Over the past few days I’ve found myself wondering what it really means to call myself a disciple of Jesus Christ; imperfect or otherwise. So often we Christians reduce discipleship into good behavior. I’m not suggesting that there isn’t an element of obedience within discipleship; however, I recognize that it can’t all be about behavior. An unbeliever can do nice things for other people. A pagan can be a good citizen and a wonderful parent. An atheist can be an upstanding member of the community. What is it then that separates the disciple of Christ from everyone else? If not behavior or good deeds, what is it that makes a disciple of Christ different? If Christ died for everyone, and everyone is capable of good (as well as bad) behavior, we are left with only one option; belief. It is belief that separates the disciple of Christ from the unbelievers. As His disciples, we believe, that Christ was who He claimed to be. We believe that Christ was both God and man and that He died for our sins and was powerfully resurrected three days later. We believe that Christ is currently with the Father and that someday He shall return.

If it is belief that separates the disciple from the unbeliever, what happens when we no longer live like we truly believe in Jesus?

We have hit critical mass in the western Christian world. Study the news for a few days to see what kind of impression Christ’s “disciples” are leaving on the world. Televangelists are hitting everyone up for money. Priests are abusing children. Preachers are turning away from the Gospel of Christ to preach a gospel of the world. In our attempt to make Scripture palatable to the unbeliever, we have turned our backs on the Bible. We live in a world that values pluralism and relativity and we have sought that world’s opinion over the approval of our Master. There is so much popular culture within the church that they are virtually indistinguishable. The church is like the small child who underestimates the ocean’s tide and finds himself dangerously far from the beach. We have drifted so far out that we can barely see our Father. At this distance, the face of our Lord and Savior blurs in with the crowd.

What then can we do? First, we must ask ourselves if we truly believe. Are we Christians because we truly believe or do we just go to church because that’s what Americans are supposed to do? Does Christ really reign supreme in our lives or do we use Him to support our pet causes or our favorite politician? Have you sought out a pastor who uses Scripture as the basis of his sermons? I’m not asking if your pastor mentions the Bible. Rather, does he begin with the Bible and throughout his sermon teach it in a way that reproves, rebukes, and encourages? Or does he preach a different gospel and occasionally use Scripture to back up what he is saying?

Many of have fallen into a snare that we can’t even see. We call ourselves disciples yet we have no clue what it means to truly disciple Christ; however, it isn’t too late. We have a gracious God who has communicated to us through Scripture. There is still time for us to study the Bible and press the global reset button on our discipleship. But to learn what discipleship truly is we must go to the Word.

The word discipleship(s) occurs in the New Testament over two hundred times. It comes from the Greek word mathetes. It is defined as a learner or pupil. It can be argued that we are all disciples of someone. We have all learned how to live our lives from someone. It may be our parents, our school teachers, our friends, or even reality television. We all disciple someone.

In the case of Christians, we have chosen to learn from Jesus Christ. We have chosen Christ as out Master because He is worthy. This choice is of vital importance. Matthew 10:25 says that if your master is called Beezlebub, those who follow him will be called even worse. Not only was the name Beezlebub another name for Satan, it was also the name of the Chaldean dung god. Roughly translated this means that if the master you choose is a piece of crap, you’ll be an even bigger piece of crap! Jesus is worthy of our discipleship. We can rest assured that our choice of Jesus as Master is well placed.

Once we’ve chosen Jesus, the Bible also teaches us how that choice should be demonstrated in our lives. Based on Scripture, we can create a profile of the perfect disciple of Christ:

