Tag: Jesus

Fallen Rhododendron flowers

He invites us to share in his spiritual life, a gift since we cannot deserve or earn it.

Fallen Rhododendron flowers lie on the ground – they are still beautiful. If you follow Jesus, perhaps you might say the same of fallen people (ie all of us); fallen people are lost but still beautiful too. But unlike the flowers, for fallen people hope remains; there is a Way, a Truth, a Life.

Rhododendron flowers lying on the ground where they fell

Jesus said, ‘I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

The Way

Jesus is the Way because he is the only road to safety. We are free to follow any route through life that we wish, but the only road that promises and ensures safety is the road that Jesus travelled. Like us, he was born, lived as a child and went through the process of growing up. Unlike us he didn’t mess up.

If I want to walk in safety, I can only do it by walking with Jesus. I need to get to know him better, listen to what he says, say what I hear him say, do what I see him do.

The Truth

Jesus is the truth because he doesn’t hide from us. How can we define truth and falseness? Well, people sometimes say of a person, ‘What you see is what you get’. This is never literally, reliably, always true of any other human being. We hide things for a variety of reasons, even as children. If we’re ashamed of something, we hide it. If we break something, we might say someone else did it, or pretend we weren’t there at the time. Human nature is to turn to what is false when the truth is inconvenient or embarrassing or dangerous. Jesus is the exception that proves this rule of human nature. Not only did he always stick to what is true, he is truth personified.

The Life

We are alive because we are self-sustaining physical systems carrying out physical processes. Anything that destroys the systems or stops the processes causes us to die. If I’m not allowed to breathe, I will die. If I’m not allowed to eat or drink, I will die. Jesus, during his time with us, was just the same. But he was nailed to a cross which made it impossible to breath unless he could support his body weight, and he was not allowed to eat or drink and when, finally, he was offered something, he refused it. As he grew weak, breathing became impossible and he died. Yet he also has a spiritual life, and physical life was restored to him for a time as well (though bodily he was different in some very significant ways).

He invites us to share in his spiritual life, a gift since we cannot deserve or earn it. And he doesn’t want to wait, he chooses to give us spiritual life now, while we are still physically alive. For a time we can have both as he did, and later we retain the spiritual life even after our physical life is over.

Yes, it’s a mystery. No, we can’t explain it. But Jesus is not only the Way, and the Truth, he is also the Life!

If you want to follow the Way, discover the Truth, and live the Life, you really need to get to know Jesus better. One way is to read the book called Luke. It’s in the Bible, and it’s available online for free.

John 14:15-21 – Promising the Spirit

If Jesus is in us and he is also in the Father, then we too are somehow part of their oneness!

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Bible text – Read it yourself (opens in a new tab)

Verse 15 is a big ‘if’. Jesus doesn’t ask us to do what he tells us; he simply points out that, if we love him, we will do what he says. So we are faced with the reality of what is in our hearts where Jesus is concerned. Do I love him, or don’t I? How far will I go in following him? Some of the way? All of the way?

The Spirit of Truth

The Holy Spirit comes as a gift from the Father in answer to a request from Jesus. And the Spirit is pretty special because he speaks for us, helps us, and will always stay with us. Read this personally – The Spirit of Christ, sent by the Father, speaks for you, helps you, and will always stay with you. Has this been your experience? If not, perhaps you need to get to know Jesus even better and make sure that you truly love him and therefore keep his commands. Look deeper into your own heart and pay more attention to your daily experience on this journey with Jesus. (If you’re still in doubt, press the ‘Previous’ link twice and re-read the notes on verses 1-7.) The Spirit of Christ cannot be anything but the Spirit of Truth, because Jesus declared himself to be ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life’.

Pity the poor world!

‘The world’ is a way of saying ‘worldly people’ – in other words people who know the world, but have little or no clue about Jesus. Knowing the world is our default position, as we grow and experience life, we get to know the world and its ways better and better. That’s life! But this knowing provides no way to become familiar with the Spirit of Truth.

