Timothy 4:15, PAR).

 

A taste of who Jesus is and what it looks like to walk and talk like Jesus

Imagine the classes offered at such a church: being genuinely kind to hostile people, returning blessing for cursing, living without contempt, living without lust, speaking simply (see Matthew 5). 

In order to change the dimensions of the self so that these behaviors grow from within, such classes include time for questions and discussion so that students can offer ideas of what these behaviors look like (discipline of community). Students do exercises from Scripture to envision how Jesus did these things (study, meditation). They then role-play these situations and offer testimonies of successes and failures (confession, prayer, celebration). What happens in such a class is . . . nearly magical. Attendees get a taste of who Jesus is and what it looks like to walk and talk like Jesus. 

They begin to grieve their sarcastic comebacks and manipulative speech. Apologies occur among participants regarding that last heated discussion about the church budget. Jesus becomes the center of attention as all begin wondering, How would Jesus live his life if he were in my shoes? 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Reflect on Jesus in this scene: On the Via Dolorosa, as Jesus carried his cross and suffered the effects of mental and physical torture, he noticed among the crowd following him some women who mourned and wailed for him. In this moment (where I would have been self-consumed), he turned to them in great concern about their future: “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children” (Luke 23:28, NIV). He warned them of the impending horror of the destruction of Jerusalem. Imagine these women years later remembering his words and saving themselves and their children. 

Jesus never stopped looking out for other people. A few hours later he could naturally say, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). When I’m suffering, I struggle not to think that everything is about me, yet Jesus in his great need turned to address the needs and hurts of others! O Jesus, help us have the kind of heart that naturally turns to comfort and help others. If you wish, turn to Luke 23:27-31 and review what comes before it. Consider what it would be like to have this heart of Christ. What does this experience make you want to pray to God?

 

Audience of One: From the only point of view that matters (God’s), no human knows how the service went.

ARRANGING FOR TRANSFORMATION - The second stage in God’s plan for the growth and prospering of local congregations has to do with immersing the apprentices into the Trinitarian presence. God’s intent is to be present among his people and heal them, teach them, and provide for them. 

A local congregation of disciples of Jesus should be a place where divine life and power is manifestly present to glorify God and meet the needs of repentant human beings. This implies an atmosphere of honesty, openness, indiscriminate acceptance of all, and supernatural caring with utter admiration for and confidence in Jesus. 

Performance, which is where we try to make an impression rather than just be what we are, would be absent in the Trinitarian gathering, as would constant solicitude concerning “How did the service go?” God is the primary agent in the gathering. From the only point of view that matters (God’s), no human knows how the service went. The minister does not need techniques but needs only speak Christ’s Word from Christ’s character, standing within the manifest presence of God. 

The third stage, intending and arranging for the inner transformation of disciples, is what Jesus described as teaching the disciples to do all he commanded. The doing of what he commanded is not the focus of our activities at this point; rather, it is the natural outcome or side effect. The focus is inner transformation of the five essential aspects of human personality that we have been studying. This should be the local congregation’s constant preoccupation. 

If this is your congregation, announce that you teach people to do the things that Jesus said to do. Publicize and run training programs designed to develop specific points of the character of Christ as given in the New Testament. Put the whole weight of the staff and the congregation toward this effort. All of the other details of church activities will matter little, one way or the other, so long as all are organized around God’s plan for spiritual formation in the local congregation.

 

Live like Jesus would live your life if He were you!

Perhaps the idea that apprentices “are constantly with him to learn to be like him” sounds too challenging to you. How could you accomplish this? 

Consider that the one who said, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20) is already by your side and may be doing things to get your attention. Our job, then, is to pay attention to this constant companion of our lives. 

This practice of the presence of God is not a chore but the best way to live. We can turn our thoughts to Jesus throughout the day, using small reminders at first but always living out of a foundation of regular moments of being with Jesus through the written Word (and this is the purpose of Bible reading—not just to get to the bottom of the page). 

To be with Jesus this way means that during such times we live in our heart as well as our head. Both are good, but insights aren’t enough. We need to put our whole self into it and pray back to God what we find there. With gospel passages in particular, we can enter into them and tell Jesus how we respond to what we experience there. 

Perhaps even more challenging is how apprentices are learning to lead their everyday lives as he would lead their lives if he were they. 