• First, the perfect disciple recognizes that he is not above his master (Mat 10:24). The perfect disciple must maintain a humble spirit and continually recognize his master’s authority over his life.
• The perfect disciple must love his master above all other things including his wife, parents, children, brothers, sisters, and even himself (Luke 14:26). If one of these people is standing between us and Christ, we must hate them as compared to our feelings for Christ. Many people have a problem with the prospect of loving Christ more than their family. I can relate. I love my wife more than I love oxygen. There have been times in my life when my children were what inspired me to keep going. However, if I truly believe in Jesus, than I have to believe that He will teach me the best way to relate to and love my family. The perfect disciple puts Christ first and allows all other relationships to fall into order.
• The perfect disciple must be willing to carry heavy burdens in her pursuit of Christ (Luke 14:27). The perfect disciple isn’t perfect because she has never suffered. Rather, she is perfect because she follows Christ in the midst of her storm regardless of how difficult it is. She carries her own cross in pursuit of Christ.
• The perfect disciple is willing to give up all that he has to follow Christ (Luke 14:33). Discipleship to Christ is the most valuable part of the perfect disciple’s life. Think of your most valued possession or relationship. Imagine what it is that you treasure the most in your life. The perfect disciple would give that treasured item up in a heartbeat to continue in discipleship to Christ.

This concept of the perfect disciple seems a little daunting. After all, if any of us were capable of being the “perfect” disciple to Christ we probably wouldn’t be visiting a blog titled “The Imperfect Disciples!” We can take heart, however, in that we serve a gracious and merciful God. The apostle Paul likened our discipleship to a marathon. I’m going to liken it to something a little different. In southern Ohio there is an annual bicycle event called the Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV). Every year, on Mother’s Day weekend, cyclist set out from Columbus in central Ohio and pedal all the way to the Ohio River. The next day, these crazy cyclists make the return trip totaling over two miles by the end of the weekend. All of us that live along the TOSRV’s route find great amusement in those cyclists that get lost along the way. They may all set out from the same point and with the same destination, but there are always a few that get lost along the way and find themselves way off course. This is how our discipleship works. We all begin with a belief that Christ is a Master worthy of discipleship. Along the way, some of us get lost. We may not pedal as fast as the other disciples. We may not all be prepared physically and emotionally for the trip, however, we all have to cross the same hills. It takes effort. We may even have to get off of the bike and walk. However, if we strive to keep Christ as our master and to make our discipleship to Him our most important relationship, we will all reach the river!

There may never be a “perfect” disciple to Jesus Christ. Peter’s belief faltered. Thomas doubted. Paul referred to himself as the chief of all sinners. The point is that even Lance Armstrong crashes his bike every once in awhile! Thankfully, Scripture teaches that discipleship to Christ is a process.  Luke 6:40 says that when we are fully trained we will look like our master. We are all still in training, however, if we all profess to believe that discipleship is a journey worth taking, we must begin by making the right decisions now. We must begin by evaluating ourselves and living as if we truly believe Christ is our Lord.

For without belief we are no different than anyone else.

Book Review: A New Kind of Christianity by Brian McLaren
Publisher: HarperOne, 2010

In past reviews of Brian McLaren’s books I have always attempted to hold my criticism back a little. This is due in large part to not wanting to harshly judge a fellow Christian in a public forum. After reading A New Kind Christianity I am no longer concerned with holding back. I suppose this is because McLaren is also no longer concerned with holding back. In the past, McLaren has always been hard to pin down.  His opinions are vague because he will never make a claim of truth in what he writes. He has said that what he writes is merely a contribution to the ongoing “conversation” we humans are invited to engage in about God and seems to think that the moment someone claims an actual truth regarding God the conversation is muffled. The problem is that McLaren seems to apply his relativist outlook to the rock solid truths of the Bible leaving us all swimming around in a sea of uncertainty.

In A New Kind of Christianity McLaren comes as close as he ever has to showing his cards. In this book he denies hell, the fall of man, human depravity, and seems to think the greatest Christian minds throughout history have all been reading the Bible in the wrong way. McLaren submits that for millennia Christians have been reading the Bible through a faulty Greco-Roman world view. He claims that this worldview has led us all to come to fundamentally wrong conclusions concerning Jesus’ role in our lives. Thank goodness McLaren has come along to save us from the false teachings of the greatest minds the world has ever known. While McLaren doesn’t explicitly state it, if he is correct concerning the things he writes, than the likes of the apostle Paul, Saint Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and C.S. Lewis have all been wrong. McLaren’s claims reek of arrogance.

