“It’s not hard to obey when we love the one we obey.” Ignatius of Loyola
“We learn more in one year of obedience to Jesus than in one hundred years of studying theology.”
In my last post, It’s Not About BIG Anymore, I suggested that walking in partnership with Jesus from a position of humility was the true mark of the upside-down Jesus-follower. But humility, though a vital foundation, is just a beginning.
The next step, perhaps, is to recognize that Jesus is the one who builds his church and he does it his way. Our part is to learn the lifestyle of loving him, listening to him, and surrendering our self to the simple steps of obedience he calls us to. It is the collective obedience of his disciples that results in the “big” kingdom outcomes that transform people, nations, and even the world.
It is the collective obedience of his disciples that results in the “big” kingdom outcomes that transform people, nations, and even the world.
Now, this certainly sounds simple… but it is not easy. In my own soul is an abundance of self-seeking, self-will, and an automatic careening after self-interests many of which mascarade as good things. The process of weeding out the weeds on a daily basis (taking up the cross) is an ongoing one that starts and stalls and starts again. But I desire to keep moving ahead because the call of the surrendered, obedient life is the call to a life of purpose, freedom, and joy. And it is the only pathway I know of for Jesus to build his kingdom-people into the kind of expression of himself that truly impacts others.
So...
He speaks.
I love him.
I listen and surrender to his leading and direction.
God accomplishes God-purposes.
Daily.
Maybe we need not wait for the next big thing to come along in the world of church and churchdom. Rather, maybe God is waiting for his church, his ekklesia, his people, to learn the simple steps of growing up into a lifestyle of simple love-motivated obedience thus expressing him more fully in the world.
“The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” Eph 1:23 The Message
