REFLECT

A Personal and Small Group Guide for Mirroring Jesus

Thaddeus Williams

• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781683592822
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Teologia ed etica sistematica

REFLECT: A Personal and Small Group Guide for Mirroring Jesus is the personal and small-group study companion to REFLECT: Becoming Yourself by Mirroring the Greatest Person in History by Thaddeus J. Williams. Drawing on science, literature, art, theology, history, music, philosophy, pop culture, and more, REFLECT paints a fresh and inspiring vision of how we become most truly ourselves by mirroring Jesus Christ.

Each chapter of REFLECT: A Personal and Small Group Guide for Mirroring Jesus expands on a chapter from the book and summarizes the main points. Reflection questions prompt deeper study or discussion, and prayer suggestions help readers identify ways to incorporate insights in prayer. Ideas to practically implement lessons are also included along with recommended resources for further study.

REFLECT is the ideal resource for digging deeper into how we can better reflect Christ in every area of our lives.

1

REASON

Mirroring the Profound Thinking of Jesus

1.1 READ

Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

—MATTHEW 22:29–33

Read “1. Reason: Mirroring the Profound Thinking of Jesus,” pages 17–42 of REFLECT: A Personal and Small Group Guide for Mirroring Jesus and watch video curriculum at www.logos.com/reflect/reason).

1.2 RECAP

Jesus not only talks about the Great Commandment; he walks it. In him, we see what a mind that fully loves the Father looks like in action. When confronted with the Sadducees’ intellectual challenge, he does not run, bully, or cop out. Instead, Jesus has a …

1.Colorful Mind. Jesus creatively tells the truth.

2.Logical Mind. Jesus builds sound arguments.

3.Factual Mind. Jesus cares about evidence.

4.Inspirational Mind. Jesus stimulates knowledge.

5.Teleological Mind. Jesus tells us why.

6.Musical Mind. Jesus puts melody to education.

7.Invitational Mind. Jesus builds belief-bridges.

8.Relational Mind. Jesus loves by thinking.

9.Biblical Mind. Jesus knows Scripture.

Worshiping Jesus will make our minds more biblically attuned, more loving and understanding of others, better able to form a coherent, compelling, Christ-aimed vision of reality. It will also make us more logical, factual, and creative.

1.3 REFLECT

Ponder these questions for personal study or group discussion:

1.We have seen nine ways that Jesus loved the Father with his mind from Matthew 22. Jesus has a colorful, logical, factual, inspirational, teleological, musical, invitational, relational, and biblical mind. What would you say are the three that you have a hard time reflecting well?

2.What do you think are some of the consequences for our own lives, our church lives, and the culture when we don’t take loving God with our minds as seriously as Jesus does?

3.We often think of Jesus’ love and compassion, but rarely do we focus on and worship him for his genius. What is one aspect of the brilliant mind of Christ, one more reason to worship him, that particularly stands out from this study?

4.This study exposes the anti-intellectualism in much of the church. What steps can we take to help reverse those trends to raise the biblical IQ and intellectual maturity in our own lives and in our churches?

5.What are some specific obstacles in your life that hinder you from better reflecting the mind of Christ? Netflix binging? Busy-ness? Lazy-ness? What can you do this week to carve out time to help you better love God with your mind?

1.4. REPENT

In the left column below, write down ways that you are reflecting the mind of Christ. In the right column, list ways you are not reflecting him in your intellectual life. Keep in mind that we often wear primrose glasses when we introspect, so pray with the Psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23–24). Ask yourself honestly: Am I mirroring the profound thinking of Jesus, reasoning more biblically, logically, factually, creatively, and relationally, pursuing all truth as Christ’s truth for the glory of God?

How I am REFLECTing	How I am not REFLECTing

Pray your way down the left column. Thank God for any ways that you are reasoning like Jesus. Recognize that any ways in which you actually reflect the mind of Christ are not from your own willpower, but from God’s grace, so he gets the praise and thanks. Then pray down the right column, confessing any intellectual sin and asking God to transform you into Christ’s image “from one degree of glory to another.”

1.5 RHYTHMS

Becoming more like Jesus isn’t just a matter of filling our heads with new information. It includes forming habits that come make us more like him in our daily lives. Choose two or more of the following suggestions this week to help you better mirror the profound thinking of Jesus:

1.There’s no way to mirror the mind of Jesus without reading the Bible and reading it often. Set aside fifteen minutes for the next five days to turn off your technology, find a distraction-free space, and read the Bible thoughtfully and prayerfully. (For top quality Bible study resources visit www.logos.com and www.faithlife.com)

2.Read a book or article in philosophy, science, politics, art, history, or psychology. Before you start, invite Jesus into that reading process. As you try to think logically and creatively through the material, ask him to be Lord over your intellect as you read, helping you think his thoughts about the content.

3.Visit a trustworthy, biblically solid website and read three or four articles on theological topics you haven’t thought much about. These sites are a great place to start:

www.thegospelcoalition.org

www.ligonier.org

www.desiringgod.org

4.Pretend you receive an email from someone doubtful about the truth claims of Jesus. They confront you with the following dilemma: “Either Jesus is right in which case I’d have to become a Christian and join a hateful club for hypocrites and bigots. Or Jesus is not right. Either way I shouldn’t believe in Jesus.” Think out a response to this dilemma that reflects something of the logical, biblical, and invitational mind of Christ.

5.Listen to an online lecture from someone who helps you see all truth as Christ’s truth and does so in a way that reflects something of the creative, factual, and biblical mind of Christ. Examples include Timothy Keller, Rosaria Butterfield, Voddie Baucham, Ravi Zacharias, R. C. Sproul, Os Guinness, James K. A. Smith, and John Piper.

6.Attend a local church where a robust biblical worldview is taught clearly and consistently.

7.Do you have friends with whom you can have conversations with about life and theology? If you don’t have any, find some. Get together and talk about the deep things of God. The best theological thinking happens in community, especially when that community looks to the word of God as more authoritative than cultural trends and their own feelings.

1.6 REQUEST

With the humble recognition that real change comes from God’s power, not our own self-help efforts, ask God to align your intellect with the mind of Christ. Feel free to pray the following prayer or something like it:

A PRAYER TO REASON

Jesus, teach us to think the way you think. Help us to follow your lead in loving the Father with all of our minds. Resurrect our imaginations. Make us logical. Help us care about evidence. Inspire our hands to explore the universe you made and called ‘Good.’ Open our eyes to see the Meaning all around us. Unplug our ears to hear the Melody under every pursuit of knowledge. Turn our thinking into an ongoing act of love, an expression of worship. Help us to read, relish, and do what y...