You're Doing It Wrong

There is a well known book series, with a hit HBO series called Game of Thrones.  I can't say much about the show as I've never seen it.  But I have read the first book.  There is a scene in both where a young girl is given a sword by her half-brother.  He asks her if she knows how to use it.  She answers,

The pointy end goes into the other man.

So what does that have to do with M28 and discipleship?  Well, nothing.  But it has a lot to do with me and something God has recently been teaching me.  It'll make sense by the end.  I hope.

Do any of you ever have one of those days, or weeks, or lifetimes, where God just kind of smiles at you and says, "You're doing it wrong?"  Okay, a few of you.  Oh wait, is that everyone?  Wow, good to know I'm not alone in this.

Now I'm not saying this is an always, every time, kind of wrong.  There are times I know it's getting done right.  Those moments are usually when I'm stepping back and letting God do his thing.  I might be the messenger at times, but the message is still God's.

For the past year I've been trying to dive head first into this discipleship thing.  I've read half a dozen books.  Been at meetings, discussions, brainstorm sessions, you name it.  I get the concept.  But I couldn't find anyone to disciple.  So I read some more.

Cause if you aren't doing it...certainly you just need to have more knowledge on the topic.

In reading a new book I thought, maybe I just need a cause.  A place of people to dive into.  The example in the book was that the author and a friend went to India and worked with lepers.  They just dove in and God worked in them.  I thought, I can do that, right here.

Maybe not lepers, but surely there is a place that I can go.

And I found one, or rather one came to me.  It was living in a recovery house for drug addicts and alcoholics.  I just dove in.  I knew little to nothing about those life styles.  And it seemed like things went from rough to worse over the two months that I lived there with residents.  I even got a disciple before I moved into the house and he eventually moved in there.




Without going into a lot of details the house did not work out in the end.  My first thoughts were that I had failed.  The discipleship I had going failed.  I felt like a failure.  You see a trend here.  I was doing everything right.  At least according to the books and ideas.  Well, except maybe the Book.


Last week I had a few different conversations with some wise and encouraging people.  Good friends.  Good people.  Then I had the conversation I really needed with God.  That's when I heard him say, "You're doing it wrong."  He wasn't angry.  It's like a parent watching a kid trying to put a square block in a round hole.

When they are in third grade.

Now remember that bit with the sword?  This is kind of how my conversation with God went:

God - "Jesse, what are you doing?"
Jesse - (holding sword by the blade) "Um, sword fighting?"
God - "You're doing it wrong."
Jesse - (examining the mess he just made) "Oh." (slow realization sets in) The pointy end goes into the other guy."
God - "There you go champ."

There are a lot of great tools for doing discipleship.  But never forget that God is the source of all those things.  You see I was relying too much on the tool rather than the teacher.  I was too worried about making a difference instead of letting God work.  I realize now that the house wasn't a failure, I just may never see the results.

God can and will continue to work in those guys long after they forget about me.  Or maybe we will come back in contact at some point.  Who knows!  God is in control and we need to remember that in all our endeavors.  We are just supposed to go spread the seed.

The seed will grow when it lands in good soil.

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse

Counting Chickens...or Something

The Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson once said,

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

 In Luke's account of Jesus' life we find the Parable of the Sower (8:1-15)  Take a few minutes and read it.  Go on, I'll wait for you.  Okay, done?  Good.  So what does Jesus tell the disciples the seed is?

That's right.

In case you didn't hear whoever just said it, the answer is: the word of God.

Does the word ever fail in this story?  No.  It does not.  The soil is what fails.  What is the soil?  Different types of people.  Some never believe because the word is taken from them.  Others don't allow the word to take root and fall away.  Still more are choked out by "life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."  (I had a good bit to say on maturity a few weeks back.  Read at your own risk.)

The last type of people are those with "noble and good hearts, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."  That one sentence has so much information on it.

Look at the actions:  Hear.  Retain.  Persevere. Produce.  (This will be another post in itself!)

In this story I believe Jesus is telling us that as his disciples we are to scatter the word of God.  He was doing it then.  The disciples did it after he ascended.  Now we are doing it.  You and me.

Now, the farmer doesn't have anything to do with the harvest.  At least not specifically in this story.  Usually the workers are the ones who are mentioned as doing the harvesting.  The point is that once the seed is scattered, the farmer can't make the seed grow.  He can water it.  Protect it from animals and other dangers, but a farmer cannot make the seed open, take root, push through the soil and stretch out toward the heavens.  It is beyond his control.  You and I cannot make the word of God grow in someone else.

We don't need too.

The word is capable of doing that on it's own.  That's not to say toss a Bible at someone and say, "Hey, here's a Bible, go be a follower of Jesus."  The word will grow in the right soil.  We are to spread it around.  And here is the best thing about the word being the seed...it can never run out!  Yeah, you don't have to go order more.  The Bible is it.  Jesus' words are it.  The only way to fail is if we don't keep taking it in.  It's still there, but we might not know enough.  (So read more.  Study more.  Spend more time with God learning who he is, that he loves us.)

So as we continue to let the word grow in us, we are to spread it about to others.  There are so many ways to do this.  If you attend a "church" regularly, check into their resources on how to do this.  Or talk with a leader or pastor.  There are many websites that you can go to also.  (M28 is one such example...and I had to plug it!)

Maybe it's meeting with a small group.  Maybe it's bringing someone with you to a service or gathering.  It could be anything.  The world, and closer still, your neighborhood is full of people who are the right kind of soil.  They are searching, hurting, desperate, and hungry for God.  They are out there.

So let us get out there and plant the seed.  Let God worry about what is harvested and how much.  The harvest won't happen with out the planting.  We can't plant the word if we don't go out to the field.  A farmer has a house he comes into for rest and food, but he works in the field.

If you're not catching my metaphor, as a follower of Jesus we probably have a "church home" to come to for rest and food, but we can't plant seeds inside the house full of other followers.  We have to step out of the house and walk to the field and start working.

Get off your duff.  Put on your muck boots.  Walk outside into the world.  Start planting the seed of the word in the soil of people around you.  It's something we all need to do.  Like Mr. Stevenson's quote says,

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.

Or maybe the old saying, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch," is more to your liking...and now the title makes sense.

Until Next Time...

grace, peace + hope

-Jesse