Missional: Attacking the Static- Part 3

Part 3- Missional Discipleship

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who has called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:2-4)”.

Discipleship is vital in every aspect of the mission. There are various "goodwill" organizations and ministries which are characterized by doing good works and not so much as being or becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. Good works are demonstrated through a Christian’s life but not everyone who does good works is on mission for Jesus Christ or as the above verse illustrates; participating in the divine nature. In this blog I would like to explain proper discipleship because it is the disciples who are the arms and legs of the body of Christ and living out the incarnation (which we explained in part 2) and through that exact mission- disciples are born.

"The Church is nothing but a section of humanity in which Christ has really taken form"- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Understanding the Biblical story we know that the history of mankind is explained through the fall of Adam- man had chosen his own will over the will of God and has suffered in his fallen nature ever since. Christianity is the offer to restore what was lost in Adam (the image of God, the presence of God, the access to the tree of life, etc.) which is done by dying to ourselves and becoming alive in Christ (Ephesians chapter 2; Galatians 2:20). As was said in the book, Untamed by Alan Hirsch :

"At the very beginning of following Jesus, we are all called to be un-dragoned by repenting, dying to our fallen selves, and surrendering our identities and purposes to the Lordship of Jesus..".

Soren Kierkegaard coined the term contemporaneousness which meant that within the mind and life of a Christian, Jesus Christ must be a "living reality, seen through the eyes of faith, and contemporaneous with each generation. His reality must be such that it transcends both time and space". As it was further spoken that this is done through a conscious and responsible effort to reach beyond church tradition, inherited presuppositions, and encounter Jesus for who he was to the eyewitnesses...and "in that painful tension of the dilemma; make his own choice as to whether Jesus is the God-man who has absolute claim to his life or a madman who should be avoided at all costs".

The prevailing problem today is that most who call themselves are not acting a disciples of Christ, dare I even say they act as half-hearted converts. Most of this is done through a seemingly dumbing-down process which creates a zeal without knowledge. Consider how many so-called Christians cannot clearly explain the gospel (as is the narrative of the Scriptures, not the emotional. How is this so? This zeal without knowledge is what has taking a stronghold over popular Christianity and therefore disables true disciples of Christ engaged in a reality of Him which would be true missional living. As it has been clearly stated "...ignorance of Jesus by those who claim His name is toxic to both the believer as well as those around him or her".

"If you conception of God is radically false, then the more devout you are, the worse it will be for you. You are opening your soul to be molded by something else. You had better be an atheist"- William Temple

As I have grown in the knowledge of God, which has been quite the journey, I have struggled with what exactly being a disciple of Christ means today in modern society. Should we sell everything and follow Him as the disciples did, should we seek to be persecuted, WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Studying history of Christianity, along with experimenting with monasticism, homelessness, and various other concepts I have realized the truth of the following statement:

“To be a follower of Christ does not mean to imitate literally but to express him through the medium of one's own life. A Christian is no unnatural reproduction of Christ...The task of the Christian consists of transposing Christ into the stuff of his own daily life"- Romano Guardini

Unfortunately, today the prevailing thought of living a Christian life seems like a holiness exercise. Think about it, every Bible study, every discussion, somehow, someone brings up sin. I thought sin was defeated? (Romans chapters 3, 5 & 6; Hebrews 2; John 1:12; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:1-2; Revelation 1:5-6). Ever since (and before) I became a Christian I have had discussions, debates, and confrontations with those in Christ and those outside Christ regarding sin- it seems everyone is just “stuck on stupid” when it comes to grace and the righteousness of Christ. It took a while for me to figure this out, but through study, observation, and constant prayers with God I realized- the Christian communities emphasis on sin is actually a cop-out of our larger responsibility to be set on fire to live and do the will of God. It has always been easier to doubt, fear, hate, and ostracize people and other aspects of life rather than to believe, have faith, and show love.

Recently, I went to an event called Man up. The conference called men to begin living Biblically by becoming more like Jesus Christ. I started to think about a conversation my girlfriend Quanti and I had with a fellow Christian concerning his preoccupation with sin. Quanti strictly told him “it’s about doing the things He did, not doing the things He didn’t do”. Our religious spirit clings to the concept of sin and makes us look at others in a way of judgment and keeps us personally from doing what we should because all we can think about is how we keep doing the things we should. Sadly, we treat the sacrifice of Christ with contempt and make it of no effect in the matters of sin.

