Thoughts for the New Year - 3 things we should do better in 2014

A new year is upon us, and so it should begin with taking stock of where we have been in the old and where we want to go in the new.   

Over the  years, I’m not one for making New Year’s resolutions, as I found I too easily break them, and usually not to long after the 1^st. Usually it’s because I wasn’t really committed to my weight loss resolution, my exercise resolution or whatever other resolution I had made. Something tells I’m not alone in this. 

Some of these things, in particular weight loss and exercise, changed for me in 2013. It wasn’t out of resolution but necessity to live healthier after another bout with cancer. Sometimes God has to get our attention the hard way. But I end 2013 in the best shape I’ve been in for years and about to head to the gym for a year-end workout. 

Why do we usually fail in our resolutions? I suggest it’s because my focus was on “me,” and your resolution was on you. “Self” tends to be our worst enemy, right? We can take solace in the fact that even the Apostle Paul struggled with “self” but we should not wallow there. Instead, if we can look to God’s Word as our guide for rightful living, when we read it with how we are relate to others. 

Much of what God does have to tell is not about how we can personally have the “best life now,” personally prosper – spiritually, emotionally, financially – or achieve great things for God. Rather, God’s Word instructs us more so in how to live for Him by living for other. When we do we actually find the most blessed life now. 

With that in mind, as we start 2014, I want to offer just three things we should do or start doing better in the New Year, especially as Christ followers. This isn’t a complete list, of course, but just three major points I’m considering for 2014 and I welcome your additions and thoughts.

1. Be humble and consider others first. 

How necessary is this today in our American culture? The church needs to start to do humility much better and put others before ourselves. We live in a society that is rife with vitriol and hatred for other people’s ideas, as if our positions are really most important. In Christ, we really have nothing we can lose so we don’t need to push our way to front of our culture.  That’s not my idea, put Paul’s and therefore God’s, so it’s good advice for everyone.  The Message puts it like this: 

“If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Philippians 2:1-4 

2. Think before you post so as to build others up

In our social media reality of the early 21^st Century, compounded by our sound-bite culture, multiplied by our lack of humility, we need to do much better in what we post on Facebook, Tweet, and how we respond on blogs. I know I’ve been guilty of some rash comments in the past. It’s easy to get angry and tear people down, even with logical and well reasoned arguments. Just visit any religious or political blog on any given day to witness some of the vilest of behavior, on both sides of the political isle and even among Christians of differing theological perspectives.  Paul puts it like this however: 

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

What people need more than anything is Jesus but they can't see him if we know him aren't seeking to build them up, regardless of how they are acting or what they believe.

3. Honor others above ourselves 

When you consider what Americans think of as important, it’s a safe bet based on antidotal evidence alone that we think of ourselves above others, often including other Christians. It's something innate about the American way, which is foreign to many other cultures. Today, we have a prevailing lack of respect for others in our culture, be they of political, religious, ideological or some other difference. This respect deficit has now morphed into a sick “game” called “knockout,” where young people, showing no respect all all for humanity, assault innocent people as they pass-by, for no other reason then "sport." Americans needed a campaign like “I am second” to raise awareness to life’s proper priorities - God first, we’re second was the idea. But even that, as wonderful a campaign as it is, didn’t go far enough for as Paul put it simply: 

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10 (emphasis mine)

Of course, we should want to love God better and should want to love others better. But in fact, we can’t love God without loving others (1 John 2:9, 4:20) and we can’t love others without humility, wholesome talk and honoring them. It's not sufficient to simply talk about these three things but we need to live them.

Sure, I could probably make a top 10 list for things we could do better in the New Year but I'd probably just end up with another resolution list I didn't follow. If we as Christ-follower, however, do these three things better in 2014, I believer we would do well and it would make a big difference in our nation, in our lives and the knowledge of God's glory in Christ. Therefore, I resolve to do better. 

That's my New Year's resolution. What's your?

