Abstract

“ Many churched people have a spiritual life that’s like a car, sputtering down the highway, coughing and jerking , red engine lights flashing. The driver’s solution is to beat a fist on the dashboard until the warning lights quit flashing. He or she motors on, believing that eliminating the warning signs is the same as fixing the problem. This is how most Christians are taught to treat the spiritual predicaments in which they find themselves……. Try harder, read the bible more, pound on the spiritual dashboard until the warning lights cease. Something is wrong with the engine-the machinery of faith, the inner workings are seriously impaired.”[1]

What is under the hood? What does my spiritual engine look like? Non discipleship Christianity is sputtering along the road and the warning lights are on. The main warning light reads, “lack of character.” This lack is the primary reason for the superficial nature of today’s believers. It is painfully obvious that we have over looked the single most important element for fulfilling the Great Commission. It seems we have been so busy trying to reach the world that there has been little time to focus on becoming like Jesus.

Abstract

Simone Weil quipped about the church, “ I would rather die for it than join it.” Like many of us we love the idea of the church, but the practice of it often is messy, ugly, and hurtful. As much as we want to form our spiritual lives in peaceful isolation, it can’t be done apart from the contorting pressures of living with others. Missionary statesman Lesslie Newbigin put it this way, “ The greatest hermeneutic of the gospel is a community that seeks to live by it.” Jesus put it even more simply, “ Love one another, by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” After all, the body of Christ is the manifestation of His person on this earth. And spiritually is not primarily philosophical or theoretical, it is local and ordinary. It is about being like Jesus in relation to others. Jesus was man for others, we then are to be people for others. Character is formed in community, it is tested in isolation. The most important question that must be asked and answered for every disciple to those around him is, “Can I trust me with you.” You can be second person singular, but it finally must be plural as well. When I humble myself and submit to others who can be trusted, then I have the opportunity to changed from stem to stern. I can actually begin to think like Jesus thought, feel what Jesus felt, and to see the world the way He saw it. I can actually become the kind of person who naturally does what Jesus did.

Abstract

“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ and to make them little Christs. If they are not doing all that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the bible itself, are simply a waste of time.” 

C. S. Lewis

Three things that money cannot by and no person can give you are the rewards of the choosing the life. They are characteristics that every person wants and without them, will be frustrated and filled with anxiety. Love, joy and peace are more than feelings, they are a state of being, conditions of the whole person. Normally they are accompanied by positive feelings. This is the product of transformation, this is why we can say that here is something we can give our all to. This is about a world wide character transformation that will affect others the way Jesus has already affected us.

This is part 2 in a 24-part audio series on the book of Colossians done by Dr. Ken Boa. We will add a more detailed abstract for this audio when it is created.