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What is Discipleship and why do I care?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

The Gospel of John was written about AD 85, while Luke, Mark, and Matthew were all around 50-75.  That puts the New Testament at somewhere around 1990 years old.  Think about how kids today will not understand what the sound of a modem is.  They do not know the joy and anger that is Space Invaders.  They do not understand why we get nostalgic about seeing a Pac Man tabletop game.  They do not know the tragedy of the Challenger space ship. A large portion do not understand the significance of 9/11.  These are not things they are familiar with.  They can hear about these things, they can see them in their history books, or see them on TV but unless we use something they can relate to they will not know the importance of these things. Not understanding the importance the reference is lost on them.

We can read through certain sections of Scripture and come away with an understanding, but if we read the Scriptures as a whole and look at the context in some of the meanings we can come away with a larger and fuller understanding.

A preacher went to visit an elderly woman from his church who had just had an operation. As he was sitting there talking with her, he noticed a bowl of peanuts on the stand next to the bed. He began to eat them, and soon it was time for him to leave. When he got up he noticed he had eaten all of her peanuts.

“Sister Jones,”he said” I’m sorry I ate all of your peanuts.”

She replied “That’s okay pastor, I already sucked all of the chocolate off of them.”

 

In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus says:

“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  

We see then that discipleship is not something that a church, or group should do, but it is a command from Christ Himself to make Disciples.  It is an ordnance from the Messiah to reproduce.  Think back to Adam and Noah (Gen 1:28 & 9:7).  When God does something good he wants it reproduced.  We are to be fruitful and multiply.  We are to make more disciples.  We have this amazing love in us and we should want to share it.  It is my opinion that God takes the command to multiply very seriously.  If we look at the Tower of Babel, and the Apostles in Jerusalem as an example we see that if we do not choose to go out and reproduce then God will push us out.  The same way a baby is comfortable in the womb and then evicted we as Christians can be quite comfortable in our cozy churches and groups but God will push us out of our manufactured and prefab wombs in order to complete the task set before us.

Today I want to just scratch the surface of discipleship.  I want to look at what it meant to be a disciple in antiquity, and see what it can mean in our time.  Moreover and to the point I want us to see the what and why of disciple making.

 

A disciple is a student.  Specifically in Christian terms a disciple is one who follows and studies Christ, His finished work, and how they are to live out the meaning of that.

The Greek word for Disciple is mathetes, and it simply means learner or student.  Similarly there is a Hebrew word lamad which just again means to learn.  We are called disciples, and those we call are disciples.  We can have disciples of our own but truly they are disciples of Jesus. Those who taught us would would be our teachers but we understand that we are still students of the Teacher.

Firstly, a disciple was called to follow the teacher and make everything second to the teacher.  Jesus talks about this a few times and we struggle with it.  Property is always a good sign of importance.  The second tractates on the Talmud (Bava Metzia) helps us understand this.  It says regarding property that would belong to a teacher

“If his lost object and his father’s lost object [are to be attended to], his lost object takes precedence; his own lost object and his teacher’s lost object, his own takes precedence; his father’s lost object and his teacher’s lost object, his teacher’s takes precedence, because his father brought him into this world, but his teacher, who taught him wisdom, brings him to live [in] the world to come; if his father is a sage, [the object] of his father takes precedence. If his father and his teacher were carrying a burden, he should relieve his teacher, and afterward relieve his father. If his father and his teacher were in prison, he should redeem his teacher and afterward he should redeem his father; if his father was a sage, he should redeem his father and afterward he should redeem his teacher.”

We can see from this that a disciple was to be solely devoted to his teacher.  This is what Jesus is talking about in Luke 14:26.

If anyone comes after me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

Jesus was not talking about hate like I hate brussel sprouts or broccoli.  No the hate here is in to be understood in light of the Bava Metzia that those things and people need to be in second place to the Teacher.  It is OK to hate and detest brussel sprouts or broccoli.

A disciple understood they were devoting themselves to a teacher.  The teacher taught them everything.  How to pray, how to search the Scriptures.  Everything.  You wanted to be like your teacher.  This is why the 12 ask Jesus to teach them to pray.  That is why they say like John taught his disciples to pray.  The teacher taught you.

Also a disciple was someone who was typically planning or trying to be a disciple of a teacher.  They would study the Torah and Talmud in hopes of being picked up by a teacher.  They would set their lives up to be noticed by a specific Rabbi.  Rabbis did not typically just call anyone.  They looked for those who had promise to be called and associated with them as the teacher.

The same way now someone goes to school to be a Doctor, Lawyer, Pastor, Nurse, or Businessman.  They were intending to pursue discipleship in order to become a teacher.  But also to say and have the notoriety that they studied under teacher so and so.  It was understood and still is today that if you are going to be a ____ then you need a teacher, and if you are going to have a teacher you should have the best.

