Why are we making disciples?
Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples. (Mt 28:19)
The Apostle Paul was an expert at making disciples of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:10a "By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder ............." NIV
How did he do it? A study of what Paul focused on reveals he was an expert at building others in three areas; Knowing God, Christian Character and Ministry.
Other types of experts are mentioned in Scripture as well but they did not make quality disciples of Jesus.
Luke 11:46 "Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." NIV
Luke 11:52 ""Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering." NIV
Matthew 23:15 ""Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are." NIV
We too can miss the mark and become an expert in things that do not make quality disciples of Jesus in our day - things such as an expert on End Times or an expert in the Old Covenant or an expert in the modern nation of Israel, or an expert in Church history or Prosperity, Faith, Prophecy, an expert in a particular issue of the day, so forth and so on.
The expertise that we desire to gain, discuss and share with each other is in Making Disciples of Jesus. This goal is reposted below in the first blog a few months ago. Please join in and add your comments to the blog.
The Goal of Disciple Making
The Goal of Disciple Making“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:18-20 NASB
Jesus desires that people of all nations will be made into his disciples. A disciple is not born as one but rather made into one and therefore Jesus commanded his servants to do the hard work necessary to make people into disciples of Jesus. When referring to a disciple of Jesus this word disciple simple means a learner, student and follower of Jesus and we know there is a goal and destiny for such a student and follower of Jesus. A good disciple maker will keep that goal in mind until it is reached.
The goal is found in Ephesians 4:11-13:“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” NASB
We can consolidate this into three main areas which will be our goal in making a disciple:
1. Knowing God – “until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God;”
2. Christian Character - “to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ;”
3. Ministry – “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.”
A disciple of Jesus is one who is learning to: Know God, be like Jesus in Character and Minister to others.
A disciple maker is teaching the disciple those three things and making sure the disciple grows and reaches the goal of maturity in those three things.“As a result, we are no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Ephesians 4:14-16
Why do we see so much corruption, lack of love and lack of maturity in the Christian Church of our day?
One reason is clear, we no longer make disciples as we ought even though we do make many believers, seminary students, pastors and even build many church buildings. We must keep in mind a believer in Jesus is not a disciple of Jesus by merely being a believer nor is a seminary graduate a disciple of Jesus by merely being a graduate of religion, nor is a pastor a disciple of Jesus by merely preaching every Sunday and finally the size and luxury of a church building has nothing whatsoever to do with being or making disciples of Jesus; all of which may shock those who are not disciples. A disciple is distinctly different for Jesus did not say “Go and make believers, seminary graduates, pastors and build wonderful church buildings” but rather he said “go and make disciples”.
May the Lord Jesus make you into His Disciple today,
Disciple Maker
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Ministry Lesson 1 of 12 meeting 1a
Ministry 1a – Thanksgiving and Justice.
Ministry means service, a minister is a servant. There are numerous types of services and servants.
Every disciple of Jesus is a minister.
1 Peter 2:5 “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
In the Ministry module we’re helping the young disciple grow in the ministry of loving God and loving others. Once again, two wings on a bird both have to be working well in order to fly otherwise its flying in circles.The goal in building “Ministry” is to reach the level of love that Jesus manifested in fulfilling the two great commandments - “Love the Lord your God…Love your neighbor” Matthew 22:37-39
Ministry is an outflow of sincere love that is flowing towards God and towards others as a result of the growth one makes in the other two modules. A formula may be of some help to picture and understand this - the formula is not perfect just a picture:
Knowing God (KG) x Christian Character (CC) = Ministry (M).
The Apostle Paul writes that CC is connected M:
2 Timothy 2:20 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
The Apostle Peter writes that KG is connected to CC:
2 Peter 1:8 “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
To the extent that the young disciple Knows God and has worked out some of that in his/her own character, then loving God and neighbors is an automatic outflow of that growth.
What does the opposite of such a formula look like?
(a) A ministry of loving God without the sincere love is ritual and tradition, not ministry.
