A Disciple Worships the Lord

 

I want you to learn and grow in worship to our Lord.  

1984. In a forest preserve outside Lansing, Michigan. When I was assured that no one was looking, I raised both my hands high over my head. And I worshiped God.  

This was the beginning of something new. I was learning more about worship. I am an ever-growing student, and Jesus is my all-wise Teacher.  

I had already been a worshiper for fourteen years. I experienced joy as I sang new songs to the Lord. Often, especially when alone, my joy flowed in tears. I learned that, not only was it OK to cry before the Lord, but my joy was a vessel that contained worship.  

Worship is a lifelong learning experience.

Real worship springs from the spirit, and expresses truth. Disciples of Jesus learn to worship in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)   

Today is the day when authentic worshipers are being released, across the world. I am one of them.  

So are you.  

Remember - It’s all going to end in worship.   

Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, 

like the roar of rushing waters 

and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 

“Hallelujah!

    ​For our Lord God Almighty reigns.  

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!  

Revelation 19:6-7

DECLARATIONS  

I am a true worshiper of Christ.

Sometimes I break out in spontaneous worship.  

My spirit overflows in worship.  

My worship today is preparing me for an eternity of worship.  

When I think of all Christ has done for me, worship expands my spirit.

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship) 

A Disciple Grows in Discernment

 

I began taking guitar lessons at age five. I have taught and played guitar for sixty-nine years. (How old am I?)

How familiar am I with guitars? Very! I am able to discern whether a guitar is in tune, or out of tune. I can hear chords played, and without looking at the guitar being played, tell you what chord it is. (Mostly, not entirely…) I can listen to a song for the first time, and (mostly) immediately play it. (Really accomplished guitarists do this better than I can.)  

I became a disciple of Jesus just before my twenty-first birthday. I have talked and walked and lived with Jesus for fifty-three years. (How old am I?) Jesus became to me, as one scholar calls him, a “familiar stranger.”

From the beginning, Jesus felt familiar to me. I felt safe, at home, with him. Coming to Jesus was a great homecoming!   

And, just as the first disciples found the ways and words of Jesus strange, like his use of parables, so did I. Yet I, like those disciples, was, and remain, attracted to him.  

I am familiar with Jesus, with more understanding coming daily. I am able to discern what is of Jesus, and what is not of Jesus. The discipleship principle I have learned is:  

Discernment is a function of familiarity.

Discernment is in direct proportion to intimacy.  

I want you to be familiar with our Lord Jesus. I want your spiritual discernment to increase.  

Apprentices become familiar with their teachers. My Teacher has taught me this: The more I know him, the more I see and understand him.  

This is what happens to disciples of Christ. May it be so, in you.

DECLARATIONS  

I am becoming more familiar with Jesus every day.  

I am able to discern spiritual realities.  

I can separate the good from the evil.  

Revelation from Jesus is increasing in me.  

It excites me to think there is so much more to Jesus waiting for me to comprehend.  

There is no greater privilege than knowing Jesus my Lord!

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship)

Now Re-reading... Christianity with Power

 

I often re-read, or revisit, books that remain important to me.

I'm now re-reading Charles Kraft's book Christianity with Power: Your Worldview  and Your Experience of the Supernatural.

A Disciple of Jesus Grows to Be Like Jesus

I see you growing to be more and more like Christ.

I was a boy when Elvis Presley became famous. My parents bought me an Elvis album after I saw him on TV. I wanted to sing like him, and play the guitar like he did. I wanted to look like him.  

One day I took my Elvis album into the bathroom, and propped it up next to the mirror. There was Elvis’s picture, next to my face in the mirror. I found some hair gel, and a comb. I attempted to design my hair to look like Elvis’s hair.   

Afterwards, I remember walking to my friend John’s house, feeling a lot like you-know-who. John burst my bubble when he said, “So, are you trying to look like Elvis again?”  

Trying? We want to be like the people we worship.

1 John 3:2 tells me that one day, I shall be like Jesus. The apostle Paul writes, in Galatians 4:19, that I am now being formed into Christlikeness. This makes sense to me, since this is my glorious destiny.  

Every disciple begins to look like their teacher. Apprentices learn to do what their teacher does. Jesus says, "whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) That makes sense, since a disciple is in training to do the stuff their teacher has been doing.  

I learned this a long time ago. I believe it more today than when I first heard it. As one of the Lord’s disciples, I get excited when I think of being like the One I have come to worship.  

As I apprentice myself to Jesus, he forms himself in me; his character, his abilities.  

