SECRET #65 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Jesus gives a revolutionary plan for killing off all of your enemies by loving them. Let's check it out: "But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back." (Luke 6) This is SECRET #65: The follower of Jesus shares the message of the Master by giving a blessing when insulted.

The revolutionary principle is found in: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It's the golden rule, quoted by nearly all religions and recognized as the most fundamental way of living ever. This is at the foundation of what Jesus is saying when He says to love your enemies. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The key to loving your enemies can only be found in the dynamic of forgiveness. Jesus says, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions." (Matthew 6:14-15)

I don't think there is a more penetrating statement in all of scripture! If you don't forgive others, God will not forgive you! Your relationship with God is integrally part of your relationship with others and vice versa.

We are all desperate for it, but we are also confused with what true forgiveness really is. First, it's important to understand what forgiving is not: Forgiving doesn't mean you must go back or reunite. Forgiving doesn't mean we tolerate the wrong he did. Forgiving doesn't mean we want to forget what happened. Forgiving doesn't mean we excuse the person who did it. Forgiving doesn't mean we take the edge off the evil done. Forgiving doesn't mean we surrender our right to justice. Forgiving doesn't mean to invite someone to hurt us again.

This brings us to what forgiveness actually is. It's the ultimate form of love. It's being willing to pay for the offense yourself and not get even with the one who hurt you. When you forgive, you take the pain yourself! There are five steps in forgiving another person: 1. Remind yourself that this person is only human! 2. Relinquish your right to get even! The truth of the matter is that it is impossible to get (exactly) even. You will either not get back at them enough or you will overdo it. There is just no way to get even! 3. Be ready to hurt in order to heal! You must take the pain all by yourself! This is the real secret to the dynamic of forgiving someone. You must pay for and not demand that they do! 4. Wish them well! This could be the best real evidence that forgiveness has taken place. Try praying for them-for their success! 5. You may have to repeat the process! Jesus was asked how many times a person ought to forgive another. His answer was 70 X 7 or 490! By the way, this doesn't mean that at 491, you can go get even with them!

This is all well and good, but what is the primary motivation to forgive anyone-especially your enemy? The answer is FREEDOM! As long as you refuse to forgive, you are in bondage to this person who hurt you! In bondage! You are his/her slave for as long as you don't forgive!

Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten Boom met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now he stood before her with his hand outstretched and said, "Will you forgive me?" She writes: "I stood there with coldness clutching at my heart, but I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I prayed, Jesus, help me! Woodenly, mechanically I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing. The current started in my shoulder, raced down into my arms and sprang into our clutched hands. Then this warm reconciliation seemed to flood my whole being, bringing tears to my eyes. 'I forgive you, brother,' I cried with my whole heart. For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard and the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment!" To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover the prisoner was you! This is SECRET #65: The follower of Jesus shares the message of the Master by giving a blessing when insulted.

SECRET #64 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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When you are a follower of Jesus, so much of what you do is a matter of the heart. In other words, you want to spend lots of energy and focus on the invisible matters of the heart. Although these invisible matters of the heart are not overtly seen, they still shine through in such a way so as to communicate a most meaningful quality of life and the distinctive characteristic of wholeness. This is SECRET #64: The follower of Jesus shares the message of the Master by embracing His lifestyle.

This comes from the words of Jesus in the well-known "sermon on the mount": "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:13-16)

When you are a follower of Jesus, you are continually faced with a value system-a set of principles that demonstrate Jesus and His Kingdom. These are His teachings. I like to think of these principles and teachings as what the Kingdom of God is all about. Practicing the principles and teachings of Jesus is practicing the Kingdom of God in your life.

The Kingdom of God is primarily invisible, like the wind, but with some visible results. The Kingdom principles will move you to emphasize the internals over the externals. You will practice such invisible things as forgiving that person who has really hurt you. You will learn to practice such invisible Kingdom principles as dying in order to live, as losing yourself to really find yourself, as celebrating the act of mourning over that which keeps you from God, and as finding pure satisfaction from hungering and thirsting after the right things in Jesus.

The visible dimension of the Kingdom must be seen. Because of the invisible flow of the Kingdom principles, you will learn to practice some visible dimensions of the Kingdom-the dimension of light. Jesus said to His disciples: "You are the light of the world."

