Hey #JustWrite!! It's April and this month we are discussing humility and how it impacts discipleship within family, church, and community through the book club selection, "The Revolutionary Disciple: Walking Humbly with Jesus in Every Area of Life by authors Jim Putman and Chad Harrington.
The book takes readers on a journey through the Five Discipleship Spheres. Those spheres are the following:
1. Abiding in Christ
2. The Church Sphere
3. The Home Sphere
4. The World Sphere
5. The Spiritual Realm
In Chapter 4, Putman and Harrington break down the 4 core practices of humility of a revolutionary disciple:
1. Serving
2. Submitting
3. Listening
4. Confessing
When we serve, we forfeit what's comfortable in our lives to help others. "Only by serving do we prove ourselves to be a servant leader." Jesus was the perfect model of a servant leader (Matthew 23:11-12). Submission is actively receiving from God's appointed authorities. Culturally, we as people flee when the word "submission" is mentioned because of abuse and misuse. From a biblical perspective, submission shows up not only as a gift to others but also the ability to receive from others who lead under God's spirit and authority. When we listen, we seek to understand what others have to say. There is a difference in hearing and listening. One is the act of receiving information and the other is the act of processing the information. Remember when Satan tried to tempt Jesus in the desert? Jesus rebuked Satan with the Word of God. He heard His father, listened to His father, and obeyed His Father. When we are prideful, it's hard to listen to others and we do the disservice to ourselves of missing what God wants to say. "Few Christians are adept at receiving Scripture’s rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness." Yes, God always speaks to us in His Word but He also speaks through His servants. We must be discerning, mindful of our actions and humble. When we confess, we freely admit to our wrongs and transgressions first to Jesus and then to other believers. Confession is akin to transparency. When we are transparent with confession, we are rebelling, disrupting, and revolving to be different and allowing others to be humbled, freed, and healed. "His confession healed a wound in me."
We all know that the ultimate rebel, disruptor, and revolutionary was Jesus. As the authors stated, "the authorities never knew what to do with Jesus." He could never be boxed in and self-contained for He walked in His position and spoke in authority (Mark 14:48). Jesus served humbly and understood discipleship despite His glorious fate which is the overall charge to us as believers. Remember, "Pride leads to division and death, but humility leads to life and peace." Which will you choose, pride or peace? An additional quote from Harrington's father and something to think about, "You can’t teach what you don’t know, you can’t lead where you won’t go, and you can’t give what you can’t show." We are not only hearers of the Word, but doers of the Word.
Check out the video complement to the book by the authors and join us on Tuesday, April 25 at 6pm for the discussion.
May God's peace abide forever with us all.
In His service,
Lequvia Ousley
