Do You See as They See?

Disciplers are disciplers for life. The disciples saw Jesus as their Discipler even when Jesus had already gone to heaven. They didn't look for another discipler after Jesus. They didn't go to the Pharisees or law teachers or elected a new pastor or an elder to replace Jesus. In the same way, our disciplers or pastors should be our disciplers for life. Bible school or seminary professors cannot have this spiritual stature in your life. Once you leave the school or seminary the connection ceases. All you have are recollections of bible school or seminary days--and a diploma.

You know why this is important? It matters from whose eyes you see reality. Who trained you up as a child in the way you should go? It should be the Jesus in your discipler.

Photo by Bud Helisson on Unsplash.

Socially, anyone with the mind health of Christ will speak as Jesus did--speak or preach in church within the supernatural realms of the Spirit and depend solely on what HE tells us, not on the outline we have prepared or formulas we have learned. We should be Spirit-led hourly and even minutely. We should rely on the Holy Spirit for every word we utter, in preaching or in casual conversations. This supernatural mindset makes us see things as they really are.

But sadly, the church has become alien to this. We rely more on what we can prepare with our intellect, skills, knowledge and institutional education, formulas, resources, systems and what-have-you. We believe this is all sound doctrine. We prepare and program things carefully and think this is God. We don't see things as they really are in the Gospel but how the world wants us to see them. And the world is a liar. Explains why so many people (especially in church) still imagine "their" success and "greatness."

Why is this? Because of an unhealthy (or corrupted) mind and social life. 

And this unhealthy condition makes all the 10 symptoms mentioned here manifest in our persons. We either become self-centered or religion-centered (particularly church denomination-centered), or both (because both have become gods). We feel the need to have the glory for either ourselves or our denominational church. I very, very seldom hear ministers (if any) declare God's glory, Kingdom and majesty and attribute every success to the same--I mean, sincerely--and remain absolutely quiet about oneself.

Moreover, all this is happening because their westernized minds and social outlook also created another Jesus--a western Jesus. A Jesus that carries more the culture of the west than the culture of middle eastern Israel which God clearly chose to backdrop his Word---a culture open to the mysterious and supernatural. 

Ancient eastern culture is heavily influenced by the spiritual and supernatural, by quiet patience and submissive discipleship. Western culture has nothing of these. It is all logic, reason, philosophy, debates, arguments, rebuttal, self-assertion, fighting for rights, pride and arrogance (the need to prove oneself supreme over others), and the worship of the intellect, science and technology.

Westernized Christian churches have conquest in mind (not evangelism) when they do missions overseas because they think they are superior than locals. It's more about grabbing territories, properties and resources to further their denominational reach and influence than making disciples loyal to Jesus and His Kingdom. They see ministry this way because of their unhealthy mindset and social orientation. 

Materialistic culture is weak in the spiritual realms. In its ignorance of spiritual truths, it knows nothing but the earthly (and why it cannot see things as they really are). This was why the Holy Spirit redirected Paul to the west instead of Asia minor. The early church was designed for the intellectualism of the west. Armed with awesome supernatural power, the Acts church dealt solid blows against the arrogance of western philosophies, not by facing them on their terms or arena, but by displaying signs and wonders that muted and demolished their smart arguments. 

Paul did engage the west initially in debates but later concluded thus:

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. [2 Corinthians 10.5]

4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. [1 Corinthians 2.4]

The last and fiercest battle in these end-times is in the east---where the 10/40 window is, comprising of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia---a battle between the spiritual forces of darkness against the superior supernatural power of God wielded by his glorious church. Anything that is spiritual and focuses on the unseen knows real power. Even the occult know this. Sadly, the modern church does not. It wastes time in human theology, motivational challenges and whatever earthly lessons their seminars teach to expand their local ministries and increase membership and church income---their human version of "church planting." 

But God reserves his end-time glorious and supernatural church for this final battle. Of course, we know how the story ends. God's supernatural power is supreme and above all. And it involves absolutely no human effort and glory.

