Paradigm 23: Discipleship and philosophy of life
Edmund Chan says that discipleship is a "passionate following after Jesus". It is not a programme to take, but a life to be lived. Chan says that life is a:
1. Laboratory where we apply biblical principles to good and bad events in the real world to see the benefits of applied truth.
2. Learning pilgrimage where we glean insights, truths and principles for transformed living. We are always growing in authentic discipleship.We learn from failures, adventures, breakthroughs and inner-life challenges.
3. Leverage where real-life application of truth allows us to live a deeper and fuller life. We grow in usefulness for the Kingdom.
4. Legacy where we pass on our hard-earned lessons to the next generation. This is not only a gift to them, but a gift back to God who gave us life.
We are meant to learn Christlike wisdom - to become like our Lord in His character and right application of truth to situations of daily life. We learn this by 'trial and error', but not in the sense of trying out everything, but by working within the limits of Scripture. In this sense, even 'errors' are not true mistakes, but ways to learn from negative outcomes. There is no fear of failure when we walk in the ways of God.
Life-long learning of wisdom is more than an expression of our identity or duty in Christ - it should be an enjoyable process because it makes our relationship with the Lord deeper and richer in this life, earns us rewards in the life to come.
I felt that it is worth examining what one of the wisest men ever had as his philosophy of life - the Preacher of Ecclesiastes.
He says
1. There is no point gaining wisdom and understanding because wisdom brings more frustration and sorrow (1:12-18)
2. There is no point engaging in pleasure and creative works because this is ultimately insignificant (2:1-11)
3. There is no point living wisely because both wise and foolish men die (2:12-17)
4. There is no point working to earn a living because you have to leave the reward for our labours behind in death, often to the undeserving. Also, work is frustrating. (2:18-26)
5. There is no point being human, since both humans and animals die (3:14-22)
6. There is no point to work if you have no one to leave what we work for to, and you are never satisfied with your wealth (4:7)
6. There is no point being wise and successful because people will not remember you anyway (4:13-16, 9:13-15)
7: There is no point in being rich because wealth can be lost and can never be taken with us in death.(5:10-17)
8/ There is no point being rich and successful because you may still not enjoy life. If you love money, you will never be satisfied (5:10-12, 6:1-6)
9. There is no point working because we work to eat and we will never be full (6:7-9)
10. Life is random and does not reward us according to our righteousness or merit (8:14, 9:2-3, 10:6-7)
So "all is vanity" (1:2-11)
What are the positive things the Preacher sees in life?
1. There is pleasure in work/effort (1:10)
2. There is pleasure in food and drink and happy work (2:24)
3. There is wisdom, knowledge and joy from God as a gift (2:26)
4. There is nothing better for us than to be joyful and to do good (3:12)
5. There is nothing better than that we should eat and drink and take pleasure in all our work —this is God's gift (3:13)
6. There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work (3:22)
7. Two are better than one because they can give mutual support (4:7-12)
8: It is better to be poor and wise than old and foolish, refusing advice (4:13)
9. It's good to have a far-sighted leader (5:9)
10. It is good is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in work (5:18)
11. It is good to be able to accept our lot in life and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God who makes us satisfied in them (5:19-20).
12. It is good to fear God (8:12)
13. It is good to eat, drink and be joyful. This will support us in our lifelong labour (8:15)
14. It is good to eat, drink be joyful and enjoy life with your spouse (9:7-11)
15: Wisdom is better than might (9:16, 18)
16: Enjoy long life as well as in youth (11:8-9)
To summarize: life observed is meaningless and random, even taking the best the world can offer. Death ends it all. So we should enjoy food, drink, work and companionship. Try to be contented and wise. Remember God.
What is the Preacher's summary conclusion?
He says that he taught knowledge and arranged proverbs with great care. His words were intended to bring delight, and with an upright heart he wrote words of truth (12:9-10). He says that these words are like goads - unpleasant but pushing us to go onward the right path. The words are firmly fixed (they give stability) and come from God. We should beware of wisdom beyond this, because there are many sources of wisdom which are unprofitable.
So his final conclusion is 12:13-14: "13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."
Our lives are lived under God's watchful eye. The fact that He is Judge means that He is the ultimate source of wisdom that we should pursue. Judgement also is a time not only when evil is punished, but good is rewarded. (c.f. 1 Cor 310-15, 2 Cor 5:9-10).
We will not be able to truly pass on to others what we have not learned by experience and applied truth. But we do not need to know everything to pass on anything - it is possible to pass on what we know to those without the same opportunities for knowledge and truth.