Rather than reading the Bible through our faulty Greco-Roman reading glasses (according to the author, these glasses lead us to read the Bible as a constitution that reveals too much truth), McLaren suggest we should read it as an ongoing conversation. The most attracting aspect of this “conversation” is no doubt that it will never lead us to a certain or definite conclusion. What McClaren has done is invent a new way to read Scripture due to his inability to juxtapose the God of the Old Testament with the Savior of the New Testament. McLaren submits that the Bible is evidence of the evolution of mankind’s thought processes. In the Old Testament, when man’s thoughts were the most primitive, God was painted as a violent and cruel God that no savvy Christian such as McLaren could ever worship. After a few thousand years, Jesus was portrayed in a much different light because thought had evolved to the point that mankind could imagine a God that was closer to the truth. McLaren takes this theory far enough to imagine a future where Christians will imagine a God that is even more perfect than Christ. In his future, Christians (and God) are vegetarian, earth worshiping pacifists who throw up in their mouth a little when they remember those barbaric Christians who laid the foundation of the church. It seemed to me that McLaren’s God of the future is very much like McLaren himself. McLaren’s book is one of the grossest forms of idolatry I have ever witnessed another Christian commit. Because he is unable (or unwilling) to accept God as He is revealed to us in Scripture, McLaren resorts to recreating Him in his own image. It is the ultimate form of humanism and arrogance.

Personally, I’ll join the early church fathers and fundamental Christians over the last two millennia who wished to understand the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as revealed by God Himself in the Holy Scriptures. McLaren’s teaching in this book are so far removed from traditional fundamental Christianity that it is virtually indistinguishable from atheism.

Christ taught that the world would hate us because of Him. This was evidenced in the church fathers who gave their lives to promote the Gospel. It is witnessed to today in various parts of the world where Christians are persecuted and killed for their beliefs.

In this book, McLaren spits on the memories and sacrifices of those Christians and sides with the world. He disregards the revelation of God Almighty and creates a disgusting idol.

Did you or your children ever play little league baseball? Can you remember a time when only the winners of the league (and maybe 2^nd and 3^rd place) took home a trophy? Perhaps like me you have a hard time with the recent trend of participation trophies. I’m not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way someone got the bright idea that every kid who bought a pair of cleats should get a trophy. Rewarding the kids who work hard, practice and hone their skills is no longer a priority. Why? I’m not sure. Perhaps we’re trying to spare the feelings of the losers. Perhaps the virtue of participation really is more important than the concept of winning. Personally, I think this is a bunch of bunk. Maybe a kid can’t hit a fastball. So what? Let’s help him find his own gift; maybe it’s playing a tuba or swimming. Maybe she’s a natural born writer or scientist. My point is that we should award the kids in an area that they deserve recognition. If every kid that runs onto a baseball diamond gets a trophy, the trophies become somewhat meaningless, right? What’s so special about winning a trophy if everyone gets a trophy?

Right now you’re probably asking yourself what this has to do with pantheism. I’m making a point – trust me.

The Stanford Dictionary of Philosophy defines pantheism as follows:

Pantheism is a metaphysical and religious position. Broadly defined it is the view that God is everything and everything is God. A slightly more specific definition says [that] pantheism … signifies the belief that every existing entity is, only one Being; and that all other forms of reality are either modes (or appearances) of it or identical with it.

This concept of pantheism is common amongst Eastern and New Age religions. Whenever you hear a person talk about “The All” or “The One” you can rest assured they are espousing a belief in pantheism. If I am being honest, the idea or thought processes behind this idea are valid. A person who expresses a belief in pantheism is normally trying to convince others to respect nature. The argument is that we should care for and respect nature and other people because all of it – man, rocks, mountains, trees, animals and etc. – are all part of “The All.” Everything is God so we should treat everything with the proper respect.

