I warned that many would come in my name that I didn’t send, and told my followers to take heed that no man deceive them. For when the faith grew and became popular it involved the risk that people would join out of mixed motives, or claim the name of Christ to advance their own agenda. Have you seen those who seem more eager to advance their own interests in my name than they are to be conformed to my image and belong to a Kingdom that is not of this world?
You know that you can’t change the past, but there are some things that can be applied retroactively, which is sort of like changing the past. For example, you could get a pay raise at work, and your boss could make it retroactive to some previous date, so you will get more money than you expected, because you had been working for more money than you realized. How do you view grace? Can you see that from the moment you call upon it, it applies retroactively to your entire past? Can you also see that it applies to the rest of your life going forward?
How do you describe your faith? Do you say that it is a relationship with me? Is there anything else involved? For this statement implies that you can do it on your own. Do you know Christians who have taken this approach, and wandered off into error or extremism? Some horrible things have been done by those who claim to be followers of me. Your faith places you in a community with all other believers, and beyond that to all whom I have created if you are willing to go that far. How large are you willing to draw your circle?
Are you familiar with the concept of line upon line, precept upon precept? This is an approach to studying the Bible, and it is taken from the Bible in Isaiah 28:10. Is this method the one you are familiar with from school, and find that it adapts well to studying the Bible? Can you think of an alternative approach? For if you read ahead to verse 13 what sense do you get of how pleased I was with this method of study? The purpose of your faith is transformation. Can you obtain this through the incremental approach to learning you were taught in the classroom? How else would you do it?
Are you quick to regard other people as evil? If you know the rules and they don’t, it may explain why they don’t follow them. In a court of law the ignorance of the law is a defense, although it is more commonly used as a mitigating factor in sentencing. This is consistent with my word in which the difference is between being beaten with many or few stripes. If you are a child of the light and of the day, be glad and rejoice in it. Others walk in darkness and their unawareness is not the same as evil.
Are you familiar with the concept of consolation? Do you think of it only in terms of a consolation prize; an award given to make you feel better about a contest you lost? The Biblical concept of consolation is more positive than this. Life involves unavoidable suffering. You would like the suffering to cease, but how often are you able to obtain this? Yet even as you endure afflictions and hardships I am present with you in them. This is the meaning of consolation, that I will sustain you, even in the midst of your afflictions.
You are taught not to judge others, but to judge yourself. Elsewhere you are taught that you will be judged by the same standard by which you judge others. What standard do you use for judging yourself? Are you lenient with yourself and tolerant of sloppy living? Is there an area in your life in which you hold yourself to high standards because you are committed to excellence in this area? Don’t you admire people who practice self-discipline and at the same time are gracious toward others? If you will judge yourself you will not be judged.
Have you been through a transformative experience? A transformed life is the promise of the gospel. Not everyone follows this path, and not everyone appreciates the changes in those who do. You may have old friends who liked the old version of you better, especially if they are not transformed themselves. You may experience pressure from them to revert to your former ways. Being transformed will always be in tension with being conformed to this world. You have lived both ways and know which one gives life. Don’t let this world squeeze you into its mold. You can always get new friends.
Are you legalistic? This is a term believers apply to other believers, but not to themselves, for it is not considered a compliment. Do you think I was legalistic? I told the rich young ruler to keep the commandments, and said that not a jot or tittle of the law would pass away. You can find verses to support any position, but what would distinguish my conduct from a legalist? Without rejecting the rules my primary concern was for humanity rather than rules, and I applied the rules to facilitate the spiritual formation of people.
How do you respond to those of other faiths? Do you see them as enemies to confront? Do you see them as hopelessly lost in darkness and in need of Christian enlightenment? Do you act in accordance with these perspectives? How is that working for you? What example do you see in me? I was Jewish, but you can tell from the Bible stories that I lived in a time and place with many expressions of faith. How often do you see me confronting them on matters of doctrine? Would you say that I was more likely to heal them?