So, the Kingdom is demonstrated through your lifestyle-inside out. It's learning to embrace the preeminence of Jesus and the presence of His Kingdom as a lifestyle. You can live the Kingdom, revolutionary lifestyle right now and it will go against the grain of what the herd is doing and where the herd is going. The Kingdom doesn't need to be proved; it needs to be practiced!

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. Whatever you do for a living, you are being paid to do a certain work. However, you have a much greater calling to pattern yourself after Jesus and practice the Kingdom of God every day, all while you are being paid.

So, what does the Kingdom look like and what does the message sound like? It looks and sounds like Jesus embraced by His followers. SECRET #64 is: The follower of Jesus shares the message of the Master by embracing His lifestyle. You live your life before a watching world. For some, your life is the only picture they will ever see of Jesus. So, let your light shine through.

SECRET #63 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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Secret #63 can best be summed up with the words of Jesus: "For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a demon!' The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!'" (Matthew 11:18-19) This was his reputation. He was known as a friend to the disenfranchised. And those who became followers of Jesus were to be just like their Master. SECRET #63: The follower of Jesus stands with the broken, abused, addicted and the poor, imitating the Master.

Immediately after Jesus called Matthew, the tax collector, to follow Him, Matthew threw a party. Naturally, Matthew invited His family and friends to this party and this was quite a gathering of other tax collectors and sinners or the non-religious. Matthew records it in this way: When the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?" But when Jesus heard this, He said, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION, AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." (Matthew 9:11-13)

In the synagogue, even today, there is a weekly reading of the Scriptures. When Jesus showed up at the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth, He read the weekly reading that was really about Him from the prophet Isaiah: And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the surrounding district. And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME,
BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR.
HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES,
AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND,
TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD." (Luke 4:14-19)

When John's disciples were sent to question Jesus about His credentials, Jesus articulated the same Messianic theme: At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits; and He gave sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, "Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the BLIND RECEIVE SIGHT, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me." (Luke 7:21-23)

Later, Jesus said to a person who had invited Him to dinner, "When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." (Luke 14:12-14) Jesus was all about working with and hanging out with the broken, abused, addicted and poor-the disenfranchised of society-and wants His followers to do the same.

One more observation here is Jesus chose as His key followers a group of men from the non-religious world. He chose men who were just ordinary and uneducated men, teenagers, in fact, to lead the most revolutionary movement ever. As the most popular spiritual leader during that time, Jesus didn't stand with other spiritual or religious leaders in the community. In fact, He put them down and embarrassed them time and time again. He seemed to be bent on humbling them, because they loved being in such exalted positions. Believe me, they didn't have much to do with the non-religious. They stood far away from them. On the other hand, Jesus not only stood with them and hung out with them; He also touched them. And when Jesus touched someone, they were encouraged, healed, and empowered! SECRET #63: The follower of Jesus stands with the broken, abused, addicted and the poor, imitating the Master.

SECRET #62 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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"Make disciples of all nations" is the command we just discussed that Jesus gave to His disciples. It's important, however, to examine just what is the making of a disciple. You see, there is no way you or I or anyone has the capability to make a disciple. Remember, I said disciple making is caught and not taught. There is something more to it than that. This brings us to SECRET #62: The follower of Jesus knows disciples aren't made, but summoned.

The only way a person becomes a disciple is to be summoned. You see, a disciple is literally a follower, therefore a follower must be called into action to start following. The one who calls you to follow is the teacher-the leader-the Master. What I'm learning is that the only one I've ever encountered who is worthy of being a Master, my Master, is Jesus.

When you examine Jesus, you will frequently hear the two most revolutionary words ever spoken-two words that have actually turned the world upside down. These two words are "FOLLOW ME!"

One of the earliest times Jesus delivered this challenge was with a group of fishermen-Peter, Andrew, James and John. Take a look into this scene: Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Matthew 4:18-22)

Then there was the special encounter Jesus had with a tax collector by the name of Matthew. As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man called Matthew, sitting in the tax collector's booth; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he got up and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)

A disciple or follower must be summoned or invited to follow. Once invited, you start following as soon as possible. Why? It's because this invitation is from the Master, Himself.

Jesus gives us some insight into how this summoning process occurs in the 6th chapter of John's Gospel. He says, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father." (John 6:65) So, it's God, the Father, who is behind it all. Earlier in this same scene Jesus says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him."

