AOD / The Core
Well, it is good to be with you. As we continue this series, I want to go back and highlight three foundational principles of what it means to be a disciple, or the “Anatomy of a Disciple,” as we call it here.
Foundations: What is a Disciple?
The first principle is this: when we look back to the time of Jesus, there were literally tens of thousands of people who were identified as followers of Jesus. They followed Him around the countryside; they went all over the place following Him. But at the end of Jesus’ earthly life, the Bible only identifies about five hundred who were called disciples. Tens of thousands of followers, but only five hundred disciples.
I am afraid that in the church today, throughout a world where one-third of the global population claims to be followers of Christ, there are very few true disciples. What is a disciple? A disciple is a follower who has the intentional desire to become like Christ. There are many people who call themselves followers of Jesus who have no desire to become like Him in any way whatsoever—they are following Him for other reasons. What we are talking about here is someone who follows Jesus with the deliberate intent of becoming like Him.
That leads us to principle number two: God is the life-change agent. He is the one who began this life change, and He will continue it until it is completed. Paul wrote this exact truth to the church in Philippi.
Philippians 1:6 (NASB)
[For I am] confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
God is the one initiating our transformation. He is the one sustaining it and completing it. He is the one we must look to as the agent changing us to be more like Jesus. If you and I try to do that in our own strength and ability, I have one promise for you: it will fail. I have proven that in my own life over and over again. When I assume the role of changing Rick Taylor’s life, it does not work. Many of us in this room could attest to the exact same thing—when we set out on our own to change our lives and be like Jesus, it simply fails.
There is a subtle trap here. Many of us say, “Yeah, God is involved in this process.” What we often mean by that—and what I have often meant in the past—is, “I am responsible for changing my life, and God is going to be there to help me when I need Him.” He becomes a spare tire in our lives, something we pull out only when we get into trouble, get in over our heads, or when things get desperate. But the reality is that He belongs in the driver’s seat. When I keep trying to sit in the driver’s seat, I am fighting God to do what only He can do, which is to truly change my life.
The question is: Am I willing to get in line with Him? Am I willing to get in step with Him? Am I aware of the reality that He is changing my life, and am I moving in step with what He is doing?
The word “obedience” is used frequently throughout both the Old and New Testaments. What is fascinating about the word obedience in both biblical Hebrew and Greek is that the root of the word in both languages is “to hear” or “to listen.” It carries the idea of hearing something so clearly that our actions respond appropriately. Are we aware of what God is doing in our lives so that we can get in step with Him and respond appropriately, or are we still trying to do it on our own?
That brings us to the third principle: God not only is the life-change agent in our lives, but He also has a precise strategy for how that transformation takes place. He knows it cannot simply be something cosmetic that makes us look like Christians on the outside or act like Christ externally; He intends to change us from the inside out. His strategy is for us to become like Jesus was when He walked this earth. God is in charge of doing that, and His strategy begins at the very center.
The Anatomy of a Disciple: The Core
Today, we are looking at that inside center: the core. It is the very heart of the life-change process, and it involves two vital components: the heart and the mind.
Both the heart and the mind are discussed individually at great length in the Scriptures, but they are also frequently addressed together. Going all the way back to 1 Chronicles, when Solomon was about to be inducted as king, David warned him to watch his heart and his mind because God searches both.
1 Chronicles 28:9 (NASB)
’As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.
All the way through the Old and New Testaments, we are told that God tests and examines the hearts and minds of men and women. He evaluates where our hearts are and where our minds are. Together, the heart and mind function as a powerful engine for life transformation. When they are growing and developing in alignment with God, they will have a dramatic impact on the rest of our lives.
Transforming the Heart: Overcoming Pride
Let us look first at the heart. The reality is that God is actively changing your heart to be more like the heart of Jesus. What was Jesus’ heart like? In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” When Paul wrote to the Philippians, he pointed to Jesus’ example of humility—that He was willing to humble Himself and submit His body to death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:5-11 (NASB)
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, [and] being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus possessed a humbly submitted heart before His Father. That is what God is working to reproduce in His disciples. Because Jesus willingly humbled Himself, God the Father exalted Him and gave Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. He placed Jesus in charge. Today, we have the incredible opportunity to submit humbly to our Savior, Lord, and Master, Jesus Christ.
However, there is a fundamental problem: we are the children of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. In the Garden, Adam and Eve made an arrogant, prideful choice. They said, “God, we think doing things our way is better than doing them Your way. We have this figured out; we will handle it without You.” You and I were born into this world with that exact same propensity. We are born with a prideful, self-centered bent that insists on doing things our own way, and our culture constantly reinforces that mindset.
The Bible describes the natural human condition as possessing a heart of stone, but God promises to take away our heart of stone and give us a soft, receptive heart of flesh—a heart like His own. How does God accomplish that, and how can we get in step with what He is doing? James gives us clear direction on this process.
James 4:6-10 (NASB)
But He gives a greater grace. Therefore [it] says, ‘GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.’ Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.
In verse six, Scripture says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” That is one of the most frequently quoted Old Testament passages in the entire New Testament. When Scripture says God is opposed to the proud, understand what that means. It does not mean God looks at the pride in our lives and says, “Oh, that’s too bad; I really wish you wouldn’t do that.”
The phrase “opposed to the proud” uses military language. God is a warrior, and pride is the enemy. God says, “I am a warrior, and I will go to war against the pride in your life, Rick Taylor. I will destroy that pride.” Living with pride is all I knew from birth, and when Jesus the warrior goes to war against that pride, it is a painful, excruciating experience. Pride does not come out easily.
