Bible Study

Getting Out of the Way, Getting On the Way

Matthew 16:17-18; Mark 8:31-38

 

[Imperatives in this sermon

1. Get our worldly thinking out of the way.

2. Get on the way to godly thinking:

Dead, Buried, and Out of the Way

In Christian baptism, we symbolically die with Christ and are raised to walk in newness of life. A Christian minister I know says that when we are baptized, we are then “dead, buried, and out of the way.” He is right, but someone also needs to tell us that our baptism is not over and done in one wet moment.

We keep dying to worldly thinking, and we keep being raised to godly thinking all through life’s journey. Christian discipleship is a matter of getting out of the way and getting on the way. We have to get our worldly thinking out of the way, and we have to get ourselves on the way of godly thinking. Simon Peter sets the course for us.

Understanding the Scripture

When Simon Peter at Caesarea Philippi professes his faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Matthew tells us that Jesus responds by identifying Peter’s thinking as godly:  “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:17-18). 

Peter must have been inwardly celebrating at that point: “I’ve got it. I’ve finally got it. Now I’m on the way!” Poor Peter. He no sooner was credited with godly thinking than he blew it completely. Let’s watch the story unfold: “And he (Jesus) began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again. And he said this plainly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man’” (Mark 8:31-33).

In recognizing Jesus as the Christ, Peter is listening to God and is exhibiting godly thinking, but in resisting the prediction of Jesus’ own death and resurrection, Peter is listening to a worldly way of thinking. When Peter’s thinking turns worldly, Jesus calls him Satan. The word satan means adversary. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, Peter, the Rock on which Jesus the Christ will build his church, has become an adversary to Jesus’ mission. That is a warning to us.

Peter’s instinctive reaction against Jesus’ going toward the cross is understandable, but it is a worldly reaction; it is based on viewing things without reference to God’s plans for redeeming the world. Jesus is saying to Peter that a citizen of the kingdom of God cannot evaluate life in such an ungodly way. When our thinking is not in line with God’s purposes, we have to get out of the way until we are ready to get on the way.

Jesus lays it out straight: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38).

A Journey of a Lifetime

For Simon Peter and for us, this learning to deny self and to die to worldly thinking while coming alive to godly thinking is the journey of a lifetime. I don’t have time to recount the details of the dying and rising that still lay ahead for Peter as he followed Jesus out of Caesarea Philippi.  We could list somewhere between half a dozen and a full dozen events in which Peter had yet to die to worldly thinking and come alive to godly thinking. But, as we look at Peter’s life, the continuing growth is apparent up till the end. Continuing growth is the mark of a true disciple.  

Godly Thinking and Worldly Thinking

 

What is godly thinking? What is worldly thinking? Godly thinking is consistent with the following characteristics:

  1. seeking to conform to the holy and loving character of God.
  2. believing that Jesus the crucified is risen Lord.
  3. heeding the inspired scriptures.
  4. following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
  5. participating in the missionary fellowship of the church.

Worldly thinking is not consistent with these characteristics.

Let’s look at the contrasts between godly thinking and worldly thinking: 

1. Godly thinking seeks to conform to the holy and loving character of God.

In contrast, worldly thinking looks to its own definitions of the good life, what seems good in our own eyes; rather than being conformed to the image of God, worldly thinking seeks to re-image God according to our own ideals.

Godly thinking is consistent with the holy character of God. In the Old Testament, God says to his covenant people, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). In the New Testament, Jesus says to his disciples and would-be disciples, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

This is not to say that our achievement must be perfect, or all of us would be lost, but we are being told that we cannot settle for less than God’s total purposes for our lives. We must keep moving toward the goal of living in the likeness of the perfect Son of God.

Godly thinking is consistent with the loving character of God. Love is not a feeling of attraction, affection, or satisfaction. Contrary to the tone of our times, love is not an indifferent acceptance of whatever. Real love “does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:6). Love seeks what God wants; love seeks what is best; love seeks what brings our loved ones toward their fulfillment as children of God. Nothing less is love. Nothing less is godly thinking. Holiness and love cannot be separated in the mind of God, and they cannot be separated in godly thinking.

2. Godly thinking believes that Jesus the crucified is risen Lord.

In contrast, worldly thinking discounts sacrifice and discredits resurrection. Worldly thinking’s prime goal is avoiding pain and maximizing comfort.  Worldly thinking sees life through the lens of visible measures of success: winning big followings, defeating immediate enemies, gaining the resources to determine one’s own destiny, and that ultimate goal of life: feeling good right now.  It does not produce people able to seek and steadfastly pursue God’s best.