DECLARATIONS  

One day I shall be like the Lord Jesus.  

Today, Christ is forming his character in me.  

I am learning to love people as Jesus loves people.  

Christ is training me to deliver people from darkness.

The compassion of Christ grows within me.  

I want nothing more than to be like Jesus!

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship)

Disciples of Jesus Meet on Sunday Mornings

 

When I was a pastor in Joliet, Illinois, there was a man who was always with us on Sunday mornings. He was handicapped. He lived alone. He walked, so slowly, to the church building every Sunday morning. I mean every. No matter what the weather conditions. My thought was, “This man is committed!”  

Linda and I are committed. This is nothing to boast about. This is basic discipleship. When we were growing up, our families were there on every Sunday morning. We never missed. Sunday is the Christian disciple’s Sabbath.  

One of the Ten Commandments says,   Remember the Sabbath day, and be there.  

Keep it holy.  

My parents did. The DNA of Sabbath-keeping became my DNA.

Linda’s parents did the same with their children. Linda’s dad and mom were on fire for Jesus! Missing the weekly gathering of the people, the church, was unthinkable for them. It formed the center of their born-again life. As it says in Hebrews,  

Do not give up meeting together, 

as some are in the habit of doing,  

but encouraging one another

—  and all the more as you see the Day approaching. 

 Real disciples are in community. In “fellowship.” So much of what Jesus has taught me about being like Him has been learned in community.

The letters of Paul are not addressed to individual Christians. They are addressed to Jesus-Communities. Nearly every time the word “you” is used in Paul’s letters, it is plural.  

The precious manifestations of the Holy Spirit (the “gifts”) only make sense within The Community.  

Jesus taught me that the Bible is a tribal document. He is building his Tribe out of all kinds of people.  

​I need The Community. 

The Community needs me.  

We ARE the Church.

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship)

Welcome to Redeemer Fellowship Church

An Apprentice to Jesus Reads The Book

 

I read the Bible.

 As I write this, I am immersing myself in the book of Ezekiel. I also read the book of Proverbs, regularly. I go slow with Proverbs! I am also re-reading the Gospel of John. I have read John many times, and always discover new insights.  

Why do I do this? Because: I am a disciple of Christ. The required text is the Bible. Jesus is training me to be like him, in character and behavior.  

An apprentice to Christ constantly studies the Great Manual of Instruction.  It functions as a guide to life, a light to one’s path. Plus, the Bible is the greatest, most influential, inspiring book ever written!  

God used my earthly father to influence me to read the Bible. I remember seeing dad, holding his Bible, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, usually in the evening before he went to bed. Dad read it so much that his thumb almost wore through the leather cover. I have his Bible. 

I received a black, leather-covered Bible when I was confirmed in our Lutheran Church. I was twelve years old. My fingerprints were not on this Bible. I never touched it. My mother stored it somewhere - I don't know where, and I didn't care. I never picked it up and read it. Until…   

…I was 21. That's when Jesus rescued me out of deep enslavement to evil. Instantly, my life began to change for the better. I was now an apprentice to Jesus, and I needed a Bible!  

I drove to my parents' home. I asked, "Mom, do you know where my Bible is?"  

She got it for me. I began to read. And read. I wore the leather out on it so much that the cover finally tore off. I still have this Bible. Here it is.

I am my father's son. Like father, like son, right? I have been reading and studying the Bible for fifty-one years. Disciples of Christ study to show themselves approved, as they rightly handle the Word of God. (2 Timothy 2:15)

I want this for you. The apostle Paul wrote:  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)  

And: Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. (Philippians 3:17)  

I am a disciple, a student, in the School of Jesus. Jesus teaches us through the Word, and through other disciples, like my father.  

Follow my example. Read and re-read your Bible.

(For a good book on understanding the Bible see How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stewart.)  

DECLARATIONS  

I am a student of God’s Word.  

I love reading the Bible. It is a guide to my life!  

I read portions of the Bible every day.

I write verses on 3X5 cards and carry them with me, looking at them often.  

God speaks to me through the words of the Bible.  

The Bible nourishes me. It is food for my soul.  

I have time to read my Bible.  

The Bible is getting inside me and transforming me.

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship, p. 20)

Studying Jesus - Some Resources

(Jerusalem street)



One of my PhD qualifying exams was in Ancient Christology. Christology is still, for me, an area I study in. This is my first love: knowing Jesus, and making Jesus known. 

Here are books and websites I recommend for studying Jesus, with a few annotations. 