If we look through the Old Testament we find many examples of disciples.  Abraham was a disciple of God.  God was teaching Abraham directly as there was no one else around to teach.  Moses was also taught by God.  Notice though that they both then taught someone else.  Abraham taught Isaac, and Moses had Joshua (and all of Israel).  Elijah taught Elisha.  The concept of student and teacher has a long history.  Teachers understood and should understand the awesome responsibility they have to teach.  James (3:1) in the New Testament says:

 

“Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

 

The role of disciple is so important that the role of teacher must be carefully taken.  Teachers would have understood in old times that that they were on the line.  This is why the relationship between teacher and student was so important and why teachers were to be held in such high regards by their students. Disciples followed the teacher everywhere and did everything they were asked of.  It was not just a relationship of fellowship but more like dependence.

 

So what should a modern disciple look like?  If we are to follow Jesus’s teaching and command to make disciples what should that look like?  Are we to have people following us around everywhere?  Are we to have a following that clings to every word we make lives with us?  Is it supposed to be a constant as the connection between a Rabbi and Disciple?  Are we to set-up a bunk in our house?

Modern disciples – What does a modern disciple look like?  What does it mean to be a disciple in the 21st century?  I mean is this a term that is even still relevant in our culture today?  I think it is relevant and I think it is still a command from Jesus.  A modern disciple is not a consumer though.

Alan Hirsch says it like this:

“You can’t make disciples out of consumers. You can’t consume your way into the Kingdom. It doesn’t work like that. Jesus says die…You come to the cross. Now who said you can take that out of the equation and expect the results that Jesus points to later on in the piece. If Jesus says it’s good enough to go through the cross upfront, in the beginning, who are we to make it different.”

It is to be about more.

I think in part we are afraid to take discipleship to seriously because it can be viewed as “culty”.  It has a bad view because of the brainwashing cults out there that are serious about discipleship like the Heaven’s Gate group or the Branch Davidians (aka Wako in Waco).  These people took discipleship really serious but they were also crazy as an old lady with 100 cats.

So lets look at the discipleship you are already doing.  Every parent is already discipling someone these people just happen to be your children.  That is what you are doing when you teach them to cook, clean, read, fold laundry, etc.  You are discipling them.  Hopefully you are also teaching them the ways of God.  You should also be teaching them what it means to be a Christian.  Joe and I went on a hike the other day and he mentioned something very important.  Does it really matter if their room is clean?  No, but the lesson they are learning from a dirty room is what is important.  So as mature adults we understand this and we teach them to clean their room.  We teach them mercy, grace, and judgement.  Because while Christ forgives the cop who pulled you over might not.

We follow what Proverbs 22:6 says:

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart.

Well new Christians are children.  They are as 1 Peter 2:2 says newborns.  That means that we should be training them in the way they should go so that when they are old they will not depart.  We should be not only interested in their eternal salvation and closing the deal, but also in helping them learn what it means to walk this out.  We should be spending time helping them navigate the hard things in life.

I don’t want to touch too much on the how because that is half of next week’s focus.  But it very much ties into what it means to be a modern disciple.  A modern disciple is someone who is studying under a teacher.  Someone who has a person they can call on to help understand how to navigate this new walk.  Someone with whom they meet regularly to talk and learn.  It is just like fellowship but with the purpose of education.

Calling disciples is not an option.  It is not a thing the Church should be doing but the thing the church was tasked with.  It is not the job of the missionary, the pastor, the preacher, the evangelist, or the church staff, but it is to be the work of all Christians to make disciples.

Why Disciple? We are supposed to train followers of Christ to eat solid food, and teach them the ways they should go.  In short we are to teach them how to walk out their faith.

Hebrews 6:1-3 says:

Therefore leaving the discussions of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance, from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptism, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgement.  And this we will do if God permits.

The writer of Hebrews just called out most of the people having nonsense arguments in our churches today.  Everyone wants to hang their hat on an understanding or special understanding on one of the above but the writer says lets move on.  These things are basic and you are sitting around talking about them and not growing.  Are they important?  YES, and again I say yes, but they are to be taught to the children and then built on.  We are not supposed to have to revisit them every day or week.  How many times do I have to teach you that two plus two equals four?  You should know that by now so you can build on that and learn more.

What are the things you should be learning now?  Is it some new secret revelation?  No it is just what to do with that.  It is just how you walk that life of faith out.  The writer is saying; now that you understand these things here is what you do with it.  It is about growth and maturity.  Again just like Proverbs 22:6 applies to your children it applies to Gods children.

