Comments on: Jesus Centered Missional Living http://www.cornerstonebuzz.org/2010/02/25/jesus-centered-missional-living/ Leading People To Know & Serve Jesus Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:35:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: lisa http://www.cornerstonebuzz.org/2010/02/25/jesus-centered-missional-living/comment-page-1/#comment-524 lisa Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:50:58 +0000 http://www.cornerstonebuzz.org/?p=2682#comment-524 Brian, Thank you. Some great thoughts and the visual models are always helpful. Thank you for your insight. I believe in a culture where we break everything into chunks of time, manage schedules and calendars-it is very easy to resort to a compartmentalized perspective. We all seem to live by our checklists-who doesn’t have a top five? Even churches have their lists of things they want to encourage us to do. Many times we contribute to this sense of compartmentalization. What we also have to realize is that people are at different places along the journey. Hopefully we are all moving closer towards Christ in all aspects. Jesus taught on this in the parable of the four soils when he described how we would receive His word. What that parable helps us realize is that there are seasons in our life. There are many times when we are dry-and it seems difficult for the Holy Spirit to get to us, or there are times when we are choked and burdened by the cares of the world…at these times we may resort to the compartment mentality-just get through these few things, be a part of a Bible study, be more disciplined in prayer etc. And yet, as we do these things, for whatever motive, it certainly helps us cultivate a soil that is ready to receive and grow. The phrase that stuck out is “nominal Christian”. I certainly understand what your intention is with this. However that sets us up for comparing ourselves to one another and judging one another when that really is a matter of the heart and only something Christ can do. Who is to say what the difference is between a nominal Christian and a model Christian? This is the very thing that Jesus challenged the Pharisees with and if we aren’t careful fall into the same legalistic trap. We as Christians can so easily “shoot our wounded” versus “bear one another’s burdens”. Again, the model is great. Jesus as the hub and center certainly resonates, much like our own heart being somewhat center in our body-probably why we ask Jesus to “come into our heart”. I like the perspective of John Wesley who also recognized how we could reduce the work of Christ as a check list or something we just fit into our schedule. But he couched our spiritual growth in terms of “growing in grace and sanctifying grace”. Thus a believer, after accepting Christ’s love would then engage in two areas, works of piety and works of mercy-mind you as response to Christ’s love not to earn it. Works of piety were spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, study, and worship. Equally important were works of mercy such as service, hospitality, and generosity. Engaging in a lifestyle where Christ emanates out of us and is our center then helps in the times when we are dry, when we try to do things ourselves, or even run on fumes-when we are mostly likely to work out of a “compartmentalized mindset”. And the key, a body of believers who bear one another’s burdens recognizing we all have times of great growth and other times when it seems we have flattened out or even gone backwards. Daily life then is to set out to be faithful and Christlike in all things. I think that is your point. Thank you for your insight and sharing! Brian, Thank you. Some great thoughts and the visual models are always helpful. Thank you for your insight. I believe in a culture where we break everything into chunks of time, manage schedules and calendars-it is very easy to resort to a compartmentalized perspective. We all seem to live by our checklists-who doesn’t have a top five? Even churches have their lists of things they want to encourage us to do. Many times we contribute to this sense of compartmentalization. What we also have to realize is that people are at different places along the journey. Hopefully we are all moving closer towards Christ in all aspects. Jesus taught on this in the parable of the four soils when he described how we would receive His word. What that parable helps us realize is that there are seasons in our life. There are many times when we are dry-and it seems difficult for the Holy Spirit to get to us, or there are times when we are choked and burdened by the cares of the world…at these times we may resort to the compartment mentality-just get through these few things, be a part of a Bible study, be more disciplined in prayer etc. And yet, as we do these things, for whatever motive, it certainly helps us cultivate a soil that is ready to receive and grow.

The phrase that stuck out is “nominal Christian”. I certainly understand what your intention is with this. However that sets us up for comparing ourselves to one another and judging one another when that really is a matter of the heart and only something Christ can do. Who is to say what the difference is between a nominal Christian and a model Christian? This is the very thing that Jesus challenged the Pharisees with and if we aren’t careful fall into the same legalistic trap. We as Christians can so easily “shoot our wounded” versus “bear one another’s burdens”.

Again, the model is great. Jesus as the hub and center certainly resonates, much like our own heart being somewhat center in our body-probably why we ask Jesus to “come into our heart”. I like the perspective of John Wesley who also recognized how we could reduce the work of Christ as a check list or something we just fit into our schedule. But he couched our spiritual growth in terms of “growing in grace and sanctifying grace”. Thus a believer, after accepting Christ’s love would then engage in two areas, works of piety and works of mercy-mind you as response to Christ’s love not to earn it. Works of piety were spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, study, and worship. Equally important were works of mercy such as service, hospitality, and generosity. Engaging in a lifestyle where Christ emanates out of us and is our center then helps in the times when we are dry, when we try to do things ourselves, or even run on fumes-when we are mostly likely to work out of a “compartmentalized mindset”. And the key, a body of believers who bear one another’s burdens recognizing we all have times of great growth and other times when it seems we have flattened out or even gone backwards.
Daily life then is to set out to be faithful and Christlike in all things. I think that is your point. Thank you for your insight and sharing!

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