Matt Chandler - Milestones

If you have your Bibles, go ahead and grab them. We’re going to be in Deuteronomy chapter 6. This has been the text that we’ve been in really for a month now as we’ve talked about family discipleship. What we see in Deuteronomy chapter 6 is what the Jews would have called the Shema; it was how they understood God drawing hearts toward Himself. In week one, we saw kind of three concentric circles, and we’ve said all along that if you are a parent, you are making disciples. You don’t get to say, «Well, you know, I’m a parent, but I’m not really going to make a disciple.» You are discipling them, right? You see this all the time. Anytime you see a four-year-old run up and say something absurd like «hook 'em,» you know that their parents are discipling them, right? Or «gig 'em,» or «sick 'em,» or whatever! What happens in that moment is you have discipled your children. When we say, «We don’t do that in this house; we do this,» we cheer for them, and we want them to lose every week, you’re making a disciple every time your child imitates you. You see that you’ve made a disciple when they talk like you. Every parent has that moment of crisis when our kid just acted like us, and we go, «Oh no!» They’re literally doing what I do, not what I say. That’s making disciples. So, if you have a kid, you’re a disciple-maker. The question isn’t whether you are making disciples, but rather what you are discipling them toward. That’s always the question because as a parent, you are discipling your children. You’re shaping how they see the world; you’re shaping how they interact with the world you have created for them. Touchdowns are successes, and failures are marked. You have determined what constitutes a win in our family and what constitutes a loss. You do that whether you know you’re doing it or not. You have communicated to your children what is important and what is not, and you have said, «We’re going to orient our lives around this and not around that.» You have done that! Right now, as a parent, regardless of your child’s age, you are doing just that. You’re telling your family, «This is what we value, and this is what we do not value.» The Shema is actually quoted by Jesus in the New Testament when a group of men asks Him, «What’s the greatest commandment? What does it really mean to follow the Lord?» He quotes the Shema: «You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength; you shall love your neighbor as yourself.» The second command is like the first, so they are tied together. The Shema is deep with meaning, and we reflected on the concentric circles of how disciples of Jesus are made. Let’s look at this again together. Deuteronomy chapter 6, starting in verse 4. Here’s what we’re looking for: concentric circles of how our hearts grow and overflow to make disciples. Deuteronomy 6, starting in verse 4: «Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.» Now let’s just stop. There’s circle number one, and circle number one is just what it means to be a Christian. This is a stunning pronouncement of how and what it looks like to follow God. I said in week one that we don’t have a ton of time; I can’t rehash the entire series, but I want to say to you over and over again that you are not primarily a thinking being. What I mean by that is your life is not marked by what you think is right and wrong; your life is marked by what you love. We are primarily lovers and worshippers, so you can say with your mouth all you want about what you value, treasure, and stand for, but when all is said and done, you are a person driven by your loves. This is universally true; this is why Jesus says, «Where your treasure is, there your heart will be.» If you want to know what you really value and what you really love, look at what you spend your money on. So forget the rest; it’s our hearts and our loves that drive us. That’s why Jesus’s command here, the command of God coming down to the people of God, is not «Do these things and don’t do these things,» but rather «Work on growing a love relationship with me because if you love me with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind, then all the rest takes care of itself.» What Christians do is give themselves over to filling their lives with things that stir their affection for Jesus. That’s a sweet gig, right? What stirs my heart for Jesus? What is it? I know the Bible is going to be involved; I know prayer is going to be involved, but what else? Is it early mornings? Is it late nights? Is it this type of scenery? Is it this kind of book? Is it this kind of study? What is it that stirs my affections for Jesus?