This list could be miles long! These are some I recommend. If you read these, you'll be well on your way in studying Christ and thinking Christologically. You will, increasingly, be able to separate the real from the false.

BOOKS ON JESUS

Gustav Aulen

• Christus Victor: An Historical Study of the Three Main Types of the Idea of Atonement

Ruth Haley Barton

• Life Together in Christ: Experiencing Transformation in Community

Richard Bauckham

• Jesus: A Very Short Introduction - a beautiful introduction to the Real Jesus by a great scholar.
• Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony - Bauckham delivers a strong case that the four Gospels are closely based on eyewitness testimony of those who knew Jesus. Note: all four Gospels.
• Bauckham's website is HERE. 

James Beilby and Paul Eddy, eds. The Historical Jesus: Five Views

Michael Brown

• The Real Kosher Jesus: Revealing the Mysteries of the Hidden Messiah

Greg Boyd

• Cynic Sage or Son of God?: Recovering the Real Jesus in an Age of Revisionist Replies - I was talking with Craig Keener in his office and asked, "What books do you recommend on Jesus studies?" Craig pulled Greg's book off the shelf and said, "This is very good."
• Crucifixion of the Warrior God: Interpreting the Old Testament's Violent Portraits of God in Light of the Cross
• Cross Vision: How the Crucifixion of Jesus Makes Sense of Old Testament Violence
• Boyd's website is HERE. 

Greg Boyd & Paul Eddy

• The Jesus Legend: A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition - Among other things Boyd and Eddy debunk the idea that the Jesus story emerged from surrounding pagan myths.
• Lord or Legend?: Wrestling with the Jesus Dilemma - A more accessible version of their book The Jesus Legend.

James Charlesworth

• The Historical Jesus: An Essential Guide - By Princeton New Testament scholar Charlesworth.

William Lane Craig

• The Atonement
• Atonement and the Death of Christ: An Exegetical, Historical, and Philosophical Exploration

Paul Eddy and James Beilby

• The Historical Jesus: Five Views

Craig Evans

• Fabricating Jesus: How Modern Scholars Distort the Gospels - The great New Testament scholar debunks, among others, Bart Ehrman.
• Jesus and His World: The Archaeological Evidence - I got this book as a Christmas gift, and began to read it last night. It is highly reviewed. 

Craig Evans and N.T. Wright

• Jesus, the Final Days: What Really Happened. This would be an excellent little book to read leading up to Easter 2013. 

Gordon Fee

• Pauline Christology

Gordon Fee and Cherith Nordling Fee

• Jesus the Lord According to Paul the Apostle: A Concise Introduction

Simon Gathercole, Robert Stewart, N. T. Wright

• What Did the Cross Accomplish? A Conversation About the Atonement

Larry Hurtado and Chris Keith

•  Jesus among Friends and Enemies: A Historical and Literary Introduction to Jesus in the Gospels. I recently picked up this book and have begun to read it. 

Craig Keener

• The Historical Jesus of the Gospels
• Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts 
• Any of Craig's New Testament commentaries.
• Christobiography: Memory, History, and the Reliability of the Gospels
• Lots of great, free material on the Real Jesus at Craig's blog HERE. 

J. N. D. Kelly

• Early Christian Doctrines

George Ladd

• Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God. This is one of the books to be read on the nature of "the kingdom of God." 
• A Theology of the New Testament (This was one of my seminary texts, which I have worn out (it's falling apart!)).

Michael McClymond

• Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazereth. This is another book Craig Keener strongly recommended to me. 

Scot McKnight

• The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited. Why read this book? Because it has two Forewards, by N.T. Wright and Dallas Willard. This book is about the Real Jesus and the actual Gospel. 
• Any of McKnight's New Testament commentaries. 
• McKnight's excellent blog is HERE. 

Richard Norris and William Rusch

• The Christological Controversies (Sources of Early Christian Thought)

Eugene Peterson

• Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in His Stories and Prayers
• Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ
• The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus Is the Way

Stephen Porter, Gary Moon, J. P. Moreland

• Until Christ Is Formed In You: Dallas Willard and Spiritual Formation

Stephen Prothero

• American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon - A good read on who the Real Jesus is not.  

Fleming Rutledge

• The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ

Klyne Snodgrass

• Stories with Intent: A Comprehensive Guide to the Parables of Jesus. The best book on the parables ever written?

