Small Steps in Discipleship to Jesus: A Vision

For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.  (John 3:16)

This popular verse encompasses the vision of what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus.  The substance of that vision is God's love for each person as an individual.  The expression of that love is in God's gift of Jesus Christ.  The response to that love is belief, seeing and trusting in this loving God.  The outcome is eternal life, a blessed and wonderful existence with God starting now and stretching into eternity.

According to Dallas Willard, who uses vision in his V-I-M model for personal transformation (Living a Transformed Life Adequate to Our Calling), vision is what motivates each person in growth.  The stronger the vision, the stronger the desire for growth and change.  I am not surprised that God spends so much time teaching me about and encouraging me with his love.  I remember one man writing that 90% of the time God speaks to him, he tells him how much he loves him.  God understands that without this vision of his love firmly set in the heart, the intention the change and the means of enabling such change will not be effective.

The substance of God's love must go beyond a general good feeling or force.  God does not love humanity; God loves each person.  In The Shack, I found it touching to hear God the Father say, "Tell your friend that I am especially fond of him."  He is able to spend time with each of us as individuals and not be less present  to any one person just because there are so many people.  He is infinite in his ability to give attention.  Jesus puts it this way: "Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered."  God does not love or treat us as masses or generalities; God loves each person dearly as an individual.

The expression of God's love is seen most clearly in Christ.  He is the Word through which everything that has been made was made.  He is Jesus, the incarnation of invisible God.  The Spirit of Jesus continues to indwell and act within this world and in his disciples.  One way I have discovered in understanding Jesus is to see that he comes as my Savior, Lord, Teacher, and Friend.  I can see the substance of God's love in a relationship with his Son, who brings God's love to me in ways I can understand and appreciate.  These four relationships express the deepest needs of my heart.  I need to be saved and restored.  I need to embrace my life as a created being who serves my God.  I need to be shown how to live.  I need to be befriended and walked with, even when I am not such a good friend myself.

The response to God's love is trusting him.  The relationships that God establishes in Christ require a response on my part in order for me to be a part of him.  I am always responding and never initiating in these relationships.  I respond to Jesus as my Savior by accepting my need my need to be saved, my hopelessness without his action on my part.  I respond to Jesus as my Lord by obedience to his commands, seeking to conform to his desires, and worshiping him and through him.  I respond to Jesus as my Teacher by learning from him about how to live my life as he would live my life, being his apprentice, his disciple.  I respond to Jesus as my Friend by going to him in all times, good or bad, and confiding in him about all things.  I see Jesus in these ways and trust that they are true about him.

The outcome of God's love is eternal life.  Jesus defines eternal life as knowing God and himself.  This is not merely something that happens after a person dies.  The reality and experience of eternal life can begin in this age and in my present existence.  The vision of eternal life is one of abundance, blessedness, love, joy and peace.  Although Jesus says that I will have trouble in this life, he says that he has overcome all trouble.  That is one of the meanings of the cross.  No one stands outside of the blessedness of such abundant life, no matter what their status, circumstances, or sufferings.  In the light of this life, even when we face trouble and suffering, Jesus says, "Rejoice and be glad!"  (Matthew 5:12)

Such a vision of God's love is what under-girds discipleship to Christ.  Where the vision falters or fades, my desire fades as well.  Without the light of that vision, my intentions become confused and my practices meaningless.  As the vision of God's love which gave me Jesus as my Savior, Lord, Teacher, and Friend who accepts my neediness, my service, my questions, and my company and which brings a new life of blessedness and abundance fills my vision, my sight, and my life, I will find that my decision to follow him and serve him and love him becomes clear and the practices necessary to enter that life become fruitful and life-giving.  I believe that most of my effort and attention need to go into this vision so clearly stated in John 3:16.

If you were to pick one aspect of this vision that gives you the most trouble, which would it be?  Do you find it hard to see God loving you in particular?  Do you find it hard to see Jesus as being enough to fill your needs and desires?  Do you find it hard to accept a relationship with Jesus?  Do you find it hard to see your life as blessed and abundant?