Welcome to Episode 63 of Coffee with Phil, where we explore the journey of following our true rabbi, Jesus. Phil shares insights from his season of slowed-down spirituality, inspired by John Mark Comer’s book “Practising the Way.” Reflecting on the essence of discipleship, he challenges the notion of mere belief versus genuine followership. Phil delves into the significance of walking in the footsteps of our rabbi, embracing a way of life aligned with Jesus. In this reflective episode, he encourages listeners to prioritize being loved by Jesus, fostering a deeper connection and understanding of the true meaning of discipleship. Join us on this contemplative journey of faith and introspection.
BONUS CONTENT
- Bible Reference: Luke 5 | John 15
- John Mark Comer: Practicing the way
- Previous Episode: Episode 62
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Introduction
Well, good day and welcome. Welcome back to the studio of me. Welcome to coffee with Phil. Welcome to us hanging out today. I’ve been enjoying my morning coffee, which is a regular 8 oz cup with a Milky latte, always freshly roasted coffee at home. Where I am today and always good. And this morning there wasn’t great latte art. I confess, but it was only me and the dog. So, no one really minds about that to be honest. I watch the baristas and the cafes who are really crafts people. Craftsman but craftspeople and what they do, and they do some wonderful latte art on the top of a cup, and then they put a lid on the takeout cup and give it to you for whatever reason.
So anyway, now that’s a coffee with Phil. Join us on the podcast where we make faith real. We’re talking challenges in faith, the good, the bad, the ugly, and my hope in this podcast is that me sharing my journey with you encourages you along your journey.
Today, Episode 63 of coffee with Phil. In this season, I’m talking about following your rabbi. And there is one true rabbi, the true teacher, the great teacher, the one who is the word of God, the living word of God, the son of God, who became the son of man. So that sons of men could become sons of God. Of course I’m talking about Jesus. The premise for this podcast is that it comes from a book I’m reading and that is part of a large journey I’m on.
I have spoken to you numerous times on previous episodes, go and scroll through the list of the episodes that appear in your podcast feed. You can scroll back and see the titles of them and really look for those that trigger something of interest for you, but I’m on this journey of slowed down spirituality. I’m on this journey to discover truly what Jesus wants for me in this season. I feel like it’s a massive pruning season. I feel like it’s preparation season. And in that, I’ve discovered this book that I heard a guy called John Mark Comer talk about in an interview. I looked at a website and thought wow.
But it wasn’t until a friend of mine was talking about it. And sent me a photo because he had received his copy in the mail that I kind of got to confess I got book envy and I got online and ordered a copy for myself. It’s called “practising the way” by John Mark Comer. We’re going to put a couple of links in the show notes, so make sure you check those because the website “practising the way,” which is John Mark Comer’s new project.
He was a senior pastor of a church for many years, quite a vibrant, growing church. And he went on a journey himself, wrote a book called The Ruthless illumination of Hurry, which was a New York best seller. And I absolutely loved that book. I was very challenged by that book. And then he went on the road speaking about removing hurry from life and got caught up in the frenzy and burned out because of it. It’s kind of ironic, he laughs about. However, Jesus… he’s the one who says to us. Come, follow me. You know our hearts have responded to the call of Jesus through the Holy Spirit. And if we can feast and have faith in Jesus, it’s because we’ve decided to follow Jesus.
Called to a way of life
Well, that’s the theory. And I was talking to a group of people recently and said, you know, there’s many Christians that say they believe in Jesus. But by their behaviour, you might say that they don’t necessarily follow Jesus and Scripture is clear. You know, even demons believe in Jesus, they’re just not willing to submit and yield to him and worship and surrender. So, it’s one thing to say, I believe in Jesus. It’s another thing to be a follower of Jesus.
This has really challenged me personally as someone who reaches and strives and really wants to give my life to the mission but do well in the mission. I’ve really been asking myself this question: What do I invest my energy in? Am I putting my energy into good things? Is what I’m focused on really important in the grand scheme of things? And I want to speak a little bit about that today because. Again, I’m just revealing my life to you and that and that you might reflect on your own journey in this journey of practising the way and reading the book and then contemplating on where my life is at and where I want it to go.
The underlying principle is that we are, as by definition, a follower of Jesus. You’re following Jesus, and therefore you’re called to a way of life. If you think about the gospel message, the story of Jesus, there were, you know, four different viewpoints written for slightly different audiences. But we who have a Bible are blessed to be able to read all four viewpoints and analyse it and compare them and cross reference them. And early in the Book of Luke, we see Jesus calling followers disciples to himself.