Mark 7:6 “And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:' THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Mark 7:9 “He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
(b) A ministry of loving one’s neighbor without sincere love is activity and showmanship, not ministry.
1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
Matthew 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
Luke 20:46 “"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets”
I start this Module with the Ministry of Thanksgiving toward God and Justice toward man – a foundation of Ministry.
The Lord was focused on “thanksgiving” in Rom 1:21 & “justice” in Rom 13:8-10.
Loving God: The Ministry of THANKSGIVING
Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.”
Psalm 95:2 “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Psalm 100:4 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving. And His courts with praise Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
Helping the disciple grow in an attitude of perpetual gratitude is key here to develop a Ministry of Thanksgiving which is an outflow of love toward God. (more later)
Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;”
Colossians 2:7 “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
For now help the disciple discover things to thank God for and thus begin the ministry. Have them start a weekly journal to record their ministry of thanksgiving and thank the Lord for every single thing that happened during the week.
Some broad topics we'll consider thanking the Lord about are:
Spiritual life – salvation, new life, knowing God etc.
Soul life – sound mind, the mind of Christ, joy, peace, etc.
Body life – health, strength, sound sleep.
Relationships – family, friends, coworkers, fellow Christians, etc.
Protection – from accidents, from thieves, from etc.
Provision – employment, education, transportaion etc
This is just a start to show how the Ministry of Thanksgiving can grow to incorporate thanking the Lord in all circumstances for all things.
(more on this Ministry in meeting 1b)
Loving Our Neighbors: The Ministry of JUSTICE
The ministry of loving our neighbors begins with The Ministry of Justice where we’re growing in treating others justly - rightly.
Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice…..”
Romans 13:8 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The words justice and righteous are interchangeable in Scripture, to do justice is to do right, to be righteous is to be just, acting justly towards others is acting righteously or rightly towards others. The opposite is unrighteous behavior aka unjust behavior or doing others wrong - ”love does no wrong to a neighbor”.
In this wing of the Ministry module we’re helping the disciple to know right from wrong behavior towards others and equipping them to choose the right. Obviously the disciple needs to know right from wrong first in order to love others justly.
Jeremiah 9:24 “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
James 4:17 “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Some broad topics we’ll consider are:
Preventing; repaying evil for evil, dishonor, disrespect.
Promoting ministry of ; respecting others, honoring others, thanking others, blessing those who curse you.
Preventing; neglect, unconcern, bitterness, grudges etc.
Promoting ministry of; helping others, encouraging others, being a blessing to all etc.
Preventing; injustice, favoritism, selfishness etc.
Promoting ministry of; defending the rights of others, equality, sharing with others etc.
Preventing; isolation and stinginess
Promoting ministry of; fellowship and generosity
(More on this Ministry in meeting 1b)
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you as you equip others to serve Him.
Disciple Maker
Ministry means service, a minister is a servant. There are numerous types of services and servants.
Every disciple of Jesus is a minister.
1 Peter 2:5 “you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
In the Ministry module we’re helping the young disciple grow in the ministry of loving God and loving others. Once again, two wings on a bird both have to be working well in order to fly otherwise its flying in circles.The goal in building “Ministry” is to reach the level of love that Jesus manifested in fulfilling the two great commandments - “Love the Lord your God…Love your neighbor” Matthew 22:37-39
Ministry is an outflow of sincere love that is flowing towards God and towards others as a result of the growth one makes in the other two modules. A formula may be of some help to picture and understand this - the formula is not perfect just a picture:
Knowing God (KG) x Christian Character (CC) = Ministry (M).
The Apostle Paul writes that CC is connected M:
2 Timothy 2:20 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. 21Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”
The Apostle Peter writes that KG is connected to CC:
2 Peter 1:8 “For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
To the extent that the young disciple Knows God and has worked out some of that in his/her own character, then loving God and neighbors is an automatic outflow of that growth.
What does the opposite of such a formula look like?
(a) A ministry of loving God without the sincere love is ritual and tradition, not ministry.
