The Crucial Piece

The Crucial Piece
By Shirley Mitchell

"An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, knowing their thoughts..."
Luke 9:46-47a

Today let's talk about one of the most critical elements of discipleship. Any great Olympic athlete has experienced this element many times. Any great inventor has experienced it repeatedly. Any great leader has experienced this factor again and again. What is this priceless key to living the victorious Christian life?

There are five stories of Jesus' disciples that demonstrate this crucial piece. These five sequential incidents do not show the stellar godly character of the disciples. Each story shows a different portrait of characteristics, that honestly, we do not wish to emulate.

In Luke 9:37-43, the disciples could not drive out a demon from a young boy. Jesus expressed His frustration with them. After all, He sent all twelve disciples out two by two in Luke 9:1-2. They were driving out demons and curing diseases as they preached the kingdom of God. They were the traveling miracle workers using the power of the kingdom of God. Jesus called them an "unbelieving and perverse generation" (Luke 9:41). Our enemy desires to shipwreck our faith by wedging in unbelief into our true identity. Faith is a continuous fight. It is not a women's tea party. It is an ongoing fight (2 Timothy 4:7). If our enemy can make us stop believing who we are in Christ, then he can "pervert us," which means "to turn or twist throughout, to distort, pervert, to veer off the right track."

In Luke 9:43-45, the disciples show that they could be spiritually dim-witted at times when Jesus warned them for the second time about His future and added that He would be betrayed. The disciples still thought Jesus would have earthly rule for they were arguing about their places in this kingdom. Since Jesus' death would spoil their dreams of greatness (in truth, only temporarily), they did not seek further understanding of His words.

In Luke 9:46-48, the disciples showed their arrogance through their arguments about "Who would be the greatest?" Jesus "knew the thoughts of their heart" (KJV) and admonished them. The disciples were focused on obtaining their places in the kingdom rule. Therefore, they forgot its purpose. Arrogance brewed over the rim of the cup of "their" accomplishments. They wanted the crown but not the cross. God can't use arrogance. He won't use it. He knows who is guilty of it. His scale is the accurate one. Let's resolve to pass this weigh-in.

In Luke 9:49-50, John told Jesus that they saw a man who was casting out a demon. Since he was not one of the elite clique of the 12 disciples, they tried to stop him. Jesus told him"Do not stop him.for whoever is not against you is for you." Their commission was to multiply and empower others to join in the mission. It was not to restrict membership to a certain clique. They were concerned about their power and their authority being diminished. Jesus has plenty of power and authority to give to all who are willing to use it for His kingdom.

Lastly, in Luke 9:51-56, James and John asking for permission to burn the village that did not welcome Jesus, demonstrated their pride and lack of caring. They took the lack of hospitality as rejection of Jesus and responded in fury. Jesus rebuked them for wanting to call down fire from heaven to destroy the village. They thought they knew Jesus' heart and will, but they were wrong. They didn't understand the will of Jesus and the Father. They did not share the Trinity's compassion for the lost world.

Although failures can be defining moments in our lives, they don't necessarily define our lives and brand us as a failure. If we are moldable and teachable through them, then these pivotal moments can raise us up to the next level of spiritual maturity. Our natural tendency is to pull away and shrink back when we fail. All creatures want to avoid pain. We especially want to avoid pain to our pride. However, the pain of failure can be one of our best teachers. If the incident does not hurt us personally, somehow we do not learn as much from it. The deeper the hurt, the longer we remember.

These men had heard the Sermon on the Mount. They had heard Jesus' teachings to "love your neighbor as yourself," "turn the other cheek," "give your cloak to those who try to take your tunic," "be reconciled to your brother," and "the meek, merciless, pure in heart will be blessed." So why did they not live it out?

It takes time and God's power to transform our ways and thoughts from our selfish sinful nature into the nature of God. It takes practice and perseverance to bring your real life into alignment with your theology. It takes pressing through our failures. Through these different situations, these men's inner thoughts were brought into the Light (John 1:5). We act out of what we truly believe. Even though their deep-rooted beliefs were exposed, these men did not give up. They still made some blundering mistakes, but they did not quit, go home, and return to their less-than-the-promised life of following Jesus. They kept taking the tough exams, no matter the grade.

So how do we get there, beloved? We know that the disciples did not become spiritual giants instantaneously. Jesus slowly prepared and developed the 12. If we are growing in our relationship with Jesus, you and I are in a state of continuous progression. Training and development is highly important to God. Part of the preparation is hearing and understanding the truth. Then, we learn how to live it out in our lives. We have to get the Word into our lives. Of course, we won't hit the mark every time. It takes practice just like a great concert musician or an Olympic athlete. Spiritual maturity is earned through learning and persevering through our failures. It is the crucial piece to our development.

Pray with me: Oh, Lord, help us to beteachable through our failures. Don't let us pull back or shrink away. We want to press through embarrassment. We choose to practice what we believe and let You keep exposing our faults. It may hurt and it may be hard, but we will not quit. We keep choosing to have as much of You as we can experience in our lifetime! Praise and honor and glory to You, LORD Almighty! It's in the Name of above all names, in Jesus' Name, Yeshua's Name, we pray. Amen.

Excerpt from the Jesus Lives Bible study