Christmas and Phil – Thoughts on the Duck Flap

 

I have been thinking about the meaning of Christmas. I don’t think it is by chance that just this past week there was this “Duck flap” around comments made by Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the popular “Duck Dynasty.” Prior to this week I had only seen one episode of  this show but I watched a few this week just to get a feel for who these people are and why they are so widely popular.  I found them down to earth, humorous and faithful to what they believe - which I find refreshing.

Enough has been said about the GLAAD reaction to comments made by Phil, and the decision by A & E to place him on “indefinite hiatus.” Could Phil have said things differently? Of course, but it’s always easy to "armchair quarterback" after the fact. I may have responded to the question, “what is sin?” with something more theologically profound but then the GQ interviewer didn’t ask me or you. Phil is who he is and that’s fine. 

Instead, I want to say something about the reaction of some Christian leaders who decried the show of support by “Evangelicals” in response to this whole Phil affair. 

 

First, isn’t it amazing today that a response can go “viral” so quickly through Social Media. Welcome to the 21^st Century! As never before Christians can show a united and very vocal response to such miscarriages of justice as Phil was the target of. And, whether you think this is good or bad, it just is our reality today. What I find amusing though is that those who decried this collective response, using the available tech to sound off in support of Phil, used the same technology to express their objections to it.

Second, the collective “Evangelical” response to Phil has been labeled by some "decriers" as support of a cultural icon, instead of support for Jesus. This misses the point. Phil was the recipient of this show of support, as he was at the center of this particular controversy. The response wasn’t anti-someone, or pro-someone (I read comments from many who had little idea who Phil was) but rather for freedom of conscience to believe what one chooses without fear of punishment or reprisal. Decrying such freedom seems to sadly miss the point.   

Third, while there are many other issues that Christians should collectively respond to, declaring that those things are more important than this matter, is of course a matter of opinion and in fact may well be a “red herring.” The importance of other issues that require the churches attention doesn’t make this “Duck flap” any less important.  I believe God uses these events to get our collective attention, as he works out his will and purposes. Of course, it would be great to see many more Christians living for God’s mission in the world but it’s an and/both, not an either/or, moment. So let’s stop all the decrying when these kinds of things happen and instead look for ways to positively lead for God’s purpose in the moment. 

Finally, I had one friend say we aren't talking about Jesus in talking about and showing support for Phil, that the focus is on “freedom of speech” rather than Christ. This too misses the point. The “Evangelical” response is about the right to talk about our Christian beliefs in the public square, just as Phil did in answering the interviewer’s questions. When the Apostle Paul was persecuted for speaking truth, and jailed so as to attempt to silence him, the Lord appeared and said to him: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.” (Acts 18:9). The Phil backlash is a direct response to cultural forces that seek to silence Christians who uphold Biblical values. Therefore, it is really all about Jesus! 

The reality of our world is that many of our Christian brethren are severely persecuted for their faith and do not have the freedom to express their views, or to openly live their faith. That is tragic and we should not over-blow this “Duck flap”, raising it to the level of being persecuted. Freedom however is never free, it is costly, and when threatened on the basis of rightful religious expression, it warrants a good corporate response. Too many today, including many Christians, have bought our cultural lies that there should be no dissension from the prevailing cultural opinion. What Phil did was challenge this falsehood, and those who would control the conversation didn’t take kindly to it. That is indeed something to push-back against with truth. 

We do need to take care in how we respond to our culture and I think Rick Warren captures this best when he recently said: “Our culture has accepted two huge lies. The first is that if you disagree with someone’s lifestyle, you must fear or hate them. The second is that to love someone means you agree with everything they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don’t have to compromise convictions to be compassionate.” Rather we are called to speak the truth in love. 

Not widely discussed in this “flap” is what else Phil did say in the GQ article: 

“You put in your article that the Robertson family really believes strongly that if the human race loved each other and they loved God, we would just be better off. We ought to just be repentant, turn to God, and let’s get on with it, and everything will turn around.” That is a profound level of compassion and truth, “Duck” style. 

So what does this all have to do with thinking about Christmas? I found it amazing that we were having this national conversation right before Christmas, and it will probably continue through the New Year, hopefully. God’s timing is always so perfect. Instead of just talking office parties, decorating, shopping and eating, with maybe an occasional mention of the “reason for the Season,” we are discussing serious cultural concerns in answer to the question that sparked this whole flap- “what is sin?” 