But if you are following Jesus, you will see and know his Spirit because the Spirit lives with you – inside you.

Leaving us?

The disciples didn’t yet fully understand what was happening. Jesus is going to leave them, but not like children without parents. Verse 18 is very clear, Jesus absolutely and explicitly tells them that he, the Son, and the Spirit (his Spirit) are one. They are not quite the same, but they cannot be separated. Jesus has a human bodily form and therefore lives with, but outside, the disciples; the Spirit has no bodily form and will live inside the disciples. Not only that: they will realise that Jesus is in his Father, and he is also in them. If Jesus is in us and he is also in the Father, then we too are somehow part of their oneness!

Back to verse 15

Verse 15 is reiterated in verse 21. If we have and keep Jesus’ commands, then we love him. And if we love Jesus, the Father will love us, Jesus will love us, and he’ll show himself to us. We are in such a safe place! All our lives we existed in a physical reality, but now we live in a spiritual reality as well!

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More on ground breaking

In the life of the church the central figure is Jesus and the central idea is that he is Lord. The church was founded on this person and this truth nearly 2000 years ago.

Where should we start in church life, where should we start in mission, or in teaching, or in any other aspect of being a believer and follower of Jesus? The answer is simple and rather obvious – we should start with Jesus himself.

Following my post ‘Ground breaking‘ on 26th February, I’d like to examine a particular example. In my study guide, JDMC, I set out to help small groups of individuals live out Jesus’ command to ‘go into all the world and make disciples’. The idea is that making disciples is the first step on the journey to starting a movement that will grow and grow. Alan Hirsch, in setting out this idea in his seminal book ‘The Forgotten Ways’, identified six factors that work together to make a movement buzz and thrive. The first factor is that there needs to be a person and an idea that together can become the focal point for the movement.

More groundbreaking – Image from Wikimedia
A person and an idea

All vigorously growing movements have this centralised focus. For the communist revolution in Russia in the early part of the 20th century the person was Karl Marx and the idea was that wealth should be shared, not held primarily by a ruling class. The means of production should be owned, not by industrialists, but by the workers themselves.

It’s not hard to identify the same structure in all sorts of other historical movements; think of Al Qaeda, the Methodist movement, female suffrage, the rise of the German Nazi party between the first and second world wars, the growth of Amazon as a supply and delivery business. I could go on, there are many examples, and it’s not hard to see a central personality and a central notion or purpose for each.

Jesus is Lord!

In the life of the church the central figure is Jesus and the central idea is that he is Lord. The church was founded on this person and this truth nearly 2000 years ago. He gave us everything we need to become disciples, and he imbued the church with everything it needs to be a thriving, thrusting movement. And although in the first few hundred years, there was explosive growth, a real movement on a major scale, something that swept through the Graeco-Roman world and far beyond – that momentum stalled. Something fundamental, in church today, seems to be missing.

This is the first of six essential ingredients that Alan Hirsch argues that we need to rediscover and reactivate in the church. I think he is right. We need to recover the sense that Jesus is at the heart of church life, and that he is Lord.

It’s fair to argue that this is exactly what Jesus himself meant when he told his disciples to go out into the world and make disciples. But he surrounded that command with some super-important statements. First he said that he has full authority, then he told them to go and make more disciples, he said to teach those new disciples to do all the things he’d taught his initial disciples, and then he finished by telling them that he’d be with them all the way. They did what he’d asked, they made many more disciples who also understood that Jesus is Lord and that they were, in turn, to make more disciples. And they did. And that is a movement! They literally changed their world.

But it’s essential that we do more than just repeat the slogan, ‘Jesus is Lord’. We need to live the slogan out; as disciples of Jesus, we need to do what he did, and to speak into our culture the things he spoke into his culture. He told us to love the people in our lives, he said we should forgive people who are unkind to us. He calls us to imitate his words, but also his thinking and his actions. It’s essential to go as he did, to bless the people around us, to help the helpless, feed the hungry, and meet every need as and when we come across it. Jesus blessed people in many ways, if we are truly his disciples so will we. But as Alan Hirsch points out, there’s more to it than just this one factor. We may be ever so familiar with Jesus, and have a close knowledge of him. We might study him at degree level, publish learned papers about him, write theses about his life and work, and read and write great books about him, and never once see any hint of a rapidly expanding movement.

