Transformed Character - Part 2

So we have started down this path of talking about the part of discipleship which entails a transformed character. What we are talking about here is how to live like Jesus lived. Last week we started by looking at the first temptation Jesus faced in the desert after his baptism. We saw how Jesus fully relied on God and His Word rather than on the seeming sustenance of this world. Though it takes time, we should always be putting more and more of our trust in God. Our spiritual appetite should be much stronger than our physical appetite.

The second temptation Jesus faced was slightly different. Satan took Jesus to the highest point of the temple, which was already sitting on the top of a hill (the temple mount). He told Jesus to jump because God said his angels would not let him fall. He was basically asking Jesus to show off. But Jesus again quoted a scripture: Deuteronomy 6:16, which directly refers to Exodus 17:1-7. Just after God brought them out of Egypt, the Israelites began to question whether God had their best interest in mind because they had no water to drink. They quarreled with Moses and grumbled against him. They sought to stone Moses because of their thirst. They doubted God.

Jesus never doubted God. If Jesus had any doubt in his mind that God would take care of him, then the temptation to jump and see if God really would protect him would have been greater. He never doubted God, and he saw no reason to prove God's faithfulness by jumping. He didn't need to show off for anyone. He left his ego behind, and humbly accepted who he was without having to prove it to anyone. If you think about it, that is what he was here for anyway. He came to humble himself to death on a cross because he knew he was able to cancel our debt. He didn't have to prove it to anyone.

So what does that mean for us? Why do we feel the need to prove ourselves? Do we feel that the world needs to know that we can measure up to its value systems? Or is it an intrinsic need to show others that we can measure up - to satisfy our ego? Maybe it's a bit of both. But in the eyes of God, we can't measure up. We need the blood of Jesus to cover us, and when we accept that, there is nothing to prove to this world anymore. Our value system is not the same as the world's. Our ways of ministry should focus on building character in ourselves and in others, rather than trying to measure up to a value system that degrades character and faith. Sometimes we just need to leave our ego behind, and know that we are in Christ. There is nothing to prove to anyone. God doesn't need us to prove ourselves. Rather, if we simply allow ourselves to focus on who we are as sons and daughters of God, our character will be built. So let's be humble; let's know who we are in Christ; let's stop trying to prove our worth by measuring ourselves against the wrong value systems; let's give all the glory to God!

So if the lesson from the first temptation is for our spiritual appetite to overshadow our physical appetite, then the lesson from this second temptation is to allow our worth in Christ to overshadow our ego. Again, this is not going to happen tonight because you agree with this concept. It takes time, prayer, Bible study, solitude, community, and leaning on the Holy Spirit. We must come to terms with who we are in Christ in order to stop feeling the need to prove ourselves to others. As we walk down this path, the needs of our ego will become smaller and smaller, and who we are in Christ will become clearer and clearer. That's the transformational process!

Next week we'll dive into the third temptation. But for this week, let's really contemplate our worth in Christ. How can we become less defensive, less proud, less showy, and more humble and satisfied with our identity in Christ. This will transform our character and help us to live as Jesus lived. Here are a couple of things to mull over...

• Think back to when you first came to know Christ. How have you become more in tune with your identity in Christ since then? 
• What does it mean to not put God to the test? How have you tested Him?
• Why is this aspect of character so important?
• What other thoughts or questions come up from this?

Transformed Character - Part 1

Have you ever wondered what it means to live like Jesus? After really digging around with the concepts of studying and interpreting the Bible for a while, it's time to get practical. Jesus was fully human and fully God at the same time. We know this from several different Scriptures referring to him. But how can we live our lives the same way he lived his humanly life? What elements of his character can we grow into? That's a good topic to discuss.