As I illustrated above, seemingly living “holy” lives centered on not sinning and not doing what the “bad people” do makes it easier for us to pass off our apathy and lack of passion. As Soren Kierkegaard once said:

"...there is a demand by "the crowd", the mass of people, to live an ordinary unexamined and passionate life in which God is essentially irrelevant, and yet they want this life to be regarded as Christian"

The fact of the matter is that Christians should not be concerned with the do not's but rather the do's, face it you are a sinner and your righteousness will never account for worthiness in the eyes of God (Isaiah 64:6; 1 John 1:8; Romans 3:23; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 1:30). Mark Batterson said it best, "It seems to me that the modern church has become fixated on sins of commission. Don’t do this. Don’t do that. And you’re alright. But the problem with that is this: you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right! Think of it as holiness by subtraction. So holiness becomes the byproduct of subtracting something from our lives that shouldn’t be there instead of maximizing our God-given potential. Don’t get me wrong. Holiness certainly involves subtraction. But I think God is far more concerned about sins of omission—those things we could have and should have done. Maybe holiness has as much or more to do with seizing opportunities as it does resisting temptation? Those who simply run away from sin are half-Christians. Our calling is much higher than simply running away from what’s wrong"And again he illustrated the point in his book, Primal:

"Too often we try to stop sinning by not sinning. But that is a losing battle. It's what psychologists call a double bind...of course; you can try to stop sinning by not sinning. And when that doesn't work, you can try even harder to stop sinning by not sinning. But what you need is a vision from God that captures your imagination and consumes your energy. Vision is the cure for sin". –Mark Batterson

Let’s get scriptural. Check out Mark chapter 5 verses 15 through 33.
The first story we come across is Jesus casting demons out of a man and He sends them into the pigs, after this the man wanted to go with Jesus but what did Jesus say? “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:15-20). Then Jesus once again goes on mission across the lake and is asked to heal a man asked Jesus to heal his child. As this is happening, a woman hoping to be healed touches Jesus’ clothing and Jesus realizes. Jesus turns to the woman and tells her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering” (Mark 5:21-33). How dare we go about making Jesus Christ into some holiness preacher so worried about our sins. As it was once said about Jesus Christ, that he had:

"...radical, redemptive holiness that went way beyond mere morality".

The holiness of Christ led to personal liberation and societal transformation. Jesus Christ heals these people and tells them to go. Legalism (which was the issue of the Pharisee, those who killed Christ) holds us to a “touch not, taste not” mentality. Many times throughout the Gospels the religious people were confused and insulted by what Jesus Christ did in order to show grace and understanding for the lost. Remember what Christ said:

“It is not the healthy who needs a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17)

Jesus Christ came set those under the Law free which enabled them to be missional (Check out my blog titled: I am free to love).

The first step that the eternal seed must pass through was death (see, 1 Corinthians 15:36). It was not man's will which brought about this death; and by this I do not mean the death of the body, which is unimportant. It was God's will which brought about the death so that the fullness of His nature would be produced in the seed He planted. – Brother Paul Richard Jr. Curran

We must die to ourselves, our way of doing things, and even our righteousness so that the glory of God (Christ in and through us) may be revealed! It is when we do this that we are enabled to know God.
Death to self. Dying to everything about ourselves, our selfish ambition and goals, is the only way to truly worship God!

"Worship turns out to be the dangerous act of waking up to God and to the purposes of God in the world, and then living lives that actually show it"- Mark Labberton, Dangerous Act of Worship

WAKE UP! That is discipleship!

Jn 12:24 (NIV) "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

So now what?
I have always been fascinated with the concept of “prophetic imagination”, which is how the prophets acted when they were called to tell the message to the people(). I have written blogs about this concept which basically is defined as being creative, risky, and bold in our efforts to display the message of Christ to the world. Truly a zeal empowered by knowledge of all that God has done.

As we grow in Christ everything in our lives becomes a part of the mission. The social set theory is the efforts to explain social atmospheres and the two main types are centered set versus bounded set. Dare I pose that popular Christianity has become a bounded set theory in which there are people inside and outside but no real way to cross boundaries. Does this sound like what Jesus did?