Lee Strobel

• The Case for Christ
• The Case for the Real Jesus

Rankin Wilbourne 

• One with Christ: An Evangelical Theology of Salvation

Dallas Willard 

• Living in Christ's Presence: Final Words on Heaven and the Kingdom of God
• Renovation of the Heart: Putting on the Character of Christ

Ben Witherington

• The Christology of Jesus
• The Jesus Quest: The Third Search for the Jew of Nazareth
• What Have They Done with Jesus?: Beyond Strange Theories and Bad History--Why We Can Trust the Bible
• Witherington's blog is HERE. 

N.T. Wright (No one, except Craig Keener, is writing more about Jesus than Wright is.)

• How God Became King: The Forgotten Story of the Gospels . Remember that understanding the "kingdom of God" is the hermeneutical key to understanding the Real Jesus.
• Jesus and the Victory of God
• The Resurrection of the Son of God
• Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters
• Following Jesus: Biblical Reflections on Discipleship
• Wright's website is HERE. 

NEW TESTAMENT COMMENTARIES

When the following New Testament scholars write a commentary, it's going to be worth reading.

• Richard Bauckham
• Craig Blomberg
• D.A. Carson
• Craig Evans
• Gordon Fee
• R.T. France
• David Garland
• Joel Green
• Richard Hays
• Craig Keener
• Andreas Kostenberger
• Scot McKnight
• Douglas Moo
• Klyne Snodgrass
• Ben Witherington
• N.T. Wright - especially see Wright's "For Everyone" series.

WEBSITES ON JESUS AND THE NEW TESTAMENT

• Richard Bauckham
• Greg Boyd
• Gordon Fee
• Mark Goodacre (New Testament Gateway)
• Larry Hurtado
• The Jesus Blog
• Craig Keener
• Andreas Kostenberger
• Scot McKnight
• Ben Witherington
• N.T. Wright

A Disciple of Jesus Learns to Hear the Voice of Jesus

 

I began hearing the voice of God before I became a follower of Jesus.  

One time, when I was twenty, I was playing in a band, in a bar. Out of heaven, the thought came to me, “John, you are messed up.” That was wild. And, it was true.  

I heard this in a way that felt different and deep. It penetrated my defenses, and took up residence in my soul. In retrospect, I saw it was God, speaking to me, calling me to himself.

Today, over fifty years later, I am a disciple of Jesus. A disciple is an “apprentice.” An apprentice learns to do what their teacher does. This requires hearing from God.  

My life is apprenticed to Jesus. I am a student in The School of Jesus My Lord. This is the greatest opportunity I have in life! If you are a disciple, you are in this for life, and joyfully so.  

Jesus is our Teacher. I know what “teacher” means. Linda and I are both teachers. Linda did her bachelor’s degree in education, focusing on special needs kids and behavior-disordered kids. I taught for eighteen years at Monroe County Community  College (Michigan), and have taught in several theological seminaries.  

I also know what it is to be a student. When a teacher teaches, the student hears their voice. This is basic. Jesus is mentoring us to be like him in his character, and in his abilities. As Jesus once said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”  

Jesus knows his committed ones. He speaks to his disciples. His disciples recognize His voice. His apprentices follow Jesus their Lord.

I want this for you, too.

I have been a follower of Lord Jesus since 1970. I have grown in learning to hear his voice. I have learned that hearing the voice of Jesus is directly related to intimacy and familiarity with Jesus. So, I spend much time with him.  

I have learned that I am to focus on intimacy with Jesus, rather than on hearing his voice. Because with greater intimacy, hearing comes. Live as a branch, connected to Jesus, the Vine. Abide in him, and your life will bear much fruit. This includes hearing God’s voice.  

We learn to hear God’s voice by spending time with God.

I want this for you.  

Abide in Jesus. Grow in intimacy with Jesus. Grow in ability to hear his voice.

(One resource that currently deepens me in this area of discipleship is Hearing God Through the Year: A 365-Day Devotional, by Dallas Willard.)  

DECLARATIONS  

I take much time to spend with God.

I am more familiar with Jesus than I have ever been.  

I find that God, as my Shepherd, has much to say to me, his sheep.  

God speaks to me about many things.  

I love hearing the voice of God.  

I am a student in The School of Jesus Christ, and he is my Teacher!

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship, p. 16)

Remarriage and Divorce: Seven Minute Seminary (Craig Keener)

A Disciple of Jesus Is a Praying Person

 

The year was 1977. I had just graduated from seminary. My theology professor, Dr. Tom Finger, asked to meet with me. Dr. Finger said, “What theology class do you think our seminary needs?” I thought for a moment, then answered, “Prayer. We need a class on prayer.”  

