Chapter 5
Following the Way of the Lord
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Thinking is not of first importance; life is of first importance. Neither in natural nor in spiritual life do we begin by thinking. Christian thinking means thinking on the basis of things, not thinking in pious terms. With many the experience is right, the life of God is there, but there has been no thinking on the basis of things, and when things hit, there is confusion. If we are going to think along Christian lines and know where to place our individual experiences, it is time we exercised ourselves intellectually as well as spiritually.
~Oswald Chambers
Introducing the Way of the Lord
It can be difficult to manage the quantity and diversity of ideas we find in the Bible. We need a way to simplify, focus our attention, and learn how to think more clearly about what is of utmost importance for living as a disciple of Jesus. In this chapter I will propose a solution, a mental model I call the Way of the Lord.
The Way of the Lord?
The biblical concept of the Way of the Lord is found throughout the Old and New Testaments. For example,
The LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in Him? For I have chosen Him, that He may command his children and his household after Him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has promised Him.” (Genesis 18:17-19)
Or again, in the New Testament we read about a man name Apollos:
“He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, He spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though He knew only the baptism of John.” (Acts 18:25
I have found it helpful to use this biblical phrase to organize the vast quantity of biblical data about living our lives as intentional disciples of Jesus.
First of all, “the Way” refers to a road or a path we follow as we walk with God to complete the journey He has mapped out for His human image-bearers.
For example, Jeremiah 2:17 says,
Have you not brought this upon yourself by forsaking the LORD you God, when He led you in the way?
In fact, “The way” is used throughout the OT to describe the covenant-based relationship the people ought to have with Yahweh (compare Deuteronomy 5:33; 9:12; Psalm 32:8; 143:8; Isaiah 48:17; Jeremiah 7:23; 42:3).
The rest of the phrase, “of the Lord,” clarifies that the journey is not about us; it’s not about getting our way or working out our best plans to be successful or fulfilled. In other words, the “Way of the Lord” can be used as a code phrase for our journey as disciples of Jesus from the crisis in the garden of Eden where we lost everything to the new creation where God will set everything right again.
“The Way of the Lord” as a Mental Model
In the remaining chapters of Section 2, I will use this biblical concept of “the Way of the Lord” to build a mental model to help organize all that we discover in the Bible when we become intentional about discipleship to Jesus.
Mental Models[1] are frameworks of ideas, generalizations, and assumptions about what is real, what is important, and how things work. They help us to take the overwhelming amount of data coming at us and organize in such a way that it becomes useful.
These frameworks help us understand our world, our place in it, and what we need to do, and this is exactly what we need as we start following Jesus. We need a way to pull together the most important things from the Bible so we can see them, understand them, act on them, and most importantly remember them.
The following visualization of key concepts, priorities, and practices seem to be key to how Jesus lived and how we are to live as His disciples. The following chapters will work through these concepts systematically looking especially for insights that can help us live as intentional disciples of Jesus. Feel free to adjust the model as you work with it but I offer it as place to begin.
As disciples of Jesus, we have One Allegiance, Two Purposes, Three Roles, Four Guiding Beliefs, and Five Daily Practices. Packed into these 15 biblical ideas are the essentials of what we need to live the kind of life with God from which a lifetime of ministry will naturally flow as we follow Jesus.
Here are some questions for consideration and discussion.
If in Jesus, God has forgiven your sin, defeated its power in your life, and adopted you back into His household, restoring your position and the heritage lost in the crisis of Eden, how will your day-to-day life need to change?
If in Jesus, God has defeated the principalities and powers that have held humans in bondage and fear for centuries, how will you behave and think differently now that you have been set free to become who you were created to be?
Suppose that in Jesus the Sovereign Creator has begun the restoration of all things that will ultimately end in the New Heavens and New Earth. How do your priorities need to adjust so that you give yourself more and more to what God is doing and less and less to what is not important and will not last?
Chapter 5 Daily Scripture Readings
How to spend some quality time listening to what Jesus would like to say through the scriptures:
In preparation, acknowledge the Lord’s presence and love for you and settle yourself before Him (in your mind and heart).
Read the day’s text carefully; take your time.
Reflect on what you have been reading with a listening ear – what word, phrase, or sentence speaks to you from the text?
Now, talk to the LORD about what you hear from this text. What has Jesus stirred in your heart?
If you were with Him walking from one Galilean village to another, what would you say to Him about this?
Chapter 5 - Day One: Mark 12:18-34
Chapter 5 - Day Two: Mark 12: 35-44
Chapter 5 - Day Three: Mark 13: 1-37
Chapter 5 - Day Four: Mark 14: 1-11
Chapter 5 - Day Five: Mark 14: 12-31
There are two ways you can go deeper with this material, if you are finding this helpful.
First, read How to get the most from this book. I offer some suggestions about how to do more than skim the pages and move on with minimal impact.
Second, read How to use this book with a small group. This material was formed and proven in a small group setting that has been very effective at helping participants engage with Jesus at a much deeper and transformative level than is typical in our churches today.