This is the way that it was in the Jewish culture that if you were a master teacher, you are recognised as a rabbi. If you were a rabbi, you had a yoke and also as a yoke, which was your way of life. You’re calling people to learn and follow that way of life.
So, this idea that we would be called to a way of life of Jesus we see in Peter and Andrew, they were in the fishing boat, they’ve been fishing all night and there was a miraculous catch which was kind of inspiring. And then Jesus says to Peter and Andrew. “Come follow me” and look in chapter 5 they instantly left their Nets in their boat with the father, and they hopped out and followed him and that’s just a wonderful picture of leaving a life behind in order to move into a lifestyle of following the rabbi.
And I’m thinking, well, what does that look like for me? You know, am I forsaking all else? Am I letting go of the old in order to grasp the new? Did I bring my old life with me when I walked into and when I walked into a decision to follow Jesus? Because a way of life, you know, in those days, the rabbi said. Come, follow me. What it means is, “walk with me. Live with me. Where I lie down. You lie down. where I eat. You eat. When I talk, you listen. And when I teach you, embrace my way of life.”
Now, if Jesus is our rabbi, that would imply that we forsake all else and that we choose to follow him. We put away the motives of our flesh, and we spend time with him. We walk where he walks, we lie down, where he lies down. We listen to everything he says. We take hold of his words and make them part of who we are. And I’m just sharing with you that I’ve been wrestling with it in a good way. I’m like, I don’t want to be half a Christian. I don’t want to be Someone that you know picks up the good bits of the salad and leaves the rest.
I don’t want to be. You know, a happy time Christian and not a tough time Christian. I want to be called to a way of life. That means in all things. I will walk in the footsteps of my rabbi. And in there. I’m following the footsteps of the rabbi. It was literally something that they did, you know, in Israel up into Samaria and Galilee, where the story of Jesus takes place. It was pretty dry and there were fertile areas. And then there were dry areas. And there were sand and dirt Roads and so when the rabbi walked with the followers or his disciples. They followed in their footsteps, literally, and they took the same steps and they almost stood in the imprint, in the dirt or the sand that the rabbi made as a demonstration of their commitment to follow, to learn, and to be like, so being with Jesus, being like Jesus and doing it as he did.
Literally the disciples would be in a line, and they would follow behind. Now of course, if you are a real overachiever or you might want to do that to the letter. And then, of course, you create rules and religion, and you miss the whole point. But what Jesus is saying to us is, “come and learn my ways by following my example”. And I’ve got a couple of scriptures here just for those of you that like to actually go and read the Bible as a result of what I’m saying, cause I think the Bible anchors our behaviour.
Peter writes his letter first, Peter Chapter 2, and he says in verse 21 you’re called to this life, which is a life of submission, not just to him, but also to those who are over us in life, whether it’s our employers, our masters, and how we respond to things happening around us. He says this, though, “you’re called to this lifestyle since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps.”
So, there’s that literal instruction there. Jesus himself just is another example. We know this story well. Probably better John 15, the true Vine Jesus calls us to live in him, he says. I’m the vine. You’re the branches, and in verse five, he says I’m the vine. You’re the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. The “abiding” being with the living, with the lying down with the hanging on every word and the following in the footsteps is a really good way to explain what it means to abide with Jesus.
And so, then the question becomes, which I was chatting with someone last night about, what does this actually look Like for me? You know, we face our day, we face challenges we come up to. You know, I’ve just. I’ve just received a message from someone saying hey, can I ask a favour? I need some help and instead of me just instantly banging out a reply to that DM and responding. I might first consider what Jesus would want me to do.
A friend of mine shared last night that he’s just had an amazing season in business and really blessed God’s opening doors and it’s amazing. And he said he was up the other night till 3:30 in the morning preparing for a proposal that he was doing a pitch the next day. And after we’d had this chat, he’s kind of like “Man. I didn’t even ask Jesus if that’s what he wanted me to do. Like I recognise that I’m blessed by God, but when the blessing becomes a burden, the problem is not with Jesus. The problem is not with the blessing. The problem is with how I’m living in that space.”
And you could say the same in a challenging season. You know when you’re standing in the storm or Peter, another example, walking on the water, he gets out the boat. Lord call me unto you, he says. Jesus says come. Now Jesus is standing on the lake. You know, the sea of Galilee, Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk across the water to Jesus. Only two humans in history that we know of have done that. Jesus and Peter walk across the water, keeping his eyes on Jesus, but then he looks at the water. He looks at his surroundings and his faith begins to waver. And he begins to sink, and he cries out. Lord, help me. And instantly they’re in the boat. What’s my point? How we walk out our challenge is about how we abide with him, how we walk in his footsteps.