“Would you teach this class on prayer?” 

 “No. I need a class like this. I am in no position to teach it!”  How many of you know that a teacher, especially a beginning teacher, often learns more than their students? God was speaking to me through Dr. Finger. He persisted. I acquiesced.  

In the fall of 1977 I taught a class on prayer at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary. My main requirement was: to pray. I required the students to go apart to a solitary place and pray, each day, for half an hour. I thought this was a stroke of genius! Of course, this assignment was for me, too. The result was that I, the teacher, acquired a praying life that has lasted to this day. I became a student of Christ in the School of Prayer.

What is praying? Praying is talking with God about what God and I are thinking and doing together.   

Praying is communicating with God about The Mission. 

In praying, I meet with my Commander and receive my marching orders. This is what Jesus was doing in Luke 5:16: Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  

Jesus prayed. Therefore I, as his apprentice, pray. I pray in lonely places. I call them “places of least distraction.”  

I bring, with me to these lonely places, a Bible, my spiritual journal, and a devotional book (some book I am reading for spiritual direction). During my praying time, when God speaks to me, I write it down in my journal.  

In praying I experience comfort, healing, deliverance, and rescue. I receive encouragement. I am told that I am loved. I get corrected and directed, which calls for obedience. I find out what God wants from me and what he wants me to do.  

Praying, to me, makes following Jesus exciting and real. God really does expect me to follow him!

I have found that I can be myself, and use my own words and ways of talking, when I pray. I don’t have to learn a special language. God is not impressed by my words, but by the attitude of my heart.  

I bless you all with a deep, conversational relationship with the Lord Jesus!  

DECLARATIONS 

 I am a praying person. 

 I pray because Jesus, the Lord of my life, prayed.  

When I pray, I pray from the heart.  

Praying is exciting to me, because I am communicating with the Maker of Heaven and Earth!  

I am gaining control of my schedule. Therefore, I am finding more time to pray.

I am a prayer warrior, defeating satanic strongholds, and bringing in the Kingdom of God!

(From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Discipleship.)

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #5: Fear Speaking Badly of Others Made in God's Image

(Frost on my car window)

Have you ever met a Christian who never spoke badly of another person? I have met a few.

Apparently, Bill Johnson is one of those. Thank you, C.H., for posting this.

"In a recent meeting, someone said to Bill Johnson, "I notice that you never talk about people. You never talk badly about people. And I'm just wondering what's going on in your heart? How did you discipline yourself to NEVER speak negatively of other people, even people who are sometimes a pain?"
Bill, with tears running down his cheeks, said, "I fear Jesus in them. That I would speak badly about someone made in the image of God, that is so valued by God that Jesus died for them. And that I would portray them as something less valuable than that. I fear how God would deal with a person who would betray the people made in his image."

***
See...

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #3: The Other Is Not Your Enemy

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #4: Never Insult a Brother or Sister

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #4: Never Insult a Brother or Sister

                                                                       (New York City)

When Linda and I were campus pastors at Michigan State University, we were teaching Matthew 5:21-24 to our students. In the midst of the discussion, one of our students, Naomi, who was from Malawi, said: "If we followed the words of Jesus here very few of us would be worshiping today. We would all get up and leave, go to the brothers and sisters we were demeaning, and ask for forgiveness."

²¹ “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, 

and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ 

²² But I tell you that anyone who is angry 

with a brother or sister 

will be subject to judgment. 

Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, 

‘Raca,’ 

is answerable to the court. 

And anyone who says, ‘

You fool!’ 

will be in danger of the fire of hell.

²³ “Therefore, 

if you are offering your gift at the altar 

and there remember 

that your brother or sister 

has something against you,

²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. 

First go 

and be reconciled to them; 

then come and offer your gift.

"Raca" is an Aramaic term of abuse. It means "idiot." (See R.T. France, The Gospel According to Matthew, p. 120)

Anyone who calls a brother or sister in Christ an idiot is answerable to the Sanhedrin. (Greek synedrion.) France writes: "Jesus here threatens ultimate divine judgment on anger, even as expressed in everyday insults." (Ib.) 

If I call someone an idiot am I really relegated to the garbage heap where Israel's rubbish was burned? No. Jesus is using exaggeration, as he often does, to make a point. (This is called Semitic hyperbole.) But the point is important. This is "an injunction to submit our thoughts about other people, as well as the words they give rise to, to God's penetrating scrutiny... We cannot worship God with grudges unsettled."

Anger is no excuse for insulting people. It is non-redemptive and alienating.

