於2013-03-11發佈

大使命9

犧牲的生命

潘霍華曾說過:『 當基督呼召一個人時,祂是叫人來死。』這就是我們所蒙召作主門徒的準確評價;我們是會從中得著一些好處,美好到超過我們所能領會。即便有如,真正的基督教是一個犧牲的生命,我們不再為自己活,單單為祂而活。

當耶穌呼召人們,祂一開始就提出最艱難的要求,而不是好處。事實上,祂幾乎沒有提到任何好處,直到他們成為門徒以後。有些人顯然以為自己可以做得比主更好,試圖以各樣的好處來帶人信主,但這可能是何以基督教一蹶不振,何以如此難找到基督真正門徒的主要原因。主在聖經上提到門徒的第一句話,便是祂的門徒會像祂一樣受逼迫,下一句話記載在路加福音十四章26節:

人到我這裡來,若不愛我勝過愛(愛我勝過愛:原文是恨)自己的父母、妻子、兒女、弟兄、姊妹,和自己的性命,就不能作我的門徒。

這節經文『恨』這個字翻得過於強烈,『少愛』較為貼近。然而,這裡清楚提到,我們對基督的熱愛必須超越生命中的其他關係。若不讓主成為我們的萬事之首,就是我們沒當祂是主。我們是我們所順服對象的僕人,會這樣無疑是因為我們最親近的人往往帶給我們最大壓力,使我們在全然委身於基督的事上妥協。無論我們是否看重任何關係超越基督,這都可能是我們成為門徒將面臨的首要考驗,對許多人而言,這將是他們基督徒行事為人上最大的考驗。正如主在上述經文清楚說到,無法通過此考驗的人不能作祂的門徒。

當一個人從其他信仰改信基督,他們的家人可能會與其斷絕關係,有些人甚至因改信為家族所帶來的羞辱而冒上生命危險。在歷史上大部分改信基督教的人都有此經歷,甚至在現代也是如此。當我們只遭受朋友與親人拒絕或嘲笑時,我們怎能抱怨?凡是尋求成為基督門徒,活出十架生命的人,幾乎多少都會受到親朋好友的逼迫與排斥。 

因著一成為門徒立刻要付上更高的代價,所以我們若沒有先和要跟隨主的人解釋此,反而會為他們帶來可怕的傷害。真正的基督徒生活是一個人在地上所能擁有最偉大的探險,最令人滿足的生命,卻也是最艱辛的。不說真相顯然是真門徒如此稀少的原因,甚至在那些宣稱是基督徒,以及那些認為自己很虔誠的人當中都不多見。一個人可以非常虔誠,卻沒有跟隨或順服主。我們在基督裡從作奴僕開始,接著成為朋友,然後可以成為兒女。倘若我們的根基不對,沒有先成為僕人,不管我們獲得多少知識,做了多少善工,都無法有真實的屬靈成長。我遇過許多宣稱已達到兒子位份的人,似乎卻跳過邁向成熟的前兩個階段。或許不是所有人,但我所碰到的這些人多半談的都是自己,以及他們已經得著的事物,而不是談論主,以及祂從我們身上應得著的一切,其所顯出的不成熟,甚至連一個僕人都不如,更不用說是兒子了。

這顯然使得神崇高的呼召,或像腓立比書三章的經文變得不太合理;然而,我們所能得著最高的呼召,便是能像使徒在加拉太二章20節真實地說:『現在活著的不再是我,乃是基督在我裡面活著。』真正的門徒會變得像他夫子一樣,而我們的夫子在地上時傾倒一生成為僕人。有一些方式可以使我們提升為神的朋友,甚至兒子,但這無法否定我們這一生在地上是被呼召成為僕人。