If you’re a hair stylist or an engineer, how would Jesus do his work and treat his clients/coworkers if he were you? If you’re an adult child of an aging parent or the parent of an uncooperative teenager, how would Jesus treat this person if he were in your shoes? If you’re a small-business owner, how would Jesus approach your promotional activities? How would he respond to a complaining customer or times a product failed to measure up? What would Jesus write in each e-mail if he were in your body, living your life, responding to the person who just e-mailed you? 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - What is your next step in understanding and doing the things Jesus gave us specific commandments and teachings about? Consider how Jesus would lead your life if he were you—working at your job, living in your family and neighborhood, going to your church.

 

Constantly with & learning form Jesus

 

STAGE ONE: MAKING APPRENTICES - Apprentices are those who have trusted Jesus with their whole life, so far as they understand it. They want to learn everything Jesus has to teach them about life in the kingdom of God and are constantly with him to learn to be like him. 

First, they are learning to understand and do the things Jesus gave us specific commandments and teachings about. They study his words and deeds in the four Gospels. They explore what it means to give a cup of cold water to a little child in the name of Jesus (see Matthew 10:42), to not swear (see James 5:12), to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (see Matthew 5:44), and so forth. They are learning how to actually do these things. 

The second aspect of discipleship concerns learning how Jesus would lead our lives if he were in our place. How would Jesus (living your life) get along with neighbors, participate in government, get an education, and engage in the cultural life of your society? How would he do those things if he were you? In these matters of ordinary human existence, Jesus is our constant teacher, and we are his constant apprentices. “He walks with me and he talks with me,” as the old hymn says. When setting out as his apprentices, we will sharply encounter all of the harmful things that are in us: false thoughts and feelings, self-will, bodily inclinations to evil, ungodly social relationships and patterns, and soul wounds and misconnections. Our Savior and Teacher will help us remove these a

s we strive forward through the many-sided ministries of himself, his kingdom, and his people. All will be bathed in the Holy Spirit. The process of spiritual formation in Christlikeness is a process through which all the dimensions of our lives are transformed as they increasingly take on the character of our Teacher.

Ask God to show you how to disciple someone

Some wish Jesus had left behind a step-by-step program for discipleship. While we have the focus and instructions in Matthew 28:18-20, no specific methods are identified. But Jesus is the one who disciples people. 

You and I just need a general outline so we can be receptive to how God is using us in his process of discipleship. Discipleship is about relationship, so the process will be different for everyone. You and I get to pray and look deeply into the hearts of the people God brings us alongside. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Think of someone you have wanted to influence for God. Maybe you don’t think of yourself as “discipling” them, which is okay, because Jesus is the one who disciples people. Ask God to show you what the next step is with that person, perhaps using some of these questions:

-How well does this person comprehend the magnificence of the life of Jesus?
-What doubts fill his mind?
-What blocks her understanding?
-What might he be afraid of?
-How are you, O God, nudging her forward in purpose? 

Consider how God may be calling you to minister to this person. Does he need you to simply call him and see how he’s doing, or is there something specific you should invite him to do with you? Think also about the activities you’re involved in—not only specifically Christian ones but also your work and interaction in your neighborhood and family. How is God calling you to look at those around you as people he is apprenticing? What might you pray for a few of them?

hese questions: How well does this person comprehend the magnificence of the life of Jesus? What doubts fill his mind? What blocks her understanding? What might he be afraid of? How are you, O God, nudging her forward in purpose? Consider how God may be calling you to minister to this person. Does he need you to simply call him and see how he’s doing, or is there something specific you should invite him to do with you? Think also about the activities you’re involved in—not only specifically Christian ones but also your work and interaction in your neighborhood and family. How is God calling you to look at those around you as people he is apprenticing? What might you pray for a few of them?

 

Far more than a little help

GOD’S PLAN FOR SPIRITUAL FORMATION - Many professing Christians today have a flawed view of what it is to have faith in Christ. They have “prayed to receive Christ” because they felt a need and want Jesus’ help. 

But addressing “felt needs” cannot lay a foundation for spiritual formation because that is rarely the real problem. The problem is they have rejected God and not surrendered their will to him. They do not want to do what God says to do but rather what they think is best. They are “lost” in the sense explained earlier. 

They do not think they need the grace of God for radical transformation of who they are; they just need a little help. Hopefully they will encounter churches that naturally produce children of light because they follow Jesus’ instructions: “As you go throughout the world, make apprentices to me from all kinds of people, immerse them in Trinitarian reality, and teach them to do everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20, PAR). 

