simple blueprint

Apple has revolutionized technology. I say that as someone who has fallen for it hook-line-and-sinker. I have an iPhone. I have an iPad. I have a MacBook. My television at home is mostly run through an Apple TV system. So, there is a ton of interaction with Apple technology every day in my house. Let me tell you what I like about it. Simplicity. It’s not complicated. It’s not overwhelming. It’s not overloaded with mind-boggling choices. When you buy an Apple phone or computer, it doesn’t come with any instruction manual. It doesn’t need to. All you have to do is take it out of the box and turn it on. If you want an Apple phone, there’s only a few options from which to choose. If you want an Apple computer, only a few options. Want an Apple tablet? Only a few options. They keep it simple.

As much as we American might say that we love options and want our choices, the truth is that we are actually much happier when the options are fewer, and thereby less complicated. Simplicity helps. Simplicity gives clarity. Simplicity gets unnecessary clutter out of the way.

Could this be true of our faith and our Christian journey of discipleship as well? Might we be overcomplicating our faith to the point of getting lost? It seems to me that the Lord and savior of the universe, who calls us to be his disciples, would not then make it so complicated to follow him that it’s almost impossible to actually be a disciple of Jesus. Yet for so many of us, this is exactly what happens. With all the best intentions, you and I engage in a life of discipleship to follow Jesus, and then start to get lost. We get lost in all the rules and commands. We get lost in all the teachings and beliefs. We get lost in all the activities and happenings. Being a Christian becomes overwhelming, overcomplicated, not simple.

Can I pause here and give one item of Clarification? Simple does not necessarily mean easy. Simple can still take work. Simple still requires effort. Simple is not the same thing as easy. Simple means clear. Simple means understandable. Simple means achievable. All these things are true of discipleship. But Jesus never said that following him would be easy. Being a Christian requires effort. It takes work.

So, what does the Bible have to say about this? Where can we go to gain a sense of simplicity in our life of faith? Let’s start out this week by considering these instructions from the Apostle Paul to the Christians living in the town of Ephesus.

Ephesians 4:11–16 NIV

11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

What kind of disciple does God want me to be?

Disciples all have different gifts from God

This passage from the Bible is laying out some simple basics of discipleship. The first thing that Paul is telling his church is that there are different kinds of disciples. We all have different giftedness. The path for one person to live as a disciple of Jesus may look different from another person’s path to live a disciple of Jesus. This is because God has created a world full of diversity. People are not all the same. And this is not an accident. God meant to do this. That makes it a good thing that people are not all the same—because it comes from God.

So, the first question to ask is, what kind of disciple does God want me to be? What are my gifts? What am I good at? Where do my passions find their fullest expression? I want us to begin here for a very good reason. As disciples of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is constantly molding us more-and-more into the image of God. Our path of discipleship is always a journey of sanctification into holiness. And this is a journey that must always keep God as the center of our focus. So, we begin by pressing into God’s will for our lives as disciples.

This means for us that we take a look at what Paul writes here in scripture and ask ourselves some questions about how God has uniquely gifted us to be a disciple for him and in his church. I know there are some churches in which every member is signed up on a rotation to take a turn as a Sunday greeter at the door. This is a bad idea. This assumes that every single person in your church has been given the gift of warm hospitality. For those who have the gift of hospitality, they serve wonderfully as greeters who welcome people into God’s house for worship. For those who do not have the gift of hospitality, visitors and guests get a bad first impression of the church

Not everyone is good with their hands and should serve on the facility crew. Don’t put any power tools in my hands. I’ll most likely cause more damage than good, and will probably get hurt in the process. Often, we find opportunities to serve other people in a time of need by helping out with a meal. Some of you out there know very well that you should never even try cooking and sharing a meal with anyone. We all serve as disciples of Jesus in different ways. And that’s okay. So, ask yourself what kind of disciple God wants you to be.

Richard Foster, Celebration of Disciple

And all of us grow in faith as disciples a little bit differently as well. Richard Foster, in his classic book Celebration of Disciple works through and explains a variety of spiritual disciplines that help Christians grow in faith. Foster divides these spiritual habits and rituals into three categories. He talks about the inward disciplines, the outward disciplines, and the corporate disciplines. Inward spiritual disciplines include things like prayer and fasting. These are the kinds of habits we are focusing on with our 40 Days of Prayer going on right now. Outward disciplines include habits like service and simplicity. We do these habits as expressions that carry a direct outward impact. And corporate disciplines such as worship and confession are habits that we do together in in groups because they benefit the greater body of Christians.

Foster’s point is that we all have different personalities and could all benefit from a balanced diet of spiritual habits. Those who are naturally introverts might find the most personal benefit from inward spiritual habits. A full day to practice solitude sounds wonderful to an introvert—and torturous to an extrovert. On the other hand, mutual greeting or fellowship time after the service is invigorating for an extrovert, while introverts just want to run and hide somewhere. All of these habits can have a spiritual benefit when practiced as a spiritual discipline. God provides many different ways we can grow as disciples because we are all created just a little bit differently. And once again, ask yourself what kind of disciple God wants you to be.

What kind of disciple do I want to be?

But let’s keep moving to take this to another level. God has created each one of us with a free will. After we have considered how it is God has gifted us, take the step to put this in line with your own heart. Ask yourself, what kind of disciple do I want to be? What kind of Christian do you aspire to become? What’s next for you?

