“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21, ESV)

I’ve been reading On the Incarnation by Saint Athanasius. At one point, he writes, “He [God] deals with them [people] as a good teacher with his pupils, coming down to their level and using simple means.”1 I have always appreciated the teacher, trainer, boss, coach, or pastor who could take a complex idea and break it down into simple terms. Someone recently told me the best way to test how well you understand something is to explain it to a middle school student. She was right!

God knew we would never come to know him through our own means. A lost man cannot find his way back home—that’s what makes him lost. If he knew the way home but refused to take it, he wouldn’t be lost. He’d just be wandering away from home.

We were hopelessly lost, separated from God like children who ran away from their parents in a crowded amusement park and now cannot find Mom or Dad. So, the Son of God came for us. He became human, like one of us, so that we could see and understand. He came down to our level, spoke in terms we could comprehend, and showed us by his life, death, and resurrection what God is like. At the cross, we find the path home.

I’ve watched when my three-year-old loses sight of me and becomes aware that she’s lost. She looks, but even though I can see her, she can’t find me, and starts to get scared. When I go get her, she’ll say, “Daddy! I found you!” In that moment, I don’t correct her. I just wrap her in a big hug and say, “I’m so glad!”

“since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God” — 1 Peter 1:23 (ESV)

Have you ever thought about the usefulness of a butter knife? It’s such a versatile piece of tableware! Butter knives can be used to spread toppings (like butter on bread or icing on cupcakes), trim the crust off toast, cut open baked potatoes, and chop spaghetti noodles into toddler-sized bites. When the lid on a jar is stuck, I often grab a butter knife and tap it on the lid (I don’t know if it actually works, but I can usually get the lid off). We’ve even used a butter knife in a pinch as a screwdriver.

The way you use a butter knife depends on what you’re using the butter knife for. The same is true for God’s Word.

In his book, Mere Christian Hermeneutics, Kevin Vanhoozer describes two purposes for reading Scripture that have often been in tension throughout Christian history. On one side is what we might call the academic approach to the Bible. This side views Scripture as a historical and religious book to be scientifically studied. Faithful academic biblical scholars believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and they seek to understand what God said centuries and millennia ago and what it meant then. The purpose is to mine the Bible for ancient theological principles that can be applied to life today.

On the other side is what we could call the pastoral approach to the Bible. This side views the Scripture as a historical and religious book to be spiritually read. They believe that the Bible is God’s inspired Word and seek to hear what God is saying through Scripture to those who are reading it today. The purpose is to meditate on Scripture to encounter God for worship and spiritual formation.

Sadly, these two camps frequently take shots at each other. Academics in universities often accuse pastors and Bible study leaders of taking the Bible out of context. Church leaders often accuse academics of ignoring the application of Scripture, choosing instead to mire themselves in endless historical debates that have little relevance to actual life (e.g., whether or not Adam and Eve had belly buttons).

I agree with Vanhoozer and others that we need both sides to come back together in order to have a full and correct understanding of Scripture. We must study the Bible properly to understand what it meant. And we must listen to the Spirit as we read to understand what it means. The Bible is not merely an encyclopedia, a classroom textbook, or a dataset to train an AI bot. Neither is it a genie in a lamp, waiting to be opened to do my personal bidding. It is the living and active Word of God. He spoke it then, and he is speaking through it now. We should read the Bible to hear what God said and what God is saying. Let us come to the Scriptures so that we can encounter the Speaker and be transformed. We do not have a dead book. We have “the living and abiding word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). Both what it meant and what it means are important for spiritual formation and for loving God.

Why do you read the Bible?

Brothers and sisters, consider your calling: Not many were wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. —1 Corinthians 1:26

When I lived in Wisconsin, I fell in love with fly fishing for trout. But when I started, I quickly discovered a problem. Fly fishing is complicated. There are hundreds of fly rods, ranging in price from $20 to $2,000. The same is true for fly reels. There are also waders, boots, fishing vests, nets, and dozens of various accessories. You need fly line, and there are so many lengths, weights, bouyancies, and specialized lines to choose from. You need leaders of various lengths, from 5 feet to 15 feet, and tippet. And don’t get me started on the files! Thousands of fly patterns in a dizzying array of colors and sizes!