So, here's how it seems to work. Jesus does what His Father moves Him to do and say. And, in the case of inviting people to follow Him, the Father is the one doing the drawing in of the potential followers. A full-court press is needed to make disciples of all nations. There are three players in the making of disciples. FIRST-The Father through the Spirit is drawing all people to Jesus. SECOND-Jesus is the irresistible one people are drawn to. THIRD-Those who are already followers of Jesus are diligently introducing people to Jesus-advancing the conversation of Jesus whenever possible.

As you can see Jesus is central to the entire process. The Father draws people to Jesus and His followers get to know Him personally and make Him known in every way possible. Jesus is the Master worthy of an answer to His call to follow. Jesus reveals this before and after His command to "make disciples of all nations" when He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20) SECRET #62 is: The follower of Jesus knows disciples aren't made, but summoned. Have you felt the drawing of the Father or the calling of Jesus to follow? Then, do whatever you have to do to follow Him as closely as you can.

SECRET #61 OF FOLLOWING JESUS

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In the 3 ½ years of Jesus' teaching of His disciples there's no doubt about several recurring themes throughout. One of the most dynamic, recurring themes is Jesus' answer to the question, "What is the greatest of the commandments?" His answer was "You must love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself."

Another very familiar theme of Jesus' teachings is found in some of His final words to His disciples. It was one of Jesus' final commands. He commanded: "Make disciples of all nations (cultures)!" This is where I get SECRET #61: The follower of Jesus is diligent to make disciples of the Master wherever he goes.

Matthew recorded Jesus' words in this way: "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

There is only one command in these verses and it's not "Go!" The only command is "Make disciple of all nations!" Then, there are three participles that offer how to do this-by going, by baptizing and by teaching. I don't want to get bogged down with the participles other than to give my quick opinion on them. "Going" has to do with taking the initiative in "making disciples". "Baptizing" may not have anything to do with water. Remember John's words: "I baptize with water, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I and will baptize you with the Spirit." "Teaching" doesn't have to do with imparting more doctrines, but it is teaching in such a way that people will embrace these things Jesus taught by embracing them as a lifestyle-by being like Jesus. We can discuss these matters on a later podcast.

Historically, we have spent so much time cussing and discussing what Jesus meant by going, baptizing and teaching that we miss the primary command to make disciples. This is because it's much easier to go on a mission trip, sprinkle or dunk others in water, and teach, teach and teach more and more of our particular belief systems to our followers.

Making disciples is more difficult. There are two basic difficulties. FIRST-the command is to make disciples of Jesus, not make disciples of our particular spiritual flavor or bent. Now if you are going to commit yourself to make disciples of Jesus, you must be a disciple or follower of Jesus yourself. I've often said that following Jesus is the toughest thing I've ever tried to do. Before I became a stubborn follower of Jesus, I practiced "making disciples" by assembling people into a classroom. I thought it was all about teaching them to become a disciple of Jesus. Now, I get it. "Making disciples" cannot happen in a classroom. "Making disciples" must be caught and not taught! It's something that must be caught from you as a genuine follower of Jesus!

SECOND-Jesus said, "Make disciples of all nations!" This is the second difficulty in making disciples. We are to make disciples of all nations. Nations is actually the word that means cultures. Jesus commands His followers to make disciples of all cultures. The real difficulty here is the natural tendency is to change other cultures to be like our culture. Instead of making disciples of Jesus of all nations, where every culture freely responds to the good news of Jesus in their own way, we tend to make cultural disciples of all nations-to make them look and sound like us. So, other cultures are taught to sing our songs, speak our lingo and practice our culture as their own. This isn't making disciples of all cultures.

"Making disciples" of Jesus in every culture of the world is the mission of those who follow Jesus. Most of my life I only made disciples by accident. Since I have become passionate about being a follower of Jesus, I now see every person I meet as a potential follower of Jesus. You see, when you own it, you can't help but spill all over those you touch.

There are three steps I want to suggest: FIRST-Be a serious disciple or follower of Jesus yourself. SECOND-Make it your habit to insert Jesus into the conversation whenever you can. THIRD-When you see another person acting, talking, thinking or loving like Jesus, point this out to them and affirm them for it. SECRET #61: The follower of Jesus is diligent to make disciples of the Master wherever he goes. Remember, discipleship can't be taught-only caught!