We disciple because we love.  Jesus says in John 15:17 “These things I command you; that you love one another.”  And John says in 1 John 3:16 “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”  Discipleship making is not just about making new Christians.  It is about maturing the Christians we have.  When someone comes to Christ they are referred to as a babe in Christ because they have been born again.  Like a baby they know nothing, and it is our job as the body to educate them.  To train them up right and when they are old they will not depart. We have a job to do church so lets do it.  There are spiritually hungry Christians out there and so many of them are being fed by false teachers.  The internet has become a breeding ground for bad doctrine.  We have immature Christians feeding immature Christians.  Christians giving advice to just get a divorce because times are hard.  People living their lives based on feelings because no one is holding them accountable and teaching them how to search the Scriptures, or how to pray.  How to hear from God, and what to do when they do.

It is our job to teach, instruct and protect.

I want to share a quote from Rabbi Zalman in talking about a candle:

When you use something physical, it is diminished. The more money you spend, the less you have; the more gasoline you use, the more empty your tank becomes; the more food you eat, the more you need to restock your pantry. But spiritual things increase with use. If I use my wisdom to teach, the student learns, and I come out wiser for it; if I share my love with another, I become more loving, not less. When you give a spiritual gift, the recipient gains, and you lose nothing.

This is the spiritual property that candles share. When you use one candle to light another, the original candle remains bright. Its light is not diminished by being shared; on the contrary, the two candles together enhance each other’s brightness and increase light.

We sometimes worry that we may stretch ourselves too thin. In matters of spirit, this is never the case. The more goodness we spread, the more goodness we have. By making a new friend, you become a better friend to your old friends. By having another child, you open a new corridor of love in your heart that your other children benefit from, too. By teaching more students, you become wiser.

 

By taking on a disciple you will not diminish the things God has put in you and given to you, you will only add to it.  By taking some time to teach others you gain much more than you would if you had kept it to yourself.  Jesus says in Luke 6:38:

Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

We use this verse when talking about money but I think we should also look at it when it comes to teaching and giving of ourselves to others.  The more we give of ourselves to others the more we gain.

If what we want individually to grow closer to God, and receive more of Him then we must disciple.  It is part of the equation for results.

Just a long thought,

Mike

I wish I was smarter

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I reached back all the way to 07 for this one.  I am re-reading some old stuff to check on growth and such. still growing check, was not completely off base mostly check.

*******

So I wish I smarter!!

That is not my primary wish but that is on a long list of things I call my almost impossible wish list. There is a laundry list of things I wish I could change about myself.

  • Smarter
  • Taller
  • Sing
  • Play an instrument
  • Memorize scripture better
  • Fly

While there is a list of things I wish I could change I know that some of these things will not change. I know I will ever be able to fly or get taller and quite possibly never be able to sing but there are things I know can change. That is where I have to start; in the things that can change. I have to come to the point where I can say and believe “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” Philippians 4:13. I have to get to the point where I believe that and I understand it.

Too many times I have heard that or read it and thought I can do “all things”. But it is not saying I can do all things in the normal worldly sense not it is saying I can do all things God wants me to do. I like to think that it would be nice to be able to say “God I want this and I want that” but He is not my spiritual wishing well. If you noticed I said “I like to think” I say that because I know that it is not true, I know that is not how it works and most of me is glad about this. It is nice knowing that I have my limitations and boundaries because that helps me grow and growth is a goal I can achieve (not on my own strength of course). I like knowing that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and I like knowing that it is according to His Divine plan and not my selfish ambitions.

Just a thought,

Mike

Indomitable

/ Mike Farley / 2 Comments

This morning we were visiting Momentum Church and Pastor Ross just happened to be speaking about small things that can have a big impact.  This is something I wholeheartedly agree with as I think too often we try and make major changes when a slight course correction will do.  Yes sometimes we need major changes quickly but often in life a slight change makes a large impact.  James in his epistle speaking about the tongue being this little thing but can have a major impact in a lot of areas like a small flame, or the rudder of a ship can steer this large vessel.  Small changes in our life can have major impacts.  He also spoke about  finding a word for you for the year.  This too is something I support and have done for three years.  Instead of resolutions I choose a word I want my year to be.  I have used stronger, audacious, and inspiring.  I do this because a single word can be implemented into every area of my life.  Stronger was physically, professionally, relationally, etc.  The same with the other words.  This way I cannot easily fail because there are so many ways to incorporate it into daily life.  During the year I can measure my actions against my word, and at the end of the year I can check to see how I did.

Inspire was a hard one.  I think I had some successes, but that is a hard one to measure.  But like writing a sentence these words will hopefully build a story for my life.  Only time will tell.

This year I am going with indomitable.  I am going after goals with passion, and aggression.  I have decided either I attack my (and my wifes) goals or I stop having them.  No more excuses, no more desire only, no more waiting.  The time is now, and I will not be stopped.  Win or lose I will give it my all and give God the glory.  Sink or swim I will be in the water.

