THE JESUS WAY
The Ways Jesus Lived and Taught That Can Guide Our Lives
Jesus Way 1: Transformation and Ongoing Relationship with God and Christ
Jesus fully embraced the first of the commandments which is to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength. Jesus kept his relationship with God strong and alive. He would go out early in the morning to the desert and pray. Some Biblical ways of this being expressed are: Jesus said he was the Vine and we are the branches; being born again; having eyes to see and ears to hear; receiving resurrection power; the stories in Luke 15 of being lost and then found. Some practical ways to be transformed include: praying in many different ways; meeting God in the scriptures; being grateful and experiencing the wonder of life; living in the presence of God; worship; reading.
Jesus Way 2: Doing God’s Will With Our Lives
The Lord’s Prayer says,”Your will be done, Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” I think doing God’s will is about matching up our particular gifts and passions with the desires and will of God. And Jesus said again and again that the desire of God is to bring about God’s kingdom, or God’s dream, for people’s lives and the world. The “micro” part of doing God’s will is doing our daily tasks as God would have us to do them. The “macro” part is to live out God’s intention for our lives ,or as a friend of mine says, our gift(s) to the world. Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister.”(Matthew 12:50) Sometimes we are called to put God’s will before our own. Jesus said in the garden before going to the cross, ”Not my will but Yours be done.” {Share quotes from Shawchuck/Job book p. 344,355}
Jesus Way 3: The Way of Faith
This is trusting in the goodness, love, and power of God in the midst of the stress and craziness of life. Jesus said if you keep the main thing the main thing, doing the will of God, that God will take care of the stuff we stress out so much about. He was getting at this reality of trusting God when he taught us to pray, “Give us the bread we need for today.” This trust involves believing-even relaxing a little- and knowing that God will make a way for us to live our lives. For example, I trust that God will help me care for my parents, continue in good relationship with our children, do my job, and walk into his future for me. Sometimes though we lose this faith and trust for a while and need to be honest with God about that and also trust others to carry us to the God who wishes to love us. A prayer my wife Joy and I would pray is, “I believe in that which is infinite – that which is Yes! I believe. Help my unbelief.” A text to look at is Matthew 6:25-34.
Jesus Way 4: Offering Healing To The Broken and Outcasts
Jesus seems to have spent very much time and energy bringing God’s healing presence to the sick and suffering. We can do this through prayer, presence, listening, music, joy and laughter, respect, touch, medicine, and much more. Healing can also involve peace-making between those who are estranged. It can also involve bringing healing to all of God’s creation. Jesus Christ said, “Go to the lost and confused right here in the neighborhood. Tell them that the kingdom is here. Bring health to the sick. Raise the dead. Touch the untouchables. Kick out the demons. You have been treated generously, so live generously. (Matthew 10:5-8 The Message)
Jesus Way 5: Being a Servant
Jesus spoke a lot about being servants – not to seek power and prestige but to seek to serve and do our part with God to make a difference. St. Francis used to pray, “Who are You my dearest Lord, and who am I but Your useless servant.” Examples of servanthood include getting your spouse a cup of coffee, picking up something that someone dropped, and helping others get done what they are trying to get done. Jesus said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to become great must become a servant. Whoever wants to become first among you, must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done. He came to serve and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage. (Matthew 20:28)
Jesus Way 6: Being in a Community of Love, Support, and Mission
Jesus had a tight knit small group in which learning, living together, and preparation and accountability for their mission to the world happened. We need to be a part of groups of people where we find and give love, fellowship, inspiration, challenge, and power to be who we’re called to be. Jesus said, “If you have gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care – then do me a favor. Agree with each other, love each other, be deep spirited friends. Put yourself aside and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. (Philippians 2:1-4 The Message)
Jesus Way 7: Forgiveness and Reconciliation
This was a major message and reality of the life of Jesus. He told us to forgive one another again and again. He told us we were to forgive our enemies. And as he was being crucified on a cross, he cried out to God, “Forgive them Father because they don’t understand.” He cries this prayer out for us as well. His most famous story about forgiveness is the one where the papa forgives the boy who has screwed things up, but the elder brother has a hard time doing the same thing. Forgiving is difficult. Yet God can help us through the process. And when possible, reconciliation with the one who has offended needs to happen. (Look at Matthew 5:43-48 The Message)
Jesus Way 8: Confronting That Which Is Wrong
Jesus taught that people need to confront the darkness in their own lives as well as dark things in the world like religious people who had lost the way of God and love, and people putting things like wealth and empire before God. As Jesus followers we need to know when to change our ways and when to confront the ways of the world that go against God’s kingdom or dream for the world. In Matthew 4, Jesus was led by the Spirit to be tested by the Devil. In that place Jesus had to choose the right and good voice amidst the wrong voices. And in Matthew 25, Jesus told a story of final judgement based on whether people fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited those in prison, cared for the sick, and gave a room to the homeless.
Jesus Way 9: Teaching or Passing On The Story of God, Jesus, and The Way
Jesus loved to teach. He told stories about God, the relationship between God and people, and the way of love. He taught in the synagogue, on the mountain, in the marketplace, and by the sea. Jesus could also look at the ordinary things of life like bread, yeast, a seed, and a farmer in a field and use them to talk about the ways of God. We can pass on The Jesus Way though stories, including our own, and by how we live our lives. A teaching we can look at is the sermon on the mountain in Matthew 5-7. Amazing.
