Answering Challenges Like Jesus

Jesus’ Life

Mark 2:23-28

The Pharisees were saying to Him, "See here, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" 

And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and became hungry, he and his companions... 

The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath."

The Pharisees challenged Jesus about the disciples breaking of the Sabbath.  Now, the disciples were not actually breaking the Sabbath, but the traditions that the Pharisees had in place concerning the Sabbath. But Jesus did not apologize for their practice, or tell the disciples that they should just stop it until the Pharisees were gone.  Instead, he confronted the Pharisees and their wrong attitude about God’s righteousness.  He said that the Sabbath was made for mankind and so that man should determine the application of it—for what was best for people.  And hunger is never best.

Mark 7:1-8

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, "Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?  And He said to them, "Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 'This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. 'But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.' 

Again, the Pharisees challenged Jesus because the disciples didn’t wash their hands.  Jesus didn’t tell his disciples to do it.  Instead, he confronted the Pharisees with their concern about tradition rather than God’s command.

Mark 10:2-9

Jesus said to them, "Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh; consequently they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate."

The teachers of Jesus’ day had an argument about divorce in God’s law.  Both acknowledged that divorce was acceptable, because of God’s command about it.  But some found it acceptable in just about any situation possible, while others said it was only acceptable in some circumstances.  The Pharisees wanted to make Jesus’ enemies by putting him in one camp or the other. When challenged in this, Jesus’ focus was on the righteousness of God and the need to not hurt another.  He made himself enemies in both sides by saying that divorce was unacceptable in any circumstance and it was a capitulation by Moses, acknowledging the rebellion of the Israelites. 

Mark 12:18-27

 Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures, or the power of God?"

The Sadduccees were a group of Israelites that didn’t believe that people would be raised from the dead in a new body.  They gave Jesus their argument, which was complicated, but made sense in the law of Moses.  Jesus cut across the entire argument by speaking to the unspoken assumptions they had behind the argument and destroying them.  Again, Jesus made himself enemies here, but spoke the truth of God.

Mark 14:55-64

The high priest stood up and came forward and questioned Jesus, saying, "Do You make no answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?" But He kept silent, and made no answer. Again the high priest was questioning Him, and saying to Him, "Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?" And Jesus said, "I am; and you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven."

This time, the challenge before Jesus was a matter of life and death.  These people could kill Jesus if he spoke the wrong word.  First they claimed that he wanted to destroy the temple, and Jesus said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it.  When they asked him if he was the Messiah, the king, however, Jesus spoke the Father’s promise to him—that Jesus would sit at the right hand of the Father and that all these judging him would soon be judged by him.  This was unacceptable to them and declared that he must be killed.

Our Lives

Matthew 10:24-28

Do not fear them, for there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.

Jesus said that we are to listen to him in order to understand what he is saying.  And then we are to clearly communicate it to others.   This means that we will have opposition and hatred coming against us—because many are opposed to the truth of Jesus and the ethics he taught.  In spite of that, we are to be bold and openly declare his teaching.  Even if they kill us, Jesus says, we are to fear God more than them because if we deny God’s truth then he can send us to hell, while people can only kill our bodies.

I Peter 3:14-16

But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.

Peter overcame his earlier difficulties (see the following story) to be a staunch defender of Jesus in the face of opposition.  In light of his experience, he is saying that we need to defend Jesus in the face of opposition, no matter what the cost.  Most people won’t kill us or cause us pain, but they might reject us or think badly of us.  No matter what, we are to defend Jesus and declare God’s righteousness.  If we are hated, rejected or hurt then we are to just accept that as part of the cost of being a Christian.

Example

When Jesus called Peter, he was a lot of talk, but little action.  He claimed that he would suffer for Jesus, even die for him.  But when directly challenged, he would instantly turn to a lie.  When asked about whether Jesus paid a certain tax, he said that Jesus did, even though he didn’t know.  When he was afraid he would be arrested, he denied he knew Jesus three times.  With every challenge, he was so afraid of people that he would let them determine what he would say.  After Jesus rose from the dead and Peter received the Holy Spirit, then Peter had the boldness he needed to stand up for Jesus, even in the face of opposition.  He spoke about Jesus openly and when the ruling council of the Jews told him to stop, he openly refused.  Because of this, he was arrested and eventually crucified, but he feared suffering at the hands of men no more, knowing that it was better to be honored by God.  Matthew 17:24-27; Mark 14:66-72; Acts 3-5

Living It Out

Be aware of the difference between disagreement and challenge

In all these circumstances, Jesus was being told that he was in the wrong and that he should change.  In defending himself, he was firm and wise.  However, we must not act in such a way when someone is simply asking a question or simply wanting us to clarify.  In those cases, Jesus spoke in compassion and gentleness.