I am not going to announce my goals because I have heard that once you tell people your goals and plans you feel a certain sense of accomplishment so I will just update as I go.

What about you?  Do you have a goal, a word, a desire?  I highly suggest you pick a word and run with it.  You can choose anything, just pick something and then you have all year to get there.

Just a thought,

Mike

What’s the point or SuperDuperGrace

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

I have decided I am done reading the for and against on the newest fad to creep into the Christian community.  Namely this so called Hypergrace and inclusionary theology.  That is by the way the only time I will use that word (HG) because it is a stupid nonsense word.  We are talking about the grace of God (unmerited favor) here it can not be more than it is.  It is hyper.  Calling it Hypergrace is like calling it superduper.  SuperDuperGrace???

Anyway, here is why I am done.  Arrogance, and uselessness.  That’s right I said it.  I find that many of the authors I have read on the topic have the same issue namely arrogance.  It seems to seep out of everything they say on the topic (online at least where everyone can battle superman).  they have defined the entire thing and God in a nice neat box.  Anything they cannot fit in their box is deemed either an illustration by Paul because only what Paul says counts, or my favorite a lack of revelation from God (can you say gnositism?).  Everything I have read so far just seems to be so mean, and snooty.

But that is not my point.  I am not here to name call.  I will also point out the insanity of saying you have to work to keep your salvation or that God saves you but now you better do right or He’ll kick your butt aka mixed-grace.  Because that is stupid too.

My main concern with this movement is what is it doing to and for those who do not have a relationship with Christ?  I am going to assume that we can all agree that there are those who do have and those who do not have a relationship with Jesus. SO what about them?

Is this message reaching them?  IS it creating a hunger to go and find the drug addict, prostitute, abuse victim, cutter, suicide contemplator, murder, pedophiler, drunkard, or terrorist?  IS it creating a deep longing to go feed the homeless, visit those in prison, minister to the abuse victim, or visit terminally ill patients?

If the answer is no then what are you doing?  If all it is causing you to do is sit around talking about how good God is then you do not know Him at all.  I searched to try and find some examples of evangelist or examples of outreach activities and I am having a hard time.  That is not to say it is not happening but it does not seem to be a cornerstone of the movement, and for that main reason I could care less about it.

What I hear and what I see are two different things.  I hear about how God loves everyone and God saved everyone (but he didn’t at the same time I don’t understand that), but what I see is a bunch of people sitting around talking about stuff and leaving a lot of hurting people to suffer alone.  I see a bunch of people turning into communal monks leaving a world in pain to fend for itself all the while yelling from a distance “Jesus Loves you”.  A bunch of people who seem to spend more time defending their beliefs rather than act them out.  In short a bunch of hypocrites, and Jesus said something about that in Matthew 23.

Listen I am not saying that is everyone either, but from my understanding and reading it is a lot about me (general sense of the word) and little else.  God loves you yes, and He created good works for you to walk in.  How about instead of telling me about your faith you show it to me.

Just a thought,

Mike

Reconciliation and other fancy words

/ Mike Farley / 1 Comment

Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do. – Mark Twain

I like that quote because it reminds me as I study new things to not to use the words to sound fancy.  However these words exist for a reason, and there are places and times for them.  There seems to be a general consensus that we need to dumb down everything in order to be easy on those that do not know.  To which I reply somethings are inherently difficult to comprehend and refusal to express them to appease those that refuse to learn is ludicrous.

Now that I have given a rant on to the topic.

I love the reconciliation.  I love reconciling my checkbook, and most importantly I love being reconciled to God.  I have been reading a book by an author I will not name and I must say that while I have gleaned a few things from it mostly I am frustrated with every word I read and page I turn.  Why am I doing this to myself you ask?  Am I glutton for punishment?  Do I enjoy wanting to throw a book?  No, it is because I want to better understand his (in general the larger movement) point of view.  I find that the most frustrating thing is not the ideals that are being espoused but the manner in which they are communicated. I have also noticed that the manner in which these particular ideas are communicated is indicative of the movement as a whole.  Chiefly it is arrogant, condescending, and overstating of their opponents views.   I will not name the movement because the very nature of how they label themselves is absurd to me, and I will not name the author because it would start an argument I do not wish to have.  I will however talk about reconciliation.

Again this is a bigger word than I typically like to use but it is very important.

The movement I am referring to likes this word and the 5 verses that contain it very much.  I agree, however as Inigo Montoya said “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

So what is reconciliation?  Reconciliation is the element of salvation that refers to the results of the atonement.  John calvin describes it as the peace between humanity & God that results from expiation of religious sin.  D.M. Loyd Jones says of reconciliation God & man are no longer at war.  Two great verses on reconciliation are 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 (below)

namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

From the verses about I will draw out a few important items.

