What is a disciple?
someone who is a Follower
How do you know if you are following...?
Sometimes we are following someone else.
Other times, we just happen to be going the same way.
How can we tell the difference?
Only when that other person goes a different direction than the one we would have chosen for ourselves.
Other times, we just happen to be going the same way.
How can we tell the difference?
Only when that other person goes a different direction than the one we would have chosen for ourselves.
How do You Know Who You Are Obeying...?
Let's imagine that someone in authority over me lays down 75 rules, and that I obey 73 of them.
Let's imagine, further, that those 73 rules involved behavior that would have characterized me whether the rules were in place or not
In that scenario, I am not really obeying the rules -- I am obeying myself.
Obedience shows itself when I comply in a way that I, left to my own devices, would not.
Let's imagine, further, that those 73 rules involved behavior that would have characterized me whether the rules were in place or not
In that scenario, I am not really obeying the rules -- I am obeying myself.
Obedience shows itself when I comply in a way that I, left to my own devices, would not.
Stars, Planets, and Disciples
Categorization is based on similarities
Once an item has been placed in a certain category, we assume more things about it based on the other items in that same category
But if we have mis-categorized an item, then we are doomed to misunderstand it
EXAMPLE ONE:
Imagine a person who observes that his table has four legs, and since every dog he has ever seen has also had four legs, he concludes that his table is a dog. He will misunderstand his table and have faulty expectations because of the errant categorization.
EXAMPLE TWO:
Imagine a person who looks up in the night sky and assumes that one particular bright dot is a star. Because of what he knows about the other things in that category, he makes certain assumptions: that what he is seeing is a big ball of gas on fire, that it is very far away, and that it will be in roughly the same place in the sky the following evening. If, however, what he saw was Mars, then he would be wrong about what it is made of, how far away it is, and would eventually be wrong about its location in the night sky, as well.
CATEGORIES AND CHRISTIANITY
The world has categorized Christianity as a religion. It groups Christianity with other religions, and draws conclusions about it accordingly.
The Bible, however, reveals Christianity not as a religion (i.e., as being meaningfully like other religions) but as a relationship (i.e., best understood when compared with what exists between parents and children, husbands and wives, shepherds and sheep, etc.).
WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU
Christian disciples are not called to follow a religion, or to follow a set of rules. Christian disciples are called to follow a Person, to follow Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus is personal. It's about having a relationship with Him.
Once an item has been placed in a certain category, we assume more things about it based on the other items in that same category
But if we have mis-categorized an item, then we are doomed to misunderstand it
EXAMPLE ONE:
Imagine a person who observes that his table has four legs, and since every dog he has ever seen has also had four legs, he concludes that his table is a dog. He will misunderstand his table and have faulty expectations because of the errant categorization.
EXAMPLE TWO:
Imagine a person who looks up in the night sky and assumes that one particular bright dot is a star. Because of what he knows about the other things in that category, he makes certain assumptions: that what he is seeing is a big ball of gas on fire, that it is very far away, and that it will be in roughly the same place in the sky the following evening. If, however, what he saw was Mars, then he would be wrong about what it is made of, how far away it is, and would eventually be wrong about its location in the night sky, as well.
CATEGORIES AND CHRISTIANITY
The world has categorized Christianity as a religion. It groups Christianity with other religions, and draws conclusions about it accordingly.
The Bible, however, reveals Christianity not as a religion (i.e., as being meaningfully like other religions) but as a relationship (i.e., best understood when compared with what exists between parents and children, husbands and wives, shepherds and sheep, etc.).
WHAT THAT MEANS FOR YOU
Christian disciples are not called to follow a religion, or to follow a set of rules. Christian disciples are called to follow a Person, to follow Jesus.
Being a disciple of Jesus is personal. It's about having a relationship with Him.