1. Laboratory where we apply biblical principles to good and bad events in the real world to see the benefits of applied truth.
2. Learning pilgrimage where we glean insights, truths and principles for transformed living. We are always growing in authentic discipleship.We learn from failures, adventures, breakthroughs and inner-life challenges.
3. Leverage where real-life application of truth allows us to live a deeper and fuller life. We grow in usefulness for the Kingdom.
4. Legacy where we pass on our hard-earned lessons to the next generation. This is not only a gift to them, but a gift back to God who gave us life.
We are meant to learn Christlike wisdom - to become like our Lord in His character and right application of truth to situations of daily life. We learn this by 'trial and error', but not in the sense of trying out everything, but by working within the limits of Scripture. In this sense, even 'errors' are not true mistakes, but ways to learn from negative outcomes. There is no fear of failure when we walk in the ways of God.
Life-long learning of wisdom is more than an expression of our identity or duty in Christ - it should be an enjoyable process because it makes our relationship with the Lord deeper and richer in this life, earns us rewards in the life to come.
I felt that it is worth examining what one of the wisest men ever had as his philosophy of life - the Preacher of Ecclesiastes.
He says
1. There is no point gaining wisdom and understanding because wisdom brings more frustration and sorrow (1:12-18)
2. There is no point engaging in pleasure and creative works because this is ultimately insignificant (2:1-11)
3. There is no point living wisely because both wise and foolish men die (2:12-17)
4. There is no point working to earn a living because you have to leave the reward for our labours behind in death, often to the undeserving. Also, work is frustrating. (2:18-26)
5. There is no point being human, since both humans and animals die (3:14-22)
6. There is no point to work if you have no one to leave what we work for to, and you are never satisfied with your wealth (4:7)
6. There is no point being wise and successful because people will not remember you anyway (4:13-16, 9:13-15)
7: There is no point in being rich because wealth can be lost and can never be taken with us in death.(5:10-17)
8/ There is no point being rich and successful because you may still not enjoy life. If you love money, you will never be satisfied (5:10-12, 6:1-6)
9. There is no point working because we work to eat and we will never be full (6:7-9)
10. Life is random and does not reward us according to our righteousness or merit (8:14, 9:2-3, 10:6-7)
So "all is vanity" (1:2-11)
What are the positive things the Preacher sees in life?
1. There is pleasure in work/effort (1:10)
2. There is pleasure in food and drink and happy work (2:24)
3. There is wisdom, knowledge and joy from God as a gift (2:26)
4. There is nothing better for us than to be joyful and to do good (3:12)
5. There is nothing better than that we should eat and drink and take pleasure in all our work —this is God's gift (3:13)
6. There is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work (3:22)
7. Two are better than one because they can give mutual support (4:7-12)
8: It is better to be poor and wise than old and foolish, refusing advice (4:13)
9. It's good to have a far-sighted leader (5:9)
10. It is good is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in work (5:18)
11. It is good to be able to accept our lot in life and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God who makes us satisfied in them (5:19-20).
12. It is good to fear God (8:12)
13. It is good to eat, drink and be joyful. This will support us in our lifelong labour (8:15)
14. It is good to eat, drink be joyful and enjoy life with your spouse (9:7-11)
15: Wisdom is better than might (9:16, 18)
16: Enjoy long life as well as in youth (11:8-9)
To summarize: life observed is meaningless and random, even taking the best the world can offer. Death ends it all. So we should enjoy food, drink, work and companionship. Try to be contented and wise. Remember God.
What is the Preacher's summary conclusion?
He says that he taught knowledge and arranged proverbs with great care. His words were intended to bring delight, and with an upright heart he wrote words of truth (12:9-10). He says that these words are like goads - unpleasant but pushing us to go onward the right path. The words are firmly fixed (they give stability) and come from God. We should beware of wisdom beyond this, because there are many sources of wisdom which are unprofitable.
So his final conclusion is 12:13-14: "13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."
Our lives are lived under God's watchful eye. The fact that He is Judge means that He is the ultimate source of wisdom that we should pursue. Judgement also is a time not only when evil is punished, but good is rewarded. (c.f. 1 Cor 310-15, 2 Cor 5:9-10).
We will not be able to truly pass on to others what we have not learned by experience and applied truth. But we do not need to know everything to pass on anything - it is possible to pass on what we know to those without the same opportunities for knowledge and truth.
Comments
Post a Comment