The more I learned about fly fishing, the more discouraged I became. How do I know what leader length to use? How do I know when to tie on more tippet? How do I know what fly line I need, and how can I afford all these specialized pieces of gear? How do I know what fly to choose? What if I have the right pattern but the wrong size? What if I’m not casting perfectly? I realized that the only way I would learn to fly fish was to invest a ton of money in gear and go to the Orvis store and sign up for their fly fishing school. It was just too complicated for an average untrained person.

Then a friend introduced me to Tenkara fly fishing. Tenkara is much simpler. There’s no reel. An inexpensive fixed-length fly line is attached to the end of the rod with a very simple knot that only takes a few seconds to tie. There are no leaders of various sizes, just a few feet of tippet connecting the fly to the line. Tenkara fly fishing is minimalist fly fishing. Less gear means less to buy, less to carry, and less to fuss with. It’s a different philosophy of fishing. Instead of trying to pick a fly pattern that is a perfect imitation of the bugs the fish happen to be eating that day, the Tenkara approach is less complicated. Choose a fly that could pass for any number of bugs—trout are opportunistic feeders. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars buying every fly you can find. Many Tenkara anglers have two or three fly patterns they use, and that’s it.

I embraced Tenkara fly fishing, saved a lot of money by not buying unnecessary gear, and caught more fish!

Sometimes, we think of making disciples like fly fishing. It’s complicated. You have to be an expert. You probably need professional training. You need to know how to teach a Bible study, come up with critical thinking questions, facilitate a discussion with a classroom-sized “small” group, run a church program, and hold your own in an apologetics debate. Plus, you need to be a lot more like Jesus. If you’re still dealing with areas of sin in your own life, how could you disciple someone else?

But we need to think of making disciples like Tenkara fly fishing. Let’s uncomplicate it. 1 Corinthians 1:26 tells us that most of the original Christians were not wise or well educated. They were not rich and powerful. They were not people of status or position in society. Most of the first Christians were average, everyday, normal people. They didn’t have church buildings. They didn’t have church programs. They didn’t have church conferences. They didn’t have podcasts, YouTube, Claude AI, or GotQuestions.org. They didn’t even have the complete New Testament. And while some congregations had copies of parts of the Old Testament, virtually no individual owned their own Scriptures. Yet, somehow, they made disciples.

The point I’m trying to make is this: Discipleship is not complicated. It’s really very simple. At its core, making a disciple means showing someone else how you follow Jesus. How do you follow Jesus? I’m not asking that in the broad, generic sense of how does a person follow Jesus, but rather in the specific, personal sense of how you follow him. Have you ever sat down and written out the ways you follow Christ? If not, take a few minutes this week to do just that.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I could go on a nice vacation! I’m not sure that 24/7 news outlets are a good thing for the world. A few years ago, I had a moment in which I realized I was overstressed, overstimulated, anxious, and always angry. I decided to take a step back from social media and news. I closed most of my social media accounts and ignored the two I didn’t cancel. And I shut off all my news feeds… for a year.

Admittedly, the first few weeks were tough. I went through something akin to withdrawal. But a few months after kicking news and social media out of my life, my anger level decreased significantly. I was less stressed, sleeping better, and didn’t live in a state of constant worry. I felt more present with my family, more hopeful about life, more aware of my neighbors, and more excited about how God was moving in the church I served as a pastor.

I have never really reengaged with social media beyond following a fishing group’s posts every once in a blue moon. However, I eventually reintroduced the news—carefully. I wanted to find a source that I could trust and one that didn’t only report doom and gloom.

I found WORLD. I could tell you about WORLD news, but I will let the organization speak for itself.

“WORLD produces sound journalism, grounded in facts and biblical truth. Through print magazines, online articles, and podcast programs, our trained journalists report on current events both global and national so that readers and listeners can see how God is at work in the world, no matter the headlines.”

I first discovered WORLD through their daily news podcast, The World and Everything In It. Each episode is about 35–40 minutes long and is as professional in quality as any big network news. Major stories from the US and around the world are reported, along with regular special segments on Supreme Court cases, economics, politics, and culture, all from a biblical worldview. Additionally, the podcast frequently has human-interest stories that are inspiring and stir my heart to praise our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. As a parent, one of the most helpful segments is the weekly arts and entertainment review of major movies, shows, and music. If Collin Garbarino, the Arts and Culture Editor, says a movie or show is good, I’ve found it’s almost always worth watching!