此研讀的目標在於將我們引至真正合乎聖經的門徒訓練,最大的證據是當我們不再為自己而活,甚至不為獎賞而活,單單為祂而活,好讓祂可以為祂所付上的代價得著獎賞。我們無法立即成熟,就連主都要忍受十字架,只為得著在祂面前的榮耀,所以的確有領受獎賞並為其感恩的地方。我們未來也會來檢視這些,但這並不是我們的主要目的,我們的終極目的是要祂領受祂的獎賞,就是萬國萬邦和沒有玷污或皺紋的新婦。

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week 9, 2013)



A Life of Sacrifice - The Great Commission, Part 9
Week 9, 2013 
Rick Joyner 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die.” That is an accurate assessment of the discipleship to which we are called. There are benefits, and they are far more wonderful than can even be comprehended. Even so, true Christianity is a life of sacrifice where we no longer live for ourselves but for Him.

When Jesus called men, He started with the most difficult requirements, not the benefits. In fact, He hardly mentioned the benefits until they were already disciples. Some obviously think they can do better than the Lord by trying to compel people to follow Him because of all the benefits, but this may be one of the main reasons why Christianity has fallen to such a low state and why it is so rare to find a true disciple of Christ.

The first statement of the Lord recorded in Scripture about discipleship was how His disciples would be persecuted just as He was. The next one is in Luke 14:26:

“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” 

The word “hate” in this text is a bit stronger than it should have been translated, which would have more accurately been “love less.” However, what it states clearly is that our devotion to Christ must be preeminent over any other relationship in our life. The Lord will be the Lord of all, or He will not be our Lord at all. We are servants of the one whom we obey. This has to be because it will almost always be those we are the closest to who will bring the greatest pressure on us to compromise our full devotion to Christ. Whether we will esteem any other relationship above Christ is likely to be the first test we will face as a disciple, and for many, it will be the greatest test of their Christian walk. As the Lord makes clear in this text, those who fail this test cannot be His disciple.

When one converts to Christ from just about any other religion, they are likely to be disowned by their families. Some will even be at risk of being put to death for the perceived dishonor to their families. This has been true of most converts to Christianity throughout history—even in our own times. How can we complain when just our friends and close relations reject or ridicule us? At the very least, those who seek to be disciples of Christ live the life of the cross and are almost certain to be persecuted and ostracized by their closest friends and relatives.

Because there is almost always a high cost that must be paid right away to become a disciple, we are doing those a terrible disservice who would follow Him and not explain this to them right up front. The true Christian life is the greatest adventure one can have on this earth and the most fulfilling life, but it is also the hardest. Not telling the truth about this is one obvious reason why there are so few true disciples, even among those who claim to be Christians and those who think of themselves as devout. One can be very devout but not follow or obey the Lord.

In Christ we begin as slaves, can rise to become friends, and then can even go on to become sons and daughters. If we do not get the foundation right, being a servant, then our actual spiritual growth has been stunted regardless of how much knowledge we acquire or how many good works we do. I have met many who claim to have already attained to sonship, but it seems they skipped the first two stages of maturity. Maybe not with all, but with most of these that I have met it is still all about them and what they’ve attained, rather than being all about the Lord and what He deserves from us. That reveals a basic immaturity even for a servant, much less a son.

There is obviously a high calling of God or texts like Philippians 3 would not make any sense. However, the highest that we can attain is to be able to honestly say as the apostle did in Galatians 2:20, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” True disciples become like their master, and our Master emptied Himself to become a servant for the entire time He walked the earth. There are ways that we can receive promotions of friendship with God, and even sonship, but this does not negate that on this earth, in this life, we are called to be servants.

A goal of this study is to lead to true biblical discipleship. This will be most evidenced when we are not living for ourselves, not even for our rewards but for Him, so that He gets the reward for which He paid such a price. We cannot become instantly mature, and even the Lord endured the cross for the glory that was before Him, so there is a place for receiving and appreciating the rewards. We will examine these too, but our goal is that this would be a lesser purpose and that our ultimate purpose would be that He receives His rewards, which are the nations and a bride without spot or wrinkle.