Place of Discipleship

by God's grace, a place of discipleship

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In her book Receiving the Day Dorothy Bass describes:: "We delude ourselves into believing that if we can just get everything done, if we can only tie up all the loose ends, if we an even once get ahead of the crush, we will prove our worth and establish ourselves in safety. Our problem with time is social, cultural, and economic, to be sure. But it is also a spiritual problem, one that runs right to the core of who we are as human beings...Indeed, these distortions drive us into the arms of a false theology: we come to believe that we, not God, are the masters of time. We come to believe that our worth must be proved by the way we spend our hours and that our ultimate safety depends on our own good management." The reality is that time is a stream we are swept into. Time is a gift from God, a means of worship...time is not mine. It does not revolve around me. Time revolves around God--what he has done, what he is doing, and what he will do.

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

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Each kind of work is therefore its own craft that must be developed over time, both for our own sanctification and for the good of the community. As we see to do our work well and hone our craft, we are developed and honed in our work. Our task is not to somehow inject God into our work but to join God in the work he is already doing in and through our vocational lives. Therefore, holiness itself is something like a craft--not an abstract state to which we ascend but an earthy wisdom and love that is part and parcel of how we spend our day. We learn the craft of holiness day by day in the living of a particular life. The missio Dei is lived out, not primarily in my theological reflections on the importance of motherhood though that does matter), but as I hone the craft of motherhood in small moments when I'm weary and frazzled and kneel down on my kitchen floor to listen to a crying child.

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

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The Christian faith teaches that all work that is not immoral or unethical is part of God's kingdom mission. The kingdom of God comes both through our gathered worship each week and our "scattered" worship in our work each day. Thus all work, even a simple, small task, matters eternally... The missio Dei, the mission of God (it could also be translated "the sending of God")--the idea that every part of creation will be redeemed and rightly ordered around worship of the Trinity--is manifest in an integral way in our work.

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

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At one point there's a montage of the community's participation in the abolitionist movement: people tell their neighbors about the horrors of the slave trade, people line up to read a memoir by a former slave, a shopkeeper puts a sign in his window saying that his establishment will not serve sugar, which was harvested by slave labor. In a dramatic moment, Wilberforce calls for the end of slavery and unfurls a petition that stretches across the parliament floor. I am struck by how Wilberforce, though his work was essential, could not have done what he did without thousands of nameless saints who made tiny, daily choices that mattered profoundly, even though they were unsung, unnoticed, and ordinary. The slave trade was crippled, and eventually outlawed, not because of a few heroes, but because thousands upon thousands of peacemakers made little choices that shone, light upon tiny light, which God used to overcome darkness. At the end of days we will hear these stories of unseen faithfulness and know the names of these men and women.. Each time we make a small choice toward justice, or buy fair trade, or seek to share instead of hoard, or extend mercy to those around us and kindness to those with whom we disagree, or say "I forgive you," we pass peace where we are in ways that we can. And God can take these ordinary things and, like fish and bread, bless them and multiply them. He can make revolution stories out of smallness. He can change the world through shopkeepers who serve tea without sugar.

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary

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The issue of truth in relationships is never a matter of trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong. It is an issue of whether troth (pledge of loyalty, commitment) grows as both people seek the truth together. Truth is measured not only by how accurate the words are but also by how the words bind the hearts of those who seek the truth together. The more we seek truth together, arm in arm and heart to heart, the more we will gain a greater understanding of what is true. When we ask, seek, and knock, the promise of God is that our deepest hunger will be satisfied. So if my wife accuses me of being angry and I defend myself or deny what she is saying, I have not only broken troth, but I am at the same time running from the truth. I don't have to agree with a person's perception to keep troth, but the more bonded we are, the more likely it is that we will see things in concordance with each other. Honesty is not just saying what we feel or think; it is seeking to be laid bare before the eyes of truth to see as we are seen.

Dan B. Alleder, Leading with a Limp

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Our worst days of following Jesus are better than our best days without him.

Eric Bryant, Gateway Church

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The obedience of faith only works when it’s rooted in a person, not a rule. Imposed on its own, a rule invites us to sit in judgment, weighing its reasonableness. But a rule flowing from relationship smoothes the way for faithful obedience. When a child doesn’t understand her mother’s command, the mother’s character plays a strong role in what happens next. A cruel, capricious mother is likely to meet resistance. But an affectionate, nurturing mother inspires trust, because you know she’s on your side, profoundly. In one of Scripture’s most dramatic tests of trust, God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. If Abraham had considered this command in isolation, surely he would not have obeyed. Abraham, however, was a friend of God. When tested, he did not hesitate, because he knew God’s character.

