Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Are You Listening To God?

listenAre you ready to listen? And I am not talking about getting your children to be quiet or about improving your relationship with your spouse. That kind of listen is good and paramount. But there is an even more important listening that needs to take place. We need to listen to Christ.

When Jesus took his disciples up onto the mountain before his death, Peter, James and John were in a stupefied awe. And rightfully so. According to Mark 9:3, they had seen the glory of Christ. The text records that Jesus’ “ clothes become radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them.” Something magnificent was going on. And that’s not all. Moses and Elijah show up with Jesus and begin talking about Jesus’ upcoming death. Talk about a wow moment. Although, the disciples did not know fully what was going on, the they knew that something amazing was occurring. As the miraculous event ended, Peter blurted out, “Rabbi it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  Seemingly, Peter always has to say something. And so, he did.

And, he begins well enough. Peter recognized that experiencing Christ more fully is a good and gracious thing. Hearing the gospel preached is a blessing. All Christians should long to know Christ more. All should long to see the glory of Christ.

Unfortunately for Peter, he does not stop there. He goes on to offer to build three tabernacles. He essentially wants to do something for God. Peter wants to help establish the kingdom of God. And while building tabernacles and memorials that point to the glory of God is perhaps well intended, Peter’s thoughts miss an important truth. Christ does not need us.

Jesus does not need our programs, our large church buildings, and our schemes to validate his ministry. Jesus is not sitting on his throne of glory thinking, “If only they would feed 1000 people or if only they would build a new facility, then my name would be great.”  Christ does not measure his greatness by our actions.

Instead of speaking, instead of trying to work to moralize the grandeur of God on earth, we are told to do something else. We are told to listen. In verse 7, we read, “And a cloud came over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, ‘“This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”’ We need to listen to Christ.

We buck against this idea. Because we like Peter, want to push God forward with human hands. But God does not need our soup kitchens, our buildings, or our T.V. shows to reach the world. Christ is tabernacling with us. He has sent the Holy Spirit to bear witness to his son. Christ reveals himself daily in the Scriptures. Instead of us trying to vindicate God by showing the world how successfully our programs and ideas are, we need to listen to Christ.

We need to believe that salvation comes through the cross alone. We need to listen to God. We need to admit that God is the authority on God. We need to listen to the Son. And then we need to obey. There is no other way. God requires nothing more and nothing less. Jesus is speaking. Will we listen?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Take Up Your Cross

crossWhen we think of taking up a cross, we often think of Mrs. Martha saying that her recent battle with the flu is her cross. Or perhaps, we think of musicians peddling snazzy shirts and necklaces of the symbol of death. But is this what Jesus meant when he commanded us in Mark 8:34  to “take up our cross.” Is taking up our cross nothing more than patiently bearing with life’s disappointment while engaging in some Christian marketing?

I think it is more. I think being a Christian, having true faith, and being a real follower entails more than the above definition.  To take up our cross, we must be willing to radically and to practically live our life for Christ joyfully bearing all the reproaches, condemnation, and attacks of men.

To understand more about what taking up our cross means, we need to peak back a few verses. In Mark 8:31 Jesus says he will die on the cross because, “the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the scribes.” Jesus’ death was a direct result of his obedience to God. Jesus was not talking about all the aches and pains that all experience in this life. He was talking about the persecution that we would face if we deny ourselves.

If we deny ourselves and pursue Christ, we too will suffer. As Jesus said in John 15:20:

Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

We may miss great job promotion because we desire to honor our marriage vows. We may not be invited to the family summer vacation because we want to obey God by avoiding drunkenness. And our kids may get benched because we value hearing the word of God preached more than the 3 spot in the order. Bearing a cross means that we embrace the cost of following Jesus. Bearing the cross means we are willing to be rejected and mocked by our peers. Bearing the cross means we are willing to live radically obedient lives even if we may lose our life in the process.

And Jesus’ initially hearers clearly grasped this reality. They saw the cross not as an ordinary part of life. They did not view it as an accessory. The saw it for what it was: a vile instrument of torture and death. The crowds had seen the Romans execute thousands upon thousands of Jews with the long nails and wooden planks. Jesus’ hears had watched their fellow Jews slowly die from affixation after days of agony. They knew Jesus was not calling them to endure the normal hardships of life well. They knew Jesus was calling them to deny themselves up to the point of death. They knew Jesus demanding their all.

Are we willing to radically follow Jesus? Are we willing to daily die to ourselves? Are we willing to sacrifice earthly comfort, our success, and our worldly hopes for the gospel? Are we persecuted for our faith?

Again, I do not think that every day of our life will be marked by suffering for the gospel. Our lives could be this way. We have many brothers and sisters who daily face death because of their commitment to Christ. The persecution we may come our sister, our fellow PTA members, or from a recreational softball team.  The question is this: Do we face any persecution or is our life so in line with the world that we never stand out?

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

Can We Change The Gospel?

change-the-bibleCan we change the gospel? For years now, many theologians, politicians, and average Americans have been emphatically saying, “Yes.” According to them, we can and must change the gospel so that it can connect with the modern man and woman. Prohibitions against infidelity and homosexuality are deemed outdated and unnecessarily offensive. Instead of hanging onto the two-thousand-year old claims of a dusty book, we need to extend love and acceptance.  As Luke Timothy Johnson, a professor at Emory University, nicely summed this ideology writing, “I think it is important to state clearly that we do, in fact, reject the straightforward commands of Scripture, and appeal instead to another authority…We appeal explicitly to the weight of our own experience and the experience of thousands of others have witnessed to.” As Doctor Rachel Noami Remen said, “The complexity of the real world requires us to struggle to hear the Holy and develop a personal responsibility to live a good life.” We must unhinge ourselves from the slow wagon of gospel truth and embrace the rapid beauty of the human experience. We must allow people to change the gospel to fit their experience. Not too long ago, Katie Perry declared, “I don’t believe in a heaven or a hell or an old man sitting on a throne….I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable.” Depending on her shared experience, she found the modern, relevant God that she needs. To be loving and relevant Christians must embrace and tolerate such declarations of divine discovery. If we do not, we will find ourselves alone, bitter, and on the wrong side of history.