The World and Everything In It is a free podcast. And WORLD’s website also has a ton of print stories available free. I listen to WORLD news most mornings. And then I ignore the news for the rest of the day. As for the big networks and subscription-based spinoffs, I’ve found they’re not worth my time—or my money. Where do you get your news?

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” —Matthew 28:18

Most people who have been Christians for any length of time have heard these famous words from what we call the Great Commission. Jesus, after his resurrection and just prior to his ascension, commissioned his disciples to go and make more disciples. Since those of us who follow Jesus today are also his disciples, this commission is also ours. But what does it mean?

Hang in there with me. This might get a little nerdy, but it’s worth thinking deeply about this.

When we read this in modern English, we see two verbs: “go” and “make.” And we see two nouns: “disciples” and “nations.” So, it makes sense to understand our commission as a command to go to all the nations and create or make a product—disciples. If I said to you, “Go to the kitchen and make lasagna,” you would understand that I’m telling you to go to a place—the kitchen—and create a product—lasagna (which happens to be my favorite meal).

This way of reading the Great Commission is reinforced by the modern, manufacturing-driven world in which we live. A car is made on an assembly line. A phone is manufactured in a factory. A loaf of bread is baked in an oven. A product is created when it is completed. A friend of mine is currently building a house for his family. I walked through it with him the other day, and there is a lot of work yet to be done. It’s going to be beautiful when it’s finished.

But there’s something interesting about Matthew 28:18 that is a little lost in translation. The original text wasn’t written in English but in Koine Greek. And I was surprised when I read it in Greek to see that the word “disciple” in this verse is not a noun but a verb. A very literal translation reads:

“Going, therefore, disciple all the people groups…”

In the original Greek, there are still two verbs: “going” and “disciple.” And there is only one noun: “people groups.” You might ask why it wasn’t translated this way into English, and the answer is simply a limitation of language. In contemporary English, the word “disciple” is a noun, not a verb. In fact, my grammar checker highlights it as a spelling error every time I use it as a verb. This is why translators naturally render it as “make disciples” even though the Greek verb refers to “discipling.”

This may not seem like much of a difference; however, consider how the verse reads if we use the verbs from the original language. Obviously, we are still called to go. That part doesn’t change. However, the phrase “make a disciple” leads me to think of the end product or destination. The phrase “disciple someone” leads me to think of the path or journey.

The Great Commission is not, “Go and create finished products.” Instead, it is, “Go and lead people on the journey with Christ.” If the commission is to create a finished product, the assignment can never be completed. For all my years serving the Lord, I still have areas of sin in my life. I will never be a “finished product” until Christ returns and completes my sanctification. However, if the commission is to show someone how to really follow Jesus in life, I don’t have to be perfect before I can do that. I don’t have to have all the answers before I begin. Whether you have been following Jesus for decades or days, you can show someone else what you have learned and invite them to follow Jesus with you.

“Go, therefore, and make disciples” is a good translation of ancient Greek into modern English. Just remember that discipleship is about the journey as much as the destination. And making disciples is about teaching people to walk with Jesus, not just creating Bible scholars.

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. —Job 42:3 (ESV)

Recently, the Lord nudged me to read the book of Job. Not to mindlessly check-box my way through it, but to slow down and actually read it. I found myself puzzled by the book. And somewhere along the way, I realized that not understanding it was part of God’s invitation.

At first, I was frustrated by my lack of understanding. I was reading Job and thinking, “What in the world does this mean?” If you’re not familiar with the book, Job was a righteous and wealthy man who served God faithfully. One day, Satan asks God if he can make Job suffer in an attempt to get Job to turn away from God. God gives permission, and Job loses everything—his family, his livestock, his harvest, his employees, even his health. But he doesn’t curse God. As he is sitting in misery, some of his friends come to comfort him. Most of the book records their speeches to Job and his responses. Spoiler alert: In the end, God restores to Job all that was lost and commends Job’s faithfulness, even through suffering.