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At the foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is the genuine loveliness of those who are commonplace. The true character of the loveliness that speaks for God is always unnoticed by the one possessing that quality.

Oswald Chambers

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What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” (Mark 6:49). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God. God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

Oswald Chambers, God’s Purpose or Mine?

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Rejoice not over me, O my enemy;      when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness,      the Lord will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord      because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause      and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light;      I shall look upon his vindication.

Micah 7:8-9

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For the Christian, sinning is a big, fat, monumental waste of time. Because you can never, as a real Christian, you can never really enjoy sin anymore because you have the pesky Holy Spirit inside of you, and you can't really enjoy the Holy Spirit because you keep on sinning. And so the way to actually get to a place where you are walking in contentment and happiness and holiness is when you say "no" to the flesh, and "yes" to the new nature. The Holy Spirit rejoices and brings a peace and a holiness and happiness that you can't find anywhere else.

Matt Carter, The Happiness of Holiness

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Corrie ten Boom said that when people would honor her, she knew that God was really the one who deserved all the glory and credit, so she would imagine each honor as a huge bouquet of roses. She would picture herself taking in their scent and savoring it for a moment before handing it up to him, the rightful recipient. Smell the roses and hand them up. Receive praise as an advance deposit on the "well done" eventually coming from God himself.

Sam Crabtree, Practicing Affirmation

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The elementary desire to be commended is not wrong. The desire to be commended becomes perverted when we desire to be praised for the wrong things, or when the desire to be praised is elevated above the glory of God in the good we do, or when we accept praise without the glad admission that the good we do is done in the strength that he supplies. (The One supplying the strength deserves the glory.) ...Similarly, it is not wrong per se to desire: - to be noticed, if we are letting our light so shine that when people see our god works they glorify our Father in heaven (Matt. 5:16). - to avoid the anger of someone, if you are not cowardly but are courageously and faithfully leaving vengeance to the wrath of God (Rom. 12:18-19). - to be well thought of, if we are approved by God (Rom. 14:18). - to receive recognition, if we are recognized for having genuine faith (1 Cor. 11:19). - to feel important, if we recognize we are making an important difference as instruments on the Redeemer's hands (1 Cor. 15:10). - to be respected, if we are respected for fulfilling our God-given office in God-given strength (2 Cor. 8:16). - to avoid conflict, if our peacemaking is not at the expense of principle (2 Cor. 13:10-11). - to be looked up to, if we are esteemed highly because of our work in the Lord (1 Thess. 5:12-13). - to have a good reputation, if our good name (which is better than great riches) reflects The Name (2 Thess. 1:11-12). - to enjoy friendship, if friendship is first and foremost with God and all other friendships are for God (Heb. 6:10-12).

Sam Crabtree, Practicing Affirmation

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If you keep my commandments you will abide in my love.

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. John 15:9‭-‬11 ESV

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Any effort we put into our lives began with strength from God.

It is tempting to forget God and to grow proud and independent in times of difficulty and blessing. But remembering your union with Christ reminds you that any good thing in your life is the result of his mercy and grace, not your own wisdom, goodness, and effort. Any effort we put into our lives began with the strength he gives us and continues because he is committed to us forever! - Paul David Tripp "How People Change"

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It is amazing even to be tolerated by God.

We have been chosen from the mass of humanity to live in an intimate union with Christ. It is amazing even to be tolerated by God. It would be an honor simply to be invited to the wedding! It is beyond comprehension to be the beloved bride of the King of kings and Lord of lords! When you understand this, you can’t help but live life aware of the honor, privilege, and blessing that are yours. - Paul David Tripp "How People Change"

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The process of discovering or finding another person is the process of losing oneself. This is certainly not a loss of identity, but only of the false identity that is founded upon self-will. Human beings are the presence of God in the world, and by drawing so close to one of them that we enter willingly into the fire of their judgement, it becomes possible for our own selfish will to be illuminated and cauterized. Intimacy is thus a fire of righteous purification, a fire we could never tolerate were it not for the assurance that we are loved.

Mike Mason, The Mystery of Marriage