Don't be ashamed of God's truth

Be committed to speak God’s truth in Jesus whenever you have the opportunity.  If someone speaks against what Jesus said before you, take the opportunity to speak the truth in Jesus.  In may not be comfortable to do so, it may not feel right, but Jesus wants you to speak out for his sake.  If you do not speak, then the person may think that you are in agreement with them—it is better to speak than to let them live believing a lie that will send them to hell.

Don't fear opposition
Many people won’t like what we say if we stand for Jesus one hundred percent of the time.  Some people will yell at us or blame us for what other Christians have done. But that is no reason for not speaking the truth.  No matter what, we need to stand for Jesus, even as he stood for us, no matter what the cost.

Be prepared for opposition

If we speak the truth of Jesus, people will hate us and try to harm us.  They will speak against us and challenge us.  This is the promise of the New Testament.  Since this is the case, we need to be ready for these attacks.  We can have arguments ready, but more importantly is to be emotionally ready for rejection and verbal attack.  We need to “steel ourselves up” for opposition and be ready not to back down, but to speak what the Holy Spirit leads us to.

Defend the glory and righteousness of God

We are to seek God’s glory and to defend his reputation.  We are to seek God glorified through his people’s lives and speech.  We need to keep Jesus’ name cleared of false teaching and evil deeds.  In this way, we are to honor God with our speech by defending him before others when they speak something against him or his ways.

You don’t have to go out of your way to seek opposition, unless God calls you to

This doesn’t mean that if a group that teaches falsehood is in your area, that you need to confront them.  Jesus did not confront groups unless they confronted him.  There was a group in Jesus’ day called the Essenes that taught something wrong about God’s word, but we have no word that Jesus’ confronted them.  In fact, he seems to have ignored them completely.  Even as he ignored the Sadduccees until he was in Jerusalem.  That is because they never confronted him.  Unless God calls you to confront a certain group or person, our focus is to defend God with those who challenge us.  We don’t have to go out of our way to challenge others.

Challenging Like Jesus

Jesus’ Life
Mark 1:16-20
Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat.
Jesus called disciples. When they heard his call, they already knew that they were being called to be prophets, to be an alternative to the teachers who were in Israel already. They were honored to be called, but they also recognized that it was also a sacrifice. Just as Elisha had to give up his occupation and home to follow Elijah, so did the disciples have to give everything they knew up in order to follow Jesus. In the simple word, “Follow me” Jesus told them this. And they accepted the call of Jesus readily.

Luke 9:57-62
He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But He said to him, "Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God." Another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." But Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Jesus had many disciples beyond the twelve apostles. Many wanted to prove that they were dedicated enough to follow Jesus. But with many of them, Jesus had to challenge them to a greater commitment. Many disciples thought that Jesus could be just a part of their lives, or something they do for a time and then return to their old lives. Jesus clearly taught that once a person begins to follow him, the sacrifices they make are total and can’t be surrendered later. He told one that to follow Jesus, he needs to expect homelessness. He told another that he cannot turn back to his family once he has begun to follow Jesus. To another, he said that he cannot fulfill his social commitment to bury his family. Because the commitment to the kingdom is total—no turning back, no compromise.

Mark 10:17-22
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But at these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
Another one wasn’t seeking to follow Jesus. He was seeking the kingdom of God, salvation, eternal life. But he wasn’t sure how he would gain it. Jesus gave the standard answer, follow the commandments. But the man wasn’t satisfied with that answer—he expected something more from Jesus. And so Jesus said, “If you want your devotion to be complete, then sell your possessions, give to the poor and follow me.” Jesus told him to irreversibly surrender all he had and surrender his whole self to God’s kingdom. This man did not make this choice, but Jesus didn’t compromise it in any way. To be devoted requires complete surrender.

Our Lives
I Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
We are to speak to one another, building each other up in Jesus. To "encourage" doesn't mean to say nice things necessarily, but to literally "en-courage", to put boldness in another to live a life of faith.

Hebrews 10:24-25
Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
We are to regularly meet together—not to just sit in a worship service, nor just to sing, nor just to listen to someone else teach the Bible. We are to gather together so that we can teach each other to do good and to love each other more. We aren’t to meet together to tell each other off or to argue about insigificant doctrinal points. Rather, we need to focus on God’s commands to us, to teacher us to be more obedient and loving.

Colossians 3:16-17
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We need to speak to one another in whatever way we can. Through songs we have memorized, through the Scripture we know, through the wisdom God gives us directly—but in all these ways, we are to reflect the teaching of Jesus. We are not to remain silent—hoping that the Lord will teach others what they need to know. We need to take responsibility and teach each other and quote to each other the word of Jesus.

II Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
We are to use Scripture in many ways—to correct people from false teaching; to gently rebuke those who are in sin; to teach the truth of the kingdom of God; or to teach the righteousness of Jesus. But if we focus only on one aspect of the Scripture, then we have an unbalanced perception of the wholeness of life in accordance with the Scripture.

Examples
After Paul and Barnabas began many churches, they determined that they needed to return to those churches in various cities to encourage them (Acts 14:21-22). They set up leadership in each church and also encouraged each other to endure through opposition and trials.

Billy Graham is well known to be an evangelist of unbelievers, calling them to a commitment to Jesus. But he also spends much time exhorting believers, challenging them to a more consistent faith and to bold outreach. He has encouraged evangelists, missionaries and organized the whole evangelical church to work together in outreach.

Mother Teresa is well known for her work among the poor and dying in Calcutta. But her even greater work was in training and encouraging thousands of Catholics and Protestants to devote themselves to Jesus to prepare them for similar work among the poor.

Living It Out
Challenge yourself to a complete devotion to God
Look for your devotion to God and your love to others to be deeper and deeper. Don’t accept where you are at, but look at how your love for the Lord can be greater than it is right now.

Live a holistic faith
It is not enough to have a faith that says what one believes. Faith is our obedience, our complete devotion to God, our commitment to God’s promises and our boldness for Jesus’ word. Our faith isn’t just what is in our head, but how we respond to others, especially the most difficult people. Our faith is our whole life, even our opinions and seemingly insignificant speech.

Preach the whole gospel—both the grace and the obedience
When we evangelize, it is not enough to speak of God’s grace. Nor is it enough to speak of repentance. We need to do both. Realize and tell others that God demands our obedience and love—and that he recognizes that we cannot do it ourselves and that we need his help. Challenge people to live like Jesus and then help them realize that they need to depend on him to live it out.

Teach both unbelievers and disciples
The gospel is not just for unbelievers. As disciples, we constantly need to be challenged and recommitted to the Lord. We need to be refilled with the Spirit and constantly praying for renewal. Thus, the gospel of commitment to the Lord Jesus is something not only unbelievers need to hear, but also believers and disciples.

Follow the word of Jesus, not fruitless challenges
Many of us have made foolish vows before the Lord, or obeyed a teacher that was telling us to do more than Jesus asks us to. To overcommit is no blessing to us, and it is possibly also distracts us from what the Lord wants us to focus on. To follow Jesus is enough and it is difficult enough. Let us not increase the burden to be unbearable—it is hard enough just to love.

What Do You Really Believe?

Who Am I, Really?
It is often quoted, “You are what you eat.” But I am not a tuna sandwich or a quesadilla. Perhaps what we eat gives us the energy to be who we are, but it is not who we are. Rather, it is our thoughts and beliefs that make us who we are. We do not name ourselves according to our culinary preference, but we proudly tell others the names that display what we believe. Our church group (what we believe about God), our political leanings (what we believe about how to help our country), our sports team (what we believe about that team—namely, they are great)—these are the things we talk about to indicate who we are (as well as other things, like occupation)

However, our beliefs are as complex as our thinking, and at times we say we believe something that contradicts what we believe about something else. And we also will say that we believe one thing and do another. I can say that I believe that people should be nice to one another, but if I found out my neighbor took my television without my permission then I might not be so nice to him. My wife would then point out the contradiction between what I say and what I did, and I will explain it to her: “You see, I think that we should generally be nice to each other, but if someone takes something from me, then I don’t have to be nice.” The reasoning may or may not be valid, but I only came up with the reason to excuse what I did. The reality is, what I said I believed originally—“People should be nice to each other,”— is different from what I really believed— “I will be nice to others as long as they are nice to me.”

Given that what we say we believe is so often contradicted by what we do, how do we know what we really believe. I say I believe in Jesus—but do I really? And how do I know? I think that if I make statements of belief—“I believe that Jesus is Lord”, that will be enough. If I know something, “Jesus rose from the dead” or “Airplanes are safe,” does that mean I believe in it?

Evaluating What We Really Believe In
Jesus recognized that often what we say and what we believe are two different things. This is why he gave us a test to find the true character of a person—what they really believe in, whether they are really good and bad. Jesus said, “We know a tree by its fruit. We know that a tree is an apple tree because it bears apples. And we know that a fig tree can’t produce pears. Even so, we know what a person is really like by their actions and careless speech.” (Matthew 7:16-20 and 12:33-36). Thus, we know what people really believe by how they behave in certain areas in life.

Below are six areas that, according to Jesus, indicate what we really believe. If we follow God in these areas, then we can say we believe in God. But if we do not, then we must believe in something else—for our actions are a mirror of our hearts.