If you are a Jesus-follower, and you ridicule a brother or sister, your worship is inauthentic, and unacceptable to God.

***
See...

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #3: The Other Is Not Your Enemy

Guidelines for Civil Discourse - #3: The Other Is Not Your Enemy

                                              (Linda, reading a book to our grandson Levi.)

The apostle Paul writes:

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 

but against the rulers, 

against the authorities, 

against the powers of this dark world 

and against the spiritual forces of evil 

in the heavenly realms.

Ephesians 6:12

So, if it has flesh and blood, it is not our real enemy.

Our real enemies are "the powers of this dark world" and the "spiritual forces of evil." These are the spiritual forces Jesus came to defeat.

Jesus did not come to defeat people. He came to rescue them. In the rescue, the powers of darkness are defeated.

If you are a follower of Jesus you must not demonize others. Even if they anger you. To do that is to wrestle with the wrong adversaries. 

Discuss? Yes. Agree, or disagree? Of course. Wrestle with? That would be like leaving your true opponent on the wrestling mat and climbing into the bleachers and trying to pin the captive onlookers.

If we view and treat one another as enemies, we are engaged in vain warfare.

If an army starts to shoot its own, waging war within itself, this is not only a pseudo-battle, it's going to lead to defeat by the real enemy. If the actual enemy can get us to self-destroy,  it has won.

You and I are not enemies, because we are flesh and blood. If something has flesh and blood it cannot be our enemy.

Sadly, Christians can be tempted, deceived, and even used by the dark powers. (see Eph. 2:2; 4:14) As Ben Witherington writes: “It is all too easy to mistake the human vessel of evil for evil itself.” Pray that we never make that mistake, for if we do the days of hating and hurting and hiding from one another have arrived.

Our struggle is essentially a spiritual one. 

Wage war on that level.

Wage peace with one another.

***
See...

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #2 - Never Mock People

 

                                                            (Lake Erie - Monroe, MI)

(I don't read what people post on social media. I don't have time to do this. I am on Facebook, but I unfollow everyone except my family and our church staff. 

I'm not on Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumbler, Snapchat, or Whatsapp. Or anything.  

I post this blog to Facebook. Some respond to my blog, and I often interact with them. Thank you.

I have always been a culture-watcher. I am very interested in human behavior. I study moral behavior and its sources like a madman. I am supremely interested in how we Jesus-followers should live and act and have our being.

 
I have much personal experience with humans abusing each other verbally. Even among Christians. Even, sadly, at times, me.

This post is about how someone who claims to follow Jesus should conduct themselves, in any medium, in all human interaction.)

Followers of Jesus are never to mock or ridicule other people.

Never. Ever. 

Mockery and ridicule are opponents of agape love. They reside in the camp of conditional love. ("If you agreed with my position, then I would not show my disgust towards you.")

Every person is made in the imago dei, the image of God. To mock and ridicule a person, no matter who they are or what they believe or disbelieve, is to mock that person's Maker. If you mock someone's children, you also mock them. This is how it is in tribal communities.

Slow-cook in the book of Proverbs and apply.

How long will you who are simple 

love your simple ways? 

How long will mockers delight in mockery 

and fools hate knowledge?

Proverbs 1:22

He mocks proud mockers 

but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.

Proverbs 3:34

If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; 

if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.

Proverbs 9:12

The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, 

but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

Proverbs 14:6

Penalties are prepared for mockers, 

and beatings for the backs of fools.

Proverbs 19:29

The proud and arrogant person

—“Mocker” is his name— 

behaves with insolent fury.

Proverbs 21:24

Drive out the mocker, and out goes strife; 

quarrels and insults are ended.

Proverbs 22:10

Mockers stir up a city, 

but the wise turn away anger.

Proverbs 29:8

How shall we live the command to love our neighbor? By mocking them?

How shall we give witness to the sign that we belong to Jesus? By mocking one another?

How shall we be blessed as peacemakers? By ridiculing those who disagree with us?

Is mockery among the fruit of the Spirit?

Shall we build up the body of Christ using the spiritual gift of ridicule?

Is not any fellowship with the company of mockers called wickedness? (Psalm 1:1)

To mock and ridicule others that do not think like you is non-redemptive, only causing existing divisions to separate further. 

(In logic, mockery and ridicule are types of informal fallacies, called ad hominem abusives. To verbally abuse someone not only adds nothing to an argument, it diminishes the argument.)

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See also - 

Guidelines for Civil Discourse: #1 - Love Others