LISTEN!

LISTEN!

“Mary also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks…” Luke 10:39-40

In my previous blog post, DID AT FIRST, we began looking at likely the strangest and most difficult book in the Bible, The Revelation. Many authors are captivated, thus held captive, by the symbolism, numbers, and visions therein. But if one spends time within The Revelation without getting lost in the weeds, there is rich theology, powerful teachings, and glorious revelation of, and by, Jesus Christ.

In my study time today through chapters 2-3, the word that struck me repeatedly and most powerfully was, “listen.” Writers have gotten caught up in the meanings of the names of the churches and various other aspects of the book. I’m certainly not discouraging anyone from delving into deep and profitable Bible study, but often times when surrounded by alligators - it’s tough to remember your initial goal was to drain the swamp.

My exercise today was simply to circle the verbs that this majestic “One like the Son of Man” was speaking to John through the power of the Spirit regarding the seven churches.

To Ephesus: Remember, repent, do, and LISTEN!

To Smyrna: Look, be faithful, and LISTEN!

To Pergamum: Repent, and LISTEN!

To Thyatira: Hold on, keep, and LISTEN!

To Sardis: Wake up, remember, keep, repent, and LISTEN!

To Philadelphia: Look, take note, hold on, and LISTEN!

To Laodicea: Buy, be committed, repent, and LISTEN!

After listening to both secular guys like Simon Sinek and pastors like Paul Tripp, it’s pretty clear that we have some major issues and colossal hurdles to overcome today in our culture and churches.

Millennials are NOT the only group on the planet struggling to find joy, satisfaction, and purpose in life. They’ve just expedited the process by taking the technological tools and sociological climate to the same place where everyone lands eventually. Everyone knocks millennials for not knowing how to listen. I think millennials listen just great. The problem is that virtually nobody has anything worthwhile to say.

The Ephesians looked like they had it all together on the outside. Jesus told them, “you have abandoned your first love… LISTEN!”

The church at Smyrna seemed to have it together, but Jesus told them, “Wake up!” and “LISTEN!”

The church at Pergamum seemed to be holding together amid / despite “Satan’s throne” being where they lived! Jesus told them, “Repent!” and “LISTEN!”

To the Thyatirians had works, love, faithfulness, service, and endurance, but Jesus said, “you tolerate the woman Jezebel” and told them “Hold on” and “LISTEN!”

To the church at Sardis Jesus said, “You have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead.” Then He told them, “Be alert… remember… hold fast… repent” and finally, “LISTEN!”

The one church that didn’t get roasted was the one at Philadelphia. Because of their authenticity Jesus said, “Look, I have placed before you and open door that no one is able to close.” Jesus told them to “take note” of what He was about to do, and finally to “LISTEN!”

The harshest chastisement comes to the final church in Laodicea. Jesus told this group of wishy-washy religious sycophants “Because you are lukewarm and neither hot or cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth.” The LORD subsequently advised them to “buy gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich,” and with that gold they could purchase fine white garments without stain and ointment “to spread on your eyes so that you may see.” Finally, after Jesus tells them to be committed, and to repent, He says, “LISTEN!”

We are inundated with incoming junk 24/7. Music, podcasts, TV, movies, chats, photos, insta-this, immediate everything, and countless apps and posts to keep up with. It’s not just the millennials who are failing epically at social skills and meaningful relationships - it’s a cross-generational and cultural pandemic.

Millennials didn’t create the environment we all live in today. No, they simply live in, and have perfected, a purposeless existence in this industrialized, extended adolescence, technologically advanced, instant gratification world, which previous generations worked so hard to foster. Yay us. Well, now we have it.

So what now? The short, and biblical, answer is “LISTEN.”

To do that, i.e. to “LISTEN,” we have to build margin back into our lives and stop being perpetually busy with simply being busy. A guy says to his friend, “Wow! You sure are moving along! Where you headed?” Friend responds, “I have no idea, but I’m flying now!” We’re incredibly efficient at being superficial and flavorless. Life is bereft of taste because we’ve selfishly strip mined and over farmed its landscape for personal gain rather than community growth and universal blessings.

