The Spiritual Intimacy of a True Disciple

I shared yesterday about what I call "the meno experience", which is my term for the intimate connection with the Lord that underpins the Christian life, as described by Jesus in John 15:1-8. In fact, as I mentioned yesterday, I believe it is crucial to the disciple's pattern of life. You cannot be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ without being organically connected (meno) with the Lord in a give-and-take relationship which the Wuest Extended Translation calls "a living communion" and The Amplified Bible calls "a vital union" with Christ.

This last Sunday, Alwyn Wong shared a passage of Scripture at ECC's Twilight Service. Luke 10:38-42 relates this intriguing account of Mary's "meno connection" with Jesus, and from this passage we can learn a lot about how the ongoing meno connection actually works.

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.'"

This passage has meant a lot to me, and the Lord often brings me back to it. This is because I can relate so easily to Martha's position, and in particular recognise the rebuke of the Lord to Martha as being, all to often, to me also. Like Martha, I can all too easily become "distracted by all the preparations that had to be made" for ministry and life in general. And like Martha, I too can easily become "worried and upset about many things." As The Amplified Bible puts it, she was "overly occupied and too busy" and "distracted with much serving."

As I shared in my previous post, "The Question of Value", I am a very goal-oriented person. This translates into a propensity toward busyness in my relationship with the Lord -- a lot of "doing" for Him. Some friends have found themselves exhausted after I've passed through for a couple of days, simply because of the pace I set for myself. And so, like Martha, I can all too easily become "overly occupied and too busy", and in the process miss out on what is really important in my walk with the Lord.

What was Mary's secret? What was it that Jesus pronounced as being the "only one thing [that] is needed", which would not be taken away from Mary? First of all, a little lesson on first century culture would be helpful.

In the time of Jesus, a rabbi would teach by sitting down (note Matthew 5:1-2; Luke 5:3). The rabbi's disciples would sit at their rabbi's feet as he taught and listen to his parables and instructions for life (note Luke 8:35). But according to Luke's account, when Jesus came into the home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, Mary joined the male disciples at the feet of Jesus -- in other words, she took upon herself the position of a disciple of Jesus. Martha was upset about this, and not just because she felt abandoned in the kitchen; she also saw Mary's audacity as a cultural affront, and felt that Jesus would surely back her up and rebuke Mary for her insolence and cultural faux pas. Instead, Jesus commends Mary and declares that she has "chosen what is better" and "it will not be taken away from her."

Apart from the obvious elevation by Jesus of woman to a position where they too could be disciples, there is a broader teaching for all of us...and for me, in particular. The "better part" (KJV) that Mary had chosen was to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn from Him. This wasn't just a matter of getting educated. The rabinnical method was to teach a pattern of life, not just a theory of life (note Philippians 3:17), for a disciple was one who learnt by following his rabbi and imitating his pattern of life (1 Corinthians 11:1).

I believe the act of sitting at the feet of another is a picture of spiritual intimacy -- the act of coming close to a teacher in order to learn from him in close proximity, where the lessons are rubbed off onto another as much as they are verbally taught. I actually coined a term for this kind of teaching (adapting a concept used by Charles Kraft in his book, Communicating the Gospel God's Way). Kraft taught that there are three modes of communication:

1. Monologue -- This is what we, in Western culture, mainly use when a teacher tries to impart knowledge to a class of students. One person (the teacher) speaks and the class listens, with very little interaction allowed. This is also the model upon which pulpit ministry is based. It can work, but not as effectively as the other two modes of communication; yet it remains the most popular methodology within the Church.

2. Dialogue -- This mode of communication is more appropriate for smaller groups, or even one-on-one communication. This involves more interaction -- more give and take between the teacher and the student, and is vastly more effective than monologue for genuine, life-changing communication.

3. Paralogue -- That's the word I coined for the third mode of communication. It is similar to dialogue, in that it allows plenty of one-on-one interaction and interplay between the teacher and the student. However, it is longer-term, for it is communication in parallel -- side-by-side, so to speak -- in the course of ongoing events in everyday life. This is why the disciple "followed" the rabbi, for in following the rabbi in mundane and everyday events in life, the rabbi was able to exemplify to his disciple the true pattern of life, beyond merely teaching the theory of that pattern of life.