These instructions are bookended by categorical statements about the plentiful resources for this undertaking: “I have been given say over everything in heaven and earth” and “Look, I’m with you every moment, until the work is done” (verses 18,20, PAR). 

This is Jesus’ plan for spiritual formation in the local congregation. It has three stages: Making disciples, that is, apprentices, of Jesus. The New Testament does not recognize a category of Christians who are not apprentices of Jesus Christ in kingdom living, though it recognizes “baby” apprentices who are still predominantly preoccupied with and dependent upon natural human abilities (“carnal”). 

Immersing the apprentices at all levels of growth in the Trinitarian presence. This is the single major component of the prospering of the local congregation: the healing and teaching God in their midst. Transforming disciples inwardly in such a way that doing the words and deeds of Christ is not the focus but is the natural outcome or side effect. This is what “teaching them to do everything I have commanded you” amounts to.

 

Reversing our wrong emphasis

While volunteering in my community, I frequently meet people with generous hearts who aren’t Christians. Typically, they used to belong to a church, but squabble after squabble erupted about music or the way an immature youth pastor was “terminated.” They walked out the back door, never to return, but they were still hungry for Jesus.

Somehow all that church activity had little to do with discipleship to Jesus. This is one of the costs of nondiscipleship in the church. Because people aren’t focused on transformation into Christlikeness, they behave in ways that oppose Christ. This often happens because of the focus on the so-called success of a program or the church. 

We begin by being irritated with someone who doesn’t read the books we read or listen to the same music. We think, They don’t get what’s important! Then it becomes, They don’t care about evangelism (or whatever our concern is). 

Implementing change or organizing a program is somehow more important than loving others. More important than whether the music is “right” is whether the people on the worship team or in the choir love each other. More important than having capable staff members is whether they love and respect each other. It’s a strange thought to some Christians that the most important thing about any meeting at church is not what is accomplished or decided but whether the participants treat each other with the love of Christ. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Think of an area you feel certain you’re right about and others just don’t get. Pick one of those “others.” Ask God to show you how to pray for that person. What would it look like to have the heart of Christ toward her—to speak the truth with great love? Or maybe to be quiet with great love? Consider whether pride is blocking the movement of love in you (for example, being a know-it-all).

 

Mean Christians? Ready to die but clearly are not ready to live

THE COSTS OF NONDISCIPLESHIP - If a church spends most of its time on vessels, those who regularly attend will not progress in spiritual formation. These vessel matters do not bring anyone into Christlikeness. 

In fact, standing on these things as important or essential is what produces mean and angry Christians. They have failed to aim toward becoming people who have the character of Christ. Such righteous meanness among Christians is a common point of commiseration among Christian leaders. 

A denominational leader recently asked me, “Why are Christians so mean?” The answer is that Christians are taught by word and example that it is more important to be right (in terms of their vessel or practice) than it is to be Christlike. Being right licenses a person to be mean—righteously mean, of course. 

Now I must say something you can be mad at me about. A fundamental mistake of the conservative side of much of the Western church is that its basic goal is to get people into heaven rather than to get heaven into people. This creates groups of people who may be ready to die but clearly are not ready to live. 

They rarely can get along with one another, much less with those “outside.” Often their most intimate relations are tangles of reciprocal harm, coldness, and resentment—righteous meanness. They have become “Christian” without being Christlike. 

The way to get as many people into heaven as you can is to get heaven into as many people as you can—that is, to follow the path of genuine spiritual transformation or full-throttle discipleship to Jesus Christ. When we are counting results, we need to remember the many people (surrounded by churches) who will not be in heaven because they have never, to their knowledge, seen the reality of Christ in a living human being. These lives of the “converted” testify against the reality of “the life that is life indeed” (1 Timothy 6:19, PAR).

 

Focusing more on the treasure

Many would-be children of light regret that they don’t have a greater connectedness with God, that more of God’s light isn’t pouring through them. Some are shocked to consider that they have let a life of church activities be their substitute for having a life with God. 

They are so focused on organizing groups, dissecting the personality of the pastor, or increasing the church building’s parking capacity that immersing themselves and others in the presence of our Trinitarian God rarely crosses their mind. 

A program, in particular, can easily become a vessel. We become loyal to it; we give our money and time to see it continue. Meanwhile, we acknowledge the treasure—the real presence of Jesus Christ in our midst—but don’t focus on it. 