I don’t put any stock in New Year’s resolutions, but maybe this year you and your family make a pledge to turn off electronic devices after 6pm, have a family game or hobby night and invite over some of your kids’ friends or neighbors, pray together with your family outside of the obligatory meal prayer, talk at dinner time, worship together, but most importantly “LISTEN to what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Listening does NOT come from Pandora, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, or Amazon Prime. Listening can only come in times of quiet solitude as we marinade ourselves in - and meditate on - God’s holy Word.

The one message Jesus had for ALL the churches in The Revelation was “LISTEN!”

“Mary also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what He said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks…” Luke 10:39-40

Maybe this year, like Mary, we can begin to be more intentional about carving out time to sit at Jesus’ feet rather than being caught up in all the passing and insignificant formalities of life like Martha.

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

DID AT FIRST

DID AT FIRST:

Adrian Sommeling's "First Love"

The book of “The Revelation,” as it is referred to in the Bible, is probably the most misunderstood piece of literature in history. The Greek word we translate as “revelation” is Ἀποκάλυψις (apokalupsis), which means unveiling, uncovering, or revealing. In Revelation 1:1 we read, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to demonstrate to His bondservants what must transpire immediately…”

As the book begins we discover that it is an “unveiling” both of Jesus Christ, in terms of the fullness of who He is, and simultaneously from Jesus Christ, as divine disclosure of truth, light, and life from God Himself. What is truly amazing about it is that Jesus Christ is both the source of the revelation, i.e. He is the one providing the message as the divine and eternal Word, and He is that which is being unveiled.

As the audience gets to 1:3, we discover that both “the one who reads” and “those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it” are blessed in doing so “because the moment is at hand!” Thus, the final book of Scripture opens with a palpable, looming, and dire sense of immediacy and haste as The Revealer and Revealed, Jesus Christ, discloses to His bondservants “what must transpire immediately… because the time is at hand!”

The message of The Revelation comes to us from John, who identifies himself and begins recalling the account of his ecstatic experience in the opening chapter. John tells us that behind him he heard “a loud voice like a trumpet” giving instructions, and when he turned around he saw something virtually indescribable (see 1:12-16). John not only saw “One like the Son of Man,” in a robe and sash with snow white hair, fiery eyes, and bronze-like feet, but John also describes the booming voice as “the sound of multiple waters.” Along with the majestic figure of Christ, John also recalls seeing seven gold lampstands (the seven churches) and seven stars (the churches’ messengers) in the right hand of the “One like the Son of Man.”

As chapter two begins we must remember the dire mood of necessity and haste previously established. John then witnesses “The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand” walking among the seven golden lampstands and is commanded to “write” the following “to the messenger (star) of the church in Ephesus.” What John initially writes seems to be praise, approval, and blessing for the church’s works, labor, endurance, discernment, and purity. Quickly, the apparent approval is revealed as a stern rebuke! “But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first.”

To the church with a plethora of local and global missionaries, extensive ministries and outreach programs, with a solid orthodox theological framework, with a legacy of steadfastness for the name of Christ in the face of persecution, with a name for the discernment of truth and valid teaching / preaching - for this church John was told to reveal to the messenger of the church in the Lord’s hand, “But I have this against you: you have abandoned the love you had at first.” The rebuke didn’t stop there. John goes on to disclose, “Remember then how far you have fallen; repent and do the works you did at first. Otherwise I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you demonstrate a change of heart.”

John is told to write three verbs here: remember, repent, and do. The primary verb, remember, requires a group of believers (not written to/for an individual) as a church to stop and reflect on “how far you (plural) have fallen.” There can be no repentance or change of heart if a group has neither a clear history nor takes intentional care to pause and reflect upon it. Every church has a history, but frequently the passion of the initial visionaries is supplanted by the pattern of the world as efficiency, effectiveness, status, and recognition become paramount. This phenomena is what Smith and Pattison refer to as the “McDonaldization” of the local church in their wonderful book, Slow Church.

It is only after a unified group of worshipers stops to remember the original purpose and intent of their endeavor of obedience that they can collectively experience a change of heart (repent) and get back to doing “the works you did at first.” The Revelation reveals that why, how, and Who are eternally more significant and valuable to God than what.