Mark 7:6 “And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:' THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Mark 7:9 “He was also saying to them, "You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
(b) A ministry of loving one’s neighbor without sincere love is activity and showmanship, not ministry.
1 Corinthians 13:3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
Matthew 23:14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.”
Luke 20:46 “"Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and love respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets”
I start this Module with the Ministry of Thanksgiving toward God and Justice toward man – a foundation of Ministry.
The Lord was focused on “thanksgiving” in Rom 1:21 & “justice” in Rom 13:8-10.
Loving God: The Ministry of THANKSGIVING
Romans 1:21 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Psalm 9:1 “I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.”
Psalm 95:2 “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving,Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
Psalm 100:4 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving. And His courts with praise Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
Helping the disciple grow in an attitude of perpetual gratitude is key here to develop a Ministry of Thanksgiving which is an outflow of love toward God. (more later)
Hebrews 12:28 “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;”
Colossians 2:7 “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
For now help the disciple discover things to thank God for and thus begin the ministry. Have them start a weekly journal to record their ministry of thanksgiving and thank the Lord for every single thing that happened during the week.
Some broad topics we'll consider thanking the Lord about are:
Spiritual life – salvation, new life, knowing God etc.
Soul life – sound mind, the mind of Christ, joy, peace, etc.
Body life – health, strength, sound sleep.
Relationships – family, friends, coworkers, fellow Christians, etc.
Protection – from accidents, from thieves, from etc.
Provision – employment, education, transportaion etc
This is just a start to show how the Ministry of Thanksgiving can grow to incorporate thanking the Lord in all circumstances for all things.
(more on this Ministry in meeting 1b)
Loving Our Neighbors: The Ministry of JUSTICE
The ministry of loving our neighbors begins with The Ministry of Justice where we’re growing in treating others justly - rightly.
Micah 6:8 “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice…..”
Romans 13:8 “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The words justice and righteous are interchangeable in Scripture, to do justice is to do right, to be righteous is to be just, acting justly towards others is acting righteously or rightly towards others. The opposite is unrighteous behavior aka unjust behavior or doing others wrong - ”love does no wrong to a neighbor”.
In this wing of the Ministry module we’re helping the disciple to know right from wrong behavior towards others and equipping them to choose the right. Obviously the disciple needs to know right from wrong first in order to love others justly.
Jeremiah 9:24 “but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.”
Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow.”
James 4:17 “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”
Some broad topics we’ll consider are:
Preventing; repaying evil for evil, dishonor, disrespect.
Promoting ministry of ; respecting others, honoring others, thanking others, blessing those who curse you.
Preventing; neglect, unconcern, bitterness, grudges etc.
Promoting ministry of; helping others, encouraging others, being a blessing to all etc.
Preventing; injustice, favoritism, selfishness etc.
Promoting ministry of; defending the rights of others, equality, sharing with others etc.
Preventing; isolation and stinginess
Promoting ministry of; fellowship and generosity
(More on this Ministry in meeting 1b)
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you as you equip others to serve Him.
Disciple Maker
Friday, June 12, 2009
Christian Character Lesson 1 of 12 - meeting 1a
Christian Character meeting 1a - Humility and Pride
In the Christian Character module we’re helping the young disciple get rid of sin on the one hand and grow in the character fruit of Jesus on the other. Once again, two wings on a bird both have to be working well in order to fly otherwise its flying in circles.
The goal in building Christian Character is to become as much like Jesus Christ in our character as we possibly can.
We have a partial list of the Character of Jesus in Galatians 5:22 “..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23gentleness, self-control ..” NASB
The character trait of humility found in Christ is where I start in this module
Jesus himself encouraged us to be humble, Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” NASB
The Apostle Paul encouraged the same, Colossians 3:12 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” NASB
There is an additional advantage for starting this module with humility - – the disciple needs much grace (God’s favor and help) in order to grow and God gives this grace to the humble.
James 4:5-7 “ 5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? 6But He gives a greater grace Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE {favor and help}TO THE HUMBLE." 7Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” NASB
1 Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE {favor and help} TO THE HUMBLE. 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” NASB
What does humility mean?