A church that concentrates on the treasure isn’t as likely to borrow successful programs from other churches. Instead, apprentices of Jesus in such a church get on their faces before God and ask him to show them how to immerse others in God. Even if the result looks something like an existing program, it will be administered from very different hearts when it comes out of the church’s life with God. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT Speak to God about the vessels you hold dear. Perhaps you’ve attended a certain Bible study for many years and it has become, frankly, your life with God. Perhaps you’re devoted to a certain program, a certain teacher, or a certain work of service. Is this vessel in some way eclipsing God, who is speaking to you today? 

Consider what God may be telling you about this vessel—how God might become the life and breath within it or how you might examine your loyalty to it or even perhaps discard it as an important consideration in your life.

 

Treasure or vessel?

 

THE DISTRACTED CHURCH - Churches that cause children of light to emerge and mature have turned their efforts under God toward making spiritual formation in Christlikeness their primary goal. 

The reason most congregations fail to routinely produce children of light is distraction. While majoring in minors, they become distracted by things the New Testament says nothing about. They devote most of their thought and effort to sermons, Sunday school, style of music, denominations, camps, or board meetings. 

Those matters are not primary and will take care of themselves when what is primary is appropriately cared for. Such matters are “vessels” but are mistaken for the “treasure.” The apostle Paul made a distinction between the vessels (or “jars of clay,” our body, 2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV) and the treasure (“the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ,” 4:6). We might also apply this “vessel” distinction to the practices, traditions, and groupings to which many congregations devote their attention and effort. 

Many groups have become nearly 100 percent vessel. Often there is much good associated with these vessels, but we mistake them for the treasure: the real presence of Jesus Christ in our midst, living with increasing fullness in every essential dimension of the personality of the individual devoted to him as Savior and Teacher. 

We debate: Should there be prayer ministry, and should it be part of the service, after the service, or at a different service? Should we be seeker friendly or whatever the alternatives are? How should we raise funds for the church, and how should they be spent? Such things are not unimportant, but they are not the foundational matters. And that is why the New Testament says nothing about them.

Being transparent people...to hurting or hurtful people

As Christians live an increasingly “ghettoized” lifestyle in which we go to aerobics classes, join bowling leagues, and use the Yellow Pages, we are forgetting that we can “live what we talk, even in places where we cannot talk what we live.”

Being involved in professional groups, community organizations, and sports teams that are not explicitly Christian, we can be children of salt and light who don’t think of ourselves first, who aren’t trapped by the unloving comments our tongues make before we think. 

We can be transparent people who lead an organization without manipulating and managing people. When we’re urged to do something wrong, we can quietly refuse without being self-righteous. When accused, we can avoid defending ourselves and say only what is needed for clarity. We can show love and compassion to the people in the group who are in need. Neither sarcasm nor guilt-producing talk will come out of our mouth. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Think of a group you are a part of that is not explicitly Christian—maybe your condo organization or neighborhood. Pick one person in that group and bring that person before God. Ask God to show you that person’s heart. What does he need? What is her soul crying out for? How might you weep or rejoice with that person? 

If someone insults or injures you, pray for God’s help to demonstrate Christ’s love in turning the other cheek, not taking offense easily or quickly, giving grace to others who may not be grace-filled themselves. Pray that God will give you opportunities to demonstrate the genuine, radiant love of God in simple, common ways.

 

"Darkness was then said to be light"

TO BE CHILDREN OF LIGHT NOW - An accurate history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries must indicate that the highest ethical teaching the world has ever known was rejected in favor of teachings that opened the way to forms of human behavior more degraded than any the world had seen to that point—from the Soviet form of communism to Hitler’s fascist state, from Maoism to Pol Pot. 

Each pled moral righteousness as the justification for brutalities that no one would have thought possible. This is partly due to the failure of those who have professed Christ to stand throughout the earth as the manifest children of light. Recent intellectual leaders have lived in an attitude of superiority and condemnation toward Christian morality. At the present time, popular culture has taken over the attack. 

Lyrics of the past did not critique traditional (Christian) teachings, but that changed with the Beatles and Bob Dylan. The bitterness of the previous generation’s literary writings broke through. They professed to have seen through “the establishment,” and they found much there to criticize justly. They promoted a “higher” morality to replace what they took to be “the establishment.” 