This all sounds great doesn’t it? The problem is that this isn’t the Biblical view of creation. Rather, the Bible teaches that we should be able to recognize God based on His creation. Our appreciation of creation and nature should cause us to fall on our knees and worship the true, living God. We may discover the general attributes of God by examining His creation; for instance, He is a God who appreciates beauty, love and friendship. He is a God who loves painting glorious skies and landscapes just to watch our mouths fall open in wonder. However, we must not confuse the Creator with creation. These revelations that can be found in nature are general. If we want to learn the specific attributes of God we must study the Special Revelation found in Scripture and in the person of Jesus Christ. When we confuse the general and special revelations of God we are making the same mistake that Paul addresses in Romans 1:25, “[We exchange] the truth of God for a lie, and worship and serve created things rather than the creator.”

I would take it one step further and suggest we are in violation of one of the Ten Commandments.  When we worship creation as if it were God we are creating idols. Yes we should respect, preserve, and care for our environment; but only because it is a gift from God, not because it is God.

If we consider all of creation God – you are God, I am God, the trees are God, Squirrels are God and etc. – than there is nothing special about being God; much like little league participation trophies, God becomes meaningless.

Look at it this way … if everything is God, than nothing is God. Pantheism is akin to atheism in the sense that God becomes unnecessary. I prefer to learn about the real, living God as revealed in the Scriptures. Yeah, it takes more effort and more dedication than simply pronouncing that nature is God, but it is more rewarding in the end.

Book Review: Five Views on Apologetics, edited by Steven Cowan
Publisher: Zondervan, 2000

Cowan’s purpose in presenting his Five Views on Apologetics is to provide the reader with a “side by side” view of the varying apologetic methodologies so that one may make up their own mind as to which method is correct (Cowan, page 8). Cowan classifies the apologetic methodologies into five separate categories; classical, evidential, cumulative, presuppositional and reformed epistemology. The editor then attempts to accomplish his self-assumed task by allowing a contributor who represents each of the five categories to make a case for their unique methodology. After each apologist completes his presentation, the other contributors are provided the opportunity for rebuttal. While the content of this book is valuable, I do have a couple of quibbles.

The first problem with this text is the layout. While I appreciate that the contributors were afforded the opportunity to respond to one another, I feel that each of the five methodologies should have been fully presented prior to the rebuttals. For instance, on page 56 Gary Habermas begins his rebuttal to William Lane Craig’s take on classical apologetics by pointing out that it has much in common with his own evidential approach. This comment is made before the reader has read Herbermas’ essay and can fully grasp what evidential apologetics is. This problem could be addressed by simply reading the chapters out of order and in retrospect I wish I would have done so.

My second complaint with this book concerns taxonomy. The editor himself seems to suggest this is a problem when he says, “these five apologetic methodologies do not constitute an exhaustive list of apologetic approaches” (page 20). With that in mind, one wonders if Cowan’s choice of five methodologies was somewhat arbitrary. Couldn’t he have divided apologetics into six or seven categories with justification? My concern; however, isn’t that Cowan didn’t differentiate enough between methodologies, but rather that he could have focused more on their similarities. The classical and cumulative approaches seem to be very similar in approach to evidential apologetics; as Cowan observes on page 18, “The careful reader will no doubt note that this [cumulative] method belongs in the same broad family of methods as does the evidential (and perhaps classical) method.” Likewise, the reformed epistemology belief that it is reasonable for a person to believe something without evidence seems to place it in the same family as the presuppositional method. Cowan could have easily presented the material in this book under two wide classifications; an evidential approach verses a presuppositional one. My concern is that the reader will become more concerned with adhering to one of Cowan’s five camps than with presenting the best apologetical argument in a given situation. In all fairness, this issue is addressed somewhat in Cowan’s conclusion beginning on page 375 when he summarizes the agreements and disagreements between the five methods.