As part of the Christmas story, I am reminded that Joseph needed to wrestle with cultural concerns of his day as well. Matthew reports the account this way:

         "Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[e] did not want to expose her to 

          public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.”

“But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[f] because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:19-21)

I am thinking that perhaps Immanuel was trying to get our attention off of what Christmas has become, even for most Christians, with the over-commercialization and seasonal trappings, and on to more serious issues like why Jesus needed to come to “save his people from (our) sins.” Maybe Christmas needs to become less focused on celebration and more of a time of reflecting on the question “what is sin?” in our time and how we are doing, as a people, in answering, with God's Word as our standard. Then maybe more will “call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

And, I am reminded that God spoke through a donkey (Numbers 22:28), so why not a "Duck Commander" too?

May God be with you and yours this Christmas!

Rethinking Evangelism - Part XI - Demonstration is the Key

We have been reconsidering two main ideas meant to inform our rethinking of evangelism – what it means to be “born-again” and what it means to become a “true worshiper." We must be born again, enter a process of being brought over to the Jesus way of life. And, we are to become “true worshipers” to remain in Christ. In this post, we’ll see how when understood and lived out these two ideas lead us into the “eternal life” Jesus often spoke about.

Jesus tells us in John 5:24, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Hearing the words of Jesus and believing the Father is what Jesus tells us will lead to "eternal life." As we saw however in John chapter 2, simply believing in Jesus is insufficient – we must do what he says for “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). By the word “hear,” Jesus call us comprehend and activate our lives around his words - in other words we are to "obey" what he says. The word “believe” does not mean to simply accept as true but to commit and entrust ourselves to what Jesus tells us. Doing so leads to "eternal life" but what is "eternal life?" That is the question we'' rethink in this post, the answer to which we need to recalibrate our lives around as Christ followers.

Jesus also says in John 5:19-21, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.” Jesus lived his earthly life fully in accordance with what the Father’s has been doing, so what has the Father been doing? The Father has been working toward the reclamation, redemption and restoration of his creation since the Fall.

We are being “born-again” to comprehend and commit ourselves to what the Father is doing. That is how we attain to the “eternal life” Jesus spoke about, which as we saw in the last post can be defined as "participation in the restoration of all things when God redeems and re-creates the earth and all that is in it.”But how do we get there? Answering that question is beyond the scope of a single post but to start to explore an answer, consider what the Apostle Peter says:

 "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

In the last post we began to explore the idea of the "eternal now," to understand eternal as something more than just a future hope in heaven. In this passage, Peter instructs us on the pathway to the "entrance into the eternal kingdom." Peter informs us that our faith is an active agent to which we must add "virtue with knowledge" which leads us to a life of love, the very essence of eternal life, for God is love (1 John 4:8) 

Philosophers have written about the "eternal now" before but they seem to argue over the meaning of past, present and future, mostly as a cognitive exercise. We tend to think of the eternal, when we think about it at all, in relation to time - past with reference to what God has done in creation and future to what God will do when he establishes the "new heaven's and the new earth." Because of how we frame our understanding of eternal, what is too often neglected is the present - although Jesus tells us to live in it (Matthew 6:34).

We understand "eternal" as it relates to time because time is our common reference point, eternal then is translated as "everlasting." It is difficult to grasp a definition of "eternal" without relating it to the future when we sing lyrics such as "when we've been there 10 thousand years..." Our ideas of salvation, especially as they involve being "raptured" into heaven, shape our prevalent understanding that "eternal life" is our promised future lasting "forever," whatever forever really means. But the fact is there is no time in eternity, otherwise God could not be omnipresent or omniscient. Rather, eternal is a state of being that we can only begin to understand, but it starts right now. 