Darkness was then said to be light. Practicing what traditionally would have been regarded as blatant evil is now the single most dominant feature of our world. Sex and violence in the media is one symptom but is far from being the central issue. The central issue is the replacement of Jesus Christ as the Light of the World by people like Nietzsche and John Lennon, Lenin and Mao. Children of light are beyond the point where mere talk—no matter how sound it is—can make an impression. 

Demonstration is required. They must live what they talk, even in places where they cannot talk what they live. The children of light must be who and what they were called to be by Christ their Head. Mere reason and fact cannot effectively persuade because they are now under the same sway of public spirit and institutions as are the arts and public life generally—and, indeed, so is much of the “church visible.” The call of Christ today is to be his apprentices, alive in the power of God, learning to do all he said to do, leading others into apprenticeship to him, and teaching them how to do everything he said.

 

We try (and fail) rather than train

This list (Moral excellence or virtue. Knowledge or understanding. Self-control. Perseverance (endurance, patience). Godliness. Brotherly kindness and gentleness) in 2 Peter can be overwhelming if we make it about us. 

One way we do that is to try to do these things, emphasizing trying instead of training. If we try to do these things, our efforts will be about us. We will berate ourselves when we fail; we will feel self-satisfied when we get something right. 

But as all our dimensions are trained by the Spirit through spiritual disciplines, we can increasingly connect with God throughout the day. The spiritual life then remains God-focused. It isn’t about us. Another skewed emphasis is when we get wrapped up in the formulaic rather than the relational. 

When we think, If I do A, God will do B, we’re thinking of our own performance. But our focus must always be on God and our relationship to God. The important issue is continually putting our confidence in God as he delights in bringing us along on this journey of transformation in his kingdom. We’re not performing—we’re just tagging along behind Jesus, copying his fascinating way of being. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT Go back through this book and notice the things you have marked with your initials as next steps (see introduction)—perhaps ways to pray, dedicating your body. Pick out a few steps and examine how each one would help you connect with God and so move you down the road toward becoming a person who exhibits moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and agape love.

 

Spiritual progress: it's a journey

PROGRESSION OF SPIRITUAL GROWTH - The progression of spiritual growth starts from the bedrock of God’s “divine power [that] has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness.” (2 Peter 1:3, emphasis added). 

God’s “precious and magnificent promises” make it possible for us to “become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (1:4). This escape comes about by putting forth our best efforts (“applying all diligence,” 2 Peter 1:5) to add the following things to our confidence in Christ (see 2 Peter 1:5-7):
Moral excellence or virtue. Train yourself to do what is good and right.
Knowledge or understanding. Come to know why the good and right you do is good and right.
Self-control. Develop the capacity to carry out your intentions and not be thrown off by any turn of events.
Perseverance (endurance, patience). Demonstrate the capacity to stick with the course over the long haul regardless of how you may feel.
Godliness. Strive for depth and thoroughness in the preceding attainments of grace.
Brotherly kindness and gentleness of care seen among siblings and true friends. Extend family feeling and action to those in your community. 

Think of what that would mean to this wounded world. This superhuman thing is possible only through the goodness and strength of godliness. Agape love. Offer the kind of love that characterizes God himself and is spelled out in heartrending detail on the cross of Jesus and in 1 Corinthians 13. We are not to love simply as family but as he loved us (see John 13:34). If we do these things, we will “never stumble,” and “entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to [us]” (2 Peter 1:10-11, emphasis added). 

The mistake believers most commonly make is to assume they are supposed to do all these glowing things apart from inner transformation into Christlikeness, without loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength in all the dimensions of the self. In fact, they think they must do them while they are still strongly inclined in the opposite direction, against God. To the person who is not inwardly transformed in each essential dimension, evil and sin still look good. But sin looks stupid, ridiculous, and repulsive to those cleansed by Christ who see the law as a beautiful gift of God, as precious truth about what is really good and right.

 

“They are rested and playful in a bodily strength that is from God.”

Children of light are easy to deal with. We don’t have to guess what game they’re playing or what role they’re assuming. They don’t try to manipulate others. Even better, they don’t judge.

It isn’t necessary to say to children of light, “I didn’t want to give you the impression that . . .” or “I didn’t want you to think . . .” because they’ve given up preoccupation with forming opinions about others. I don’t need to brood, thinking, I wonder what they thought of me! 

