WBS.011
FUNDAMENTALS
OF DISCIPLESHIP
BREAKING DOWN TO BUILD UP
1 Timothy 6:3 If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Master Yahushua Messiah, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness;
4 He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings,
5 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of Elohim, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
When I was in basic training for the
U.S. Army, the drill sergeants, on the very first day, told us that they were
going to break us down, then build us up.
If we were fat; we were going to lose weight. If we were skinny; we were going to gain
weight; and all of us were going to wish we were dead by the end of the first
week. It was true that by the end of the
first week, we were all tired, sore, exhausted…every muscle ached. Our bodies were being put through rigors of
both demand and denial; and for a month, we were experiencing all manner of
changes; most of which hurt. By the end
of the second month, we were no longer hurting; but were getting stronger,
gaining endurance and confidence; and by the end of basic training, we were,
for the most part, stronger and more physically fit than we had ever been in
our lives.
Reading the posts in this blog that
have preceded this one, it has been fairly apparent that much of them have
seemed to be quite negative. Kind words
have been lacking for contemporary Christianity and for contemporary Christian
leadership. There is a reason for this;
and it has not been to be negative for negativity’s sake. You cannot build upon a faulty
structure. The building will simply
topple and be destroyed. Much of what
the typical believer has been taught and the mindsets that have become the norm
in Christian circles for the past millennium are simply wrong. This thinking has to be broken down before
the building blocks of genuine discipleship may be erected. Wrong thinking undermines the best of
intentions. The apostle Paul, as a wise
masterbuilder (1 Cor 3:10) was keenly aware of this.
Rom 12:2 And
be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of
Elohim.
2 Cor 10:5
Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of Elohim, and bringing into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Messiah;
This knowledge is ancient. See the words of Solomon:
Prov 14:12; 16:25 There is a way that
seemeth right to a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.
If we are not careful to insure that
our thinking is correct; the entire course of our lives will be directed astray
from the narrow path that leads unto life.
All too often, however, the instinctive defensiveness of pride and
ignorance is raised as a barrier to Truth.
For most believers, there is a satisfaction, a contentedness with status
quo. They do not want their boats rocked
with ideas that do not conform to their current church, fellowship group, or
circle of friends. Anything outside of
the acceptable norms will make them a pariah; and being an accepted part of the
group/crowd, is more important to them than obedience to Messiah. Let’s do a quick recap of these posts and
observe how this works.
The Names – It does not take a college degree
to comprehend that if the letter “J” did not then and does not now exist in the
Hebrew language; and that it did not exist in other languages until circa 1500
AD, then the Master’s name could not possibly be “Jesus.” The idea that no one on this planet ever
called him “Jesus” for 1½ millennia should make a rational thinking person
reevaluate continuing to call the Son of the Creator of the universe a name
that did not even exist for 1,500 years after his death, burial, resurrection
and ascension to the right hand of Elohim.
There is a wild arrogance associated with this insistence on using an
Anglicized name that is derived from a Latin translation (Iesus) of a corrupt Greek
transliteration (Iesous) of a Hebrew name, when there is no good reason not to
call him what His Father called him. It
does not take long, however, to realize that if you return to your church group
and no longer use the name “Jesus” but instead call him, “Yahushua,” that you
could quite readily be ostracized, or asked to stop calling him that, or even
be asked to leave the church. Such
ejections from church fellowship have occurred for far less a reason than this.
Imagine, however, the mindset that refuses to make this change in names? If
your name was Yaqob, and I persisted in calling you Jimmy, even after it was
clarified that your name is not Jimmy, but is Yaqob; what kind of person would
that make me? What would you think of
me; and what would your father think of me? Just how much more of true
spiritual life is corrupted by this arrogance of heart that considers
acceptance by the group more important than obedience to the Master?
The Fear of IAUE – “God” and “Lord” are inappropriate
terms to be used of the Creator, because both are Anglicized versions of the
names of pagan deities; and neither term is His name, despite the widespread
use of them as the name of the Creator.
Possessing the Fear of IAUE is not possible without making the
transition away from knowing Him and calling Him “God” and “LORD,” to knowing
Him and calling Him by His revealed name, IAUE (pronounced “ee-ah-oo-eh). Since we know from Scripture that the Fear of
IAUE is the beginning of wisdom and the beginning of knowledge; what does that
say about the wisdom and knowledge we currently purport to possess; and again,
what arrogance is demonstrated by our refusal to make this transition based on
the fear of rejection from the group?