You know, we can ask God to bless us and then, we can actually struggle. And how we handle the blessing. But when we go through a challenging season, like Peter Sinking on the lake, or perhaps you know a tough season around works not going the way you want it to and you’re not getting the wins you want, and you can’t quite find the breakthrough. Well, how you live in that moment is exactly our representation of whether you’re going to be like Jesus or not be like Jesus. And I was chatting to a guy yesterday morning and he said, you know, he says I got to the point where I just said “OK, Lord, I’ve tried everything I can do. I Really need you to do something.” and he said there’s just been this flurry of inquiry sales and inquiries since he made that prayer.
Following the footsteps of our Rabbi
And I think the point is following in the footsteps of the rabbi, meaning let him take the lead. And stay close to him, abide in him, follow him. But let him take the lead. So how am I applying that? How am I following in his footsteps? What am I doing each day to turn and recognise that it’s him I’m following? It’s not that I, as I said to you guys before, many of us go hey. Jesus, come follow me. I didn’t find that in the Bible when I looked for it.
So, I hope that challenges you as it challenges me. You can tell I’m in a really reflective season. Some of you probably like. “Oh my gosh, what’s this guy on? Is he drinking too much green tea?” No, that’s not the case. But I feel like we, the church, the followers of Jesus, those who profess to want to follow Jesus are in a season of being ready for something like the bridesmaids in the parable, I don’t want to be caught napping. I don’t want to be caught without oil in my flask. And I’m leaning in to be ready for what’s next. And even if I don’t know what it is, ultimately, of course Jesus is coming back. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Something coming in this next short window of time and season. I want to be ready for it.
So, that requires introspective reflection, and that’s what I’m doing. I asked my church on the weekend as I was sharing from Luke Chapter 10, the story of Mary and Martha. Which is again, I don’t want to preach another sermon, but Jesus visits the home of Mary Martha. And Mary, sitting at his feet attentive to his words, Martha’s running around preparing a meal. You know where this is going? I’m sure you do. And Martha gets really distracted. She gets annoyed, she gets frustrated, she gets all discombobulated, she says. “God, Jesus, don’t you care?” And Jesus, says Martha, you’re worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, Mary has chosen the best part and it will not be taken from her. And I asked my church, you know, we gathered together. And I’m just teaching them from this. And I said, are we preparing a meal that Jesus never asked for? Are we spending our lives fabricating ministries and programmes and serving people, which is all wonderful things. You know what Martha was doing was wonderful service. But Jesus didn’t ask for that. He’s like, you’ve worried about something. Mary’s got the right thing in her focus.
And so, I’m challenging what I’m doing. Like when I’m looking at my targets, my objectives, my plans. I’m looking at all the things on my plate and I’m like, dude, seriously, is this actually important? Like, is this something that you want to invest your life into? This podcast is an example. You know, I’ve determined that it’s something that God wants me to do. And so I’m doing it out of obedience. Therein lies the answer, but some of the other things I’m really questioning is this what God wants me to do in the season?
When we attend to him he attends to us
And as an example of me preparing a meal, Jesus never asked for, and so maybe less is more. Maybe, maybe, maybe less is more. As I try to land this sometime shortly I’ve got this phrase here I want to share with you that I’m meditating on. When we attend to him, he attends to us. I’ll say it again, because some of you are driving in the car. And you can’t quite hit the rewind button. When we attend to him. He attends to us. You know the greatest invitation, the best invitation, the most beautiful thing that I see in this season is an invitation for us to learn to be loved by Jesus. You know, a lot of what we talk about and what we sing about with songs and the way we pray possibly is pouring out our praise to Jesus and we should.
But I think we would learn a deeper love for him if we sat and allowed him to love us first. And this is a challenge because, you know, we get the devil in our head saying, well, you don’t really deserve it or you’re a bit busy or you’re sure you need to sit like that for that long. And I’m meditating on this. And I’m imagining myself just turning my face towards Jesus. Looking into his beautiful eyes. That are warm and, in my mind, they are a Hazel colour. They glisten and they glow, and they radiate, and they express something. And it’s often spoken of by writers of old as the person of love. Loving you. Because Jesus is love, God is love. That love originates in him that flows from him. The Bible says, you know, we in 1 John 4. We can only love only because he first loved us.