Their transparency keeps me from wondering what their hidden agenda might have been because they simply don’t have one. With children of light, everything is given to the care of God. To some, this may sound boring. But remember that “they are rested and playful in a bodily strength that is from God.” 

Often these people are more fun because there is no agenda behind their humor. The road to becoming such a person—a child of light—involves abandoning everything to God: what others think of us, what others’ harmful motives might be, fears about what others might do to us, hopes for getting ahead. We come to truly believe that God “knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it” (1 Peter 4:19, MSG). 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Skim through the above Renovation of the Heart selection, “What Children of Light Are Like,” and the previous one, “Children of Light.” Underline the phrases that describe the results you would most like to see in the dimensions of yourself—perhaps having a mind centered on God, not indulging thoughts of failure and hopelessness, or not thinking first of yourself. 

Or it might be having a tongue that is constantly poised to say what is loving and good without thinking, being completely transparent or effortless in the way you are. Why do you want these things? How would they make your life more meaningful? What would be your next steps (spiritual disciplines)?

 

Are you & I thankful to be found out?!

WHAT CHILDREN OF LIGHT ARE LIKE - Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), verifying what is pleasing to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:8-10, PAR [paraphrased]). 

Children of light differ from others on the “inside of their life” in these following ways also. 

Will (also called spirit or heart): Children of light do not hesitate to do what they know to be good and right. They do not think first of themselves and what they want, and they really care very little about getting their own way. “Let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not look out for your own personal interests, but for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4, PAR). They are abandoned to God’s will and do not deliberate as to whether they will do what they know to be wrong. 

Body: Their body is constantly poised to do what is right and good without thinking. They are not always trapped by what their tongue, facial expressions, and hands have already done before they can think. They avoid paths of temptation. Their body is even different. They have a freshness about them, a kind of quiet strength, and a transparency. They are rested and playful in a bodily strength that is from God. 

Social relations: They are completely transparent. Because they walk in goodness, they achieve real contact with others, especially other apprentices of Jesus. They do not conceal their thoughts and feelings or try to manipulate and manage others. While they will not participate in evil, they are noncondemning. 

Soul: All of the above is not just at the surface. It is deep and effortless. It flows. When those who have become children of light are found to be wrong, they will never defend it. They are thankful to be found out (see Proverbs 9:8). Indeed, when accused of being in the wrong when they are not, they will not defend themselves but will say only as much as is required to prevent misunderstanding of the good. The meaning of being justified by grace alone has penetrated to every pore of their being. This is the outcome of spiritual formation in Christlikeness.

 

God-intoxication & enormous, breathless beauty!

People sometimes complain that they aren’t sure they would want to go to heaven. Who wants to play a harp? Even religious folks will admit they’re not sure they want to sing all the time. So they are surprised to hear the above ideas from Revelation, especially that we will have work that grips and absorbs us completely (to “reign” with God). 

We will love being the dwelling place of God and belonging to the living community we have always longed for. We will experience enormous beauty. This helps us understand why spiritual formation here on earth is so important. We are being readied for a life we could never have believed possible. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Talk to God regarding your thoughts about heaven, especially these ideas: 

-Having union with him and being his dwelling place (see John 14:23; 15:4-5)
-Having a job or responsibility that uses everything within you, yet delights you Being empowered by him to do what you want, as a “free creative agent”

Does it seem odd for God to believe in you this way? Tell him that and ask him to help you see yourself with the eyes of faith. Reflect on how these ideas affect your attitude toward spiritual formation into Christlikeness. How does “God-intoxication” create conditions of love, joy, peace, confidence, and hope?

 

You can move toward being a child of the light now & into eternity

CHILDREN OF LIGHT - According to the biblical picture, the function of human history is to bring forth an immense community of people, from “every nation and tribe and tongue and people” (Revelation 14:6), who will be a kingdom of priests under God. 

They will reign with him in the eternal future of the cosmos forever and ever (see 1:6; 4:9; 5:10; 14:6; 22:5). These people will, together as a living community, form a special dwelling place for God. 

What the human heart now vaguely senses should be eventually will be in the cosmic triumph of Christ and his people. Those “children of light” will be empowered by God in eternity to do what they want, as free creative agents. 

Spiritual formation in Christlikeness during our lives here on earth is a constant movement toward this eternal appointment. Here and now the children of light are remarkably different, not in the things they do or don’t do, though their behavior, too, is very different and distinctive. Children of light differ on the “inside” of their life. 

