Dependent Choices

"So Jesus said to them, “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." John 5:19

In these verses Jesus tells us something remarkable: He did not make decisions for himself independently. He did only what the Father told him to do.

Again in John 12:49-50 Jesus said "For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

Because Jesus was fully God and fully Man, we can say that Jesus is the only pure human to ever live. What I mean by this is that Jesus knew better than anyone what it meant to be a man, or to be human at every level. And what was it that made him different? He did not attempt to exist for his own benefit. He did not live an independent life and He certainly didn't come to earth to live His "Best Life Now." He came doing and saying only what the Father told him to do and to say. He was completely and utterly dependent upon the Father for everything in his life.

This is why Jesus could truthfully and faithfully quote Deuteronomy 8:3 when he was being tempted by Satan in the wilderness when he said "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." Jesus actually defined his life purely by what God the Father told him to do and to say, he made no decision for himself.

This is what it means to be completely human.

Completely dependent in every way upon God.

You see, man was never meant to make moral decisions for himself. This is why God forbade him from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Man was intended to be completely dependent upon God in this area of his life so that he would never even know that there was a difference between good and evil and that he could choose between them. His very existence was to be so linked to God that where he saw God he saw good things and where God was not, he did not want to be. God was his life.

We know how the story turned out. Adam chose for himself. To choose for yourself means you are rebelling against God because it assumes that we know better than God himself when God is the choice. It means we think we have found some source of life other than God, and then we die.

This isn't some stupid set of rules. It is about being connected to our life giving and life sustaining God. To make an independent choice is to reject God from the outset which will then affect everything following it.

Jesus would have none of this. He refused to choose when to eat even though he was desperately hungry. He refused to choose for himself even though people literally hated him to his core. He refused to choose for himself even though he knew the cross was waiting for him. He remained dependent upon the Father in every way for every thing.

Today, we have twisted this into an unrecognizable tragedy. We teach men and women that they only have value if they are independent, self-made, individuals. Jesus tells us to love one another and obey just as he obeyed. We are not called to independence. We are called to be completely dependent upon God for everything in every way.

The mark of true humanity is that we glorify God. It is our purpose. Romans 3:23 - all have sinned and fallen short of the GLORY OF GOD. Our purpose in life is Glorify Him. How can we do that if we are making decisions and living independently of Him?

Following Christ isn't about deciding to follow his "will for your life." It is seeing him as your life. It isn't about choice A or B and God is behind A and Satan is behind B. It is about giving up your perceived right to a choice and letting God choose for you. It is only in this that you become truly human and rise Above Reality.

Innie or Outie?

I live in a part of the world where there is a Baptist Church just about every 4 or five blocks. More churches than you can shake a stick at, so the saying goes. A few big, some medium sized, but most of them very, very small. Most of them have plateaued or are in decline. A few are growing.

What is the difference?

What makes one church grow and another stagnate? Is it location? Many in this city believe that to be answer so they have up and moved to the wealthy side of town that is growing. I have to ask them: "What about the neighborhood you just left? Don't they need God too?" Does the size of your bank account determine your importance in the church? Does having a six figure income mean that you are more worthy to hear the good news that Jesus died so that we could have a right relationship with God?

OF COURSE NOT!

So again, I ask, what makes some churches grow and others not grow? I think it has to do with a willingness to do the work God calls churches to do. When a church experiences hardship or decline, it is common for that church to start focusing only on themselves. This, however, is completely against God's design for the church. We do not exist for ourselves, but to serve God in this world. The church is to take up the cause of the orphan and widow.

The church is to make disciples.

If a church stops performing these tasks, they have effectively turned off their light. When this happens, people will stop coming. Churches must be outwardly focused, ministry minded, and great commission driven. If they are not, God will not bless them. This is the great challenge for many churches. A challenge many cannot get over. When giving goes down and attendance drops, rather than redoubling and refocusing their efforts to get the message out and minister to people, they start dropping ministry programs and start focusing inwardly.

I ask you. Is your church an innie or an outie? Does it focus on itself and what it needs, or does it focus on what the community needs? Does it focus on making sure its members are comfortable and happy or does it make disciples that are willing to get out of their comfort zones, get their hands dirty and serve as ministers?

It is a simple difference, but it is significant in effect. When a church is more focused on the happiness and comfort of its own members than it is on fulfilling its God given purpose of making disciples, God will remove his blessing from that Church. When that starts to happen, rather than waking up, many churches dig in and the long march to irrelevance begins.

I pray that never happens to my church or to yours. I have seen it. I have lived it in the past and I never want to be there again.