Atomic Discipleship, Part 3

Atomic discipleship is really about being faithful in the small things.  Committing our lives to following Jesus is as much about the the small things and how those small things have a cumulative effect over time in our life and in the kingdom of God. The fruit that we see in our lives is the result of the means we employ in our life… attending to the small things in the life of faith that lead to big results. 

What are those small things that we need to attend to in our life? As I mentioned previously they are three dimensional, and it is through the three dimensions that our lives are shaped to look more like the life of Jesus Christ.  With my current congregation, we have embraced a definition for a disciple.  A disciple hears his word, follows his example, and trains others in his mission.  To be clear, it’s about our character, competency, and collaboration. So the first part of the three dimensional life of Jesus is all about character.

Quick poll:  let’s say, you have a small child that is in your care, an infant.  You are charged with their care.  Something has come up and you need to find someone to care for the child on your behalf.  You have a choice.  You have two people, one that is a very high character individual-trustworthy, reliable, loving, but has little to no experience with children of any sort.  The other is a super competent person, has been caring for children for a long time, is proficient and efficient, but you cannot trust them, they are nice, and you aren’t sure if you can leave them alone in your house.  Which one do you pick?

Maybe it’s a sick loved one who cannot take care of himself or herself…you have a high character person and a high competency person, like the previous example…whom do you choose? I am currently in my fourth appointment as a pastor, and I learned something in the Secret Service that I have brought with me to ministry. In the service when we hired people, we looked first at character…the motto was worthy of trust and confidence.  That means that integrity and character were of primary importance.  You see, in the service’s way, we could teach you to do the things that you need to do and how to do it and do it well…we will train you…but we cannot teach character.

In the church, even as I look for hiring…it’s character first.  It is  more important than competency. Character is more important than competency. What you do flows from who you are. Believe it or not, this is especially true in discipleship.  Especially when you think of discipleship from an atomic perspective.

You can know the bible, but if you're not a loving person, who cares!?

When we think of this we see an extreme example of a Christian church that doesn’t seem to mirror the character of the one they purport to follow. It’s clear to us, isn’t it? And while we think about extreme examples, throughout the church there are other examples of character issues, the very public fall of well known pastors seems to be a more common occurrence.  We used to joke about certain groups or professions that had character flaws, but rarely have we addressed the plank in our own eye.  Rarely have we taken the time to reflect in the mirror.

When it comes to having the character of Christ in our own life, the problem is not “out there” it is in here (head and heart). We often equate that doing for God is the same for being with God, but this isn’t true. Being with God is the primary way for our character to be conformed to God’s character.  

Atomic discipleship calls for us to build UP CHARACTER.  Key word: UP.  Just because we have given our life to Jesus doesn’t mean our flaws are gone.  We are to continue to grow in grace…grow in Godly character…as John Wesley said for us Methodist people, we are to pursue Christian perfection—made perfect in love…love God and loving one another with the same love God gives us.

We have to continue to take small daily habits and one of those is to BE with GOD. The more time you spend with God the more you will begin to resemble God’s heart. We still pursue for our lives to be transformed so that we may have the character of Christ.  There is an old saying from Pete Scazzero that says, Jesus may be in your heart, but grandpa is in your bones.  As we spend time with God we submit ourselves to God’s inspection and correction, so that we can be a more accurate reflection of his character.

In John 14, Jesus tells Phillip, did you know that the father and I are one?  Sure this is a theological statement that Father and Son are the same, but then later in chapter 17 his prayer is that his disciples would be one with them. To be one with Jesus and one with God, to share that sort of community with the almighty means that we are transformed by the building UP CHARACTER. This happens by spending time with the Lord.  NOT with music, church services, classes…there is no curriculum that will build up your character more than simply sitting with God…in silence, being fully present and inviting God to speak to you—not just listen to you.  

We see many times in scripture where Jesus would get up and getaway to a lonely place (eremos in the Greek).  That is how he maintained his connection to his heavenly father…what about you?

We are created for this sort of connection to have this sort of character to love in this way.  But instantaneous change isn’t happening…there is no magic wand…there is only atomic discipleship in which we intentionally build up character in our daily life. What are the small habits that help us do that?  Silence, Examen, praying the scripture, solitude– those small daily, regular investments in this Godly character over time will lead to big results, and an overflowing life.