And that to me brings me back to the whole essence of this invitation that he will attend to us. So, if we turn our attention toward him, all I’m saying is, if we make time to turn our attention to him, he will attend to us. Revelation 3 “Here I stand at the door knocking.” this is really recognising that Jesus comes to us in order to express his love for us. Will we receive him once we receive him? We learn to receive his love and we think that we’re his servants and that’s true. We think we have a mission and we do. That’s true. We think we’ve got stuff to get on with. That’s true. We do. But the greatest purpose, I think, is in our creation. And I’m prepared to be challenged on this, but my theology is that our greatest purpose in creation is that we would love God.
God created us for community with him, that we would be woven and wrapped into the fabric of his love and community of Father, son, and Holy Spirit, and that we’re woven into that. Woven into it intricately, that we would experience the fullness of love from God as a father. Jesus is our saviour and the Holy Spirit is our guide, our advocate and our companion. So allow love to love you. I’ve had to carve out time for this. I’m not in a space at the moment where I’m getting up at 5:00 to sit in my prayer chair. I’ve had seasons like that, and if it comes back, I’d be glad to do it. When the kids were really little and I was working. A couple of businesses I would get up at 5:00 and before the house was even murmuring. I would find myself with a cup of tea in my Bible and a journal and my prayer chair in the family room and I would sit and I would just listen and write and read and be loved on.
These days I do. I have a chair I go to. I have a space that I sit in. I have an outlook that I can appreciate. And sometimes I just have to put everything down and I just have to gaze into nothing and be with him and allow him to. Reveal his love for me. And this sounds like a waste of time. Like I’m, I’m looking at the things that I want to do and I’m looking at the outcomes that I’m trying to achieve. I’m looking at the different aspects of my life that I’m really wanting to ramp up and I’m like, I just don’t feel the drive for that. Maybe I’m getting way too old, maybe I’m getting… I’m turning into a mystical monk that wants to wrap himself in a robe, shavers head and spend all day pottering around in prayer.
What it is sounds really good, I’ve got to confess, but I have a Kingdom theology. So, I’m not quite sure I’m going to buy into that fully. I don’t. I don’t know. I’m. I’m on a journey. But how do we experience love? What’s a way that you experience love? I asked a group of people this the other night and one guy said. To me, he said. Ohh. It’s taking really long walks on a beach, and I know where he lives. I’ve been to his house, he’s in the middle of a farm in the middle of the countryside, hours from the coast. And I’ve seen seasons in his life where he’s had holidays and he just spent long days walking on the beach and now I know because he shared with me that that’s how he communes with God to receive God’s love for him.
I asked another guy in the circle, and he goes, oh, that’s easy going really, really fast. It’s like what he’s like, oh, I just feel like I feel like God’s with me when I do that. And I was like, OK, alright, that’s awesome and A and a lady. No, it wasn’t. It was another guy. There were six of us in the circle, but one person said I just experienced God’s love through the unrestricted love of my granddaughter. And her hugs remind me of God’s hugs. And that was just so powerful for us in that moment of sitting there. So, I suppose I want to push this back to you as a contemplation that you can take out of this as you hear my story of following the rabbi, my Rabbi Jesus.
My goal in following Jesus is to be with Jesus as the 1st and highest priority is to be with him. If I’m with him, I might become like him. And when I become like him, I will do as he did. So how can you be with Jesus? What’s a way that you could carve out some time to learn how to experience his love and to a greater degree, like we all obviously know that we’re loved if we confess him as our saviour, that’s. Well, that’s not a given, but it’s. It’s part of the process and if you’re struggling to accept that God loves you or to receive his love, then there’s going to be a blocker there that you might want to dig for again.
I’d spend time helping people do that, reach out, or find someone that can just sit with you and ask Jesus to reveal what that blocker is. But I’m encouraging you to learn to receive his love in a greater and a deeper way. And if you do that, and if you are with Jesus, then he will become your rabbi. You will walk in his footsteps, and you will see his fruit in your life because John, 15 says if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit for without me. You can do nothing, and that’s a beautiful imitation.
So, I’m going to sign off here. I’m going to say thanks for being with me. Please follow the podcast. Share the podcast. Let’s get this in the ears of others in order that their life of a journey with Jesus might grow as well and so feel free to share it. Feel free to discuss this. Feel free to be challenged by it. Feel free to challenge what I’m saying. Argue it with someone else. And see what you come up with, but I just pray that Jesus has revealed in your conversations as you become more like him and I look forward to hanging out with you sometime soon on the podcast coffee with Phil, you have a great day. Bye bye.