Instead, Christianity must focus on living through the center set theory which is the characterized by a clear vision and ideology at the center but no real boundaries to cross in order to join. The Greek Orthodox Church has a concept called theosis- which demonstrates the growth in the knowledge of God which draws you closer and closer to God. (2 Peter chapter 1).

As we come to Christ and grow in the knowledge of God we become alive. As we become alive it is only natural to seek to express and share the life that is in and through us (Galatians 2:20 type of stuff). The mission is not a program it is simple a natural response to the knowledge of God. Brothers and sisters, seek to know the will of God and therefore become a disciple of Christ. As you grow you will become a disciple who makes disciples!

"Of all the works of creation, it is passion which is very good, without which man cannot serve God, or truly live" Martin Buber

Puritanical Ostracism

Last night, Gabriella and I went to see the movie, Easy A. The movie was a high school flic based on The Scarlett Letter, I guess one could venture to say a modern day tale. The term "Jesus Freak" was used much too imply the religious crowd at school who pretty much made all the gossip spread and judged everyone on campus (sounds a lot like today's churchianity, doesn't it?).
"Puritanical Ostracism" was a term used the movie by a girl who was labeled a "skank" and embraced it by putting the red letter A on her clothing as taken from the movie The Scarlett Letter.
A bit of history of the Puritans. (Yes, Gabriella had to deal with this right after the movie, laughs). The Puritans are pretty much what we owe our tribute to here in America, since America was suppose to be the land where the kingdom of God would spawn. These people from England wanted to create a pure, set apart nation for God, and would deem themselves "the godly". If one reads about Puritan Theology, you will most likely read about how to abstain from sin, become pure in mind, and living a very devout life.
Now, first I would like to say that I am fond of many Puritan writings and contributions to Christianity, but I do recognize some flaws that have become very prevalent in American Christianity. I would definitely attribute much of the religiosity of our Christianity to the Puritans.
For example, this desire to be holy and righteous, rather than seeking His righteousness and allowing God to do work through you, is very evident. The end result is more Pharisaic than it is Christ-like. Remember when Jesus approached the woman caught in adultery? (John chapter 7). "You without sin throw the first stone". Where is that attitude today?
Also, the constant discussion of demons, devils, and sin is another given to Puritan Theology. I had this discussion with a man the other night who seemed to deem everything in the world demonic. Why don't we just listen to Jesus Christ and "seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness.."? How so? Read Romans chapter 14, emphasis on verse 11, "The kingdom of God is righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit".
The movie Easy A, gave me a harsh glimpse into what "non-Christians" are seeing within us as the Church. Our shift has become highly Pharisaic and we are quickly becoming the people Jesus Christ yelled at the most.
As I seek to draw closer to Christ, to learn more about Him, His good news, and His kingdom, I am realizing that it is a messy, upside-down journey...we need to focus on creating righteousness, joy and peace by living missionally and being the change we want to see in the world.
I have committed myself to no longer dwell on what "they" (the world, other Christians, etc) don't have, but rather begin to truly live in what we do have- righteousness, peace, and joy through the Holy Spirit.

by His wonderful Grace,
Mike Miano

"According to His critics, Jesus "did God" all wrong. He went to the wrong places, said the wrong things, and worst of all let just anyone into the kingdom. Jesus scandalized an intimidating, elitist, country club religion by opening membership in the spiritual life to those who had been denied it. What made people furious was Jesus' "irresponsible" habit of throwing open the doors of His love to whosoever, the just-any-ones, and the not-a-chancers like you and me"- quoted from the book Messy Spirituality: God's Annoying Love for Imperfect People.