As I was reading Job, I found that I didn’t want to put it down. What started as a frustration with not understanding it sparked renewed curiosity about the story. It was as though the Lord was showing me that the Bible is so rich and so full that a lifetime of reading it will never plumb its depths.

Most of the time, we don’t reread a book. We read it and put it on the shelf—done. But the Bible was never intended to be read once and checked off the list. It’s meant to be read over and over again. Even though you’ve read the words before, sometimes reading them again can feel like reading them for the first time. And even though you’re familiar with a story, sometimes reading it again reveals new insights that you missed. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “I’ve read this a hundred times, but I’ve never noticed that before.”

So, when (not if) you’re reading the Bible and find yourself scratching your head, don’t lose heart! It happens to the best of us. Keep reading. Keep asking the Lord, “What does this mean?” Wisdom takes time to develop. But we have all eternity ahead of us!

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. —Matthew 10:37 (ESV)

When I was in college, I wanted to get a tattoo. I asked my dad if he thought this was a good idea, and he asked me why I wanted a tattoo. I said, “I want to be my own person. A tattoo is my own mark on my body. It’s a sign of distinct identity.” My dad then asked if other college students had tattoos, and I let him know that they were very popular on campus. And then, my dad asked a brilliant question: “So, you want to be different from everyone else by doing what everyone else is doing?”

In his book, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling God’s Purpose for Your Life, Os Guinness writes that God’s people “are called by God to be distinctively different, that assimilation may be as disastrous as defeat, and that times of success may be more dangerous to faithfulness than times of rejection and persecution.” This quote and the chapter in which it appears are compelling. As Christians, we must not give in to the twin temptations to compromise our faith or to assimilate into the culture. And that brings up an important question.

What does it mean to be distinctively different?

I’ll be direct. I think most of us have a shallow answer to this question. We define “distinctively different” primarily or even exclusively in moralistic terms. “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t go with girls that do.” So, I’ve checked the box to be different, right?

I’m not sure.

When Jesus said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me,” I don’t think he was just talking about not drinking more than one beer at a party, not watching R-rated movies, and trying not to cuss when you hit your thumb with a hammer.

At this point, many Christians will say, “Yes! We’re also different because we go to church. My unsaved neighbors don’t do that!” But we often think of going to church as part of our moral performance. Instead of belonging to a church out of love for God and fellow believers, we participate because it’s what we think we’re supposed to do.

What I’m getting at is this: Too often, we Christians define “being different” as “being a good person.” So, we do the things that we think will make us good people: we go to church a couple of times a month, we say grace before supper, we sometimes read the verse of the day that pops up from our Bible App, and we’ve got the local Christian radio station on our car’s list of saved channels.

But Jesus meant something more. Loving family members is far deeper than moralistic performance. When Jesus said his disciples must love him more than they love their own family, he was cutting to the heart of our most deeply held loves and values.

To be distinctively different means not only to act differently but to love differently.

Even though we claim to follow Jesus, we often simply accept the values of the world around us. We’re quick to ask, “Is this the right thing to do?” but we forget to ask, “Is this the right thing to think?” Society today tells us the good life is found in living for self, pursuing our own happiness, casting off any restraint that keeps us from running our own lives, making more money, owning more things, having more sex, getting more followers, and buying the latest device.

As Christians, we must stop and ask whether the world’s definition of the good life is correct. If we blindly accept the idea that the good life is found in individualistic self-fulfillment, then we’re not really any different than anyone else in society. We might pursue that end through different means (e.g., moralism instead of hedonism), but at the end of the day, we’re all just chasing the same thing because we all love the same thing: self-actualization.

To be distincitvely different means to reject the world’s definition of the good life. We love Jesus more than we love anything else—even good things like our own family members. We don’t love the way the world loves. We don’t think the way the world thinks. We don’t see the way the world sees. We don’t value what the world values in the same order or priority. And because we are distinctively different at the deepest level, we don’t live the way the world lives.

For many Christians, our morals differ, but our loves are the same as the world’s. And thus, one has only to scratch the surface to find that our lives are essentially the same as those of our unsaved neighbors. But when our loves are different, our lives will be different, and so—by the way—will our morals.