How many other aspects of our spiritual life are affected by this fear
that prevents our obedience?
The Gospel – The true gospel is a command to
repent. The contemporary message that
passes for the gospel is an invitation to accept a savior and have our lives
bettered by a loving Father. The true
gospel requires the forfeiture of personal control and demands constant and
continuous obedience. The false gospel
promises eternal security and a better life, now; and obedience is perceived to
be a gift we offer him out of thankful hearts; leaving disobedience an ever
present option. Embracing the true
gospel message after having accepted the invitation to receive a “free gift” of
forgiveness and eternal life is hardly a desirable option to most. Just imagine the arrogance and pride that
would preclude repentance and bowing the knee to a Master. It would single you
out…make you different from the masses who have no understanding of genuine
repentance; and who would find the notion repugnant to their Christian
culture. This brings us to…
The Yoke – Taking upon ourselves the yoke of
the Master is the first lesson in discipleship. Servanthood, meekness, lowliness
of heart, these are the traits the Master treasures in his followers. These
traits, however, interfere with one’s upward mobility in the church, today;
because contemporary Christianity favors more aggressive traits and blesses
with leadership and recognition the opposite values. Because the human need for acceptance and
recognition is so great, the yoke is often rejected for the values that secure
these fleshly human needs. Since most
never responded to the true gospel that requires repentance, self-will and
self-preservation are still anchored within the heart, making this first order
of obedience an impossibility.
The Right Attitude – Blessing IAUE at all times; letting
His praise always be in our mouth interferes with the fleshly right to
criticize, grumble, complain, gossip, etc.
Accepting a free gift of salvation secures in man’s heart the notion
that life is and always has been all about him. It requires repentance and a paradigm
shift in thinking to embrace the idea that life is all about IAUE; and not
about man's own interests.
Bought with a Price – This means we are slaves; but the
western man (especially in the USA) has a national history that proclaims the
message that slavery is wrong; thus to be any man’s slave, even of Yahushua the
Messiah, is wrong. It is a message that
is rejected based on wrong thinking. The
“free gift invitation” gospel interferes with this message, making servanthood
an option rather than an obligation. If
praying “the magic prayer” (“Dear Jesus, forgive me and come into my
heart. I accept you as my Lord and
Savior.”) makes me a forgiven child of the Most High; then I don’t have to do
ANYTHING for the rest of my life except what I want to do. Since my eternity has been guaranteed, why
would I do anything I don’t want to do?
You can readily see that it is
imperative that we correct wrong-thinking.
If we hold on to ideas that are false, they can overthrow our
discipleship. This brings us to one more
fundamental concept that must be addressed.
One of the most resilient messages preached in the world, today, is known as the “Prosperity” message. I first heard it being proclaimed in 1972; and the Scriptures used seemed to be sound and my flesh sure liked the idea of having a blessed life and, in particular, lots of money. The only ones actually prospering from the message were the preachers. The prosperity message draws a huge collection plate. People listening to the message are instructed to partner with the preacher’s ministry and thus partake of their blessings in ministry. The very nature of the message is selfish and fleshly. Paul counters the prosperity message with:
1 Timothy 3:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Paul reverses the construction of the sentence; from “gain is godliness;” to “godliness with contentment is great gain.” The prosperity message implies that physical prosperity (money, possessions, etc.) evidences godliness, evidences the blessing of Elohim on your life. Paul, instead dismisses this idea.
1 Timothy 3:7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
When have you ever heard the
prosperity preachers quoting this verse?
When have you heard them provide you a list of New Testament believers
who demonstrated what they are preaching?
There aren’t any. What you see in
the New Testament are disciples who no longer counted their lives dear to
themselves; but forfeited all of their rights unto the Master who received
their complete obedience.
To move into genuine discipleship, we
have to let go of this naive insistence on self-rule and self-interest. We are no longer our own. We do not have the right to impose our own
evaluations of the Master’s direction in our life. Anything that interferes with obedience must
be honestly confronted and resolved in order to press on as a disciple.
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