A critical question posed at the beginning of The Revelation therefore becomes: “How will your church respond to The Revelation’s sense of looming immediacy and dire haste?”

The blessings stated at the onset, “Blessed is the one who reads and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it…” are explicitly contingent rather than automatic. Individuals are not simply “blessed” by reading the book, but rather by obediently heralding its message to their local church. The church is subsequently blessed as it recalls its original collective purpose - to bless all the families, tribes, and nations on earth with the gospel of Jesus Christ - and hastily engages in a unified change of heart to that end.

Jesus’ gracious rebuke to the church comes amid seemingly impressive accolades, external appearances, benchmark programs, exceptional ministries, bold faith statements, and orthodox teaching & preaching, and regular adherence to liturgical practices and the ordinances. He tells us first and foremost to remember why we’re doing what we do. Then, Jesus tells us to experience a change of heart and to get back - not just to what we did at first - but most importantly, to remembering why we do it and Who we do it for.

Audio version available >>HERE<<

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

AS HE WALKED

AS HE WALKED:

Slap-scluck, slap-scluck… You ever walk on a wet beach with sandals? First the flat sole of the sandal meets the wet sand with a “slap,” then the sucking sound comes as it pulls away “scluck!” Slap-scluck, slap-scluck... One day, about two thousand years ago, Jesus walked along the shore of the sea of Galilee, slap-scluck, slap-scluck… He saw two men, brothers in fact, Peter and Andrew. They were just going about their daily routine, working with their nets, when Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately there were three pairs of sandals moving forward in a rhythmic concert of purposeful fellowship. Slap-scluck, slap-scluck...

Assurance is a funny thing. The only things we want assurance about are the things we value greatly. A few short decades ago, when everything was NOT disposable, Americans wanted assurances regarding virtually everything. Even toasters came with a guarantee. Eventually guarantees turned into warranties, and warranties turned into ambiguous legal jargon, fine print, disclaimers, customer service numbers, foreign call centers, hold, transfers, hassles, and headaches quickly morphed into the disposable era we now live.

But for the really important stuff we still want guarantees. We want assurance from banks regarding our money; so in the U.S. we use banks backed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). When we’re serious we want assurances regarding relationships (covenant agreements); so we pinky swear, do spit handshakes, sign contracts, prenupts, obtain licenses, or engage in some other cultural / legal ritual in order to secure those elusive guarantees and assurances.

Regarding money and finances Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

We want assurances that protect our money, and assurances that protect our hearts, not only because financial and emotional stability are highly valued, but because they provide us with a sense of peace regarding the future. But the truth is we don’t have any assurances regarding our finances or relationships. Everyday banks close, stocks tank, corruption is revealed, contracts are broken, lawsuits are filed, and ultimately jobs are lost, fortunes go up in smoke, and assurances fall by the wayside. Everyday spouses leave, kids are diagnosed, loved ones pass, secrets are disclosed, and the imaginary peace of our sparkly snowglobe worlds of security and assurances are violently shattered on the unforgiving pavement of reality.

Significant change in our lives most often comes at times of heightened or deepened emotions. The most significant change that can happen in anyone’s life is what the Bible refers to as being “born again” (John 3:7). Becoming a child of God doesn’t happen by human will, a parent’s decision, intellectual ascent, by reciting an incantation or prayer, or through a magical water ceremony. Instead it comes exclusively by the power of God - by grace through faith. Frequently this “revelation” comes at moments in life when our imaginary snowglobes of peace, security, and assurance are obliterated. It comes when we are left questioning, wondering, doubting, crushed, collapsed, and devastated. When the selfish kingdoms we’ve constructed come crumbling down beneath the enormous magnitude of reality and truth, when the final strand snaps at the end of our rope of delusional grandeur, that is when our hearts finally cry out in honest desperation for the assurance of eternal significance and redemption.

Cultural Christianity, the kind Paul wrote to Timothy about, which holds “to the form of religion, but denies its power,” is a contemptible and sordid version readily accessible and grossly prevalent today. It is a fraudulent and misguided version of Christianity that asks little, demands nothing, and (not surprisingly) demonstrates no legitimate power or influence upon the starving and decaying world around us. Tragically, ideas and concepts of sacrifice, sufferings, obedience, perseverance, and good works are considered abhorrent and subversive - despite their integral, universal, and explicit nature throughout Scripture.

