Building Family Gods Way Part 1

Discipleship

I believe this is a year of decision for some and real discipleship for others who have made the decision to be disciples. In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer states, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. Discipleship is not an offer that man makes to Christ. It is only because he became like us that we can become like him. It is not a matter of hero worship, but intimacy with Christ.”

Read Luke 6:46-49

Luke 6:46–49 ESV

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

In Matthew Chapter 6 Jesus first deals with issues of religion and the law in regards to worship of the Father. Immediately following he chooses his twelve apostles from among the disciples. Then he ministers healing and deliverance. What follows next is often referred to as the sermon on the plain.

John 7:46 ESV

The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”

In John 7:46, religious leaders sent men out to arrest Jesus but they came back empty handed saying, “No man ever spoke like this man.” If you took all the good advice on how to live ever uttered by all the great philosophers, psychiatrist, and television host, and took out all the humanistic foolishness and got down to the real essence of their moral advice, you would still be left with a poor second to the teachings of Christ. This sermon is one of Jesus’ main messages of what the Kingdom of God is all about.

According to David Guzik, this sermon is often referred to as the “Agenda of God’s Kingdom.” “It does not deal with salvation so much, but lays out for the disciple and the potential disciple how having Jesus as King translates into how you live every day” (David Guzik).

In this message, I want us to consider, not just what Jesus is teaching, but ask what is the foundation of the teaching and why? I believe the essence of what Jesus is building through his disciples is more than an institution but a family called the church.

You don’t just find family, you build family. Family is not just a cesspool of DNA but a school house of relationship. The level of relational development one has in their home and personal life is often reflected in their relational development of church family life.

When you have tasted of true church family relationship you hunger for it. You might try to seek it elsewhere but never truly find that which you are longing for. True church family relational development will always challenge and admonish you to grow in healthier home and personal relationships with God and others. “When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

Unfortunately, most people, even if they attend with any sense of consistency, they fail to develop more than superficial church relationships.

Instead of building on the foundations of biblical family precepts, we tend to build in the following of our circumstances. We let the situations and circumstances dictate the level of relational development opportunities. How does a father build relationship with his children if he is never there and misses every memory building moment? How can God build God memories with you if you don’t have the time to embrace the God moments when God presents the divine opportunities?

Again Bonhoeffer states, “How would you expect to find community while you intentionally withdraw from it at some point? The disobedient cannot believe; only the obedient believe.”

have you watched the movie War Room? One of the most powerful scenes is when the mother is trying her best to convince her daughter that she loves her. The mother finally asks, “You know that I love you don’t you?” And the little girl replies, “I guess.” The mother asks, “What do you mean you guess?” The little girl begins to ask her questions like, “What is the name of my jump rope team? What are our team colors? What award did I win last week? What is my coach’s name?” The mother had no answers. What was the little girl really trying to say to her mother? “If you love me, where have you been?” We have all face hardships when we have asked where God was. But the real question is where were we.

In Luke 6:46 Jesus states, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do the things which I say?” Jesus stresses that outward conformity is not what he is after. He is looking for those who assimilate all that he teaches into their lives and who they are. Calling Jesus “Lord” is like speaking into an empty bucket and demanding it to be filled, if his teachings are not making a difference in your life.

Have you ever noticed how the government and economic pundits say the economy and housing market is so horrible? Yet, you drive outside the city limits and they are building $300K homes and new subdivisions everywhere. And where are they building them? Right in the middle of pastures that are flood plains. Even though they know these homes will have water damage issues, they are steadily building them in these areas. Do you wonder why? Because the contractors don’t care. They are going to make their money while the government requires the owners to pay flood insurance which has to be purchased by or through the government agency of FEMA.

This is exactly how some people build relationships. In spite of the present and known issues, they continue to build in the flood plains of life.

In Luke 6:46-49, both houses looked the same on the outside but each had very different foundations. The flooding stream is an illustration of the trials, struggles, and cares of this life. Though we often like to find justification in believing that they only come to us personally and no one else has issues like ours or have ever experienced the trials we face, nonetheless, they come to us all. In some form or fashion God has challenged all our faith and tested our loyalty of intimacy with Him. But it is a matter of if we heard the Lord and what we do with what we heard?

I believe that most often, we let money speak to us as if it were the Lord. We let our desires speak to us as if they were the voice of the Lord. We let our frustrations and circumstances dictate our choices as if they were the will of the Lord.

Sometimes fate seems easier to follow than faith. Some doctrines try to turn faith into manipulated fate. That is not the same. Faith, is belief in the sovereignty of God and obedience to His Lordship in your life. But the result of following the fate of situations leads only to the increase of destruction in the flood plains of our lives. Our family and relationships never grow stronger, they just get swept away leaving the debris of discouragement.

A mere hearing of the Word of God does not provide a secure foundation. It would be like reading the instructions but never putting the bike together. It will get you nowhere.

Numbers 32:23 ESV

But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Numbers 32:23 states, “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” The sin that will always surely find you out is the sin of doing nothing with the Christ and great will be the fall again and again.