Multiply
Freedom - Responsibility
PREFACE: This is the longest essay I’ve written so far, almost 4,000 words. I wish I could have been more concise, but I failed. If you want, you can read it in four sections: Introduction, Diversion, Back on Track, and Conclusion. If you are feeling studious and have had your coffee, you obviously can push on through. Of course you can always read it again in sections 😉😇 It should be noted, I have paraphrased (taken liberties with a few passages of scripture) and for which I apologize in advance to anyone offended. My conscience is, however, clear and my prayer is for the Lord to know my heart. I hope you are encouraged and challenged by what I share here.
Introduction
We recently joined what is called a Life Group at Journey Church here in Cottonwood Arizona. In the olden days, or should I say the days of yore 😉 we called these Bible study groups. You get the idea. As luck would have it, the group was studying the book Multiply by Francis Chan and Mark Beuving, which is about disciples making disciples, part of the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20:
And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
Between Heaven and Death
Making disciples. Ms Webster defines a disciple as “one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.” This sort of minimalist definition can be applied to almost anything: a disciple of Christ Jesus; a disciple of science; a disciple of astrology. From it we get the word, discipline. As a noun meaning self-control or a field of study. In my career we spoke of scientific disciplines. As a verb, it can mean to punish or penalize for bad behavior, but I like Ms Webster’s secondary meaning, “to train or develop by instruction and exercise.” Wax on, wax off!” 🤣 Couldn’t resist.
To become a disciple, to embrace a discipline, we must take a first step. It doesn’t matter what subject we are intending to embrace. To become a scientist, you must embrace the 3Rs: Reading, Riting, and Rithmetic! To become a medical doctor, start with the 3Rs and move on to biology. To become a disciple of Jesus, a Christ-Follower, also requires first steps. As Paul the Apostle put it in his letter to the Romans, verse 10:9, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Simple you say. And so it is, but it is only a beginning; essential, but only a first step to becoming a disciple.
Most Christians would know that to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart is the first step to conversion. That would be true also if we were asking our friends to join the country club: Sign here and write a check. Easy. But to follow Jesus is not easy. Jesus himself says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." The first foreshadows his death, the second his “disownment” by the world. These statements intimate suffering and isolation. Why would anyone embrace that? Who in their right mind would want to be a disciple of that? What am I going to get out of that?
If you think there is nothing wrong with the world, you haven’t been paying attention. If you think the world is a pretty good place, realize it could end tomorrow. Nuclear war. Infectious disease. Famine. Rogue asteroid. Alien predators. I’ve written about this in essays on Grace and Hope. Categorically: the world will end, perhaps later rather than sooner, but inevitably it will end. Indeed, we will end as well; and sooner rather than later. Meditate on this fact.
Secondly, there is something wrong inside us. There always has been. We spend a lot of money in the western world on therapy to straighten us out. We have police forces to protect us from one another. Armies. Courts to adjudicate criminal and civil disputes. Governments, usually corrupt. Then let’s get to the things we do in secret to each other, to the weak and helpless among us. Out of what pit of Hell did an Epstein and his cronies crawl? What’s wrong with us that we did not rage at this and DEMAND a worldwide public accounting for such scandal? 🥱🤫😴 It’ll be OK… I’ve written about the internet and the spread of pornography and sex trafficking and terrorism. Spirits of murder, and hate, and fear run rampant. I could go on, but I am disgusted; I hope you are too. God calls this sin, evil, and the penalty is death. Death? Why, I can’t be that bad! Why, I didn’t do any of that 🤥 (Pinocchio face). They couldn’t help it. Death is such an extreme penalty and besides, a good God can’t be that mean! Stop for a moment and listen! Think about it. There IS something wrong inside us. Sin.
Diversion: Freedom/Responsibility
Indulge me in a “short” diversion 😇. Please be patient as this requires some close thinking: Where does Evil come from? How can a sovereign, all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), God create (make) creatures that could, would, worship Him freely?