God created time for us. He created time so that we would invest it freely in experiencing him - his fullness, his pleasure, his purposes. Humankind wanted to be more than to be "like" God (Genesis 3:6), created in his image, we wanted to be our own god, deciding what we would worship - therein Jesus call to be "true Worshipers." Sin entered the world, and brokenness with it, giving us the need to look back to the past for forgiveness and to a hope of salvation in the future. That hope however has often become more about escapism because of how we have made our message about "everlasting life" or "everlasting punishment." 

But what if rethink "eternal" not as quantitative but rather qualitative? What if "eternal life" calls us to be "partakers of the divine nature?” What if God called us to his own "glory and excellence" for his purposes now, today? What Peter tells in the above quote is for today. What if it is for this reason we are "born again," to overcome our sinful nature,  and to become "true worshipers to experience God - in increasing qualitative measure?

Hear again what Peter says, "Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall." This is not a call to look back at our past, or ahead to our future, but to live fully in the present - to confirm our "calling and election" today - right now. The practice of the qualities that Peter outlines, that Paul eludes to when he speaks of the "fruit" of the Spirit, are what determine our "eternal life," in a qualitative sense. Our future hope is that one day we might experience the fullness of life God has always intended. In Christ we take that journey to our best life now and an even better life in the "eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Jesus speaks of the qualitative nature of eternal life, that begins now for those in Christ, when he says: "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10). This is a life in which the fullness of Jesus' grace is increasingly manifested: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us… full of grace and truth… And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for [upon] grace" (John 1:14, 16). It is not our doctrine about God that effects the quality of our eternal life but rather the abiding presence of Christ: "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).  And, Jesus speaks of his desire for us to experience our present eternal life, when he promises, "If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (John 15:7).

The "eternal now" is a life in which the Holy Spirit is being trusted to produce Christlike characteristics in an increasing manner. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22-23). This is a life in which God, not us, is the source of sufficiency. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). This is the life we are to contend for - since in him, through him and for him we find the life we are called to. "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses." (1 Timothy 6:12).

  

Much more could be said about this but I'll close this post with this. Michael Stewart, founding director of the Verge Network,  suggests that, "we the church— the people of God, you and me— are being prodded to embrace a deeper sense of calling, to discover our identity as disciples, as followers of Jesus." I believe Michael is right and that it will require rethinking evangelism through recalibrating what it means to be "born again," accepting God's call to be true worshipers, and entering into the "eternal now" for living sent today.

Rethinking Evangelism: Demonstration is the Key - Part X

In the last post, we saw that worship defines our entire life, one way or another. Our worship then also determines our "eternal" life, which is why the Father seeks true worshipers. True worship is the reason for which we live, and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Our worship is our response to God's revelation of Himself, one we except by faith to live fully or deny, diminish or decline from. Worship is instructive as to where we are in relation to living the Jesus way of life. Our lives are to be devoted to worship, in spirit and in truth, as an demonstration of the life we are being "born again" into in Christ.

True worship is an expression of wonder, awe, and gratitude for the greatness and the goodness of God. True worship is the appropriate response to God's person, His provision, His power, and His promises. True worship springs forth from our testimony of what God has done for us. True worship compels us to go and tell. That is exactly what the Samaritan woman did as we read, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony." (John 4:39). This woman became an effective evangelist not because of what she knew but because of who she knew. She was demonstrating the work of God in her life. 

How different is this story from what we typically think of as evangelism? Our typical evangelism methodology presents a series of propositions to lead people to a decision about salvation. What this woman presents is an encounter with Jesus by which she has been changed.  No set of select verses, no road to travel, no reference to heaven or hell - just a testimony of what Jesus had done for her. The result is that many come to faith, Jesus teaches them and "because of his words many more became believers." (v 41). It is the Word of God, the logos, the living Christ we must convey in rethinking evangelism.

This story also tells us a few things about how demonstration is the key to effective evangelism. First, it informs us that no special training is needed to share Jesus with others but rather a demonstration of a heart change, an awakening to a transformed life. Second, it tells us that new believers are often the most effective evangelist because they demonstrate a new passion for Jesus that is infectious. Third, new believers know others who have not yet heard the message and these people witness a demonstration of a changed life that at least attracts their curiosity. Fourth, follow up is vital, as we see in Jesus example of investing two days with these new believers (v. 40).