Moralistic Christianity- An in depth look at "SIN"

I would like to use this message to speak a bit about sin. Most people who know me, know my attitude concerning sin and the religious mind-set. I HATE IT!
I strongly believe that too many Christians are focused on the wrong thing. So many times do I get into legalistic discussions about what is or isnt sin, so with this blog I would like to clear aware some issues.
What is sin? Sin comes from the root meaning "to miss the mark". I would use the analogy of a dart board. If you throw a dart and miss the bulls-eye, no matter how close you get, if it is not in the little ring, you MISSED the mark! So in matters of sin, no matter how hard we try we still miss the bulls-eye of perfection, so why argue about how far or close we can get. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.
This all comes from a recent discussion with a dear friend concerning what is sin and what isnt. Let me be upfront, I HATE TALKING ABOUT SIN, and that is justified because God hates sin! Why do we focus on what we shouldnt be doing, when half the church isnt doing what they should BE DOING. Here is a couple quotes for you to ponder "I am about my Fathers business" and "seek first the Kingdom of God". SO STRAIGHT FROM JESUS CHRIST: GET FOCUSED ON WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING!
I am in the middle of reading an excellent book which touches on this topic. "A Renegade's Guide to God by David Foster". The book speaks about the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion is about the good and the bad, rules and regulations. Christianity is about following the resurrected, living Messiah, Jesus Christ. "Life, and life more abundantly". Two great questions he posed in the book were : Who decides what is right for who and How good is good enough for God?
Galatians 2:16 says "a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus...". So even if you want to be legalistic and make rules after rules, you still will not be justified, so why not just focus on following the Messiah and letting him prune you off sin (John 15:2).
Let me say, I absolutely love the analogy that David Foster uses. So, lets say you have an excellent driving record, no tickets, never been pulled over, or anything (obviously nothing like me). One night while driving you fall asleep at the wheel and hit a car full of teenagers, all of them die. Do you think anyone will remember or talk about your awesome driving record after that? No, and thats similar to how God views our sins. We know we dont have an excellent driving record with God, but if you did, we all know we will continue to sin until we receive our glorified self, so in Gods' eyes your righteousness doesn't amount to anything besides "filtered language - dirty rags". See, even the Word of the Lord can be quite straight forward. We must remember all sin is equal (James 2:10).
Read Matthew 5:20. That should be a clear cut to those who try to be goody-two-shoes. You can try by all your righteousness, but I will focus on following Jesus the Christ, and let Him alone redeem me.

OK, I would like to conclude this with a study I did a while ago. (yes, this is my famous sin study with the man who wanted to argue tattoos are sin, which is another FUN one.)

Ok, what is sin? I John 3:4 says "Sin is lawlessness"
So the next question would be, whats is the law? James 2:8 says "If you keep the royal law found in scripture, love thy neighbor as thyself, you do right. Or even as Romans 13:10 says "Love is the fulfillment of the law".(c.f.- I John 3:11,Galatians 5:14, 2 John 6).
God is Love- I John 4:8

The message of salvation in Christ is very simple, and in scripture we are warned against those who make it difficult. This is what the Pharisees did. (2 Corinthians 11:3). God never changed the Law but rather He brought our focus back, The leaders at the time of Christ had led so many away from God and focused on sin because the Law is for sinners (Romans 3:19-24). The Law is good IF USED PROPERLY (I Timothy 1:8-11).

The spirit of the Pharisee is still alive today. Many so-called Christians are judgmental, picking others faults, white washed catacombs, making up new laws etc..And this is not meant to bash, but make you aware. Our focus should be living out the image and idea God created in us.
BUT..
Here is more of an argument for freedom by grace.
I Corinthians 6:12 tells us that everything is permissible, might not be good for you though. (c.f.- Titus 1:14-15, All of Romans 14).
When should you limit this freedom? In love! Remember we have the law of love! Romans 14:13-23
A Spiritual man can be judged by no man (I Corinthians chapter 2)

Ok, I hope that was an in depth look at sin, for all those who dwell on that matter.
THE ENDING OF THE DISCUSSION IS THIS...
LET'S SAY, I DO THAT WHICH IS SIN, I FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD, WHAT'S NEXT? CAN YOU SAY THE SAME? IF YOU DOM, THEN YOU ARE IN TRUTH, IF NOT YOU ARE A LIAR! SO THEN, DO YOU SEE HOW FUTILE IT IS TO TALK ON AND ON ABOUT WHAT IS OR ISNT SIN? LET US LEARN FROM THE WORD OF GOD, LIVE LIFE FREE AND IN LOVE, AND LET GOD PRUNE US OF OUR IMPURITIES,
AFTER ALL, ISNT THAT WHAT HE DOES?

THANK YOU, GOD BLESS, IN CHRIST,
PASTOR MIKE MIANO