God has reconciled us to Himself – God is done with the issue on His part.  He was the offended party and has said I forgive you, lets move on.  That is a done deal no questions asked (on my part).  The verses above and others (Rom 5:10-11, Eph 2:14-17, Col 1:19-22) are very clear that God has reconciled the world to Himself and placed all things in Christ.  That is not something I can or wish to argue.  The wall of separation has been removed, and now we can access the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit.  No arguments here.

Reconciliation is not relationship – This one is very important as well and cannot be missed.  As we read above, God is reconciled to us but that does not mean we have a relationship with Him.  Some of of the writings I have read will not say this but imply it.  That should not be.  God is no longer counting our sins against us but that does not mean that we have fellowship with Him.  Instead we can have a relationship with Him because He has reconciled the world to Himself.  How about an example.  I have a brother I have never met.  I know he exist, and he knows I exist.  Yet I have never spoken to him, and do not have a relationship with him.  We are reconciled as in there is no hostility there.  If he were to reach out to me (I do not have contact info for him) then I would welcome him with open arms.  One leads to the other but it does not equal the other.  Reconciliation does not equal righteousness (or relationship) as Romans 5:19 points out.

Reconciliation is not sanctification – This is one that gets hot but again they are not synonyms.  They are not the same thing.  Sanctification is both a one time event and an ongoing process.  Quick definition time; Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy.  It is being set apart.  We are at the moment of accepting the finished work of Jesus Christ sanctified (set apart, and looked at a holy) in the beloved.  But we must also continue to sanctify our lives as we grow more like our Saviour.  This is what I believe Philippians 2:12 means.  I have seen in my own life how it has become and how I have become different because I have continued to sanctify my life to the Lord.  It has been a process of continual growth and maturity one which I am confident will not stop (Phil 1:6).  Think Romans 12:2.

Reconciliation is not removal of rules – This is the one that might cause the most outrage among my friends.  Some will shout “He’s a legalist!” or “Pharisee!” or possibly (and quite likely) “I am under Grace not Law!”.  Well calm down already, I am not promoting legalism, or some sort of mixed grace message.  What I am saying however is there are certain shoulds and oughts you are supposed to adhere to.  Not for earning or keeping salvation but because you are saved.  For example, love the Lord, love your neighbor.  Thinks these don’t apply?  Jesus disagrees.  He said “If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:16.  What does that mean?  Well He leaves that up to you to for the most part.  But generally speaking don’t be a jerk, help people when you can, treat God with the respect He deserves.  You get the general idea.  Two last points on this one.

First I have been told this analogy a few times.  You do not do things for your spouse (and children) because you have to, you do it because you love them.  I see the logic in that and believed it for a minute or two.  The problem is that it is wrong.  You do things for your spouse (and children) because you love them and are obligated to.  For your spouse, you took a vow to love, honor… sickness, health.. you get the idea.  It is because you love them you keep the vow to love and serve.  Your children come with an implied and legal obligation.  You do it out of love, but you must do it all the same.  It is still something I should and ought to do.

Secondly some claim there is no law that applies to them but yet they confess they still sin (at least on rare occasion).  This I do not understand.  1 John 3:4 defines sin as the breaking of law.  If there is no law there is no sin, therefore you do not sin, therefore cheating on your wife is OK, being a drunk is OK, murder is OK, and so on.  You cannot have one and not the other (as I understand it).  If you sin you break the law, if you break the law there is law.

The question is not is there law, and it is not how do I keep this law, and it is not should I keep this law.  The question is even though I break it what is left for me.  The answer is Jesus.  Jesus came in Grace and Truth.  He is bigger than my ability to fail, and by His working in me I find a removal of desire to sin.  I live by the faith of the Son of God, not I but Christ in me.

Reconciliation is part of the bigger picture.  When I look at a motorcycle, I see many parts working together to create a thing of beauty.  The wheels, the motor, the handlebars, and so forth.  They all work together to make it a motorcycle.  Reconciliation is part of a bigger picture called Salvation.  Lets not put God in a little box and say this is who God is instead lets unwrap His presents and enjoy each of them.

Just a thought,

Mike

Parable of Minas

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

 The early church father Jerome said of parables “The marrow of a parable is different from the promise of its surface, and like as gold is sought for in the earth, the kernel in a nut and the hidden fruit in the prickly covering of chestnuts, so in parables we must search more deeply after the divine meaning.” 

I am not sure about you but I have a tendency to not always read the Bible properly.  I usually have a very good memory regarding things I have watched, read, or heard.  I can generally remember the details or at the very least the gist of something.  At least well enough that upon seeing or hearing it again I remember much of it from before.  This is a gift but also a disadvantage at times because as I read through the Scriptures I can easily gloss over things.  So I did with the parable of the Minas in Luke 19.  If three weeks ago you would have asked I would have told you the parable of the Minas and the parable of the Talents were the same parable.  I would have however been wrong.  They are different and convey slightly different main messages, as well as different subtle messages.