Jesus is my Saviour (Titus 3:4-6) and He is my Lord (Colossians 2:6). But He is also my Rabbi (Matthew 23:8). I best learn from him in the mode of paralogue, where I come close to Him and follow Him throughout the course of my walk each day.

Out of this paralogue -- long-term dialogue that emerges from real life events we encounter throughout the day -- I learn to think like my Master thinks. This is the "renewing of the mind" that Romans 12:2 speaks of. For how can I walk with the Lord each day, in a genuine "living communion", and not be shaped by what the Lord has to say into my life?

Isaiah 30:20-21 gives this prophecy:

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Although this prophecy is speaking of a time in Israel's future (fulfilled in the years following Israel's exile in Babylon and Persia) when God would multiply teachers within the covenant community, it also speaks of the Holy Spirit's activity, for the Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher who will be the one who speaks in our ear with the words: "This is the way; walk in it" (note John 16:13-15).

For me personally, the secret to living the Christian life has been found in moving beyond drily obeying God's commands to discover an intimacy with God in that emerges as a direct result from obeying those commands. The link between obedience and intimacy is often missed by those not experienced in obedience, but it is found in Jesus' statement found in John 15:9-10:

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love."

This means that the meno experience (which is the foundation of true intimacy with God) is based on obedience to God's commands. How do we remain (meno) in God's love, Jesus asks? By obeying His commands. "If you obey my commands," says Jesus, "[then] you will remain in my love..."

The drive toward intimacy is the key to a healthy Christian life and to a genuine walk of discipleship to Christ. Paul discovered this for himself. He had previously been the master of legalistic obedience (see Philippians 3:4-6), but after a life-changing encounter with Christ, Paul's priorities were turned upside-down. Intimacy through obedience became his prime goal, and Paul described it this way in Philippians 3:7-10:

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ - the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ..."

The Message gives a modern twist to those ancient words:

"The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant -- dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ -- God's righteousness. I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally..."

The result of this intimacy with God is that we move beyond just being a disciple of Jesus; we become a friend of Jesus. In James 2:23, Abraham is described as "God's friend," and in John 15:15, Jesus told his disciples:

"I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

But Jesus once again links the intimacy of friendship with obedience in John 15:14:

"You are my friends if you do what I command."

Mary commenced her meno experience by sitting at the Lord's feet -- a position of intimacy -- listening to Jesus' teachings. According to Acts 2:42 (NKJV), the early disciples "continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers." These four things -- the apostles' teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer -- are all elements of the disciple's meno experience, and also dimensions of intimacy we can have with God. There is an intimacy to be found in reading God's Word, just as there is an intimacy to be found in worship, in prayer and in other expressions of obedience in the Christian life. And with this simple yet profound revelation has come a realisation that has profoundly changed the way I look at life. It is a desire for intimacy with God that drives you into all those things we know we are supposed to do - read the Bible, pray, fast, even witness!

Here's how The Message describes the embrace of spiritual intimacy with God:

• Deuteronomy 4:7 -- "...What other great nation has gods that are intimate with them the way God, our God, is with us, always ready to listen to us? "

• Psalm 2:10 -- "Worship God in adoring embrace..."

• John 15:5 -- "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant."

• John 15:9 -- "I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done -- kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love."

• Romans 8:31 -- "I'm absolutely convinced that nothing...absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us."

• 2 Corinthians 13:14 -- "The amazing grace of the Master, Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of you."

• Galatians 4:4 -- "Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance."

• Ephesians 4:30 -- "Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted."

• Philippians 3:7 -- "I've dumped [my own righteousness] all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him."

• 2 Peter 1:3 -- "Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!..."

• 1 John 2:4 -- "...Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived."

• 1 John 4:13 -- "This is how we know we're living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He's given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit...Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God's Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we've embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God."

Mary discovered the "better part" -- a deep intimacy with God discovered in hearing and obeying His teachings -- and Jesus said this would not be taken from her. I'm in the process of discovering this same deep intimacy with the Lord. My cry is to know the Lord -- deeply and intimately -- and that cry is the driving force behind my study of God's Word. What riches I've discovered so far in God's Word; what riches remain yet to be discovered!