In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus provides an inspiring vision for our walk with God (piety), our relationships with others (people), and our approach toward money and stuff (possessions).
But how does that vision become a reality? How do we cooperate with Jesus in moving toward that type of life?
Paul provides the basis for a model of such life-change. There was a time when Paul was selfish, arrogant, violent, intolerant, judgmental, and impatient. But through partnership with God, Paul was transformed into a man who was generous, humble, gentle, welcoming, accepting, and patient. Paul gives a hint at how this transformation happened in Phil. 3:
7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16Only let us hold true to what we have attained. 17Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. (Phil. 3:7-17 ESV).
I want to tease out of Paul’s testimony some principles that will enable us to partner with Jesus in moving towards a Sermon on the Mount life. The four principles I’ll share are my summary of Paul’s words and other words by authors like Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and John Ortberg.
First, life-change happens best when our focus not on our mistakes but on our Master.
When it comes to life-change, many of us tend to focus on our mistakes. We get bogged down in how many times we’ve lost our temper, how many mornings we haven’t prayed, or how many people we haven’t served. We focus on our mistakes. As a result, we get discouraged. But notice what Paul does. Paul forgets what lies behind and strains toward what is ahead. In other words, Paul keeps foremost in his mind the vision of life which Jesus has given him. When Paul fails to achieve that vision, he puts that mistake in the past and keeps his focus on the goal.
Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus write that “People move in the direction of their most dominant thought.” If all you think about is your character failures, or your lack of Bible reading, or how you misspent your money, you may actually keep moving in that direction. You may just keep repeating the same mistakes. But if you focus on a compelling and positive vision for what your life could be, you will move in that direction.
Dallas Willard writes that change in life takes place in three steps summarized by the letters V, I, M. First, he says, we have to embrace a Vision of the kind of change we want to happen. Then, we make an Intentional decision that we’re going to pursue that vision. Finally, we determine the Means for living out that vision. Change begins with Vision. That’s how it was for Paul. He kept his eyes on Jesus and on the vision Jesus had for his life.
The place to begin with piety, people, and possessesions is to focus not on your mistakes but on your Master.
Second, life-change happens best when our focus is not on earning but on effort.
I’ll be writing more about steps we can take to partner with God in changing our lives. It is easy, however, to think that these steps earn us credit with God. The more efforts we undertake to change our lives, the more God loves us. Paul, however, rejects this thinking. Paul writes that we’ve been given a righteousness—a right standing with God—that did not come through law, through human effort, but through Jesus. Any language about effort is not meant to point in the direction of legalism. We’ve been freely given a right standing with God, and no amount of renovation is going to make God love you more.
But while God is opposed to earning, as Dallas Willard writes, he is not opposed to effort. Twice Paul writes about how he “presses on” and once he describes how he is “straining forward.” This is the language of effort. If we want to experience change in our piety, people, and possessions, it will require intense effort.
But it is effort done in partnership with God. John Ortberg uses a raft, a rowboat, and a sailboat to illustrate. Imagine that the shoreline on the opposite side of a lake represents where you’d like to be in your your Sermon on the Mount life. How do you get to that shore? You could jump onto a raft and assume that God’s going to do all the work for you. But you’d just end up drifting aimlessly. Alternatively, you could jump into a rowboat and assume that you’ve got to do all the work. So you row and row, but eventually you burn out. What you need is a sailboat. There is hard work for you to do in the sailboat. But ultimately, the wind carries you to the other shore. You and the wind co-labor. You and God will co-labor to achieve true life-change in these areas.
Third, life-change happens best when our focus is on the compass rather than on the clock.
When we focus on the clock, our question is “How fast am I going?” How fast can I experience the change I want? But when we focus on the compass, our question is “In what direction am I headed?” We don’t care how fast change is happening. What we care about is whether progress is being made. Too often we get discouraged because we’re not growing in prayer quick enough or becoming generous fast enough. But the real issue is whether we are making progress. Are we moving in the right direction?
By the time Paul writes his letter to the Philippians, he has been a Christian for about thirty years. In spite of three decades of life in Christ, Paul can say that he still hasn’t obtained his goal or become perfect. This, however, does not discourage him. His focus is not on the clock. His focus is on the compass. What matters to Paul is the direction his life is headed, not how fast he’s heading there.
Our culture is oriented around quick and easy. We want to overcome lust in one week. We want to become more kind in ten days. But true life-renovation is not quick and easy. It is slow and steady. What matters is the compass. Are we moving in the right direction, slowly and steadily?
Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers writes this: “The emerging picture from studies is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything…In study after study of composers, basketball players, chess players, master criminals and what have you, this number comes up again and again…”
It takes ten thousand hours to achieve mastery in an area of life. If you want to become a master at praying, it takes ten thousand hours of practice. If you want to become master at generosity, it takes ten thousand hours of practice. If you pray 1 hour a day, it may take 27 years to master that habit. If you work 30 minutes a day on your generosity, it may take 54 years to master that habit. Our focus has got to be on the compass, not on the clock.
Finally, life-change happens best when our focus is not on trying harder but on training harder.
You will not overcome lust or pride by just trying hard. You will not experience growth in your relationships by just trying hard. What is needed is training. Training allows us to slowly improve in increments.
We understand this principle when it comes physical fitness. If you show up in December and want to run the Saint Jude Marathon, you might try really hard. But if you haven’t trained, all your trying won’t get you across the finish line. What’s needed is training. You need the opportunity to slowly improve your running ability in increments. The same is true when it comes to Jesus’ vision for our character, our relationship with God, our relationships with others, and our approach towards money. We need to engage in training. We need some ways to slowly improve over time. Spiritual disciplines are one way of training.
Paul hints at this principle when he urges us to “keep our eyes on those who walk according to the example.” One small step toward life-change is to find someone living the kind of life you want to live and to start watching them. Let their example inspire and instruct you. That’s a kind of training you can do.
Focus on the Master not the mistakes.
Focus on effort not on earning.
Focus on the compass not the clock.
Focus on training harder not trying harder.
Which of these four principles do you need to focus on the most as you begin moving toward a Sermon on the Mount life?
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