So can we change the gospel narrative? Can we add and subtract from Jesus message so that it will resemble our human experience? Should we trust ourselves?

Jesus says no. In Mark 8:31, Jesus begins to tell his disciples about his impending death, burial and resurrection. “He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and killed and after three days rise again.” And like many of us, the apostle Peter takes great exception to Jesus teaching.

Did We Create The Gospel?

Peter had just confessed the Jesus was “the Christ,” the messiah (8:29). But he did not fully understand how Jesus was going to save humanity. And how could he? The human experience had led him to believe success and salvation equaled human victories, achievements, and crowns. Jesus proclaimtion debunked everything Peter’s thought. Jesus delcared that the very best people in society, “the elders and the chief priests and the scribes,” would perform the most horrible act in history.  According to Jesus, true Life was not found in the celebration of human accomplishment and goodness but in death and submission.

This is not the story that we would naturally want. This is not the story that mankind wants. This is God’s story. Prior to Jesus we could not concieve of a such a savior. We could not imagine such a strange narrative. We should not seek to change the gospel, because we did not create it.

Why Change The Gospel?

And because Jesus’ narrative was so radically different, Peter was disturbed. And so, he did what many of us do when we find Jesus troubling. Peter took Jesus aside and shouted, “Wrong!” Verse 32 says, “And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.” Peter took Jesus aside and said quite forcefully, “No. I do not want this gospel. This is not the gospel I signed up for. I want the Messiah who will vanquish the nasty Romans who have desecrated our temple and who have repeatedly robbed, abused, and denigrated the God’s people. I want the Messiah who will create a new and powerful earthly state. I want the Messiah that will fulfill and accomplish all my goals and place my high in authority. I want the Messiah who will validate my experiences, wants, and desires. I want the Messiah who does things my way.”

Today, you will be hard pressed to find anyone concerned about the Roman Empire imoratlized by its ruins. The modern man, woman, or child is not going to be too tempted to twist Jesus until the Messiah once again fits into the Jewish Revolutionary mold. That’s not our temptation.

We are tempted to daily twist the gospel to make a host of other goals acceptable. We tell Jesus that we will accept his gospel as long as we can have our sexual liberty. We tell Jesus that his gospel must allow us to be greedy and ignore the poor. We tell Jesus that his gospel must vindicate our harsh words directed to our kids, coworkers, and political opponents. We tell Jesus that his gospel must allow us to regularly disrespect our parents and those in authority. This is the human condition. This is our natural default condition. We want a gospel that does not require us to die to sin. We want a gospel that allows us to remain lord of our own lives. We want a gospel that vindicates a favorite sin, wants, and desires. We want a gospel that praises coveteousness and idolatry.

When we encounter Jesus’ gospel, we join the apostle Peter and scream, “No, I rebuke you, Jesus. Give me the gospel I want.”

Does Jesus Approve Of Our Changes?

What does Jesus say? Does he agree with Peter? Does he listen to Peter and hear out his concerns? Does Jesus think the human experience is a worthy standard by which to judge the world? No. Verse 31 reports, “But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Jesus does not allow Peter to change the gospel to fit Peter’s context and his understanding of the human experience. Rather, Jesus says that Peter’s ideas are demonic in nature. Why? Because they originate from earth. Peter’s thoughts are the thoughts of men. And men are not naturally good. Nor are they divine in their outlook. We cannot improve upon God’s plan because we do not think the thoughts of God. We think the thoughts of little insignificant creatures. And when we seek to change the gospel to fit our wants, we are maring perfection.

Many years ago, my brother and I received a couple of packs of airplane stickers while at an air show. We thought them quite becoming and decided they were just what our room needed. We went happily about our room sticking the bright little airplanes on all of our darkly stained wood furniture. A few moments later, we invited our mom to come checkout our decorating masterpiece. Instead of watching joy spread across her face, we saw her face fill with shock and horror. Needless to say, my career as an interior designer both began and ended that day.

Though my brother and I thought we were improving things, we actually made things worse. In effort to brighten things up, we destroyed the very beauty and worth of my mother’s furniture. We could not see her thoughts. We did not understand that furniture is worth more unstickered than stickered. And so we wrecked our bedroom suite.

When we attempt to change and to force the gospel to fit our ideas and goals, we are doing the exact same thing. We take the glorious gospel of God and decorate it we dumb stickers. We take that which is perfect and make it dirty and messy and worthless. Our ideas do not make the gospel heavenly. They make it more dumb, irrational, and foolish. We cannot improve the gospel. The creation cannot improve the creator. Do not argue with God.

When the world cries for us to change, to acquiesce, and to submit to the new cultural norms, we must resists. We must realize that the gospel is not our story. Because we could not conceive of it, we cannot change it. And we must realize that our experiences, our ideas, or wants are not divine or inspired. We do not add to the truth of the gospel. We take away from it.

And now we must all face the most trying question. Will we submit to the gospel? Will we listen to Jesus and obey? Will we daily as believers repent of the gospel inconsistencies in our own life – such as anger, greedy, and sexual immorality? Will we accept Jesus’ salvation? Or will we rebuke Jesus?