Joe Fontenot's Blog, page 10

The scope and scale of the kingdom of heaven

The kingdom of heaven is both unforgiving and, at its essence, all about forgiveness.

“Get behind me, Satan!” was the response Jesus gave Peter when Peter misunderstood his mission.

This sounds harsh. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t.

But then Jesus goes on the reveal why he said this.

To Peter, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man” (Matthew 16:23).

Peter saw only his immediate world, and he reacted accordingly.

Jesus, on the other hand, was looking into eternity and saw, with a kind of determinism, a world far greater.

The dystopian future of Christianity

For many, the future has begun to look bleak.

We see this when we hear things like, “We used to be a Christian country.” Or when we see the growing support of gay marriage.

This is especially painful if you’re old enough to remember when things were different.

But consider for a moment what is really at risk.

It’s not the life we’ve created for ourselves. It’s not a legal system that backs Christian values. It’s not even our lives.

Instead, the risk is our influence.

When we look at the world as an enemy encroaching, we develop an us vs them mentality. We circle the wagon. We protect what’s ours, and we fight to keep them out.

From the Proverbs:

“Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (19:21).

And from Paul, talking about hope:

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

Today, people are confused, struggling, and hungry.

I cannot think of a better time to tell them about the solution.

The Spirit vs spiritual maturity

Spiritual maturity is how conformed our thoughts and actions are to the Spirit.

Hours after Jesus fed the four thousand, his disciples ran out of bread.

Jesus used this as a teachable moment (“beware the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees”).

They didn’t get it.

Then, shortly after, as the story moves on, Jesus poses them a question.

“Who do you think I am?”

Peter answers with the mighty statement: “You are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15-16).

Now where did that come from? How did Peter nail such a pertinent (and theologically accurate) statement?

Jesus tells us.

Simply, he didn’t. It was a revelation from God.

In all of us, spiritual maturity is the goal. But fortunately, spiritual maturity is not a prerequisite to being used by God.

The prerequisite is, simply, the desire.

May you be with the force

When you look at all other religions they have this same thing in common: they are a tool for the user.

In one way or another, their attraction is that they assist the faithful.

And this is certainly true for Christianity, too. The more we become like Jesus, the better we become.

But what separates Christianity from the rest is that what we get is a byproduct, not the product.

From Isaiah:

“Whom I created for my glory, Yes, personally formed and made each one” (43:7).

And from Paul:

“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Kind of changes things.

Secret weapon (only cost: looking like an idiot)

I learned something from someone much smarter than me. And I’ve been using it for several years now.

It’s made such an impact, I’ve started to think of it as a secret weapon.

Here it is: when someone claims or appears to be a domain expert, ask them a lot of questions. Even if you think (perhaps rightly) that you know more then them, suppose you don’t and still ask the questions.

The cost is that many won’t get it. A good number of people will think you are a novice because you ask questions.

But that’s okay. Because the benefit far outweighs that.

Here’s why. Seven whys, in fact:

1) When you ask, you almost always will learn something you didn’t know. And that’s a win right away.

2) When you ask in a way seeking to learn, the other person lets their guard down. And this allows you to better see their motives.

3) When you ask, you help someone else step into the spotlight. That gives them confidence or encouragement, but it also engenders goodwill back to you.

4) When you ask, the pressure is off of you. You don’t need to stake a claim or make statements, you just need to listen. And that’s a lot easier.

5) When you ask, you get feedback as to where you really are on the topic (behind, keeping pace, or ahead?).

6) When you ask, you make more friends. Know-it-alls are unattractive. But inquirers are genuinely more interesting to others (because they are interested in others).

7) When you ask, you develop empathy by hearing another’s point of view.

Look down

(Another jogging metaphor.)

You’ll go longer and farther if you look down.

When you look ahead, your pace is slower. Each step is minuscule. But when you look down, things move faster. Progress comes, sometimes even, too fast.

This was the point of my book from a couple years ago. Not a plug, just a tool. (It’s in audio, too, which is good for jogging. Unless you don’t like to jog.)

“I am unwilling”

As Christians, the obvious goal is to be more like Christ. Spiritually, theologically, grammatically, it’s all there.

What’s less obvious sometimes is how.

When Jesus fed the four-thousand—the ones who had been following him for three days—it was preceded by a famous question he posed to his dumbfounded disciples: How much food do you have?

They answer (‘Uhh, not much‘). And he goes on to feed the masses with 1 meal and 3,999 miracles.

And these are all critical parts of the story because they glorify God.

But when it comes to his instructions, to us, on how we replicate that scenario (i.e. how we follow Christ), the three words Jesus first said about the crowd matter most.

“I am unwilling,” he said “to send them away hungry” (Matthew 15:32).

What’s especially interesting here is that most of this mass weren’t believers. They were following for the same reason everyone else was. Jesus was an incredible novelty.

And, being God and all, he knew their motives.

Yet, still, he was driven by compassion for those in need.

And in some ways, that seems like the bigger miracle.

Simple

“And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet…” (Matthew 15:30)

Jesus was available. And he was powerful.

So word spread.

But ultimately, the people didn’t come because of this. Instead, they came because of how the verse ended:

“…and he healed them.”

They came because his product worked.

Contrast

I was created specifically and intentionally versus through randomness and purposeless…here we are!

God thinks of me as his son, one to teach and nurture versus we are just animals, doing a little better than the rest.

God took care of my inevitable problem, the one I couldn’t deal with on my own versus the universe doesn’t care about us.

A couple things.

A. The first of each is in first-person, because we each matter (while the second is often talked about in the collective because first-person is too depressing).

B. There’s no purpose or point in living in the second. Nothing beyond ourselves, which, again, see A above.

Fortunately, God has a made good way forward for us.

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”


– Jesus (John 15:5)

P.S.


My new book walks through a year of sabbath reflections on how we can more understand the first. Check it out here.

A prayer for ministry

There are reasons ministries grow and there are reasons they don’t.

Peter, giving advice on this exact issue, gives a seven-part checklist. This is, as he says, to “keep from being ineffective or unfruitful” (2 Peter 1:5-8):

1. Virtue

Are you honest? And pure? If not, what can you add or subtract?

2. Knowledge

Consider your skill-set. Is it enough or do you do need to learn something new?

3. Self-control

Do what you should, even when you don’t feel like it. (I have a book on that.)

4. Steadfastness

Have the right outlook: If you’re doing the rest on this list, good things still take time.

5. Godliness

Is God your first priority? Would your calendar (or bank) confirm that?

6. Brotherly affection

Life is about real relationships. Going without is a miss.

7. Love

Do you want to see people and the world as God does?

If you’re in a rut. Go back through the list. They’re all helpful. But I’d say number four is the most overlooked.

P.S.

Did you hear? My new book, A Year of Sabbaths, is out. I put it right here.