A few quick points separating the two as I think it important.  The parable of the Minas is being told to a crowd before Jesus triumphant entry to Jerusalem, while the Talent parable is being told to the 12 in Jerusalem.  This is important because the audience of a parable can help shed light on it’s meaning.  Another quick difference is the characters in the parable.  In the Minas there are 10 servants and multiple citizens, while in the parable of the Talents there are only the man’s servants.  This again helps us understand the meaning.  Also the amount is vastly different.  A mina is about 1/60th of a talent.  This is a huge difference.

The first thing we need to do is decide whether or not Jesus is the master in the parable.  This will dictate the rest of the parable.  Most commentators say that yes Jesus is the master in the parable.  The parable does resemble the story of Herod the Great’s son Archelaus and would have been familiar to them.  On a side note isn’t great how God talks to us in a language we understand.  The parables of Jesus always tie into something that should/could be understand.

Understanding that Jesus is the nobleman in the parable I want to turn the remaining attention to the three servants. 

The servants are all given the same amount of money to stewart.

In this parable we notice that all the servants are given the same amount namely 10 Minas.  They also clearly understood the task “do business until I return.”  They had been given a job, and they were expected to do that job.  If my boss gives me a task I am expected to complete it.  If I ask my daughter to do something I expect she will do it.  This was not a gift but part of their job.  They were told to do business with their Masters money.  They were stewards of the Masters property

In my last position I was among other things in charge of the buildings phone, and HVAC systems.  We went through two upgrades in the systems I managed.  I was tasked with using the owners money and resources with the expectation of improvement.  If I mismanaged that I would be a bad stewart.  The money was not mine but I was given control of it for a purpose.  The resources (staff in this case) were not mine but they were subject to me for this task.  I had to carefully weigh the options and come up with a plan to bring increase.  In the case of the HVAC system we needed to reduce cost, and with the phone system we needed to improve quality.  I had a job to do, and I was allocated resources to do that job.  I could not take those funds and buy a car.  I could not take staff and have them clean my house.  The funds and people had a purpose. 

The returns ROI is different, but return is present.

Of the ten stewarts three responses are recorded, two of which are positive but different.

The first one was able to produce a 100% increase in his master’s money.  He was some how able to double the money.  Maybe he opened a business or invested in a start-up.  I don’t know what he did but he doubled that money.  Lets say a mina is three months wages and the average monthly wage is $3,000.  That means he took $90k and turned it into $180k.  That is a big return, and typically a big return is found at the end of a big risk.  You do not typically get a return like that without taking chances.  A really good stock return is 20% while the average is like 10%.  That would be like a $18k to $9k return.  Still good but not 100% return.  This guy was probably a risk taker.  I would imagine he either was a daring as it gets, knew he was that good, or (and I like this one) knew that people knew this was his bosses money so they knew not to mess him over.  Either way he did something.

The one who returned less increase is not punished but rewarded.

The second one produced a 50% yield.  This means he turned $90k into $145k.  Still no small feat.  That is still unheard of.  If someone did that in the stock market there would be an investigation launched for insider trading.  I would imagine he was a little more reserved than the first guy or struck out but he still had to have a very good idea of what he was doing.

I noticed that the second man was not chastised for only a 50% increase.  He was rewarded the same way.  The first servant got to rule 10 cities and the second 5 cities.  Each to their ability.  That teaches us something very important about God.  He gives us more based on our ability to take care of that.  If you cannot handle something God does not give you more to rule over. 

God expects us to take care of His property It says in in Psalms 24:1 “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  That is pretty clear but just in case: 

1 Corinthians 10:261 for, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.”

Genesis 1:9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.

Deuteronomy 10:14 To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. 

Job 41:11 Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me

Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

 

I think you get the point.  God owns all this.  It is His and He can do as He pleases with.  What does He please to do with it?  Well partly to have you and I work it.  He placed Adam in the garden and told him to work it.  He expects you and I to do His work.  Eph says that there are good works prepared for us.  We have a job to do.  We have a work to put our hands too.  We are to love, and help, and serve. To teach, and reach those who need it.  We are called to a work.  James says faith without works is dead.  What does that mean?  It means you have faith so you can do the work of God.  We are not called to faith to be observers but active.  Faith in Christ should lead to action.