So, this is my simplistic explanation of evil and free will; please bear with me. We can probably agree that the omnipotent God of the universe could create robots, which would do everything He commands and sing His praises and fly around while doing so. But to create a free creature, one who can make unencumbered choices, make up their own mind, do only that which they want to do, seems conceptually possible, but what is the cost? Here I will introduce the concept of freedom/responsibility, but first consider real freedom.
Freedom to believe in Hobbits and Orcs. Freedom to disbelieve in God. Freedom to do whatever you desire. Within the limits of your “creatureliness,” of course; you are not a bird 🤔 Take and eat fruit from your neighbor’s tree. Take his chariot. That little old lady driving a Prius cuts you off and then slows down 🤬; you have the freedom to drag her out of her car and strangle her. Freedom to screw your best friend’s husband. Wow! The range of possibilities is fantastic and spans from the innocuous to the psychopathic. But there is a problem with this.
Somehow this doesn’t seem right. Right by what standard? The reason “The Golden Rule” is the Golden Rule is because it is universal and we all know it. In his book Mere Christianity, CS Lewis has described this moral law as a sense of “oughtness,” and then poses the question, “This morality originates from where?” The Naturalist would say “enlightened self interest.” That’s possible, but somehow unsatisfying; it does not explain love, sacrifice, sharing, generosity, Mother Theresa. Freedom therefore introduces the possibility, even perhaps the inevitability of evil. Yet something inside us believes there must be consequences for freedom, even if only those due to simple cause and effect. You lose control of the ball and it rolls downhill into the sewer drain. Evil as a consequence of freedom; a suitable conundrum for an omniscient and omnipotent God.
The Good Book says God is the righteous judge. We equate righteousness with goodness, fairness, objectivity: Rightness. We can almost hear Him thinking, “If I give them Freedom, then have I also created the possibility for Evil? Why then the whole thing could go off the rails! Hmmmmm 🤔 This is going to get complicated.” So, God gives us freedom and we now have a choice to exercise our free will in accordance with our Creator’s wishes or not. Simple. Now the stage is set…
Honestly, we needn’t be surprised by the simplicity. Obedience or disobedience, how hard can that be? Let’s start with a simple rule, only one that’s easy to understand and sufficiently motivating to get us to pay attention: “Don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; if you do, you will die.” Sounds easy enough. After all, it’s only one tree. And to die, that’s bad! Wouldn’t you think that would be enough? Well, you know the rest of the story. Since the Garden, God told us, “Be good, or die!” The first several chapters of Genesis illustrate, emphasize, underline, and print in bold this axiom. Adam and Eve. Cain. The flood. Sodom and Gomorrah. You can argue about the historicity, but you cannot deny the concept. It’s astonishing really, that something so simple seems so difficult.
Wait, it gets more interesting. Go to the second book of the Bible, Exodus, alas, it doesn’t get any better. Jehovah God Himself leads Israel out of their Egyptian bondage with unbelievable signs and wonders and still we would not listen. Yes, we. A burning bush. Plague upon plague. Parting the Red Sea. The fire and smoke, the voice of God on Mt Sinai. A cloud by day. A pillar of fire by night. Manna. Quail. Water from a rock. And finally the Law of Moses, written in stone by the very finger of God Himself. Be good or die! Despite all this, it didn’t, it couldn’t, sink in. Why? I will let Scripture answer:
For "no human being will be justified (saved) in his (God’s) sight" by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3, verse 20). Sin: Evil. Paul says elsewhere that the law is a schoolmaster to show us the impossible standard of God’s righteousness. Incidentally, this theme also runs throughout the Old Testament, check it out. Start with “For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:16,17.
