It’s a matter of virtue.
Disciples and Disciple-making (3)
Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you. 1 Timothy 4.16
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Colossians 3.1-3
True friendship requires virtue—Christian virtue. We must seek virtue from the Lord if we would know it within our soul. This is the fundamental and ongoing preparation for friendship, discipleship, and disciple-making. Aelred wrote, “Thus it is the mark of a virtuous mind always to meditate upon lofty and difficult things, so that it either attains or more clearly understands and recognizes that which it desires…” Nothing is loftier than our Lord Jesus Christ, exalted in glory. He is the embodiment of all virtue, and contemplating Him gives concentrated time for the Spirit to do more of His work of making us more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18).
Aelred continued, “…so we should not believe that a man has made but little progress when he has recognized virtue and learned from that how far he is from virtue. However, the Christian ought never despair of attaining any virtue, since his ears echo daily with that saying from the gospel, ‘Seek and you shall find.’”
So, no, we’ll never reach full Christlike virtue in this life, but this is no reason for not seeking it. If we love those we are called to disciple, we will strive to increase in Christlikeness every day.
True friends love one another, trust one another, and are able to depend on and confide in one another. Such a framework of friendship provides a solid structure for disciple-making. The virtue we need for such friendship comes only through the contemplation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without a clear and compelling vision of the exalted Christ, coupled with regular communion with Him through various spiritual disciplines, it is impossible to make progress in virtue, or in friendship and discipleship.
Daily preparation, daily progress: That’s the starting point and goal for growing in the virtues that conduce to friendship and disciple-making.
We don’t have to guess about what it means to be a disciple.
This week we continue our conversations with Dr. Mike McQueen concerning how the Bible teaches us to think about who we are as disciples. This week, Mike explains how we should look at discipleship from a Kingdom perspective, beginning with our being soldiers of Christ. We need to be discipled to win battles in spiritual warfare. Click the audio bar included with this issue of Pastor to Pastor to listen in.
Resources for Shepherds: Growth in the Lord and our calling
Our newest book is The Hope of Beauty in an Age of Ugliness and Death. Can we know beauty? Real beauty? Should Christians even care about this? Jesus Christ is the ultimate source of true beauty, and the better we come to know Him, the more beauty we will bring into every area of our lives. Download your free copy in PDF by clicking here.
Our Resources for Shepherds page can broaden the horizons of your thinking and encourage you in your walk with and work for the Lord. Contemplate the peaceful life of rural Vermont in a painting by a local artist. Consider an important insight about how we communicate God’s truth. Rediscover a Christmas tradition worth keeping. And be encouraged about some recent work in behavioral science that sounds a lot like Biblical thinking—and thus, might open some doors for the Gospel.
Men, come and join one of our Winter/Spring reading and discussion groups. We have some challenging subjects to explore, and you can preview them all by clicking here. This is a great opportunity for discussion, learning together, and meeting some new friends. There is no fee for participating. For additional information, or to enroll in any of our groups, send me an email at tmmoore@ailbe.org.
And men, we would love for you to join us once a week to seek the Lord for revival. We meet every Tuesday morning via Zoom, 10:00-10:30 Eastern, to pray together through a psalm for the Lord to revive and renew His Church and begin a great awakening among the lost people of our world. If you’d like to join us, just send me an email at tmmoore@ailbe.org.
From the Celtic Revival
Tomorrow, in our Crosfigell teaching letter, we’ll let one of the great saints of the Celtic Revival lead us into a consideration of the power of words:
There are three or four faults common to otherwise virtuous persons, such as being given to drawing others into endless chatter, and addiction to delicacies. The Rule of Ciarán, Irish, 7th or 8th century[1]
To which, to guide the meditation that follows, we add Colossians 4.6: Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Since we shepherds necessarily rely a good bit on the words that come out of our mouths, we should be careful to make our words as Christlike as possible. Visit our website to read the rest of tomorrow’s devotional from the period of the Celtic Revival. And while you’re there, check out the other columns and features on our new website.
Each issue of Crosfigell features an excerpt from the literature from the saints of the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD). You can subscribe to Crosfigell and all our other teaching letters by clicking here.
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Our book, Fan into Flame, provides the Lord’s shepherd an opportunity to review, reset, and renew their work. Learn more about this book, and order your copy here in book form or here as a free PDF.
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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[1] Ó Maidín, p. 45.
