CORE VALUE 3 | PROGRESS

INTRODUCTION

A Meditation on 1 Corinthians 13:9-13.

9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

  • In the context of 1 Corinthians, “prophecy” here is more about speaking the right truth at the right time more than about telling the future.

    • That being the case, think about what it means to know & prophecy “in part.” Knowing in part & prophesying in part go hand in hand. You have limited knowledge, and therefore you can only speak with limited answers. It’s the human condition.


10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

  • Do you feel how epic that is? It disappears.


11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

  • Do you know about object permanence? Do you remember learning object permanence?

  • Spiritually speaking, do you have examples of notions or ideas that have gone the way of object permanence for you? Things you don’t remember not understanding or believing?

  • What about the other things – ones you do remember not understanding or believing?

  • What about the rest – the things you still don’t understand or believe?


12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

  • “Face to face” seems odd when talking about learning things. What’s the point - or whose face is Paul talking about?


13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

  • How does this verse possibly connect with what we just talked through?

THESIS & SUPPORT

A disciple grows by engaging with God’s promises in worship, education, and community service. Worship yields rest. Education yields wisdom. Community Service yields purpose. Together, they help a person see life better.

  • If nothing saves anyone except for Jesus and the purpose of Illumine is to seek and connect the lost to Jesus, then this discipleship cycle is the method by which that work is done.

  • This is our simple, Scripturally-backed-up, proven process for making disciples. It is not the only way a disciple can be made, but it is the way that Illumine does its work in good order.

  • This organization will not seek to actively use any other process for helping people see life better.

  • We can measure the effectiveness of the organization by measuring the number of people who are engaged in the process and are experiencing spiritual maturation as they engage in it.

The three ministries described here could accomplish other purposes than the ones listed, but the primary goal should be to accomplish the listed purposes. All other accomplishments are accidental benefits - not without value, but unintentional. They do not count in measuring.

BIBLICAL CONNECTIONS

Acts 2:42-27 | 42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.


Ephesians 5:8-20 | 8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:

“Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.


Genesis 2:1-3 | Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

EXPLANATION

The Christian life is lived on a spectrum - one we have previously discussed. You are either taking steps toward God or away from him. The point on the line that is conversion matters a great deal, but everywhere else on the line matters, too.

Acknowledging the spectrum helps us think of leading one another in a stepwise pattern. We can't expect a person to be mature before they are immature, and we can have hope that if we lead them one step at a time, God will do great things in their hearts. Our goal as a church is to help people be in a position to receive what God will do in and with them – and to let him do the rest.

This speaks to the most basic question of what a church should do; the question every organized church throughout history has asked: How do we lead people forward? How do we help them progress toward a stronger and better and more ideal relationship with God? Without burning them out, without ignoring their present state, without letting people coast – what can we do to move them forward?

Without making too strong a commentary on other approaches, there have been those in the past that have done well in part, but have fallen short in other ways. Some Christian movements have focused on education, creating very literate Christians who didn’t make their communities feel loved. Some have focused on community service, creating very caring Christians who didn’t know what they believed. Some have focused on worship, creating Christians who looked to Christ for forgiveness and left him behind in the sanctuary. Because people are more than one thing, our approach must also be.

The metaphors of REST, WISDOM, and PURPOSE are as intentional as their opposites.

You see, a person who rests has something good, but if all they ever do is rest, they are lazy. You don't want to be and you are not called to be lazy. So you get up, you identify your weaknesses, and you go work out to grow. Education yields increased wisdom (wisdom is God's version of knowledge.) Now, if all you do is rest and work out and rest and workout, you might grow very strong, but your strength is useless. You're like a body builder who won't help a friend move a couch. (Nobody likes that person.) So you have to have real ways to expend that strength, and to do so to such an extent that you are tired and need rest.

Rinse & repeat.

This is what we talk about when we talk about discipleship! It's God with the OT Israelites, it's Jesus and the disciples, and it's Paul and Timothy. This approach to discipleship is intentional as well as flexible. Illumine can provide a plethora of different opportunities, and we can (especially as we grow) make appeals to different individuals to be a part of the opportunities not because "you might like it" or "this is always a good thing for Christians to do" but because "you, at the place you're in right now, will benefit directly from being involved in this. This is the opportunity you need."

This process only works when all aspects of it are directly connected to the motivation that comes from the gospel.