 

The last guy missed the point entirely.  He was so wrapped up in his own ideas and thoughts that he never did his masters bidding.  He was so caught up in the fact that the master collects where he did not work that he just wanted to keep the money safe.  I think his problem was having as master in the first place.  From the text it does not even appear he tried.  He decided who the master was and how he acted.  Notice that the master says “out of your own mouth.”  How many times have we decided who God is?  How many times have we rejected God’s provision or blessing in our life before He even got a chance?  I have a tendency to look more at God’s standards more than the standard giver.  I have a tendency to say “God this is your standard, and your expectation and I cannot live up to that, I am taking myself out of the running.”  I can tell you from first hand experience that is not good and there is no reward in that.  I am working on living a life that says “God I know I might fail, but I am going to try, I am going to embrace your life, and love.”  I am trying to keep reminding myself of Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your life with his love.”  God is not asking me, He is not asking you to do something He will not provide for.  The master in this story gave them the money and said do business.  He did not say go find some money and then do business.  He provided the thing needed.  How much more does God provide for His work.

 

So what is the point?  How do we take this and use it in our own lives?  Well I don’t know. I cannot presume to know where you are, or how you need/can use this.  Here is what I do know is a young body we have an awesome and great possibility before us.  We are a ragtag group if I have ever seen one.  We come from broken homes, loving homes, faithless families, faithful families, lots of children, no children, and so on.  We each have a past that enables us to reach people, but more importantly we have each other, and we have God.  We have God calling us to a work, and we must now decide whether we will do His work and look for ways to invest ourselves our whole selves for His work.  If we do this then we will have a great ROI that we can present to our Master.  Or we can sheepishly hid ourselves and await His return.

The choice is ours.

Just a thought,

Mike

Free to do what?

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”  But what are we supposed to do with this freedom?  It is one thing to be free but now what?

I recently read a study that says that about 52% of prisoners released from jail return to prison.  Even worse is that 67% were arrested for a crime.  Forget for a second that we are talking about jail what is your rate of recidivism?  We can look at those numbers and pass judgment (and there are things we should judge about that) but can we look at our own life and judge?

Paul says here that Christ set us free to be free and that we should not return to slavery, so why do we?  Why do we return to sin, or our own new white-labeled version of the Law, or another Gospel?  Why do we not walk in the Freedom Christ has given us?  Why do we forsake the Freedom given us?

I think a large part of it has to do with not understanding the Freedom we have.  Jesus says in John 8:32 & 36 that when you know the Truth that the Son has set you free you will be free (ever read it like that?).  We need to understand our freedom, we need to try and comprehend it.  But first you need to understand your captivity.  You cannot ever understand what Freedom is until you understand what captivity is.  If you think that salvation is just some prayer, some event you attended, some one time thank you Jesus moment then you don’t understand it.

It took the most innocent and perfect man receiving punishment to give you freedom.  It took innocent blood to clean dirty sins.  It took the perfect Son laying down His life for you to have Freedom.  You were sentenced to an eternal separation from God.  You would spend not a life time or a thousand lifetimes away from Him but forever.  I know in polite society we are not supposed to talk about Hell, but anyone who knows me knows I am not a part of polite society.  I do not talk about Hell lightly, and I do not mention it in passing.  I love you, because God loves you.  The Father gave His Son so you could live.  I believe that and have no problem telling you that without Jesus you go to Hell.

I don’t like that, and I am not OK with that.  I won’t force it on it you but I also won’t ignore it.  If you were about to crash I would tell you, if you were about to fall off a cliff I would tell you.  I would not be all “it’s their life, not my business.”  There is a great quote from Penn Jillette that I won’t get into but here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owZc3Xq8obk.  He is an atheist and says the same thing.  So there is that.

Anyway that was not the point.  If you understand your captivity then when you are free you rejoice and understand the Freedom.  I think some inmates return because they don’t think jail was that bad, some just thought they were smart enough to not get caught now.  Both are wrong.

When you understand your captivity you better understand your Freedom.  You better understand what it is to be free and you want to do everything you can to stay away from ever being a slave again.

I am by no means perfect but I am going to do everything I can to stay away from being a slave again.  So what am I to do when I sin, or create a new Law?  I am to remember it is for Freedom I was set free, and I walk in that Freedom.  I say what have I done, RUN!!!  Never again will I be captive!

 

Just a thought,

Mike

I’m not scatter brained….I’m Biblical

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

If you know me then you know I have a lot of ideas.  I would love to be back doing Handyman work full time, but I would also like to own my own restaurant, travel the world, own a dry cleaners, become an actor, a race car driver, be a licensed Scuba Diver, be an EMT, oh and fly a plane.  Above all I want to reach people for Christ.  I want them to see He loves them and gave everything for them.

Everything but the last one is optional and preferential.  I do not have a dream of what I want to be when I grow up.  When asked what I would like to do I usually respond with YES.  Does this make me flighty?  Well maybe, but I also have no idea what God wants me to do with my life, and until He tells me I want to do it all as long as I get to share His love and goodness with people.