People sometimes ask me, “Rick, if God is in the process of changing our hearts and minds, why hasn’t He finished the job already? What is taking so long?” There are two reasons. First, He has a tremendous amount of work to do in us. Second, I keep getting in the way. I keep following in the footsteps of Adam and Eve, saying, “God, let me handle this one.” I make a mess over and over again, and God goes to war against that pride once more.
So what do we do? Look at verse seven: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Notice the phrasing—he says that when you submit to God, you are actively resisting the devil, and that cheerleader for your pride will flee. Submitting means yielding to the One who is in charge. We come to God and say, “Lord, I have been trying to make life work on my own. I surrender it to You. You are in authority.”
Then verse eight says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” Where has God gone? God hasn’t gone anywhere; we are the ones who ran. Just like Adam and Eve hid in the garden, pride makes us run and hide from the warrior who comes to confront our sin. But Jesus stands at the door and knocks.
Revelation 3:20 (NASB)
’Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
We need to stop running, open the door, and return to Him. James continues: “Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” A sinner is someone who intentionally chooses to live contrary to God’s design. When we realize this, we must confess our sins openly and honestly.
1 John 1:9 (NASB)
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
When we truly see sin for what it is, verse nine describes the natural response: “Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.” If our response to sin is just a flippant, “Oops, I messed up again, but nobody’s perfect,” we are not seeing sin clearly. When we recognize how deeply embedded sin is in our lives, it brings genuine grief.
Then verse ten gives the promise: “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Humility means bowing the knees of our hearts before God and saying, “Lord, I have made a mess of things. I need You.” A colleague of mine once said, “Taking dead things and breathing life into them is God’s specialty.” When we bow before Him, God takes our brokenness and breathes His life into it.
Are you aware of areas of pride in your heart right now? If God is prompting you about pride in your life, do not take it lightly. Yield it to the warrior right now. Do not wait.
Transforming the Mind: The Power of the Word
The second area of the core is the mind. God is actively working to change your mind so that you see, think, and understand life, yourself, and the world the way Jesus does.
Our minds have been polluted by years of worldly input, pulling our lives off course. Paul addressed this precise dilemma when writing to the church in Rome.
Romans 12:2 (NASB)
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul tells us not to let the world squeeze us into its mold, but to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. The word “renew” means to take something old, dilapidated, and rusty, and restore it back to its original condition. God is restoring our minds to their original, intended design.
How does God renew our minds, and how do we get in step with Him? Paul outlines this clearly in his second letter to Timothy.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NASB)
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.
Paul tells us that all Scripture is inspired—it is God-breathed. These are living words given by God. He has provided His written truth in Scripture, and He has placed His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into understanding that truth.
Paul lists four specific functions of Scripture in verse sixteen:
- Teaching: It reveals God’s true path for life amid all the false messages in our world.
- Reproof: The word reproof means to call someone back when they have wandered off track. Scripture confronts us and says, “You are getting off course.”
- Correction: It does not merely point out where we are wrong; it shows us how to get back on the path.
- Training in Righteousness: It teaches us how to walk consistently on God’s path as a lifestyle.
Psalms 119:105 (NASB)
Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
At Christmas, my wife and I spent time with our son and his family in San Diego. Our youngest granddaughter was a toddler, learning how to walk. Last year, she would crawl around, grab the edge of the coffee table, pull herself up, let go, and fall right onto her chubby little bottom. Then she would pull herself up again, stand a little longer, and fall again. Gradually, she took small steps around the table. Before long, she took independent steps, and by this Christmas, she was running all over the house, completely wearing out her Papa and JuJu!
Walking was a process that required training—crawling, standing, walking, and finally running. That is precisely what God’s Word does in our lives. As we spend time in His Word, the Spirit trains us how to stand, walk, and run in righteousness.
Verse seventeen reveals the goal: “so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” God has given you His Word and His Spirit. If you struggle to understand the Bible, ask Him for help! Say, “Lord, You are the life-change agent. Guide me by Your Spirit. Connect me to a small group or a class to help me grow.” Take the initiative to get in step with what He is doing.
The Vital Balance: Heart and Mind Together
When we look at the core of a disciple, we must recognize that the heart and the mind operate together as an engine. For an engine to run smoothly, all the components must be properly tuned and balanced; otherwise, it knocks, loses power, and breaks down.
The heart and the mind must both be continually conformed to the image of Christ. Some people might say, “I am purely a heart person. My heart beats for what God cares about, but all that theological study is for the intellectuals.” But Scripture warns us about the danger of zeal without knowledge.
Ephesians 4:14 (NASB)
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;
If we neglect the mind, our faith becomes unstable and vulnerable to every cultural trend and false doctrine.
Conversely, others might say, “I am an intellectual. I love studying doctrine, but all that emotional heart stuff isn’t for me.” That is equally dangerous. Without a humble, submitted heart, biblical knowledge produces arrogance. We become self-righteous know-it-alls who use truth as a weapon, driving people away and ending up isolated and miserable.
We need both. The heart and the mind must be kept in biblical balance.
God is actively at work in your life right now to make you more like Jesus Christ. Are you aware of what He is doing? Are you listening carefully so that you can get in step with His Spirit and respond with wholehearted obedience?
Closing Prayer
Let us pray.
Father, thank You for being our life-change agent. We confess that so often we try to take the wheel and treat You like a spare tire. Help us to renew our minds daily and remember that You alone are in charge of our transformation. Give us spiritual awareness to see what You are doing, and give us the willingness to get in step with You. Produce in us a heart that is humbly submitted to Your will, and a mind that is biblically formed in Your truth, so that we may look and live more like Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.