To this, the writer of 1 John stated, “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ without keeping His commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected.” The author notes that our assurance of knowing Christ comes not via some historical experience or mystical ceremony, but quite simply “by keeping His commands.” But because we are a sordid lot, rank with villainy and scoundrelism, it is insufficient to leave it wide open to intuitive apprehension or expression. In fact, this exact issue of subjective interpretation was the undoing of Israel’s religious leaders. Therefore, the author eliminated all occasion for ambiguity and tergiversation in concluding “the one who says he remains in Him should walk as He walked.”

Chances are you’re not a fisherman. You might be a student, a lawyer, a salesperson, a government employee, or an entrepreneur, or a soldier. Today, just like those two brothers who were working with their nets along the shore, there’s an opportunity for redemption right where you are. It’s not about claiming Christ to secure salvation and avoid eternal torment. Instead, it’s about knowing Christ, walking with Him, and walking as He walked in order to have life and have it abundantly.

It has been about two thousand years since Peter and Andrew followed Jesus to become fishers of men. It’s been about two thousand years since those sandals made that beautiful sound slap-scluck, slap-scluck, along the shore of the sea of Galilee…

So what about you? Are you ready to follow, to fish, and to walk as He walked? Are you ready to join the rhythmic concert of purposeful fellowship?

Slap-scluck, slap-scluck…

Blessings and Merry Christmas,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

AND FOREVER MORE

AND FOREVER MORE:

Sometimes even good kids have a tendency to want to run away from home when they think that life would be better elsewhere – more fun, less rules, more candy, no chores…  As kids mature into adults they leave home to pursue an education or a career - not because they think the "grass is greener" elsewhere.

Psalm 23 is one of the best know psalms in history.  There is great comfort in knowing that the LORD is our shepherd, but David took this relationship very seriously.  Much of psalm 23’s popularity arises from the comfort and benefits we receive from the LORD, but if that’s our “take away” from this psalm – then we have missed the boat entirely.

When David said, “The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing” in v.1, he was talking about a permanent relationship that defines our existence – like the one that exists between sheep and shepherd.  David was not talking about a novel relationship of comfort, convenience, and benefits.  We see the depths of this understanding as the next few verses unfold.

1The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing. 2He brings me to stretch out in grassy pastures – beside quiet waters he leads me. 3He restores my soul. He guides me in the deep paths of righteousness for the purpose of his Name…

David saw the greatest benefit of being a sheep in the flock of the LORD as being a privilege and blessing “for the purpose of his Name.” This privilege manifests itself as a rhythm of life where we spend time stretched out in grassy pastures as well as time in the valley of dark gloom. That’s why David wrote:

4By the same token, though I walk in the valley of dark gloom – I fear evil not for you yourself reside within to support me. Your rod/tribe and your staff they comfort me.

The times in grassy pastures are to help strengthen our faith so that we can endure the valley of dark gloom “for the purpose of his Name.” It is while in the valley of dark gloom that we discover:

5You (LORD) prepare a table/banquet/feast for me while my enemies watch. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.

It is not the times we spend stretched out in grassy pastures beside quiet waters, but rather times in the valley of dark gloom that turn out to be the LORD’s lavish banquet table. Those times when we are in deep despair – surrounded by enemies and overwhelming odds - those are the ones that bring the enemies of God into His family as they watch for a legitimate distinction between how a true believer in God responds to adversity vs. how everyone else responds.

6Surely sweet goodness and covenant loving-kindness will pursue hard after me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

David understood that the greatest blessing we receive as the "sheep" of the Good Shepherd is that the LORD’s sweet goodness and covenant loving-kindness “will pursue hard after me all the days of my life.” God’s love doesn’t merely follow after us like a lost puppy, but rather PURSUES HARD after us!