Despite the above criticisms, this book is highly valuable and should be recommended for newcomers to the subject of apologetics. Before reading this text, I had no idea of the complexities concerning apologetic methodologies and was unaware of the current debates between apologists. Despite the fact I have a natural affinity for the evidential methods of apologetics, I was extremely impressed with John Frame’s essay on the presuppositional method and his examination of how unbelief effects a person’s perception of the truth (beginning on page 210). Frame and the other contributors do a good job of stretching the reader’s perceptions of apologetics. In sum, will help prepare its reader to give an answer to all who ask and for that it is valuable.

(This post originally appeared on the now defunct centurybound.com blog on December 22, 2005. It appears here with some major rewrites from the author.)

While surfing the internet, I happened upon the blog of an atheist who was asking the following question of her readers:

 “How many people would believe in a god if there were no rewards promised to the self for doing so?”

This rather loaded question is a complicated one. It is actually not meant to be a question, but rather an attack on the principles of Christianity. The atheist is suggesting that the Christian faith is a selfish one and insinuating that if there were no promise of Heaven, there would be few, if any, Christians. There is no chance I could ever answer the question to this particular atheist’s satisfaction because I suspect she believes she already knows the answer. Furthermore, I’m not sure there is a way to know the answer. Since there is a promise of Heaven, I have no idea how many Christians there would be if that promise was ripped out from under us. I suspect, rather sadly, there would be less. Possibly much less, but that is just a guess. I know that in my own experience, Heaven did not enter the equation. I chose to believe in God because I had an encounter with Him that began to make sense to me intellectually. I then chose to believe in Jesus Christ (and the Christian faith) specifically for an abundance of reasons – none of which were Heaven. I sort of see Heaven as the icing on the cake. Don’t get me wrong, I am glad the promise is there; but my faith doesn’t hinge on it.

I believe we can examine this question introspectively in a way that can help us examine our faith. What if today, we pondered the following question?

Would you still follow Jesus Christ if there were suddenly no promise of Heaven?

If our answer to this question is ‘no’, I would suggest that we may be on shaky ground spiritually. I spent the majority of life before Christ creating a particular version of God in my mind and then imposing those values on the real God. For instance, the God I created was all knowing and all powerful. He had created this world and then stepped back to see what would happen. He was a fair God who would allow pretty much let anyone into Heaven provided they tried to live a good life (you know … paid their taxes, supported their children, didn’t kill anyone … that sort of thing). It was only when I humbled myself that I realized I had no right to impose my beliefs on God. If God were real, I had to allow Him to teach me about Himself and accept even what I didn’t understand. I had no business trying to invent God in my image. I had to understand and apply the old Axum that “Father Knows Best.” In other words, if God, in all His wisdom, suddenly decided there should be no Heaven, I would have to accept it – even if I didn’t understand it. I can’t worship God because of what He promises me, rather, I must worship God because He deserves it.

I am so thankful that my God has promised me Heaven. I also believe there is a hell. Hell, in my opinion, is proof that God loves us. How’s that you might ask? Well, if what we really want is a place that is free from the presence and influence of God, he will provide it for us even though it breaks His heart to do so. That place is hell. It’s not God that makes hell such a terrible place … it is the complete absence of God’s influence that makes hell so bad.

Even though I have a concrete belief in Heaven and hell, I can’t make that the focal point of my faith. Why? Well, if all I do is think about the future … someday far in the future … I am ignoring one of Jesus’ most powerful lessons. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. What did He mean by that? I think He meant that we can experience Heaven right now in our mortal life. If hell is the total absence of God, then Heaven is living in God’s presence. In fact, Heaven is more than just the presence of God – it is a place where God’s Will is done. We can experience God’s presence and live in His will right now. If we spend all of our time looking towards the future, we will miss out on the beauty that is Heaven on Earth.

Think about it … we all know the bitter and depressed Christian who lives a miserable life and constantly talks about Heaven in the future tense. My heart goes out to these people. Thank God they have the promise of eternal life from the One True God to keep them going. I am not suggesting that it would be healthy to totally forget about our promise of Heaven; I just pray that someday we can all experience a shadow of Heaven right now!