In a world that is baiting us to react, now is a time to reflect and respond.

Reacting is our favorite thing to do, it’s so much easier. When the news shows us its version of the problem, it triggers something in us to react. And, conveniently enough, there is a social media platform just waiting for you to make sure people know how you feel about it all.

Do you see it happening? Everyone has to make sure the world knows they are either for or against something that happened or with something someone said. I’ve been guilty of this.

I’ve been sucked into the black hole of reacting to each-and-every-thing the world has thrown at me.  

It’s bait. Every headline, every quip, every clip, it’s all bait on a hook. That bait has a hook of fear behind it, offense, and anger as well. You’ve felt it. I know I have. We must grow past this, we must end the cycle, and we must begin to walk in the ways of Jesus.

What’s our way forward? After what we all saw this week at Capitol Hill, what’s our way forward? After what we’ve endured through the political chaos and mud, what’s our way forward in this country? 

By “our“ I mean the church. 
Actually no. I mean Christians.
Actually no. I mean people who follow Jesus. 

Unfortunately, the word Christian has begun to hang out with some pretty shady people.

People are beginning to wonder whether or not that word means what it used to mean, I know I am. 

We must recapture the identity of the Church. Whether we think so or not, Christianity needs revival. We’ve gotten mixed up with what our priorities are. I’ll give you a hint, it has nothing to do with a politician. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to do a refining work in us again, we’ve forgotten the face of our Father. 

What’s our way forward? 

As I’ve spent time reflecting these last few weeks, I’ve heard the Holy Spirit say two things to my heart. The first I’ve already made mention of; we must take time to reflect.

Reflect.

We must carve out space, like Jesus often did, to go and be with the Father alone. We must take time away from our phones, away from our screens, and even away from our friends and family, and spend time listening to the voice of God.

No podcasts.
No worship music.
No Bible reading plan.
Just you and the Father.

Jesus modeled this for us to be followed and blessed by. 
The health of your soul rests on the choice you make to reflect or react.

Reflect on what you see, submit it before the Lord. Reflect on your reactions to things, people, and situations. Stop talking and listen. Reflect on the way your heart is behaving. Those thoughts you’ve been thinking may need to be filtered out by the Spirit of God, they aren’t from Him.

Reflect on the status of this country and world. Allow God to show you all He sees, because our view of reality is so limited. We can’t help but the view people and situations through the filter of our selfishness, but Jesus, He sees people through the work of the cross.

St. Anthony, when speaking of solitude and reflection, said…

“A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, ‘You are mad, you are not like us.'”

St. Anthony

Henri J. M. Nouwen says in his book The Way of the Heart…

“Compassion is the fruit of solitude and the basis of all ministry. The purification and transformation that take place in solitude manifest themselves in compassion.”

Henri J. M. Nouwen

Take time.
Get some solitude.
Reflect and pray.
Let God fan the flame of His Spirit inside your heart.

You have been given the mind of Christ, we cannot allow the world to drive us mad.

Beyond the word reflection, I heard the word disciple. 

The world doesn’t need more people who say they are Christian, the world needs disciples who are living like Jesus. Friends, there is a difference, and our current world is proof of it. 

Disciples. 

Something to consider is that Jesus didn’t spread the gospel, the disciples did. Jesus didn’t travel the globe and do miracles, the disciples did. Jesus didn’t have a long ministry career, the disciples did.

Jesus spent all His time investing in, loving on, teaching, and sharing life with His disciples. Jesus really only came out with 12 true disciples, that’s it! 

The way forward, is the Church going back to doing what we were instructed to do by the words of Jesus and that’s make disciples.

But it takes discipled people to make disciples. 
A disciple is someone who is following the way of Jesus.
A disciple is someone who is mimicking the way Jesus lived.
…the way He spoke.
…the way He treated people.
…the way He prayed for people.
…the way He handled opposition.

Everything should flow from this command from Jesus. Is what you’re doing, saying, thinking, and being, lining up with Jesus, and are you in it to make disciples? 

That goes for individuals and churches alike.
Live-stream is cool, but if you don’t have a plan in place to disciple your viewers, then turn it off. 

As a disciple, it becomes increasingly difficult to treat people any other way than the way Jesus would. Everyone. 
As a disciple, it becomes harder to side with one group of people and hate another.

It isn’t possible to be a disciple of Jesus and actively hate someone.

Look how Jesus treats His disciples when they get in the way of Him loving someone on the other side. The world will never stop giving you legitimate reasons to hate other people, but we aren’t like other people, we’re disciples of Jesus.

Jesus is putting on the ear of those we’ve already drawn the sword on. Can you see Him? 

Becoming a disciple is the only way forward.
Making disciples is the only way forward.

Not disciples of myself, but disciples of Jesus. This was never supposed to be about me, my ministry, and my church. It was supposed to be about Him, His ministry, and His Church.

Become a disciple again. 

Here’s a quote I read today as I began to go through The Spiritual Disciples by Richard J. Foster again, it’s by Leo Tolstoy…

“Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself.” 

Leo Tolstoy

The days has come of repentance and resurrection of the people of God.
We must reflect and we must respond as disciples.
The battle has already been won.
There is a King on the throne.

He has called you and I to be His disciples.
He has called you and I to make disciples.

Let me leave you with this verse brothers and sisters. As I read it this morning, I heard the Spirit in my heart say, is this you? Even now as I reflect, I can’t help but weep over the grace God has already shown me. I’m no model Christian, I’m a person who God has showed tremendous mercy to, a broken kid who God rescued from the pits of sin and despair, and a young man who heard the voice of the Maker say come.

Brothers and sisters, I pray this verse would be true of us.

Lord help us.

Show us the way forward.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” 

Psalm 42:1-2

With love.
Jordan