Humility means lowering oneself or deflation. Pride is the opposite.
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Romans 12:3 “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
Being humble, or having the Spiritual fruit of humility, is the end result of actively lowering oneself, it is not a natural humility but rather a Holy Spirit inspired active trait. Jesus as God, left heaven and came to earth, actively lowering himself to become a human being. He lowered himself further to become a servant of man. Etc.
Philippians 2:8 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross..” NASB
Matthew 18:4 4"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” NASB
In brief, the Bible describes two audiences of which we are to be humble towards:
(1) Being humble before God - actively lowering & deflating oneself before God. (Jas 4:5-7; Mic 6:8)
(2) Being humble before each other - actively lowering & deflating oneself before people or persons. (1 Pet 5:5)
It is possible for a person to be humble before God and not toward others and vice versa. You may have a disciple who is very humble toward people but proud when it comes to God or vice versa. (We’ll go through various types of pride later.)
In addition humility can be true or false. True humility is Bible based, Christ like and sincere - sincere meaning the action and heart are united in the deed.
A very tragic mistake in disciple making is when the disciple maker accepts, allows, teaches or promotes some form of false humility.
Therefore we need to really grasp this concept of false humility at the beginning and follow only the teachings and practices of Jesus and the Apostles regarding true humility.
False humility or deceitful humility can be many things – below are 3 ways:
(a) Insincere humility - whereby the deed and the heart/spirit are disconnected and not united:
Psalm 12:2 “They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.” NASB
Isaiah 58:3 “'Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice? 'Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.”
Mark 7:6 “And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:' THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.” NASB
Luke 18:18 “ A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” NASB
Luke 6:46 “" Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” NASB
Anytime we fake humility it is not genuinely sincere as Jesus is in His humility.
For example:
An extreme case is those who mocked Jesus and bowed to him insincerely – “Mark 15:19 “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.”
A far less extreme case is when the Priest or Pastor instructs everyone to kneel and they all do so yet many are insincere and are just following orders as General Naaman did when he bowed to a foreign god for show and not in sincere humility. (2Kg 5:18). In contrast we have those who refused to fake humbleness (Dan 3).
Are we humbling ourselves before God and man because we are told to or because the culture we live in demands it or is it because we really mean it and thus are sincere in our humility whereby our heart/spirit and action are united in humility toward God and others?
For many the insincere humility will suffice but that is a mistake – we must not accept nor promote that sort of insincere practice in a young disciple.
Jesus was humble, truly sincerely humble, and never faked it.
(b) UnChristlike humility - humbling oneself in a way that Jesus did NOT teach nor practice.
Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” NASB
We learn from Jesus - ask yourself the question, did Jesus lower himself like that or teach us to do that?
For example a disciple that has an inferiority complex and thinks they are inferior to all others – “I’m ugly, I’m stupid, I’m uneducated, I’m fat, I’m divorced, I’m handicapped, etc.” This is not the humility fruit of the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul once said he was the worst of sinners. (1Tim 1:15). Why did he say that? (1 Tim 1:13). He was listing out his great sins which made him a great sinner – few had been a murderous killer of Christians like Paul had been so this was no inferiority complex but rather a truthful statement. Paul also called himself the least of the Apostles for the same reason (1 Cor 15:9), yet he was never inferior to them (2 Cor 11:15,23).
Speaking the truth about oneself is what Jesus did and taught. Jesus was not a door mat and did not let others treat him like one, that is all the way up to the point where he would take the sin of the world upon himself and become man’s scapegoat on the cross – before that point he did not let others treat him like a door mat in a perverted form of humility.
John 8:48,49 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" “Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.”
John 18:23 “Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?" NASB
Door mat humility is not like Christ. Likewise the Apostle Paul was also unwilling to allow himself to be treated like a door mat.
2 Corinthians 12:11 “I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.” NASB
Acts 25:11 “"If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar."
