The two desert island necessities for spiritual health
If you or a small group of people were all alone on a deserted island, what resources would you need to grow as a follower of Jesus (assuming you had the things necessary for your physical survival)?
How about a person in a typical urban centre with all the amenities and Christian resources they could want. What would they need to grow as a follower of Jesus?
The answer to both those questions is the same.
Before we get to the answer, let's look at a couple of post-resurrection incidents from Luke 24.
The first incident happens when Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-25). The disciples are struggling to come to grips with the death of Jesus, which they witnessed, and the shocking report that a resurrected Jesus had recently appeared to some of their group.
As they walk down the road discussing this paradox, "someone" approaches and begins to question them.
The strange truth about this story is Jesus didn’t simply reveal himself to the disciples as the risen Lord, which seemingly would have been the most effective and powerful way to have the disciples believe. If I had been Jesus' PR Manager, I likely would have chosen something more dramatic and memorable than a chat along the roadside.
But instead of doing that, Jesus engaged these disciples in conversation.
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Luke 24:27-32
He took the disciples through the Scriptures and showed how they (the Scriptures) pointed to him, and they (the disciples) later said their hearts were burning within them as he spoke. Then, during the meal, he opened their eyes to see him as he truly was.
The second incident occurs right after the first. These same Emmaus Road disciples rush back to Jerusalem to inform the others what had happened. As they are talking, Jesus suddenly appears in the middle of the room (a little more dramatic). When he appears to the rest of the disciples, he again points to the Scriptures and then opened their minds so they could see the full meaning of the Scriptures.
Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures
Luke 24:44-45
Do you see the common denominator between these two incidents?
First, Jesus built the faith of the disciples using the Scriptures. Think about that for a moment. As already mentioned, he could have simply appeared to the Emmaus Road disciples, and they would have believed. So this begs the question, "Why?" He was right there in the flesh! Why would he take the time to build his followers' faith using the Scriptures?
Perhaps, it's because this is how it would need to be done in the future. He was ascending to the Father, meaning he would not be physically appearing before people, except in special circumstances. If everyone in the future needed to see him in the flesh in order to believe, it would be impossible to carry on. So he lays down the foundation of using the Scriptures to teach others about the necessity and meaning of his death and resurrection (and this just using the Jewish Scriptures!).
Second, the fact that he opened the two disciples’ eyes, and opened the minds of the other disciples demonstrates that the reading of the Scriptures is not enough. We need God to illuminate them and enlighten us. That is the work of the Spirit today.
So here's the bottom line: God’s Word and God’s Spirit are sufficient to do God’s work. In order to build our faith and make disciples (those who listen to and obey Jesus), we do not need... money, buildings, programs, education, professional clergy / teachers, lasers and smoke machines, electricity, or any other resource.
We need God's Word, and God's Spirit. This is what a person needs to believe, follow, grow, and flourish as a follower of Jesus.
Does this mean all these other things are useless? Absolutely not. I'm not saying those other resources are worthless. God can speak through pastors and teachers, who can help us understand God's Word and equip us for the work of the ministry. God can use buildings and programs to meet needs in a community and bear witness to the Kingdom of God. God can even use a simple conversation with a friend, or a line in movie, or a sunset to catch our attention and bring awareness to himself.
God can and does use all those things, but not because he needs them. He uses those other resources because he chooses to partner with us in building his Kingdom. Yet it's God's Word and Spirit that give us the necessary things we need to listen to and obey Jesus, and thus be fully alive.
You might ask, "What about the other spiritual disciplines for growth and maturity, like generosity, hospitality, gathering together, worship, etc?" Yes. These are all essential, but we know they are essential because God's Word tells us so, and God's Spirit empowers us to listen to and obey his Word. In other words, we don't go to church because there's a church building in our neighbourhood. We participate in Christian community because God's Word teaches us that being a part of a community helps us grow as his followers, and we choose to obey.
God's Word and God Spirit are sufficient to do God's work.
PAUSE and REFLECT: What role do the Scriptures and the Spirit play in your life? Have you been distracted away from spending time in God's Word, or listening to God's Spirit? Perhaps this email can be a gentle encouragement to not forget these basic necessities for your spiritual health.
Or, let's say someone starts asking you spiritual questions. You don't need to outsource the answers to another person / resource. You have God's Word, and you have God's Spirit, so you have what is required to disciple another person. Sure, other people can help you, but you already have everything you need to be an excellent disciple-maker. Don't be so quick to unload those questions onto other resources. God sent them to you for a reason.
So back to that deserted island or busy urban centre. Wherever we find ourselves, God's Word and God's Spirit supply everything we need to be faithful, fruitful, fully alive followers of Jesus.
What is something you can do today to deepen your faith or the faith of another person through the Word and / or Spirit?