We read in verse 42, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world” (v 42).  


The word translated Savior here is the Greek word "Soter" from which we get the theological term 'soteriology,' which refers to the doctrine of salvation. Our decision oriented practice has led to an understanding of salvation on a personal basis, providing our ticket to heaven, as we accept prescribed propositions about salvation. This has to led to reading past what Scripture repeatedly tells us about "this man (who) really is the Savior of the world" (edits mine) and what this God-man came to do. The Greek word "Soter" also can be translated as 'messiah' and 'deliverer'.

As "Savior of the world," the awaited anointed one, Jesus came to deliver the whole world from captivity to darkness, the effects of sin, and to establish his present Kingdom through those who have been "born again" to worship in spirit and in truth. This is accomplished not through force of military or political might but by force of conviction (Matthew 11:12), by those who are willing to commit their lives to God's purpose, in the authority and abiding presence of Christ (Matthew 28:18,20). The whole Gospel advances by a people who live with the transformative actions and attitudes of Jesus. Personal salvation is only part of what Jesus came to do as "Savior or the world."

A reductionist Gospel, conveyed as a message of personal salvation, results in a diminished understanding of all that Jesus came to deliver us from. By it we end up with a focus on the individual rather than on the whole world (Greek kosmos), of which we as individuals are but a part. While every person is uniquely important to God, made in his imago Dei, God's plan of redemption is so grand that it encompasses every sphere in which we live - the political, economic, social, environmental - not just the spiritual [the subject of Rethinking the Gospel where we'll go in the next series].

Evangelism requires rethinking through a whole Gospel that touches every sphere of our lives, not just saving people from hell, as urgent as that is. True worship embraces God's plan for "eternal life" (John 3:16) and all that means. If "eternal life" is simply a hope for an unseen future, as a result of a personal decision, the result has often produced passive pew-sitters. But what if there is something more to it than that? What if "eternal life" is participation with God in his plan of redemption, the privilege of serving his purpose, and the present joy of living in his amazing and unfolding story? 

What if we were to rethink evangelism not simply as a means to get decisions to accept Jesus for "eternal life" in the future but as an invitation to find our place in the grand and glorious story of the ages in which God has given us all a part to play. What if we were to rethink "eternal life" in this way...

"Eternal life is participation in the restoration of all things when God redeems and re-creates the earth and all that is in it, in full righteousness, justice, peace and prosperity. Eternal life is the undoing of Sin and Death’s every effect, and is further the consummation of God’s intent for his creation to experience the heights of joy ordained for our physical, bodily, sensory, emotional, relational, communal, and cultural existence on earth."

"This highlights how radical it is when Jesus tells his followers that they presently possess eternal life (Jn. 3:36; 5:24; 6:47). He is not simply telling them they will live a long time. Neither is he telling them they will certainly get into heaven. He is telling them that the “life of the age to come” has somehow burst forth in the midst of the present and is the shared possession of all those who believe in Him. The eschatological restoration has begun in, among and through those who have given their full allegiance to Jesus, the Lord of the new world." (Source:http://www.richardliantonio.com)

Because we have focused our message on "decisions" with the goal of getting people "saved,"  we usually don't think of "eternal life" as the present experience Jesus said it was. It the next post we will do more rethinking about "eternal life" through what Jesus tells us in John chapter 5 and expand on the above to begin to grasp the "eternal now" of our salvation.

But here's really good news, Jesus came so that we could be "born again," brought over to his way of life, becoming "true worshippers" to "participate in the restoration of all things to see God redeem and recreate the earth and all that is in it." Let's take hold of our "eternal life" for living sent today.

Rethinking Evangelism: Demonstration is the Key - Part IX

The encounter between the Samaritan woman and Jesus continues with Jesus purposefully inferring into the woman's personal life. Jesus goal is clearly to invoke an awareness of the sin that keeps the woman from partaking of the "living water." The spiritual light is coming on for the woman. She has gone from thinking of her physical need to thinking about the one same God, Jehovah, that the Jews and the Samaritans both worship but differently.

