Becoming like Jesus with Community (Eph. 4:11-16)

I pray this series, “Become like Jesus” has been helpful for you. 

If anything my hope is that you have a clearer vision in your heart of your aim in life:

That is to be with the Father (or behold Him), 

Become like Jesus, 

and help others do the same. 

Yesterday we were celebrating Lehsung’s birthday at Jade Dynasty, an amazing Chinese restaurant, and as we were blessing and affirming him, multiple people mentioned how he is more like Jesus and mention different characteristics of Christ. That’s what we wanna see more of. 

Becoming like Jesus is the measure of your maturity. 

And the greatest measure of Christ-likeness is how much you love like Jesus loves and most of his other attributes and actions flow from his love. 

I’ve challenged you to pray, Jesus do whatever it takes to make me more like you! I hope you’ve prayed that. I have been and God has been answering it, though it has been costly. 

Last week, I taught that you become like Jesus through beholding Him. I challenged all of us to schedule our lives around time with God, instead of scheduling time with God. That you would reorient your time with God from merely bible reading and prayer to fighting for sight. Seeing with the eyes of your heart until your heart gets happy in God. 

One more point I failed to mention, 

Have great confidence in what years of being in beholding will do, but very little pressure on each time. Sometimes it will be explosive and life-changing, other times it will be like a daily meal, which you forget days later, but you still needed the daily nourishment.

There’s so much that we covered in this sermon series, if you missed it, please go back and listen to it. 

As I look at my sermon notes, I realize I am  trying to say too much. I hope you can re-listen if I am going too fast. But my main point is that we can’t become like Jesus without His body, the church. That we will be stuck in immaturity without each other. 

So everything else are sub-points on more on why I say that and how to grow, but that’s the main burden this morning. 

6 Commitments to Become Like Jesus in Community

1. Committed to the Gospel of Grace

We're going to eventually get to Ephesians chapter 4. This chapter is the beginning of three chapters focused on how Christians should live (The imperatives or commands). 

But make no mistake, these come after chapters one through three (the indicatives), which are all about what Christ has already done for us. 

Ephesians 2:8 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

And so all of our transformation into the image of Christ and obedience to Christ is built from a foundation of grace. 

• God wants to be with us before we do anything for him. 

• God loved us while we were still sinners. 

• God loves the present you, not the future more mature you,

• Not what you should be, but would you currently are with all of your mess.

• We are not trying to earn acceptance, but working from a state of acceptance. 

I remember talking to a roommate years ago and asked why they never gave or received correction. And he said, “I can’t hear one more thing I am failing in.” 

This was heartbreaking cause this brother didn’t know how much love and grace was emanating from His heavenly father because of the gospel. He didn’t believe from his heart that there was no more condemnation!

• When we grasp the gospel, then we are deeply humbled, and our identity is not based on our performance. And so we can hear from other people loving correction and won’t be devastated or defensive cause our identity is secure in Christ.  

• And we also can give loving and gracious correction to others helping them grow, not coming from a place of arrogance or judgmentalism because we know how deep and dark our hearts can be as well.

This is the absolute bedrock foundation to be a disciple-making church. We are undeserving of grace, and God is happy to pour it out upon us. 

And from that place of deep security, we can help each other grow. 

2. Committed to Personally Follow Jesus

I shared that we all must hear from the Lord Jesus himself, looking into your eyes, 

inviting you, 

“Follow me and become like me.”

You must take responsibility to follow Jesus. You must do it. We must help you, but you have to be committed to it yourself. You can’t let others want your growth more than you want your growth for yourself. This may happen for seasons but should not be the norm.  

I've also been helped with the idea of using the word apprentice as another way to think about discipleship to Jesus. 

Apprenticeships, whether a plumber apprenticeship or medical student, always implies actually practicing the craft. Failing and trying again. 

You have to be committed to actually putting to practice the lifestyle of Jesus. 

If its merely us just having isolated bible study and not putting anything to practice, we won’t actually grow and be transformed.

Furthermore, If you are going to others, but you are not having quality time being with the father and beholding him, you will use those people for your own selfish reasons . And your relationships will not bring forth fruit.

Yes, there are seasons where it feels like we can’t even pray. And we’re in crisis and we need people to pray with us and help us reconnect with God, but that must be seasonal. 

Again, you must hear from the Lord Jesus himself, looking into your eyes, “Follow me and become like me.” 

Are you following Jesus in all of life? 

3. Committed to Humility and Honesty with where you are at

One of the greatest sights to behold is seeing new believers on fire and growing like crazy.  One reason this happens is because they instinctively know they are immature in their faith. So they humble themselves and, under the right culture in the community, grow in leaps and bounds.

I am so encouraged at how Lena, Alyona, and Chris have been growing since we baptized them. What a joy for us!

But what is common are Christians who’ve been in church for many years, but have never made significant progress in their discipleship to Jesus. This happens for a variety of reasons. 

This is the a dangerous place to be. 

Because many are deceived to believe they are mature, cause they know how to appear mature. They understand the rituals and can play the part. But at the core of your heart, you’re still immature and they are self-deceived. 