To me it does not really matter.  I am excited about anything (almost), and that will probably change in a few months.  Sometimes this discourages me, and often times annoys my wife but we are learning to deal.

Ecclesiastes 11:6 has been a bit of inspiration to me as I learn to deal with who I am and who I am not.  It says:

Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let your hands not be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.

It makes me feel like God wrote that verse for folk like me.  People who are like “Yes I want to do that”  or “Hey you know what sounds like fun.”

Don’t get me wrong though, that does not mean I bail on what I should be doing.  There are times when I feel like God leads me to sit down and do what is right here and that is what I do with joy (mostly).  But in general I think God has made me to be excited about all sorts of things because we need people like that to.  We need stable people and Mike people.  Both are great and actually help each other as long as we do not try to make each other like the other.  My wife is the more stable and it has taken time for us to find a balance and to be honest when we find it we usually lose it.

We do this because as a two become one, each person wants to please the other so you start to do things that please the other and place yourself on a shelve.  Problem is that does not work.  You might be have designed to keep someone active and they to slow you down.  That is OK.

The same thing applies in a larger church context (local and global).  Some where built to be crazy excited and others to be more reserved.  Some where made to be hey lets go reach the lost and throw a party, and other are there to be like OK but we need money to throw a party.  See we all fit together.

OK I am not sure what happen to this post but it is not where I was headed.  Oh well I like detours……..SQUIRREL.

Just a thought (sort of),

Mike

Get to work

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Eph 2:10 says that God created a work for us to do. More specifically it says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (NLT).

That is pretty awesome. First God says we are a masterpiece, something special, something more than just worthwhile, but great because of Him. That is something that takes a long time to really understand. The God of the universe, the Creator of heaven and earth. The thinker of stars and galaxies says “I have made you a masterpiece” then He goes so far as to say “I also made something for you to do.” Not only does He take great delight in the work of His hand but He says now go and do likewise.

The main point I want to get across is that while we all have a calling from God, we also have smaller works too. I think everyone will look back at their life and see an overarching work you did. Something you will be remembered for. It might be compassion, or mercy, or love, or gentleness, or passion, but whatever it is there is something you will be known for. But there are smaller works for you to do sometimes within that scope and sometimes outside of it. For example, when you leave the house today to go grocery shopping God could have it in place for you to pay for someone’s food. Maybe He will have you in place to encourage someone who is grieving. It could be as simple as just being an amazing presence in your home to show God’s goodness. Whatever it is God has a plan/work for you today and we can easily miss it.

We can miss it if we think that today is just another day. If we decide that today has no real or lasting importance we can miss our job for the day. I think that we should all take a minute (30 seconds maybe) to ask God a pointed question that can change the whole day. I think we should take just a moment to ask God if He has something He wants us to do today. After all, we call Jesus Lord and Savior. We do not just get a Savior but a Lord as well.

The lawnmower didn’t change

/ Mike Farley / Leave a comment

Phil 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

A while back I had not cut the grass for 3 or 4 weeks. It was due to a mix of it raining every time I did have a chance and being lazy (not sure which played a bigger part). The result was the same; the lawn was out of control. I mean it was probably 8-12 inches high in some spots. Also, I should mention I had 50% grass 50% weeds. Not to mention my front yard had a pretty decent slope. All this together created a nightmare of a time. My little walk behind had a terrible time keeping up and didn’t at times. What usually took me 30-35 minutes to cut took over an hour and then it still took me about 45-50 minutes each time after that. It drove me crazy because it was always hard to cut. I had complained a lot about my stupid mower. I could not understand why that stupid thing would not cut the grass… Then I had an epiphany. It was not the mower.

I had always cut it down to the lowest or second lowest setting. Now I was on the highest or second highest setting. Because I let it get out of control I could barely manage to keep it under control. It is a lot like our spiritual life. If we walk away from Bible Study, Prayer, Fellowship, etc. then things start to grow out of control. When we come back to it we are expecting our normal effort to produce an extraordinary result. The lawnmower did not change the request, however, did. My Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship has not changed after not attending to these things but the lawn I expect them to take care of has overgrown. What is then required is either a bigger tool or repetitive use of the tools.

In order to deal with the overgrowth, I would have to go back and mow the lawn a few times or I needed someone with a more powerful (and hopefully riding) mower to intercede on my behalf. If I walk too far away from Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship then when I come back I need either a drastic move from God or more Bible Study, Prayer, and Fellowship to help cut down the overgrowth. The same thing applies. I sometimes think that the rules of life do not apply to spiritual things but sometimes they do. We need to be diligent in dealing with our relationship to God. He has promised to not quit on us but we have a part to play in the relationship with Him. That is why it is called a relationship.