We cannot say that of philosophy, smart arguments, reasoning, debates, etc. which the modern church embraces today. Just watch them and see how their main concerns are earning certificates and diplomas, titles and degrees. But God revealed how only his supernatural power and wisdom in Scriptures will prevail and win. The rest he relegated to being earthly, foolish, garbage and demonic. 

The Real Jesus

We see how the real Jesus looks like in the Gospel. Seemingly weak and unimpressive. Quite unassuming and unconcerned about recognition, public perception and status. But the secret here is that God's power is made perfect in this weakness, a weakness despised by the world. Real mind health and a social orientation that sees things as they really are sticks to this "weakness." 

22 Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. [1 Corinthians 1]

If you don't fully appreciate this "weakness" you're probably not of the elect. A lot of people hate the idea that the least is the greatest in God's eyes. They do everything, work themselves to death, just to prove to all how they're the greatest. Very few have the mind health and social life of Christ to see this clearly, preventing the majority from seeing things as they really are in the spirit realms. Nobody sees the power in being last and least. They want to be the first and greatest on the earthly realm. 

As aforementioned, mind health is "the mental aptitude to balance things in a selfless and mature manner," which Jesus obviously had, balancing God's love and judgment in particular, so that we see how God's love is also his judgment and vice versa (he judges and disciplines us to warn and allow us to repent--because he loves us). We can never understand these things if Jesus had not taught and demonstrated it with his life.

He agreed to meet with Nicodemus one night to entertain his queries, intentionally overlooking the fact that he didn't enjoy the company of the Pharisees. That's balancing love and repugnance. Notice how he answered Nicodemus' questions with a hint of sarcasm? "You are Israel's teacher and you don't understand these things?" Jesus said. He balanced patience and criticism, sincerity and contempt. 

He defied the law by touching the unclean yet balanced it by urging the leper to show himself to the priest and "offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them,” [Luke 5.14]. He warned sinners that unbelief made them "condemned already" and yet enjoyed eating and fellowshipping with them. See the balance?

In all this, Jesus "did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant," [Philippians 2.6-7]. He was selflessly mature and always redirected glory to the Father. He remained low profile and inconspicuous among the crowds so much so that Pilate couldn't believe he was a king. "You're a king, then?" he asked mockingly. Moreover, you could easily lose Jesus in the crowd.

...Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. [John 5.13]

That says a lot about Jesus' self-effacing character, looking simple and ordinary instead of projecting himself artificially as someone great, or being equal with the Father. That conceited self projection as being great is often equal to claiming equality with God, like what Lucifer did. Jesus' claim that he and the Father are one is, of course, another story. It's primarily about him doing his supernatural ministry in the Father's name. Second, he said that with back up from how the Father glorified him. Third, he remained lowly and submitted to the Father (in fact, he was astoundingly meek, considering his real spiritual stature). 

A lot today who imagine themselves great try to prove it with displays of titles and degrees, accomplishments and material grandiosity but lack the Father's endorsement. 

Jesus balanced self-effacement and depreciation with kingly gestures and insinuations. He looked small, poor and inconsequential and yet struck fear into the hearts of the rich and powerful. He didn't look one bit like a king but a thick kingly atmosphere was about him wherever he went. Here are hints:

• ...the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” [Luke 19]
  
  
• “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.” [John 18.36]
  
  
• Pilate asked Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” “You have said so,” Jesus replied. [Luke 23.3]

So, what's the point in all this? To make us see how Jesus saw reality as it was in the Father's eyes though people around him, especially his detractors, saw everything differently---but thought they were right. It didn't matter that Jesus looked like a failure in the eyes of the world. It didn't bother him. He didn't think he needed to improve his image to change how people thought of him. He remained looking ordinary. He stuck with reality as his Father saw them, not as men did. 

Why was Jesus able to see? Because Jesus had his mind health and social life intact in the Father. His critics had serious mind and social health problems because they saw as the world did.