The entire Old Testament, the Law and the Prophets, is a chronicle of revelation, rebellion, judgment, repentance, and mercy and then repeats over and over: Revelation, rebellion, judgment, repentance, and mercy; Revelation, rebellion, judgment, repentance, and mercy… It’s boring! You get the idea 🧐 God declares; Man chooses; God responds. Be good or die! Repent and live! Freedom and responsibility. There is an end coming. Call it God’s judgment or call it happenstance or call it death. It is coming. We know this. We dread this. We wish there was a way out of this. If there is no God, none of this matters. Don’t worry. It is just rotten luck that we have attained consciousness only to realize that even consciousness is useless bullshit ultimately, if there is no God. As I’ve written before: “So gather ye toys while ye may for he who dies with the most, wins.” If you do not see that as absurd and worthy of despair, there is nothing herein for you and that is truly sad.
Back on Track
If God, then what? Who will deliver us from this body of death? This world of death? This absurd existence, book ended as it is by oblivion and death? I have only one answer: The word of life; Jesus. If you say that’s ridiculous, amusing, insane, I’d say you’re in good company, but don’t you dare think yourself original. In the OT, God Himself repeatedly mocks, the mighty, the powerful, the wise, the rich, the haughty, those that do not worship Him. Paul the Apostle said it well in 1 Corinthians 1:20-24:
Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater (blogger?) of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our (Paul’s) proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks (us), Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
Here, Jews are the children of Israel, those God delivered from Egypt; Greeks are the gentiles, us, the rest of the world (those not knowing the story of God in the Bible record); and Christ is, of course, Jesus the Messiah, the chosen one of God. The one who delivers us from this body of death, from sin; the One who saves us (justifies) from an eternity of destruction, annihilation. Back a bit in verses 17 and 18, Paul says, "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” The cross is the power of God. Thus begins Paul’s introduction to his gospel.
Good news. That is what gospel means. From that which I’ve written above I repeat: Who then will deliver us from this body of death? This world of death? This absurd existence book ended as it is by oblivion and death? Who will remove our guilt, our sin, before God?
Jesus. Only Jesus.
And this is the essence of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ as stated by the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:1-8):
Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, he appeared to Cephas (Peter), then to the twelve (Disciples). Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me (Paul).
And then in verses 13-20, anticipating objections to the necessity of not only Jesus’ death but also His resurrection from the dead:
Now if Christ is proclaimed (by Paul and the Apostles) as raised from the dead, how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified of God that he raised Christ—whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised. If Christ has not been raised, (then) your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ have perished. If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, (then) we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died.
Let’s unpack this a bit. Paul uses the term “first importance” in verses 1-8. Perhaps it is obvious in meaning, but it is not used often in modern parlance. We would say, “This is the most important, most significant, most essential thing I can say.” You ask what the Good News, the Gospel, is; Paul’s answer would be in flashing lights if it was being read on a computer screen or your phone. You want to know what Paul is talking about, what do these words mean? THIS IS IT! The Gospel. And the second paragraph is why it is important. Notice the repeated use of if/then reasoning; Paul is presenting a very critical, almost a scientific, argument. And here we have the complete essence of God’s good news for us, The Gospel:
Christ died for our sins (We were told this by the word of God, the Old and New Testaments.)
He was buried (He was so dead, he was prepared for burial and locked in a guarded tomb.)
God the Father raised Jesus the Son from the dead (Again, foretold in the Old Testament as proof of the gospel.)
As I said above, God’s standard and demand for righteousness, requires perfect obedience and the penalty for non-compliance is death. But God the Father, in His mercy, substituted His own Son. For us. To prove himself, reveal himself, as the God of the universe who demands righteousness, yet who loves, and saves, and shows His mercy, and gives us grace. The free gift. That is why I pointed to Romans 10:9 in the fourth paragraph of this essay: Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God did this. Simple. This is GRACE. This is the Gospel!
Well, you might ask, if I did this don’t I have to be good now? Wrong question!
Right question: How can I show my gratitude for that which God the Father has done through Jesus the Son? As Paul says, and all the scriptures indicate, you (we) are saved not by works, but by Grace. We cannot do anything to get it, to earn it, to make us worthy; it is the free gift of God, lest anyone should boast: Look what I did! NO! NO! NO! Look what God did!