The confidence that David had in the LORD’s unfailing love came from a deep love-relationship that went two ways. With the LORD as David’s shepherd – David truly lacked nothing.  Circumstances didn’t matter to David – having much (grassy pastures) or nothing (valley of dark gloom) didn’t mean anything. The only thing that mattered to David was the LORD’s Name being lifted up, the enemies of the LORD being brought before His lavish banquet table, seeing the difference in how one responds to adversity, i.e. the absolute joy of dwelling “in the house of the LORD forever.” Not merely a statement of a future hope “forever,” but more profoundly, and maybe more accurately, translated “now and forever more.”

David was not the spoiled kid who dreamt of a “grass is greener,” Disneyland life of all cotton candy, stuffed animals, and slumber parties. David was not thinking of a future time when he would go to heaven and be with God when he penned the words, “I will continue to dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” David was saying that he trusted - had faith - in the LORD as his shepherd, and whether life in the here-and-now with the LORD brought grassy pastures or dark gloom. Whatever life brought, David would have it no other way because the Name of the LORD was continually being glorified by perpetually dwelling in the faith of the moment. Ah yes, come what may, “The LORD is my Shepherd.”

Is He your shepherd? Is He your God through thick & thin? Are you only interested in what God has to offer in terms of the “grassy pastures” of life where you get good things from God – OR – are you, like David, primarily interested in the glory of His Name? Are you interested in the deliverance and transformation of the enemies of the LORD - considering that was you just a moment ago? When His enemies surround you as they are intentionally brought to His lavish banquet table - how do you reveal Him? Are you perfectly content with simply dwelling in the house of the LORD forever whether grassy fields or dark gloom?

Consider that when you read what David wrote.

“The LORD is my shepherd.”

Is He yours?

1The LORD is my shepherd; I lack nothing. 2He brings me to stretch out in grassy pastures – beside quiet waters he leads me. 3He restores my soul. He guides me in the deep paths of righteousness for the purpose of his Name. 4By the same token, though I walk in the valley of dark gloom – I fear evil not for you yourself reside within to support me. Your rod/tribe and your staff they comfort me. 5You prepare a table / banquet / feast for me while my enemies watch. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. 6Surely sweet-goodness and covenant loving-kindness will pursue hard after me all the days of my life, and I will continually dwell in the house of the LORD now and forever more.

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com

OWNERSHIP

OWNERSHIP:

Back in ‘00 I opened a small personal training fitness facility in San Antonio. It’s amazing, and shocking, how expensive fitness equipment is. Something as simple as a bench can easily cost between $250 - $1,200 U.S. When you get into cardio equipment (treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc.) and weight machines you’re looking at about what you might expect to pay for a used car.

Running a small business isn’t easy - especially when you have no idea what you’re doing, and just figuring stuff out as you go along. Not the idea business model, but hindsight is 20/20. Back then I was working 14-15 hour days. It was crazy hard and super stressful, but despite the stress, strain, struggles, and challenges there were times when I really loved it.

When things got really tight financially I opened up my facility to a few general gym memberships. I never had any problems with the clients I trained because they learned how to use equipment properly. Contrastingly, the folks who came in without any instruction - they would invariably misuse and abuse the equipment and the facility in general.

Sometimes I couldn’t break away from a client to go and politely correct someone, but I had to figure out a way to let everyone know two basic things: 1) how to use the equipment properly, and 2) what stuff was worth. The idea I came up with was to created some giant price tags and I placed them strategically on nearly every piece of equipment. People were amazed to find out that something as simple as a single dumbbell could cost $85 (for one!), that a bench (they used to stand or jump on) cost $1,200, or that a treadmill cost $5,000.

Then the coolest thing happened; pretty soon my clients and customers became “owners” of the facility. If a new person came in and was using something incorrectly - somebody would stop what they were doing and go over to help them. If someone was abusing a piece of equipment or not using it for its designated purpose - someone would gently correct them.

By investing in people, providing solid instruction, and letting people know the value / cost / worth of things - they became my biggest supporters and advocates; and in a very real sense they became co-owners of my vision and mission for the business.

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In 2 Timothy Paul wrote to his young friend (Timothy) not only to encourage him, but to remind Timothy the value / cost / worth of the gospel, which had made its way to Timothy through his mother and grandmother. Paul wrote to Timothy from prison, which was an embarrassingly shameful place in ancient Greco-Roman culture. Meanwhile, Timothy was in the city of Ephesus - a booming metropolis of contemporary en vogue culture. The church in Ephesus was inundated with both external cultural pressures and internal forces of corruption and complacency.