Knowing Jesus is not, on its own, enough. It is, however an indispensable first step. We do need to know Jesus intimately, to understand who he is, and follow him to the best of our abilities. Yet this alone is insufficient for the rapidly growing movement we would all, surely, like to see! There are five other necessary factors and we will look at another one next time. Alongside the person and the idea there also needs to be a gift. We’ll discuss this in detail in the next part of this short series, but for now it’s enough to know that Jesus is not only the person, and his lordship the idea, but also Jesus himself is the gift. Jesus gave himself for us. This is the supreme gift, but there are others as we shall see.

BUT! In the meantime, get to know Jesus as never before. Spend time discovering him as a person by reading through the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Ask him to reveal himself more fully to you, he is always happy to answer this request, whether you are poor or wealthy, healthy or unwell, highly educated or unable to read. Consider what it means that he is Lord, and consider the cost involved in giving himself and the benefit of that gift to you and to me.

Remember, you need to get to know a person – Jesus: and you need to grapple with an idea – Jesus is Lord: and you need to understand a gift – Jesus’ action in pouring himself out for you, for me, for all of us.

Some resources

Meanwhile, let me leave you with some places to look for more information on this.

  • The best way to get to know Jesus better is to keep reading the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John). They are freely available on line in a variety of languages and versions. Bible Gateway is a good source, but there are plenty of others. If you like, take a look at my website, Cruising the Gospel.
  • My guidebook, JDMC, presents Alan Hirsch’s six forgotten ways in a short, introductory, workbook format for individuals, or better, a small group of up to 12 people. Part One – Jesus at the Centre is the relevant section.
  • Alan Hirsch’s widely read book ‘The Forgotten Ways’ is available in print or in ebook form. Buy it from Eden, Google Play Books, Amazon or from your local bookshop.

John 14:8-14 – Making it clear

Nobody has ever made claims like this before! It is either true, or Jesus is utterly deluded, or at worst he’s a complete fraud.

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John 14:8-14 – Read it yourself (opens in a new tab)

This must have felt frustrating; Jesus has already explained to them all and then added more to help Thomas. But now Philip doesn’t understand either. But Jesus is able to cope with anything, and in this he leads the way for us; frustration doesn’t lead to impatience. We are called to be patient as he is patient.

Philip asks Jesus to show the Father to the puzzled, anxious disciples, and he adds that doing so will satisfy them. Jesus is surprised. I’ve been with you all this time, Philip: how can you not know me?

Simple truth

And he explains again the simple truth that he and his Father are one, ‘I’m in the Father, and he’s in me’. This simple truth is hard for Philip to grasp because it is so deep, so astonishing, yet so simple. Surely far too simple to be true, and far too shocking as well. Nobody has ever made claims like this before! It is either true, or Jesus is utterly deluded, or at worst he’s a complete fraud. No wonder Philip struggles! Jesus tells him that if he can’t believe what he says, he should certainly believe what he’s been doing – healing the sick, raising the dead, forgiving the guilty. Who else but the Father himself could do this stuff?

The Father’s glory

If you believe in me you’ll do even greater things because, when I’m in the Father’s presence, you’ll be able to ask whatever is needed and I’ll do it for you. Why? Because the Father’s glory (the Presence that has long been in the holiest place in the Temple) will instead be in Jesus and his glory will no longer be contained in the Holy of Holies but will be contained in Jesus instead. And although Jesus doesn’t say so here, the Father’s glory will therefore be in the church because we, the church, are Jesus’ body here in the world. Perhaps this is not fully understood or expressed until the Holy Spirit reveals it to Paul on the Damascus road. Paul knew that the Presence had been in the Holy Place, but that now there was a new Holy Place, the church, inhabited by the Son, and through him, by the Father too since they are one. Although this was plain to Paul even before the Temple’s destruction, it must have been far less clear to the disciples while Jesus was still physically with them.