Thought life: They love to dwell upon God’s greatness and loveliness as brought to light in Jesus Christ. They adore God in nature, in history, in his Son, and in his saints. One could even say they are “God-intoxicated” (see Acts 2:13; Ephesians 5:18). 

They do not dwell upon evil. It is not a big thing in their thoughts. They are sure of its defeat. Because their mind is centered upon God, all other good things are also welcome there: “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute” (Philippians 4:8). 

Feelings: They love other people. They love their own life and who they are. They are thankful for their life even though it may contain many difficulties. They receive all of it as God’s gift, or at least as his allowance. And so joy and peace are with them even in the hardest of times, even when suffering unjustly. Because of what they have learned about God, they are confident and hopeful and do not indulge thoughts of rejection, failure, and hopelessness, because they know better.

 

Reversing course of the soul

Perhaps you see how your soul is not in union with God, and you would like to reverse the process of distancing your soul from God. But is it realistic to delight in the law (see Psalm 1:2)? 

One way the law becomes sweet to us is in our repentance after disregarding it. We have all behaved in loveless ways—attacking someone or distancing ourselves, getting involved in an unhealthy attraction, shooting off our mouth when we should have been quiet (see Matthew 5:39-47,27-28,33-37). 

In our grief we see how we acted in self-interest and used or disregarded the other person. We were not patient and kind; we were proud, easily irritated, and did not protect the other person (see 1 Corinthians 13:4-5,7). 

As we “think about our thinking” (one way of translating repentance, metanoia), we see that God’s law really is good and wise. Goodness and wisdom embrace the difficult person, they treat an attractive person with respect (instead of lust), and they speak simply. It is a deep blessing to meet someone who does these things. Then you see God’s goodness in the simplicity of genuine love. You want that transformation in yourself. To be that way would bring the sparkle of gold and the sweetness of honey to your soul. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Give delighting in the law a try, perhaps by praying phrases from Psalm 1:1-2 or Psalm 119:7-11. The following are examples of how this might sound...Blest am I when I stop listening to the voices of wickedness or posturing myself as a know-it-all. I find I can really love people when I delight in God’s law, when I am thrilled by it, when I can’t keep my mind off it. It is a beautiful, strong, and wise picture of reality—of what God, the spouse of my soul, is like...This all-encompassing law can revive my languishing soul! The ideas in the law are ones I can trust, and they will help me “wise up” from my foolish ways! Their rightness is deep and will bring that longed-for joy to my heart. The radiant law will take the blinders off my eyes so that my habitual ways of responding will change. By absorbing these ideas I will have a purity of heart I have seen in so few people. 

Finally—I will have sureness in my steps. Oh, how I cling to these ideas! How I relish them! What a blessing they are to me from God! 

Respond to God in whatever way seems appropriate—perhaps praying, journaling, singing, or dancing.

 

What about God's law?

THE SWEETNESS OF THE LAW - Efforts at spiritual formation in Christlikeness must reverse the process of distancing the soul from God and bring it back into union with him. The law of God can help us do that. 

The written law God gave the Israelites is one of the greatest gifts of grace God has conveyed to the human race. It was given as a meeting place between God and human beings in covenant relationship with him, where the sincere heart would be received, instructed, and enabled by God to walk in his ways. 

When those walking in personal relationship with him receive, study, and internalize his law into their heart, it quickens and restores connection and order to the flagging soul. Viewing the law as something we can or must achieve (self-idolatry), however, repeats the degradation of the law committed by the Pharisees at the time of Jesus. It is turned from a pathway of grace to an instrument of cultural self-righteousness and human oppression. 

Today, we in the Western world live in an antinomian culture. (Antinomian means “against the law.”) This tendency is based upon the mistaken conclusion—rejected by Paul—that since we are not justified by keeping the law but rather through our personal relationship of confidence in Jesus, we have no essential use for the law and can disregard it. 

This tendency annuls the law, which is what Jesus said not to do (see Matthew 5:19). The presence of the Spirit and of grace is not meant to set the law aside but to enable conformity to it from an inwardly transformed personality. The “royal law” of love (James 2:8), abundantly spelled out in Jesus and his teaching, includes all that was essential in the older law, which he fulfilled and enables us to fulfill through constant discipleship to him. 

One whose aim is anything less than obedience to the law of God in the Spirit and power of Jesus will never have a soul at rest in God and will never advance significantly in spiritual transformation into Christlikeness.