Paul was concerned that young Timothy would follow the misguided pattern of so many others (Phygelus, Hermogenes, Hymenaeus, and Philetus), so Paul wrote this letter to encourage, inform, instruct, and maybe most importantly - to remind Timothy of the value / cost / worth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to own it.

In 2 Timothy 2:8-9 Paul writes something truly revelatory and incredibly powerful: “Keep in mind Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descended from David, according to my gospel. For this I suffer, to the point of being bound like a criminal; but God’s message is not bound.” Did you catch the part where Paul refers to the gospel as “my gospel?”

The gospel of Jesus Christ wasn’t merely superficial religious education for Paul - not at all! The gospel, or Good News, became the engine that drove Paul, the North Star that guided him, and the vision and mission of his ministry. Then in v.11 Paul writes, “This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”

Paul uses powerful imagery (soldier, athlete, and farmer) to remind young Timothy that while the work of ministry is frequently painful, difficult, and treacherous - Christ is our unmerited and extravagant reward. For this reason the gospel is no external conception, passing philosophy, or superficial religious worldview. Instead, when the gospel is authentic it truly becomes mine. That’s why Paul referred to it as “my gospel.” The same is true for Timothy, you, and me - just as it was for Paul: ownership is essential.

Therefore, Paul reminded Timothy not to be discouraged by sufferings, dissuaded by false-teachers, surprised by difficult times, nor consumed by the people who bring them. With this in mind Paul articulated and anticipated what every pastor, servant, shepherd, and minister of the gospel would face in every place and every time; and in 2 Tim 3:1-5 Paul wrote:

But know this: difficult times will come in the last days. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, without love for what is good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the form of religion but denying its power…

Then, at the very end of v.5, Paul gave Timothy clear instruction on how to handle it: “Avoid these people!”

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If Christians today think of the Apostle Paul at all, in fact if Christians today even know who the Apostle Paul is, he is considered an anomaly or a freak - not a role model. The truth is that Christians today don’t believe what the Scriptures teach. Nobody really gives up everything to pursue Jesus. We reconcile those overly zealous people - the crazy nutjobs on street corners - are the ones who belong in mental hospitals. We reckon that commuting, working 40+ hours a week, taking kids to school, soccer, choir, and band, hitting church a few Sundays, and being consumed with life has us stretched thin enough - thank you very much. That's our gospel today.

Paul referred to these people as “lovers of self,” “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,” people “holding to the form of religion but denying its power,” and those who “resist the truth, men who are corrupt in mind, worthless in regard to faith,” and Paul told Timothy “Avoid these people!”

Paul’s letter to Timothy was meant not only to encourage, but also to reminded his reader(s) of the realistic expectations for all Christians: “In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Paul wanted the gospel of Jesus Christ to be more than a good idea, a noble philosophy, or a grand worldview. Paul’s desire for Timothy - and for me and you - was for the gospel to truly become “my gospel.” Paul said it himself when he wrote, “For this I suffer, to the point of being bound like a criminal… This is why I endure all things for the elect: so that they also may obtain salvation…”

Paul’s desire for Timothy, for the saints in the churches he planted, for the ones he longed to visit, and the elect his letters would reach and impact thousands of years later - was that we would not be discouraged, dissuaded, or defeated, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would not merely lead to our salvation, but that for us - like Paul - it would truly become “my gospel;” and neither shame, prison, threats, beatings, sickness, cold, hunger, nor any powers or principalities would ever prevent us from being heralds of “my gospel.”

Paul went to prison and died for the gospel because it truly became his.

What about you? Is the gospel of Jesus Christ truly your gospel? Is it not just something, but THE thing that shapes the vision and mission of your life in its entirety? Is it the thing that you are burdened with, living for, and suffering for?

Paul said, “In fact, all those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” That’s what extreme ownership of the gospel looks like.

Is there evidence in your life of genuine ownership of the gospel? Is the gospel truly yours, or, as Paul said, do you fall into the category of those “holding to the form of religion but denying its power?”

Blessings,

-Kevin M. Kelley

aMostUnlikelyDisciple.com