We carry an inestimable treasure with us wherever we go! And if that doesn’t fill you with hope, joy, and encouragement, I don’t know what will.

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Ground breaking

Have we come to a time when the church is perfect and is missing nothing? I don’t think so! What fresh revelation will be next?

In a recent, very brief conversation on Twitter I suggested that something was ‘ground breaking’. Specifically it concerned some ideas about following Jesus, and whether one particular idea was ground breaking.

Thinking about this afterwards I realised that a useful conversation requires that we agree on what we mean by ‘ground breaking’ in the context of the lives and activities of believers interacting together in groups.

Ploughing with bullocks – From Wikimedia

Arguably, ‘ground breaking’ might originally be a farming or growing term. Before taking a harvest, it’s necessary to plant seeds in fertile soil, get them to germinate, and wait for them to grow. The farmer has much to do during that process, but the very first requirement is to do some ground breaking. Turning the soil with a plough (or a spade) loosens it, damages any weeds growing there, makes it easier to sow seed, and enables water and air to penetrate (both are needed). A bit of ground breaking can work wonders!

Jesus, ground breaker par excellence

In one sense of course, Jesus did all the ground breaking that could possibly be needed in church life. He only did what he saw his Father do, and only said what he heard his Father say. And he told his followers, ‘My Father is a gardener’. He also told a striking parable about seed falling in different places, including well prepared soil as well as several kinds of unprepared, unsuitable, or poorly prepared ground.

His is a foundational kind of ground breaking that we cannot and do not need to repeat. But there’s something else I would call ground breaking; something that happens every time principles, knowledge, or behaviour that the church has forgotten is restored. It’s happened over and over again.

Lesser ground breakings

One relatively recent example would be the spiritual revival that took place in the 1960s and 70s. I’m old enough to remember the excitement of discovering two things in those days. The understanding that the Holy Spirit poured out gifts on his people and wanted us to put them to use, and the idea that small groups meeting outside the denominations were capable of rapid and dynamic growth. They were exciting times. Out of this sprang three phenomena that are still with us today; multiple streams of new organisations like New Frontiers, New Wine, and many more; a re-invigoration of parts of most denominations, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and more; and thirdly the house church movement based around small, intimate groups of friends.

Going back a little we can see that the Azusa Street events were ground breaking in the same sense and resulted in the two main streams of Pentecostal churches.

Before that we might identify the Welsh revival when a new sense of unworthiness and Father’s forgiveness resulted in large numbers of people praising and worshipping, encouraging one another, and preaching to their neighbours in towns and villages. Before that the Wesleys and Methodism flourished and it was understood that small groups can be a powerful way for people to grow and develop together. And there are many more ground breaking events like these right back through the centuries.

When I talk about ground breaking I definitely include developments like these, discoveries that there was, in the earliest state of the church, some other element of following Jesus which has since fallen into disuse or even faded from memory entirely. Rediscovering how things used to be and might be again is ground breaking in this lesser sense.

New, vigorous growth

Such freshly re-broken ground almost always seems to result in new, vigorous growth where previously things had become somewhat tired and wooden. Think in terms of a neglected, weak, dehydrated plant that has just been potted up with fresh compost, is being watered regularly, and now stands in a new spot where there is fresh air, adequate humidity, and plenty of light. A plant like that will put on a sudden spurt of growth, form new shoots and leaves, and perhaps flower for the first time in ages.

We need to see more ground being rebroken and experience that fresh flush of growth and energy again and again. Have we come to a time when the church is perfect and is missing nothing? I don’t think so! What fresh revelation will be next?

Note: Ground breaking can also mean a ceremonial turning of soil at the start of a construction project. It can be instructive to think of Jesus’ work as the start of a building project – the New Jerusalem, which is the church (see Revelation 21:9-10). But that’s a whole topic on its own.