You are called to be a disciple for a reason right here & now

This is also an important question to ask, and here’s why. God has created you and gifted you and called you for a reason. And the reason has to do with more than just an afterlife. This is where we get tripped up sometimes. It sometimes becomes way too easy to reduce the entire goal of faith to an afterlife. People ask the question, why are you a Christian? And often the answer back from many people is, I’m a Christian so that I can go to heaven. This is wrong. The reason is that the Bible, as well as our confessions, as well as our theology all point to a resurrection as the ultimate goal of our faith. Eternity will not be in some spiritual realm in which we all have wings and play harps on clouds somewhere. The Bible makes very clear that eternity will be here—a recreated earth with recreated bodies. Eternity will be physical, not just spiritual. So, the way we live now in this physical world has value. It’s important. Sure, we know that this world is sinful and broken and we can never live here fully as God has commanded and intends for us to live. But part of being saved and being a Christian is to live as much as we possibly can by pressing into the reality that is to come when Jesus returns.

Discipleship embraces every part of this life

And so, we ask the question, what kind of disciple do I want to be? What are the areas of blessing and giftedness in this life that make a real difference in my faith and in the lives of others around me? What does that look like for me to live that way? And since the entire goal of our faith does not have to be reduced to only a heavenly afterlife, then a life of discipleship here and now in this world can, in fact, embrace many parts of life in this world. What you do for a job and the way you do it is part of your journey of discipleship. The kind of student you are in school and the things you learn about in God’s creation are part of your discipleship. The friendships and relationships you nurture are part of your discipleship. The hobbies you do for enjoyment are part of your discipleship.

You see, when God first created the world—back in Genesis 1 & 2—the very first instruction he gave to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden was to fill the earth and cultivate it, subdue it, take care of it. This was an instruction from God that has everything to do with the way we live right here and now. It is a path of discipleship that has to do with flourishing and developing what God has given to us. Discipleship is not just about a stuffy list of rules—thou shalt this, thou shalt not that. Discipleship is about growing so intimately into the image of our creator that we more-and-more live here and now as we were created to do.

What makes your heart sing?

So, what is it in this life that makes your heart sing for joy? What is it in this life that lifts your heart and mind up to see God, to experience him, to know him? What is it in this life that builds and lifts who we are and who others are to be what God created us to be?

This is exactly what Paul is pointing us to in this passage today. Paul tells us exactly why we have all been gifted and blessed by God the way in which we have. Paul tells us exactly what the purpose for which our discipleship is intended. Paul tells us exactly what it is we should be looking toward as the goal of our living in the church. Paul takes everything that maybe seems so overwhelming and so complicated and so confusing about faith and makes it simple. There is one simple goal to help guide your life as a disciple of Jesus. Do you see what it is in today’s Bible passage? So that the body of Christ may be built up.

Simple point of discipleship | build up one another in Christ

The answer to the question of what kind of disciple I want to be is always an answer that steers in one simple direction. It is a way of living which builds up one another. My life as a disciple of Jesus must always reach out and seek to lift others up. My life as a disciple of Jesus must always seek ways to make the lives of others a little bit better.

My own discipleship blueprint

Today, we want to be intentional about how we do this. We need a plan. We need a design. We need a blueprint of what discipleship looks like. Let’s pull all of this together and close by making sense of where this goes.

There is no cookie cutter blueprint here. Since we have already seen that God blesses each of us differently, then the discipleship blueprint will look a little different for each one of us. So, you have to fill this out and put this together yourself. But here is the point we’re after this morning to help make this clear—to make this simple. You need a discipleship blueprint that produces a result of building up one another in Christ.

Simplify discipleship

Let’s simplify our lives of discipleship today so that we can remember again why it is that God has called use to follow him. Don’t let yourself get buried beneath a mountain of rules and regulations. I have to support these causes, and do these things, and learn this knowledge, and behave this way. Pull back and make it simple. Make a discipleship blueprint that steers your life in a direction of building one another up in Christ. Simple.

Blueprint 1 | one habit that builds me up in Christ

Do this today. If you have room on your sheet of notes, start a discipleship blueprint for yourself. Start with that first question, what kind of disciple does God want me to be? And now, pick one habit. Pick one spiritual discipline. Just one. Pastor Dylan and I have spent the last four weeks preaching through a series called Soul Food which has been all about those practices and habits that bring us close to God and feed our souls. Today, pick just one for your blueprint. One spiritual practice that builds you up and brings your heart closer to God. Write that down.

Blueprint 2 | one habit that builds up others in Christ

And now pick one more habit. Put a second habit on your spiritual blueprint. Pick one thing you can do which builds up other people. Remember all those things in this world that make your heart sing for joy. And use just one of those things to lift up and build up somebody else’s heart before God. This should not be a one-time event and then it’s over. This is a habit. It is a spiritual discipline. It should become something that is a regular practice in the way we live as disciples of Jesus. It should replicate.

The point of a blueprint is that it is a plan for building something. Here in the church, each one of us ought to have a blueprint. Because here in the church God has called us all to be disciples who are building something. Don’t make it complicated. Don’t make it overwhelming. Keep it simple.

Jesus never said it would be easy. Discipleship can be hard work. But Jesus does make it simple. Jesus invites us to a life of discipleship that has space for absolutely everybody. Jesus creates a path to follow him from which no one is excluded. Jesus reminds us through his Word today that every single one of us have been called and blessed and gifted by God so that we can follow him as his disciple. Make your blueprint and get to it.