Welcome to Day 2114 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Becoming A Radical Disciple 1 – Nonconformity – Daily Wisdom

Putnam Church Message – 08/01/2021 Becoming a Radical Disciple – Nonconformity Over the past couple of weeks, we moved from radical choices, to a radical teacher, and now the title of this new series Becoming a Radical Disciple. Thinking of yourself as radical may make you uncomfortable. For others, it may be empowering. So let’s say I have a radical element in me, but I suspect that most of you also do in some area of life. First, why am I using the term “Disciple” instead of “Christian”?  It surprises many people to discover that the followers of Jesus Christ are called “Christian” only three times in the New Testament. Luke’s comment in Acts 11:26 was that it was in the Syrian Antioch church where Jesus’ disciples were first called “Christians.”  This is significant because Antioch was known to be an international community. Consequently, its church was an international community too. Therefore, it was appropriate that its members were called “Christians” to indicate that their common allegiance to Christ overcame their ethnic differences. However, as a matter of trivia, the term Christian means “Little Christ” and was used by outsiders in more of a derogative manner. The other two occurrences of the word “Christian” prove that it was beginning to be more commonly used. When Paul was on trial before King Agrippa and challenged him directly in Acts 26:27, “Agrippa interrupted him. ‘Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?’” Then the apostle Peter, whose first letter was written against the background of growing persecution, found it necessary to distinguish between those who suffered “as a criminal” and those who suffered “as a Christian” in 1 Peter 4:16, “But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!” Both words (Christian and disciple) imply a relationship with Jesus, although perhaps “disciple” is the stronger of the two because it inevitably means the relationship of the pupil to teacher. During his three years of public ministry, the Twelve were disciples before they were apostles. As disciples, they were under the direct instruction of their teacher and lord. In some ways, it would be better if the word “disciple” had continued into the following centuries so that Christians were self-consciously disciples of Jesus and took seriously their responsibility to be “under discipline,” which means continuing to learn. My concern is that we who claim to be disciples are not serious enough in our commitment to the Lord Jesus, which will provoke him to say again, “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). For genuine discipleship is passionate discipleship; this is where my next word comes in. So, secondly, why “radical”? Since this is the adjective I am using to describe our discipleship, it is crucial to indicate the sense in which I am using it.  The English word “radical” is derived from the Latin root word radix. Initially, it seems to have been applied as a political label to people with liberal and reformist views. Then, it was used generally to those whose opinions went to the roots and were unrelenting in their commitment. We are now ready to put the noun and the adjective together and ask our third question: Why “radical disciple”? The answer is obvious. There are different levels of commitment in the Christian community. Jesus illustrated this in what happened to the seeds he describes in the Parable of the Sower. The difference between the seeds is in the kind of soil which received them. Of the seed sown on rocky soil, Jesus said, “It had no root.” Our standard way of avoiding radical discipleship is to be selective, choosing those areas in which commitment suits us and staying away from those in which it will be costly. But because Jesus is Lord, we have no right to pick and choose the areas in which we will submit to his authority. So my purpose in this series titled Becoming a Radical Disciple is to consider eight character traits of Christian discipleship that are often neglected yet deserve to be taken seriously. We will explore at least one character trait each week, and this week it is: Character Trait 1 - Nonconformity The first character trait of the radical disciple I bring before you is “nonconformity.” Let me explain why. The church has a double responsibility in relation to the world around us. On the one hand, we are to live, serve, and witness in the world. Our occupation as citizens of God’s kingdom is salt and light. But, on the other hand, we are to avoid becoming contaminated by the world, which causes us to lose our saltiness and hide our light. Thus, there is a two-sided paradox. We should not attempt to escape from the world to preserve our holiness, and we are not to sacrifice our righteousness (right living) by conforming to the world. This concept is one of the major themes of the whole Bible, namely that God calls out a people for himself and summons us to be different from everybody else. 1 Peter 1:15-16 tells us, “But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.  For the Scriptures say, ‘You must be holy because I am holy.’” When we think of holiness, piety, and purity often come to mind. This description may give an incorrect concept of the word. The word holy only means to be set apart and used by God. This foundational theme of holiness recurs in all four of the main sections of Scripture: the law, the prophets, the teaching of Jesus, and the apostles’ teaching. Let me give you an example from each. First, the law. God said to his people through Moses in Leviticus 18:3-4, “So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life.  You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God.” Second, God’s criticism of his people through the prophet Ezekiel 11:12, “For you have refused to obey my decrees and regulations; instead, you have copied the standards of the nations around you.” Third, in the New Testament in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of the hypocrites and the pagans in Matthew 6:8, “Do not be like them.” Fourth, my theme verse for this series, the apostle Paul, wrote in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Here is God’s call to radical discipleship, to a radical nonconformity to the surrounding culture. It is a call to develop a Christian counterculture as citizens of God’s kingdom and engage with the culture without compromise. At least four modern-day trends threaten to swallow us up, which we must resist by becoming radical disciples. First is the challenge of pluralism. While diversity is good in some areas of life, this concept of diversity that rejects the Christian’s claim to the finality and uniqueness of Christ condemns as sheer arrogance the attempt to transform anybody (let alone everybody) into what the secular culture sees as merely our opinions. When dealing with pluralism, we must proceed with great humility and with no hint of personal superiority. But we must continue to affirm the uniqueness and finality of Jesus Christ. John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” For he is unique in his incarnation (the only God-man), unique in his atonement (only he has died for the sins of the world), and unique in his resurrection (only he has conquered death). Therefore, Jesus is uniquely competent to save sinners. Nobody else possesses his qualifications because nobody likes him, and he has no rival or successor. A second widespread secular trend that Christian disciples have to resist is that of materialism. Materialism is not simply an acceptance of the reality of the material world. If that were