Life, Losing

Martin Collins, examining the properties of a paradox (a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true), suggests that paradox plays an essential role in the lives of those called by God. Some of the paradoxical truths of God include, "He who loses his life will find it," "It is more blessed to give than to receive," and "He who want to be a ruler must become a lowly servant." Learning to lead in God's Kingdom is learning to serve. We pass our lives as pilgrims in a foreign land, understanding our citizenship is in a future kingdom. Let us be content to be weak and powerless, realizing that, when we are poor in spirit, we receive power from God's Holy Spirit. Not having the eye of faith provided by God's Spirit, the world sees the discipleship in The Way as an resolvable and uncomfortable paradox. To one called by God, the paradoxes of God trump anything the around-and-about has to offer.

Beyond the fact that our Savior Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross of some sort, He used its imagery to instruct His followers: He bids us to take us our cross and follow Him. David Grabbe analyzes what Jesus' command would have meant to those who heard Him, showing that our Savior is asking us to follow His example of sacrifice in our own Christian lives.

How many of us go through life with our noses to the grindstone, as it were, always trying to get ahead and never really appreciating what God has given us? Using Mitch Albom's book, Tuesdays With Morrie, Bill Onisick focuses on a major lesson of Christianity: Real life comes as a result of giving our own.

Over the centuries, God has been disappointed by mankind over and over again. One man who did not disappoint was the deacon Stephen. Find out why he was so special.

John Ritenbaugh reiterates that disciples of Christ should expect persecution, often from people we normally would feel comfort and protection from, such as members from our own family. The two-edged sword (the Word of God) divides families because receptivity of this word is not a given- especially if one has not yet been called. Many more people ridicule God's Word than keep it. God's called out ones have to love God's Word more than family. Service in the work of God will inevitably bring persecution, but it will also bring reward. Chapter 11 focuses upon the ruminations of John the Baptist, who even though he was close to Christ, may have misunderstood the nature of Christ's true mission. John the Baptist, labeled as "none greater" never performed a miracle. It will take a great deal of expended energy to make it into the Kingdom of God. We cannot afford to be negligent or complacent about our calling, or our willingness to yield to His teachings, letting it dissipate like the ancient Israelites, the people of Bethsaida or Chorazin - or the Laodiceans . We must be teachable and adaptable, willing to take Christ's yoke, not tripped up in intellectual vanity or pride. [NB: This series of Bible Studies from 1981-82 is incomplete.]