We are looking into this concept a little bit in our sermon/small group lesson series this Spring, but I want to really grab a holistic approach to this concept and spend some time digging into Jesus' character. One of the key places to turn, in my opinion, is Matthew 4. Right after Jesus was baptized, it says he was led into the desert by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert, of all places. I am positive that during this time Jesus was praying to God to be sustained while he fasted. Now during this time, Jesus was tempted by Satan. Matthew tells us of three specific temptations. This week I want to look at the first of those three, and save the other two for later.

The first temptation was when Satan came to Jesus and told him that if he was the Son of God, then he should turn the stones into bread. Clearly, Satan was hitting on Jesus' physical hunger to get him to use his power as God to satisfy that hunger. Now Jesus, obviously tempted to give in and provide food for himself, decided that it was better for him not to give in to Satan's game. Instead, he quoted Scripture to him, saying, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." He is actually quoting Deuteronomy 8:3, which in context is very interesting when compared to Jesus being hungry in the desert, but that is for another discussion. The main point is that Jesus knew that God's words were more important than food. His spiritual appetite exceeded his physical appetite.

Today we can see the results of economic disaster all around us. People who are close to us are losing jobs, and we hurt for them, and we want to help take care of them. We see people giving in to the temptation to "take care of themselves," rather than simply leaning on God and pursuing Him with everything they have. The fact is that we have physical needs. Food is one of them. But is God worried about what we are going to do to feed ourselves, or does He simply want us to focus on Him and let Him take care of food and a job? Jesus was famished in the desert, especially after forty days, but the time alone with God in prayer was so satisfying that his need for food took a backseat. How can we truly get to this point?

Can I just say that it is not going to happen the way we want it to happen. We want our food fast, our downloads in seconds, our mail immediately; but coming to a point where we are so satisfied with God and His words is not going to happen quickly. It will happen as we spend time with Him, in prayer and in studying His Word, in solitude and in community with others. It will happen as we see our needs being met by Him in ways that we never would have been able to do on our own. It will happen as we come to a point where we trust Him so much that it doesn't matter if we lose our job today because we know that God has never failed us and will not start now. That is one way to explain what it means to have a transformed character. That is how we learn to live the way Jesus lived. Our physical needs are very evident to us, even though we have more than almost any other culture in the world. We do not know what it is to be without, so when we are faced with the threat of losing an income, we can focus on our ability to provide, and we forget that God is THE Provider.

So what does it mean to have a transformed character? In my estimation, one piece of that answer is to allow our spiritual appetite to overshadow our physical appetite. When our need for God eclipses our need for anything this world can offer, we become reliant on Him, and that is one aspect of the way Jesus lived. Next week we will look at more of what it means to live like Jesus lived. Here are a couple of thoughts you may want to follow up on...

• Pointing out Jesus quoting Deut. 8:3 is very poignant. How does Jesus become the embodiment of what God hoped Israel would become through this one temptation?
• What are some worldly things that seem to tempt you from relying fully on God to meet your needs?
• Are you relying on God more now than you were a year ago, five years ago, or ten years ago? How?

What am I reading?

So the last two posts, I have really talked about context, thought two different kinds. I have spoken of the literary context, which is basically trying to figure out the flow of thought, the author's main point. Then we looked at situational context: what was going on when and where the author wrote that helps this passage make sense? Today I want to spend some time writing about a controversial topic. Some of you will grasp this and some of you will fight it. What am I talking about? Genre.

Genre is a French word that means "kind" or "type." For instance, if you go to the video store, you have the new release section, you have the comedy section, the horror section, and the drama section. Those are each genres. They let you know what "kind" of film you are renting or buying. Another example of genre is the newspaper. You have the front page and the ensuing news, you have comics, sports, and classifieds. Each section presents a different "kind" of news.

