For This Reason 27

[HKHaugan]

When I get up in the morning to jog it’s really dark outside. Although I live in a gated community where there is little traffic that early a few cars move about so I wear a reflector vest. It enables the headlights of oncoming traffic to show there’s a moving person in it. Highway constructions sites require workers to wear reflector vests for the same reason. If you transfer that image into what it means to be a disciple of Jesus we are images of God created to reflect Him. We are in a massive reconstruction site called the world and every day we jog through it intentionally seeking to reflect Him.

Why?

Jesus came into the world to be the exact reflection of God so that we could be restored to reflect Him as well. Scripture from beginning to end is all about Jesus and how to become reflectors. It is the written reflection of God endorsed by Him to study Him in order to know Him personally. In the Bible what you see is what you get, truth in the raw, personal truth, eye to eye, face to face. Being a disciple of Jesus takes training and study. That doesn’t mean learning how to be good at being good but rather learning how to back off and allow God to be good though us.

I would like to suggest a way to do that. It employs three basic books from the New Testament to study, discuss and put into practice, the Gospel of John and Paul’s Epistles to the Romans and Ephesians. If we take these as foundational in our discipleship then we will find the rest of the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation coming into play along the way. Follow along with me on this.

First, we immerse our mind, heart and spirit, the image of God in us, in the Gospel of John because it gives us the foundation we need to begin to know the person, nature and mind of Jesus. He opens us the entryway to the spiritual dimension. Here we become aware of the personal nature of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. “I and the Father are one (Jn.10:30).” And about the Holy Spirit He says, “But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you (Jn.14:17).”

The Gospel of John is where we begin delving into the basics of spiritual reality being personal and relational. It’s finding intimacy with God in Jesus through the Holy Spirit and what that means for us and everyone around us. John is all about who we were spiritually created to be like not what the unspiritual world tells us we ought to be. It’s the experience of the Holy Spirit inviting us to realize who Jesus is. “All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you (Jn.16:15).” The Gospel of John is where we learn to know Him.

Second, we go to Paul’s Epistle to the Romans because it shows us how the Lord wants us to think about Him. In order to make it real for us the Lord took a very conflicted sinner named Paul, converted him, redeemed him and then inspired him to write about how a relationship with God works. This epistle is a mind reverser. It shows us how we let the Lord get His mind around us as opposed to us trying to get our mind around Him. It not only gives us a structure but also a picture of the specifics we can personally apply to live out a relationship with Jesus. It outlines the problem of man’s separation from God and how it is overcome. Here is where we expand our awareness of our access to the spiritual dimension. Here is where we strengthen our mind to put into order what we perceive in the spiritual reality surrounding us. The Epistle to the Romans is where we learn to trust Him and reflect Him.

Third, we go to Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians because it specifies our standing in Jesus and outlines the lifestyle that represents Him. Here is where we find the security for our faith as we move into the world around us. It’s our personal passport as citizen of the Kingdom of God as we cross the social, ethnic, political, emotional and spiritual borders in this world. The Epistle to the Ephesians is where we learn to live for Him and have faith in Him to reflect Him.

This is just a suggested approach because what you learn in one can be seen in the other as well. But it is a way of ordering our discipling of those who are new or moderate in their walk as believers. We all have friends who ask us question about being Christians. If we are willing to take time and nurture the questioner this is a natural way to make spiritual reality come alive for them. Again start with John, move into Romans and seal it with Ephesians. From here the rest of Scripture is either involved along the way or a hunger surges for the rest of the Word and its deeper growth in God and personal mission. It really gets us to reflect Him as opposed to the world’s way of wanting to reflect ourselves.

Today, as you go about, observe what reflector vests are being used in the world, who is being reflected by whom and for what purpose? Then what does your reflector vest show?