Actions
As shown above, what we do with our lives—our work, our response to stressful situations—that’s what really shows who we are. We can say that we love God, but the question is, how do we show it? Sometimes the best way to determine our character is to imagine that a stranger who has never seen us before is presented with a videotape of our whole lives, with the sound off, so they can’t hear our own explanations of our lives. How would that stranger evaluate us? What would characterize us? If we stole, we would certainly be characterized as a thief. But we more often than not excuse ourselves, not wanting our actions to determine who we are—“Sure, I get drunk occasionally, but that doesn’t make me an alcoholic.” “Yes, I have hit my child in anger, but that doesn’t make me a child abuser.” Yet Jesus said that a person shows truly whether they believe in him as to whether they do what he says (Luke 6:46-49)

Wealth
Jesus says that what we do with our money and possessions indicates where our heart is, thus who we are (Luke 12:34). A person can say, “I believe that God will heal me,” but then why does he spend so much money on medicine? A person can say, “My comfort will be in heaven,” but then why does she surround herself with comforts on earth? If we want to see what a person really believes in, we can look at how they spend their money—that will indicate what they think to be most important in life. Jesus said that if we want to show that we believe we will get to heaven, then we need to take a substantial amount of our wealth and give it to the poor—not necessarily the church, unless they are serving the poor (Luke 12:33; Acts 4:34-35)

Words
As we said above, a person can say one thing and do another. But Jesus said that we should pay attention to people’s careless words—the statements they make when they didn’t have time to plan it out. Often that’s when people’s pride and anger and selfishness flare up. If we are planning a statement, that can be one thing we say, but the statements we use when we are being thoughtless and carefree—those are the words by which we will be judged, for those are the words that show what we really believe and so who we really are. (Matthew 12:35-36)

Security
At times we all feel insecure. We are often struck by anxiety and we don’t know where to turn. Where we do turn in those moments of crisis indicates what we trust in or who we think will pull us out of our fear. Perhaps we will turn to a family member—especially if they are wealthy—or a friend. Perhaps we have a habit or addiction that we think will make us feel better. Perhaps we have nothing we can rely on but our anxiety, but we say, “How I wish I had this or that”. That is what we really rely on, the person or object we truly believe in. But Jesus tells us that in our time of crisis, the one we can always count on, the dependable one who we can trust in is God. (John 14:1; Luke 12:30-32). To “believe in” God doesn’t mean to have the correct doctrine, it means that you will count on him in a time of crisis. So whatever we turn to in crisis, that is our real god.

Attitude
God makes it clear that he wants us to treat everyone according to their well-being. He wants us to do what is good for everyone we meet—whether that person is an evil person or a good one (Luke 6:27-36; Galatians 6:10). We can make a list of who we actually show care for and who we do not. “Yes, I try to help this person whenever I can. This person, though, is a dolt and so I avoid then when possible. I like to assist this kind of person, but this kind I detest and wouldn’t even give them the time of day.” By this test, then, we can often see what limits we place on our belief in God. We believe in God and in his ways when we are around certain people or situations, but in other ones we do not. If people respect us, that’s fine, we can believe in God in that situation. But if someone cusses us out, then we find it difficult to believe in God. For we know that we will be rewarded according to our love, not our doctrinal beliefs.

Promises
We often make promises and commitments, from appointments to projects we agreed to work on. Sometimes we do not even have a promise to do something, but we have a “social contract” with our family, in which our behavior is determined. And there are many things that we “believe in” that we commit to do, whether it be prayer or a favor for someone at church or visiting a sick person in the hospital. But what we believe in is not found in the promises we make, but in the promises we actually keep. We may “believe in” prayer and make a schedule for us to wake up a bit early to do it. But, when the time comes, we find that we actually believe in sleep more than prayer because the snooze button is hit until the prayer time has vanished. We may “believe in” visiting the sick, and so promise to do it, but when the time comes we find the television too alluring, showing that we believe in our comfort and rest more. Jesus said that we must fulfill our promises and so display our faithfulness, for what we do shows what we believe. This doesn’t mean that we are able to keep all our promises. Sometimes emergencies come up. But we must remember this, whatever we chose to do, that is what we really believe in. (Matthew 21:28-31)

Repentance
One last thing to note—Jesus is a firm believer in changing one’s ways. We know he believes in change because he forgives people their sin. He displays his belief of changed behavior by accepting those who have repented. Even so, if you evaluate your true beliefs and determine that you haven’t really believed in Jesus, it is not too late to change! Jesus said he will give you his Spirit and he will help you repent from your old life and begin to believe in Him anew! Pray for God’s grace and you will begin to truly believe in Jesus, not just in words, but in your whole life. In that way you will be a new creation, created by God to do actions in light of Jesus!

Evaluate your actions, and determine
what you really believe!