The reason I am bringing up genre is that each genre of literature has certain guidelines or rules that help us know how to read that particular piece of literature. Deuteronomy is considered "law," Proverbs are "wisom poetry," Isaiah is "prophetic," Matthew and Mark are "narrative," and Revelation is a combination of genres. I would venture to say that we are all experts at genre, and we don't even realize it. Let me give you an example from Mark Moore. Let's say you read the words "downtown," "bucket," and "on fire" in a newspaper. What do you think it would mean if it was on the front page vs. the sports section? The front page may very well be talking about a building downtown that caught on fire and the bucket truck had to be used to help put it out. In the sports section, it is likely talking about a basketball game where someone was shooting really well and made a three-point shot. How do we know this? We have been trained that sports has its own verbiage and the front page has another verbiage. So we can interpret what is being said properly.

So let's think about Proverbs for a moment. We often read proverbs as if they are absolute fact, when they are actually meant to be pearls of wisdom that generally are how things go in life. So Proverbs 16:31 says that someone with gray hair has lived a righteous life. Is that necessarily true all the time? No. However, generally speaking if I live my life to please God, I have a better chance of seeing old age (or martyrdom in some cases). What about Proverbs 22:6? If I train a child a certain way, he will always stick to that training, right? How many of us have seen teenagers stray from the way they were trained? (On a side note, the Hebrew language here may suggest an entirely different translation and interpretation anyway.) A great book to grab if you want a better understanding of genre is How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart.

Now genre is important because it helps us to know how to read a particular passage in the Bible. If we are going to learn to believe what Jesus believed, we need to really hone in on the literary context (what is really being said, what's the point?), the situational context (what about the situation can help me better understand what is being communicated?), and the genre (what type of literature is this?). Next week we will move on to talking about a transformed character (living the way Jesus lived). But for now, a couple of questions...

• How does genre conflict with what you have thought about the Bible before?
• How can we tell what genre a particular passage is?
• Who determines the rules associated with each genre?
• What other thoughts/questions come up?

What's going on here?

Now we have an idea of determining the literary context of a verse or passage. We need to understand the little picture and the big picture, the trees as well as the forest. This means we have to read more than just our verse or passage. We need to read the entire book it is in, and really, the entire Bible as well. Just a suggestion, don't try to read the entire Bible in one sitting. :) Remember, as far as discipleship goes, we are still working on determining what Jesus believed. So we are sticking to the idea of interpreting the Bible for a couple more weeks, and then we will look further into the six areas of transformation!

So what if we understand exactly what the literary context is, the themes that are present in the writing, and the way the words affect each other? How can we be sure we are getting at what the author intended to mean? Is there only one "author's intended meaning?" I am going to leave that one hanging there for a while. Feel free to comment your thoughts, and I will tell you what I believe.

Well, if we are going to understand the author's intended meaning, we need more than just what they wrote. We need to attempt to understand the situation for which he was writing as well. Who was the author? When did he write it? What was going on in the time and place of writing? What was the culture like? What language was used? Where was the author and who did he intend to read his writing? These are excellent questions to answer in order to grasp the situational context. If we do not grasp this, then it is likely we will not grasp what the author really intended to mean.

For example...In Colossians 2:8-15, the apostle Paul tells the church in Colosse to stand firm on the teaching they had already received and not to fall prey to Jews telling them they need to become Jews before they can be saved. It doesn't actually say that in the text, but we can understand that from the historical context. In that day, it was customary for a gentile who was to become a Jew to do three things: males were to be circumcised, they were to participate in a ritual washing called a mikveh and they were to bring a sacrifice to the temple. Based on this information, you can tell that Paul is rebutting each of these steps because they have already been done through the Holy Spirit entering them (circumcision made without hands), baptism, and the offering of Christ was made for all people already. The situation definitely shapes the meaning of the text!

Because of this fact, it is very important that we do not rely solely on inductive Bible study. Using secondary sources such as commentaries, word studies, historical books, and dictionaries are very helpful to setting the scene for which the passage must be set up against in order to properly understand what the author intended to communicate. So...what thoughts does this spark in your mind?

• How can we better understand the book of Revelation if we understand the historical and cultural setting that John's original audience was in?
• How can the prophetic books of the Old Testament come alive if read in the situational context?
• What do you think about all of this?