And those who realize you are immature, find it extremely difficult to reach out and humble yourself asking for help, because you technically should be further along than you are and you feel shame. 

This is where many Christians are at, and the enemy wants to keep you in your infancy and will shame you to stay quiet and not reach out. 

So we must have humility to say, “I need help.” I can’t grow alone. I need the body of Christ!

• If you are a new believer, you should be immature, that’s normal, 

• we want to help you. 

• If you have been a believer for a while and you are immature, 

• we want to help you.

• Or maybe you used to be mature, but you have regressed. 

• Did you know you could do that? 

• We want to help you!

• If you are mature, you still have gaps, we all do.

All of us need help!

But the first step is humbly admitting where you are at, and only then are you in the place where you can start to mature.

Saturate Assessment online is a helpful place to start. 

• Spiritual Infant

• Spiritual Child

• Spiritual Young Adult

• Spiritual Parent

• Spiritual Grandparent

4. Committed to One Flawed but Healthy Church for a Long Time 

In a world of perfectionism where we are constantly looking for the perfect church that fits all our needs, we have a terrible epidemic of church hopping. 

And many who can excuse themselves from ever committing to one church for long because it doesn’t align with their ideals, 

thus in their minds, exempting them from committing to deeply be known, love and be loved, and help others follow Jesus, 

because they are principled and not settling. 

At another time, we can talk about what makes a flawed but healthy church, but I do believe we are that, by God’s grace. 

“Long-term interpersonal relationships are the crucible of genuine progress in the Christian life. People who stay also grow. People who leave do not grow. We all know people who are consumed with spiritual wanderlust (A strong desire to travel). 

But we never get to know them very well because they cannot seem to stay put. They move along from church to church, ever searching for a congregation that will better satisfy their felt needs. Like trees repeatedly transplanted from soil to soil, these spiritual nomads fail to put down roots and seldom experience lasting and fruitful growth in their Christian lives.”
― Joseph H. Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family: Recapturing Jesus' Vision for Authentic Christian Community

So if you are not committed to a church and you float in and out as you, please, you are missing out. And I want to challenge you, whether it's All People Church, or not, get committed for the long-haul with one church. 

And if you have been part of our church, and you struggle with many weaknesses and challenges, keep pressing in. I can tell you that there's a number in here, who wanted to leave many times, I am one of them, Julia is another. She was over our home last night and there were some tremendously difficult seasons where she wanted to leave. But because she kept pressing in and showing up, we grew, she grew, and we are all more like Christ because of the struggle. 

5. Committed to Mutually Speaking the Truth in Love

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

We are growing up into  Christlikeness, who is the head of the church. 

How do we do this?

Speak the truth in love. 

Your flawed but healthy church needs to have members that have enough invited proximity in you life, where you can actually speak truth into each other's hearts.

I say proximity because you shouldn’t be speaking truth regularly into people’s lives you don’t know intimately well. 

And Paul gives a key word.
Speaking the truth in boldness!

Nope, in love, 

Love will lead to boldness though. 

You speak the truth, not cause your brother or sister will love it, they may not. 

But because you love them!

Why is that loving?

Because without you doing so, we will be stuck in immaturity!

That’s why its loving!

So you’re going to thoughtfully, with much love, speak truth to others. 

You do it with love 

and you do it because of love. 

› Two kinds of relationships you need invited proximity to speak the truth in your life. 

6. Committed to several KINDS of Relationships 

Ephesians 4:16 ESV

16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

We need each part working properly building each other up in love. 

We need each part of the body working correctly. 

Every single person in the church family is needed. When everyone is committed to each other's growth to become like Christ, and uses their gifts, in love, we will mature. 

Which also means, that, if some of you shrink back, do not engage others, through fear, or selfishness, or insecurity, or because you believe that you're not needed, then we won't be fully mature. We need every single member!

Not one person can fully mentor some into the fullness of Christ, cause no one is fully like Christ, we need different members playing different roles in our lives. 

I want to invite you to have a Paul, Timothy, and Barnabas or at least, moving towards each.

In other words, someone you are following, someone you are side-by-side with, and someone you are investing into. 

Look for Pauls

What are the characteristics of a Paul for your life? 

1. Someone you can Imitate to become more like Jesus

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

That they can look to you and say, as imperfect, as I still am, if you imitate my example in life, that will be an overall benefit to you. You will be closer to living like Jesus if you follow my example.

You are ultimately not following them. You are following them as much as they are following Christ. 

2. Powers of Discernment Trained

Another characteristic of a Paul in your life is shown in  Hebrews 5:12-14. They have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice and are skilled in the word of righteousness. This takes years to be be trained in these ways. 

And so you are inviting them to speak truth into your life. 

What’s an area that you are stuck and you need help in?

For example, biblical parenting or prayer or purity, finances. 

It can be seasonal, specific, and focused, rather than never-ending.

3. Someone You will Defer to

Defer to their wisdom. 

Do you remember Mr. Miyagi?

And how Daniel-son asked to learn karate from him?