We must have godly thinking to get out of this trap. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore I want you to understand that …no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except in the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3). Saying and meaning that Jesus is Lord involves understanding that Jesus, the man on the cross, is the very same person as Jesus, the risen and exalted Lord of history. Godly thinking is consistent with Jesus the crucified being the Lord of the universe. Even as he suffers and dies for us, he is our Supreme Commander.

Godly thinking understands that the way of hope is the way of vulnerability, risk, commitment, accountability, discipline, and sacrifice. Anything that is of lasting worth will call us beyond ourselves, beyond our comfort zones, beyond our desires. Anything of enduring value will call us into the realm of steadfast faith and self-giving love.

3. Godly thinking heeds the inspired scriptures.

In contrast, worldly thinking substitutes the faddish philosophies and cultural reform movements of our own era; it matters not whether these movements are liberal, conservative, or middle-of-the-road; if they do not flow from a profound grasp of the Bible, they are worldly thinking, and they do not lead to God’s goals.

Godly thinking is consistent with what the scriptures teach us. After Jesus was raised from the dead, he spent time with his disciples showing them how everything he did was necessary to fulfill the scriptures. He gave them the key to rightly understanding the scriptures.

A good many things in scripture are clear: we have only one God the Father, one Lord Jesus Christ, one Holy Spirit, one faith in the gospel, one hope of eternal life, one body the church, and one baptism into Christ. Further, the Old and New Testaments gradually unveil a morality that is true to God’s purposes in creation and that is confirmed in the costly covenant faithfulness demonstrated by Jesus.

I assume that everything that the scriptures say is true and authoritative, but I don’t always know how to apply individual passages or how to fit them together with other passages. On unclear matters, there is room for ongoing discussion among sincere, Bible-believing Christians, and, if these matters are to be resolved, it should be by scripture-based persuasion. All believers are called to study the scriptures that they may be fed with godly thinking that has been revealed by God.

 

4. Godly thinking follows the leading of the Holy Spirit.

In contrast, worldly thinking follows the spirit and strong feelings of the times. Even in the church, many mistake strong human feelings for the Holy Spirit.

But the same Holy Spirit who authored the scriptures is prepared to speak to the hearts and minds of believers to lead them into fruitful living for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even Jesus, the perfect Son of God, spent time alone in prayer so that he could hear and follow the leading of the Spirit. Surely we must do the same. The Holy Spirit will never contradict the scriptures, but may give us wisdom in how to apply the scriptures in ever-changing settings. All believers are to pray for the Holy Spirit to shape their thinking.

 

5. Godly thinking participates in the missionary fellowship of the church,  bringing God’s unique message of redeeming love to all people.

In contrast, worldly thinking tries to use political alliances with the world to gain the power and influence necessary to enforce its own values and preferences, whether of left or right. 

 

Godly thinking directs us to find our role in sowing the seed and reaping the harvest of the saving word of truth, and in equipping people for receiving their eternal destiny with God. In other words, godly thinking helps us participate in God’s purpose of rescuing human beings and rescuing creation itself from the devastating effects of sin and evil. Godly thinking is rescue-oriented, redemption-directed. It is interested in saving people, not in wielding worldly power.

 

Review

Godly thinking is consistent with the following characteristics:

  1. seeking to conform to the holy and loving character of God.
  2. believing that Jesus the crucified is risen Lord.
  3. heeding the inspired scriptures.
  4. following the leading of the Holy Spirit.
  5. participating in the missionary fellowship of the church.

 

Conclusion

As baptized believers we must get our own worldly thinking--our own preferences, values, and fears--out of the way of the fellowship and mission of Christ’s church. 

Jesus is not calling the chicken-hearted. He is calling people who have sat down to count the cost, who are ready to march forward without looking back, who are ready to enlist in the battle for God’s own saving truth. We cannot follow with anything less than a total conversion of our thinking. We must die to human, worldly thinking and come alive to godly thinking.

The conversion from worldly thinking to godly thinking is terribly important because it has to do with our eternal purpose and our eternal destiny. God created us to represent his nature and purposes. God has offered to redeem us as his children, heirs of his perfected kingdom on the conditions (1) that we will receive Jesus as Son of God, the Christ, Savior, Lord, and (2) that we will let him give us the Spirit of God to lead us into all truth, entirely godly thinking.

If we are not on the path to that transformation, we are missing the whole thing. It is time to get out of the way and then to get on the way.

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