 

[Aha! Moment] - Trust God & leave the outcome to Him!

 Our teenage daughter left home and for three years lived either on the streets or with various people who took her in. Although we received wise counsel from a support group for parents of troubled teens, we had other friends who patted me on the hand and said, “Don’t worry. She’ll come home.” 

I didn’t think this was wise comfort. Because I have volunteered with the homeless, I know that not everyone comes home. Who was to say what my daughter would choose? That advice would have encouraged me to trust in outcomes, to trust that my faith would somehow force certain results from my daughter and from God. 

I couldn’t do that. Although I felt very confident in God, I didn’t feel confident about my friends’ prescribed outcomes. I didn’t trust that our daughter would get a job or change her living situation. I trusted God. I asked God for those things, but I didn’t trust in those results. God could be my comfort and strength without my telling God what to do. (She did come home and made an impressive turnaround.) 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - What expectations are you holding on to? Can you still trust God even if X never happens? If a certain job or living situation or relationship doesn’t work out, are you still able to delight in this God who loves you tremendously? 

If your desires (or, more specifically, you) are the idol of your soul, consider how you could begin to give that up. Try saying this prayer and see if you’re on the journey of it being authentic: “I trust you, O God. I want to simply rest in your life as you give it to me. Show me how to be at peace, even when others who are less deserving seem to do better than I do. Help me look to the heavens and exclaim, ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life. I’m thrilled to dwell in your house, O God, forever.’”

Abandoning our idol of "me" & of anxiety & anger

ABANDONING OUTCOMES - As we take on Jesus’ yoke, we abandon outcomes to God, accepting that we do not have the wherewithal to make life come out right. Even if we “suffer according to the will of God,” we “entrust [our] souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right” (1 Peter 4:19). 

This is the lowliness of heart learned in his yoke. What rest comes with it! Humility is the framework within which all virtue lives. “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). 

Humility, which involves losing our self-sufficiency, is a secret of soul rest because it does not presume to secure outcomes. On the other hand, pride is the root of disobedience. We think we are “big enough” to take our lives into our own hands, and so we disobey what we know to be right. This distances us from God and forces us to live on our own. Soul rest becomes impossible. 

Thus, fleshly lust wages war against the soul (see 1 Peter 2:11) by enticing us to uproot our dependent life, pulling it away from God, which will deprive our soul of what it needs to enliven and regulate our whole being. To allow lust (or strong desires) to govern our lives is to exalt our will over God’s. That is why Paul called covetousness idolatry (see Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). 

We have become the idol, and we are prepared to sacrifice the well-being and possessions of others to our self-interest. Arrogant wrongdoing is the deepest possible wound one can inflict on another’s soul. When living in the cradle of humility, we understand that God has a plan for our lives that goes far beyond anything we can work out. 

We simply rest in his life as he gives it to us. While resting in God, we can be free from all anxiety, which means deep soul rest. We don’t fret or get angry because others seem to be doing better than we are, even though we think they might be less deserving than we are.

 

Getting our soul-work down to earth

Perhaps all this talk about the soul is getting too ethereal for you. Talking to one’s soul? Really? But don’t give up. The Psalms offer another (perhaps simpler) doorway through which we can encounter our soul.

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Choose an image from the Psalms below that best describes your soul and the things it wants to cry out. If you can’t decide, choose the one your best friend or spouse would choose for you.
-A panting deer who has been running in search of water for a long time (see 42:1)
-A small creature crouching in the protective shadow of a huge creature (God’s wings) (see 57:1)
-A weary desert traveler (see 63:1) A desert valley with huge dry cracks opening up (see 143:6)
-An ailing patient who stretches out his hands for help yet refuses to be comforted when comfort is offered (see 77:2)
-Someone who has narrowly escaped death (see 116:8)
-A tired mountain climber who has found a solid foothold (see 94:18-19)
-A guard on duty all night long (see 130:6)
-A wild and crazy musician who even talks to her instruments (see 108:1) A gourmet diner (see 63:5)
-A weaned child at his mother’s breast—content and not even looking for food (see 131:2) 

Consider the image you’ve chosen. What is the cry of your soul based on that image? What is needed to help your soul rest in God? Think also of someone close to you, perhaps someone you minister to and hope to be a blessing to. Which image fits that person? What is the cry of his or her heart? How might you reach out to that person?