But one of his first task was to wax on and wax off. It may no sense to him but he submitted to it and eventually he learned that it actually was the building blocks to become a karate master.

In other words, if you are going to have a Paul in your life, but you're constantly going to argue with them and think you know better, then don't even pursue them. That will be no joy for them. 

You have to actually believe they're further along, so their biblical instincts will be very different than yours. They will say things you disagree with, that’s why you’re not them. They know Jesus more in those ways. Their powers of discernment are further along.  

If you read through the Bible ten times like they have, you would think differently too. 

Provided they are not violating scripture, defer to their advice and leadership.

I also want you to go out of your way to accommodate the Paul’s in your life. They are giving of their time and heart and in the words of the proverbs, this is worth more than gold, and so honor their time and the years they put in to become the kind of person you want to follow. 

Accommodate their schedule and share good things with them as Galatians 6:6 says. 

Look For a Barnabas

He was a co-laborer with Paul and was known as an encourager. 

We all need Barnabas like people in our lives. 

Barnabas are people that you have spent a long time cultivating intimacy with. They know your story, they know your weaknesses, you can speak freely, and they can fill in the gaps without you having to be easily misunderstood. 

And because they have that kind of access and proximity that they are able to speak the truth in love well to you.

Typically, they are in a similar station in life, have a similar maturity level as you were, they can pour into you and you can pour into them and you share some common interests. 

In other words, they are a really good friend. 

I’ve struggled with good friendships over the years, for a variety of reasons: Some due to my own complicated weaknesses and insecurities and others cause I have 5 kids and a very full life.

But one reason is that I didn't think having deep friendships was essential.

I chose to prioritize people I was mentoring, or at all people’s church, we created DNA groups. This was our attempt to create a space for meaningful relationships in a medium for life-on-life discipleship. 

There were other people that I would meet in the church or outside the church, who I had a natural kinship with. And these relationships were extremely life-giving. but I had a DNA group, so I could only hope for periodic times with those natural connections. 

As our church has grown and had to make many adjustments, DNA groups have been a constant change for many of us. So, an area that should have been a rock-solid, life-giving means was regularly upended.

And so recently, we have made DNA groups, optional and open for our members to decide what would be best for them. 

I believe having DNAs for everyone had value for our church as we established certain biblical values and a culture, but we needed to make an adjustment. 

For some of you, your current DNA is both an opportunity for you to mutually help each other follow Jesus and provide deep friendships. 

For others of you, you have to be more creative and that’s okay. 

In a shifting world with people and church plants and multiplication of DNA groups, it's helpful to have two or three people that you are committed to for a long haul to know deeply and be known deeply.

This is one of the few areas you can guard and be exclusive with. 

So that, you can be empowered to be inclusive in other areas of your life. 

This is something I am praying for more for Joanna and I. 

This is a priority we are now fighting for despite all that’s going on. 

You may need to pray for years for this. Its not easy and it takes vulnerability, esp. if you have tried so hard before. But its worth the effort. 

Deep friendships are an art, and few of us were taught on how to make deep friendships so I recommend the book, Find your People 

› Final category.

Look for Timothys

Who’s someone you can help along with their discipleship to Jesus? 

Sometimes it will look like them pursuing you like Peter did for Jesus 

and sometimes it will look like you going out of your way and you pursuing someone to pour into. 

And I realize this can feel very scary. 

Let me share some great news with you. 

What mature disciples do every day is:

Be with the Father and become like Jesus while helping others do the same. 

More mature disciples have just been doing this longer and more deeply. 

If the goal is to help others grow in their discipleship with Jesus, then you don’t have to be Jesus. 

Your task is to help them be with the father, and become like him and help others do the same. 

The goal is to get them to God, not get them to you. 

You can be deeply flawed and full of weaknesses and areas that you still need to grow in. 

Yes, being healthier and more mature will make you more effective.

But even at your best, even at your most mature, you will still won’t Jesus  

Hopefully this is liberating and empowering to you! You can help others be like Jesus without being Jesus. 

__

Finding these three kinds of people: Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy may all be found in your church and should start there, but it may not all be there, and that’s okay. The church of Jesus Christ is much bigger than just APC. 

Final Resources: 

Practicing the Way

The Forge Movie 

More at Family Camp 

Conclusion

Imagine what it would be like if everyone in our church had these three kinds of relationships, grounded deeply in the gospel of grace?

God helping us, we can be this!

Jesus not only gave us his Holy Spirit to transform us from the inside out but he also has given us a family. We have been adopted into a new family, so we are not alone on our journey

Following Jesus and becoming like him is not an overnight thing. Its a lifetime. 

I've said this so many times, but it needs to be reiterated over and over again. Because so much of our identity is deeply found in our performance.

The goal is to be with God and enjoy him forever and the result of that is becoming like Christ. So please keep that in mind. God wants you just as you are. But he loves you too much to keep you that way. Don't get that order twisted. He wants you before he wants you to do anything for him.

 And if you really grasp that, you have taken the most significant step towards actually being able to like him. 

Response:

Jesus what are you saying to me? 

Jesus what do you want me to do?