If that which I am saying is true, why does it seem so complicated to “follow Jesus?” What should I do? What shouldn’t I do? What church should I attend? What other rules do I have to keep? Forget about all that. FOR NOW.
Let me tell you a story from Luke 23:39-43 (modifications mine): Jesus was not murdered on the cross alone. There were two other men crucified with Him that day; both were thieves and maybe worse. One said to Jesus, “Hey, man! Aren’t you that guy who was going around teaching and performing miracles and making such a fuss? Well, here you are, just like us! How cool is that? If you’re so special, why don’t you get us out of this mess and we’ll all go party?” The thief on the other side of Jesus said, “Dude! Don’t you even fear God? What’s wrong with you?! We are being punished for that which we deserve, but this man is innocent. Jesus, please remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus said something astonishing to this thief, “You can take this to the bank: Today you shall be with me in Paradise.” No rules. No catechism. No church. No theology. No nothing. Only Grace!
Pause a moment and ponder that truth… In the searching light of God’s Truth, His Love, His Mercy, His Grace, all the crazy “What about…” questions evaporate. I use the adjective “crazy” because they are; red herrings, false, distracting, irrelevant. Accept and believe. Simple.
Conclusion
OK. So, if we cannot join Jesus today in Paradise, what does come after we accept the Good News of the Gospel? I have written about this in one of my earlier essays on Obedience, but I will add a few further thoughts within the context of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
From my reading of the Bible, from Genesis through to Revelation, it seems to me that the good news of the Gospel was always God’s plan 😲 Think about it. Do you really think the omniscient Creator of the Universe was caught off guard when Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the forbidden tree and then lied about it? That would be ridiculous.
Do you really think God was surprised by the rebellion of the Israelites? Surprised, really? The God who knows our every thought, surprised? 🤨😏🧐 I just don’t think so. If He was, He wouldn’t be God. Circular reasoning? Maybe. Or perhaps genius.
Do you think God was flabbergasted when His own people, those called by His name, rejected and murdered Jesus the Son? That, too, is utterly ridiculous. Indeed, all of these things were foretold, often in astonishing detail, in the Law and the Prophets, our Old Testament. God’s genius is foolishness to those who are perishing.
Perhaps you say, “Well Dave, why didn’t He stop them then? Especially if He is omnipotent?”
Take a minute to think about the question. Take another. Maybe a third.
He knew. Let that sink in: He. Knew. God knew how impossible it was for creatures with free will to obey even a single law; not outwardly, and more importantly, not inwardly. There’s something about us that we always have to check and see if the Warden is looking. And perhaps more importantly, He knew, too, that we’d never believe that the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Almighty God Himself could really… really(?), really love the likes of US. Can we really believe John 3:16? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”
UNLESS. UNLESS… UNLESS He demonstrated how far He was willing to go to prove His love for us, to prove His desire for us. So… He placed Himself, God Himself, on that cross, the propitiation for our sin so that we could know: The Gospel.
All He asks is that we believe it. And after that, walk on our knees before Him in the power of His Holy Spirit in gratitude. Or not. Our choice. Our free choice. His Grace. He is waiting for an answer.
The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9
Simple.
Doubt it?
Who is Jesus?
Son of Man.
Son of God.
God Himself in the flesh.
One of three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
He knew. And now you do, too. This is holy ground.
EPILOGUE: This started out to be a critique of the “Multiply” book; more than 300 pages that would be difficult to assimilate under any circumstance. Then it began to morph into a version of the “Four Spiritual Laws” prevalent in the 1970s. In any event, I wanted to simplify what it is to become a bona fide Christian. Why? So that we can start the process of multiplying and discipleship. To make disciples, the hard work begins with relationship: Getting close enough to someone to be able to give a reason for the hope that lies within us. And that starts for all Believers with a single step: Confess and believe.
If my theology is concerning to you, search the scriptures to see if I have rightly divided the word of truth. The Bible is the only objective standard to which we must hold tightly and through it, pray and expect God the Holy Spirit to guide our experience. You can always write to me 😉😇