WELCOME TO A PARALLEL PODCAST MINI-SERIES!
Winning at the Game of Life?
In the final part of this short series, my wife Leah and I take a brief look at a challenging Bible verse where Jesus talks about what it means to be a disciple.
We asked CHAT GPT to define ‘success’ according to popular culture and here’s what it said:
“According to popular culture, success is often defined as achieving fame, wealth, and status. Success is often measured by external factors such as the size of one's bank account, the number of followers on social media, or the level of recognition one receives from the public. In popular culture, success is often associated with celebrities, athletes, and other high-profile individuals who have achieved a significant level of financial success or fame through their talents, hard work, or unique abilities.”
How does this compare to Christ’s view of what winning looks like? It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see they are world’s apart.
A DISCIPLE is a Loser…
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it . . .” Luke 9:23-24
The word for life in the original Greek here is apparently psuche (or psyche), meaning "soul life." It literally means my will, my ambition, my goals, and my desires – my psyche. The key to discipleship is to ‘choose to lose’ your ‘my’ and say ‘not my will but yours be done.’ To deny yourself is to say “no” to being led by your own selfish desires and “no” to being dictated to by the ways of the world.
You can’t win at the Game of Life if you don’t understand the rules according to Jesus…
Click above to listen to PART 3 of the audio series now.
Does anyone remember The Game of Life?
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
Here are some questions to reflect on for your own journey as a disciple and disciple-maker:
What areas of your life do you think you need to surrender to God and lose in for the sake of a bigger win?
Who is influencing the rules of The Game of Life you are playing right now? Are you being directed from culture or Christ?
What is the most helpful thing you have learnt as we have looked at the idea of a disciple being a learner, lover and loser? What has been the most challenging?
Enjoy listening to the final part of the audio above…
“I like your plan, except it sucks. So let me do the plan, and that way, it might be really good.”
— Star Lord to Iron Man in Avengers Infinity War
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