Teach them to obey

I feel very blessed. I believe that our Church has one of the world's best Pastors. In his sincere humility he would cringe at hearing those words, but here's why I think so: Outside of being an outstanding Bible teacher, he loves God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, he is fully committed to making disciples based on the truth of Scripture, and he loves people more deeply than anyone I've ever met. But that's not the point of this post. I was traveling over the weekend and was privileged to hear another wonderful Pastor give a great message.

I have a heart for obedience. I strive to be obedient to God in all ways (hear me well, I fall short all the time) and desire to teach others to obey all that He has commanded (Matthew 28:20). In my role as a teacher, obedience is a point that I hit on time and time again. So, when the topic of obedience came up during the message, my ears perked up.

As we live out obedience in our own lives, we can become "ritualistic" or act as the Pharisees acted. For them, obedience was a hefty weight, a burden, and a task that could never be accomplished. It is impossible to follow all commands simultaneously. We are wretched, fleshly humans and most of us can barely touch our feet to the floor in the morning without falling short of pleasing God in some way (slight exaggeration, I know).

So how do we teach disciples to do the impossible? We live life together alongside them. We live it out and talk it through when we fall short. We lean on one another, and we admit our frailty and shortcomings to our brothers and sisters in Christ. Being a teacher -standing at the front of the classroom - doesn't make me less of a sinner than anyone else, it makes me more visible! That can be a frightening position, but I'm grateful for a group of ladies who laugh with me, not at me, and hold me accountable when necessary. It's a life journey and I'm thrilled to be part of a loving Body of believers.

Yes, I feel very blessed.