Knowledge of salvation is not the key to experiencing the living water, just as much as knowledge of God alone doesn't liberates us from our sin. We must be "born again" (see Part VII) and we must become "true worshippers." The later is where the Lord leads the woman next. 

Jesus' objective was to lead the woman to consider her own state of sinfulness - a delicate and yet penetrating way of making her see her deepest need. Jesus doesn't tell the woman she is a sinner, he allows her to reveal this fact in her own heart. Without such self awareness our evangelism will not go far, although some want Jesus for their own reasons (John 2:23-24). The Lord doesn't declare the woman a sinner, he already knows this to be true of all humanity. Instead, he does shows her that he knows her intimately, revealing the secret actions of her life and is therefore well qualified to teach her divine truth.

The woman responds, "'Sir...I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'" (John 4:19-20) The woman establishes here religious identity, holding on to what she knows, but Jesus continues:  

"Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." (John 4:21-23).

Many worship what they do not know (Acts 17:23), even today.  The Jews worshipped what they did know, remembering how Jehovah had worked in their history - a central part of the Story. By saying that "salvation is from the Jews," Jesus isn't saying that salvation originates with the Jews. Salvation originates with God as God's global plan through Christ foretold by the prophets, a plan for the "nations" to be brought over to a life of true worship (Isaiah 2:3, Micah 4:2) - through the Gospel for all.

Neither the Jews nor the Samaritans had their Gospel knowledge right, so Jesus pivots on the word "yet" to what he wants the woman to know, for us to understand and live out - complete reverence and total dependence on the Father. That's not simply an idea about God, nor the practice of the religion we know, have grown up with, or been indoctrinated into. Rather as "true worshippers" before the living God we worship in spirit and in truth, embracing our place in God's unfolding story. 

Today, we may have the idea that to be a worshipper means that we spend time each morning reading a devotional, studying our Bible, attending a church service and singing praise songs to the Lord. While these practices are good, and our intimacy with God is of paramount importance, that is not what Jesus is talking about. The Lord is going much deeper and wants us to go deeper with him. 

Jesus is talking about "true worshipers," as the kind the Father seeks (the word used for Worshiper in John 4:23 is a unique singular occurrence).  In the Greek,  "worshiper" can mean one who has charge of a temple, to keep and adorn it. The Father is looking for those who will worship in Spirit and in truth, to keep and adorn their lives for him, demonstrating their allegiance to the purposes of God.  This idea was so important that Jesus repeats it twice saying again, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth."  (verse 24).

Consider what Paul David Tripp has so eloquently elucidated...

 “Human beings by their very nature are worshipers. Worship is not something we do; it defines who we are. You cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don’t. Everybody worships; it’s just a matter of what, or whom, we serve.”

We are meant to live as "true worshippers" for at least two reasons. First , because we are created in the image of God and, second, to become who we are in Christ. As Tripp points out, we all worship something. Either we worship the one true and living God in the spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9) and through the spirit of truth (John 16:13), or we worship false dead idols. Jesus wants us to be "born again" so that we can experience the fullness of who we are meant be as "true worshippers." 

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And a man will worship something —have no doubt about that, either. He may think that his tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of his heart—but it will out. That which dominates will determine his life and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”

What we are worshipping we are becoming, which is why God the Father is seeking those who will worship in spirit and truth. Greg Beale put it this way, “We resemble what we revere, either for ruin or restoration.”  When only 14% of self-identified Christians are living with the actions and attitudes of Jesus the vast majority are not "yet" worshipping in spirit and truth. We are not resembling what we claim to revere. We must become those who do the will of the Father by resembling the life of Christ, which is why demonstration is the key.

When the disciples return to Jesus after purchasing food in town, they are surprised to find him talking with this woman. They want Jesus to eat something but the Lord responds, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work." (v. 34). Not even his physical needs would keep him from his purpose - to "harvests a crop for eternal life." (v. 36) Do we live with the same passion "to finish his work?" We will be better positioned to do so when we recalibrate our understanding of what it means to be true worshippers for "eternal life." That is where we turn our attention next for living sent today.