(c) non-Scriptural humility where one humbles themselves beyond any instructions in Scripture.
Such as humbling oneself before animals thus lifting animals up higher than the position the Lord created them in - treating animals like humans. Animal lovers can become extreme and end up exalting animals and lowering humans.
For example: In America many treat their pets as humans, even better than humans in some cases, and that is a not found in Scripture. In India many humble themselves before cows and rats, and monkeys.
There are cases where Christians have mistakenly felt that God wanted to humble them so they went around with dog collars on and crawled on all fours barking like a dog. Only the devil enjoys such humbling of Christians , God takes no pleasure in it.
Ask yourself, where in Scripture are we to lower ourselves like that?
Finally, help the young disciple enter into true humility and not false humility.
What is the proper and true fruit of humility we are building in the disciple?, is a question you must ask yourself as you examine the lives of Jesus and the Apostles and build that into the young disciple.
As homework ask the young disciple to take note of his/her false humility moments this coming week - humble towards God, family, friends, coworkers, peers, various people we come into contact with, animals etc. Was there any insincere or unChristlike or unBiblical humility practiced?
Then address it using the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that He has given you to make disciples.
Disciple Maker
P.S. Meeting 1 b – the beginnings of getting rid of the sin of Pride and learning more about true humility.
In the Christian Character module we’re helping the young disciple get rid of sin on the one hand and grow in the character fruit of Jesus on the other. Once again, two wings on a bird both have to be working well in order to fly otherwise its flying in circles.
The goal in building Christian Character is to become as much like Jesus Christ in our character as we possibly can.
We have a partial list of the Character of Jesus in Galatians 5:22 “..the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23gentleness, self-control ..” NASB
The character trait of humility found in Christ is where I start in this module
Jesus himself encouraged us to be humble, Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” NASB
The Apostle Paul encouraged the same, Colossians 3:12 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” NASB
There is an additional advantage for starting this module with humility - – the disciple needs much grace (God’s favor and help) in order to grow and God gives this grace to the humble.
James 4:5-7 “ 5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? 6But He gives a greater grace Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE {favor and help}TO THE HUMBLE." 7Submit therefore to God Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” NASB
1 Peter 5:5 “You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE {favor and help} TO THE HUMBLE. 6Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” NASB
What does humility mean?
Humility means lowering oneself or deflation. Pride is the opposite.
Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
Romans 12:3 “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
Being humble, or having the Spiritual fruit of humility, is the end result of actively lowering oneself, it is not a natural humility but rather a Holy Spirit inspired active trait. Jesus as God, left heaven and came to earth, actively lowering himself to become a human being. He lowered himself further to become a servant of man. Etc.
Philippians 2:8 “Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross..” NASB
Matthew 18:4 4"Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” NASB
In brief, the Bible describes two audiences of which we are to be humble towards:
(1) Being humble before God - actively lowering & deflating oneself before God. (Jas 4:5-7; Mic 6:8)
(2) Being humble before each other - actively lowering & deflating oneself before people or persons. (1 Pet 5:5)
It is possible for a person to be humble before God and not toward others and vice versa. You may have a disciple who is very humble toward people but proud when it comes to God or vice versa. (We’ll go through various types of pride later.)
In addition humility can be true or false. True humility is Bible based, Christ like and sincere - sincere meaning the action and heart are united in the deed.
A very tragic mistake in disciple making is when the disciple maker accepts, allows, teaches or promotes some form of false humility.
Therefore we need to really grasp this concept of false humility at the beginning and follow only the teachings and practices of Jesus and the Apostles regarding true humility.
False humility or deceitful humility can be many things – below are 3 ways:
(a) Insincere humility - whereby the deed and the heart/spirit are disconnected and not united:
Psalm 12:2 “They speak falsehood to one another; With flattering lips and with a double heart they speak.” NASB
Isaiah 58:3 “'Why have we fasted and You do not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and You do not notice? 'Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.”