the case, all Christians would be materialists, since we believe God created the material world and made its blessings available to us. Christianity is the most material of all religions. But it is not materialistic. Materialism is a preoccupation with material things, which can smother our spiritual life. But Jesus told us not to store up treasure on earth and warned us against covetousness. So did the apostle Paul, urging us instead to develop a lifestyle of simplicity, generosity, and contentment, drawing on his own experience in Philippians 4:11, “Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.” Paul added in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.” In other words, life on earth is a brief pilgrimage between two moments of nakedness. So we would be wise to travel light. We shall take nothing with us. The third trend which threatens is ethical relativism. This means that ethics change based on the current societal concepts of morality. All around us, moral standards are slipping. This fact seems to be even more prominent in the Western world. People are confused as to whether there are any absolutes left. As a result, relativism has permeated the culture and is seeping into the church. Is it any surprise that we live in a confused culture with no sanctity of human life?  A culture where God’s design for marriage between a man and a woman is ignored to the point where some people cannot even figure out whether they are men or women. There is no ambiguity in God’s Word on this subject, nor is there any question scientifically. Over against these trends, Jesus Christ calls his disciples to obey and conform to his standards. Some people claim that Jesus did not speak about these things. But he did. From the beginning of Scripture, it was clear in Genesis 1:27, “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God, he created them; male and female, he created them.” Jesus also taught the same lesson in Matthew 19:5-6, “And he said, ‘This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.’  Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” When confronted with relativism, we, as radical Christian disciples, must disagree with the prevailing thought of modern culture. Let me be clear, though, we are not to be completely rigid in our ethical decision-making, but seek sensitively to apply biblical principles in each situation.  We must remove the plank from our eyes before helping those who ask us to help remove the speck in their eye. This subject of relativism hits close to home for Paula and me since we have family members who have made life choices that we cannot agree with Biblically. Nevertheless, as radical disciples, we must love and accept each person, even if we cannot agree with their choices.  You and I will not stand before God for the choices others make. In the end, God will ultimately judge the decisions that each of us makes personally.  Central to Christian behavior is the lordship of Jesus Christ. “Jesus is Lord” remains the basis of our life. So the essential question as disciples and together as the church is, who is Lord? Is the church the Lord of Jesus Christ, so we can edit and manipulate, accept what we like, and reject what we dislike? Or is Jesus Christ our Teacher and our Lord, so that we believe and obey his teaching? Let me repeat Luke 6:46, Jesus still says to us, “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?” To confess Jesus as Lord but not obey him is to build our lives on a foundation of sand. Also, in John 14:21, “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” Here, then, are two cultures, value systems, standards, and lifestyles. On the one side are the choices of the world around us; on the other is God’s revealed, good and pleasing will. Radical disciples should have little difficulty in making their choice. We now come to a fourth contemporary trend: the challenge of narcissism.  Narcissus (in Greek mythology) was a handsome young man who caught sight of his reflection in a pond, fell in love with his image, toppled into the water, and drowned. So “narcissism” is excessive love for oneself, an unbounded admiration of “self.” Today’s modern culture calls us to look inside ourselves, to explore ourselves, for the solution to our problems is within. We do not need a savior to come to us from somewhere else; we can be our own savior. But, unfortunately, this concept has led to an increasing segment of our culture being completely self-absorbed. As imagers of God, we should have a level of love for ourselves and how God created us, but not in a selfish manner.  We are to love God and others in the same way we desire to be loved.  We have to understand this love in order to love one another appropriately.  This type of love is a selfless agape love which is the sacrifice of oneself in the service of others. What, then, should our attitude be toward ourselves? It is a combination of self-affirmation and self-denial. Affirming as is written in Psalm 139:14, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.” Everything in us comes to us from our creator and redeemer, but realizing that our weaknesses can be traced to the fall and personal choices. It is a great relief to turn away from an unhealthy preoccupation with oneself to the healthy commandments of God.  To love God with our whole being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. God intends his church to be a community of love, worshipping, and serving. Everybody knows that love is the greatest thing in the world, and Christians know why. It is because God is love.  A person who loves not, lives not, for living is loving, and without love, the human personality disintegrates. That is why everybody is looking for authentic relationships of love. We have just considered four major secular trends threatening to engulf the Christian community. In the face of these, we are all called, not to feeble-minded conformity, but to radical nonconformity. As we face the challenge of pluralism, we are to be a community of truth, standing up for the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. As we face the challenge of materialism, we are to be a community of simplicity and pilgrimage. As we face the challenge of relativism, we must be a community of obedience to God’s precepts. Finally, as we face the challenge of narcissism, we must be a community of love. We are not to be like reeds shaken by the wind, bowing down before gusts of public opinion, but as immovable as rocks in a mountain stream. We should not be like fish floating with the stream, for only dead fish swim with the current. Instead, we should swim against the stream, even against the cultural mainstream. We are not to be like chameleons, lizards that change their color according to their surroundings, but stand out visibly against our surroundings. What, then, are Christians to be like if we are not to be like reeds, dead fish, or chameleons? Is God’s word entirely negative, simply telling us to avoid being molded into the shape of those in the world around us? No. It is positive. We are to be like Christ.  Next week’s message will cover the next character trait of a radical disciple: Christlikeness. As Paul wrote in Romans 8:29, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” During this series on becoming a radical disciple, take time each week to read our anchor verse. Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly, your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this trek together, let us always:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

I am Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Everyday! See you next time for more wisdom from God’s Word!