Mark 7:6 “And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:' THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.” NASB
Luke 18:18 “ A ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" 19And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” NASB
Luke 6:46 “" Why do you call Me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?” NASB
Anytime we fake humility it is not genuinely sincere as Jesus is in His humility.
For example:
An extreme case is those who mocked Jesus and bowed to him insincerely – “Mark 15:19 “They kept beating His head with a reed, and spitting on Him, and kneeling and bowing before Him.”
A far less extreme case is when the Priest or Pastor instructs everyone to kneel and they all do so yet many are insincere and are just following orders as General Naaman did when he bowed to a foreign god for show and not in sincere humility. (2Kg 5:18). In contrast we have those who refused to fake humbleness (Dan 3).
Are we humbling ourselves before God and man because we are told to or because the culture we live in demands it or is it because we really mean it and thus are sincere in our humility whereby our heart/spirit and action are united in humility toward God and others?
For many the insincere humility will suffice but that is a mistake – we must not accept nor promote that sort of insincere practice in a young disciple.
Jesus was humble, truly sincerely humble, and never faked it.
(b) UnChristlike humility - humbling oneself in a way that Jesus did NOT teach nor practice.
Matthew 11:29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” NASB
We learn from Jesus - ask yourself the question, did Jesus lower himself like that or teach us to do that?
For example a disciple that has an inferiority complex and thinks they are inferior to all others – “I’m ugly, I’m stupid, I’m uneducated, I’m fat, I’m divorced, I’m handicapped, etc.” This is not the humility fruit of the Spirit.
The Apostle Paul once said he was the worst of sinners. (1Tim 1:15). Why did he say that? (1 Tim 1:13). He was listing out his great sins which made him a great sinner – few had been a murderous killer of Christians like Paul had been so this was no inferiority complex but rather a truthful statement. Paul also called himself the least of the Apostles for the same reason (1 Cor 15:9), yet he was never inferior to them (2 Cor 11:15,23).
Speaking the truth about oneself is what Jesus did and taught. Jesus was not a door mat and did not let others treat him like one, that is all the way up to the point where he would take the sin of the world upon himself and become man’s scapegoat on the cross – before that point he did not let others treat him like a door mat in a perverted form of humility.
John 8:48,49 The Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?" “Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.”
John 18:23 “Jesus answered him, "If I have spoken wrongly, testify of the wrong; but if rightly, why do you strike Me?" NASB
Door mat humility is not like Christ. Likewise the Apostle Paul was also unwilling to allow himself to be treated like a door mat.
2 Corinthians 12:11 “I have become foolish; you yourselves compelled me. Actually I should have been commended by you, for in no respect was I inferior to the most eminent apostles, even though I am a nobody.” NASB
Acts 25:11 “"If, then, I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of those things is true of which these men accuse me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar."
(c) non-Scriptural humility where one humbles themselves beyond any instructions in Scripture.
Such as humbling oneself before animals thus lifting animals up higher than the position the Lord created them in - treating animals like humans. Animal lovers can become extreme and end up exalting animals and lowering humans.
For example: In America many treat their pets as humans, even better than humans in some cases, and that is a not found in Scripture. In India many humble themselves before cows and rats, and monkeys.
There are cases where Christians have mistakenly felt that God wanted to humble them so they went around with dog collars on and crawled on all fours barking like a dog. Only the devil enjoys such humbling of Christians , God takes no pleasure in it.
Ask yourself, where in Scripture are we to lower ourselves like that?
Finally, help the young disciple enter into true humility and not false humility.
What is the proper and true fruit of humility we are building in the disciple?, is a question you must ask yourself as you examine the lives of Jesus and the Apostles and build that into the young disciple.
As homework ask the young disciple to take note of his/her false humility moments this coming week - humble towards God, family, friends, coworkers, peers, various people we come into contact with, animals etc. Was there any insincere or unChristlike or unBiblical humility practiced?
Then address it using the Word of God and the anointing of the Holy Spirit that He has given you to make disciples.
Disciple Maker
P.S. Meeting 1 b – the beginnings of getting rid of the sin of Pride and learning more about true humility.
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