Year 5, Day 260: John 12

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

This is a great chapter to study the idea of capacity.  We’ll take four looks, but the reality is that there are so many more perspectives in this chapter.

First, let’s look at Mary.  She blesses Jesus with an incredible anointing.  But let’s stop for a moment.  Jesus is a man that she’s grown to love.  Jesus also just raised her brother from the dead.  Why wouldn’t she celebrate His presence?  She sees her opportunity to glorify the Lord and she takes advantage of it.  That’s capacity.

Of course, we then have a look at Jesus, who also has capacity.  He receives Mary’s sacrifice.  He lovingly chastens Judas’ rebuff of Mary.  He welcomes the questions of the Greeks, who themselves have the capacitance to see God and follow Him.  He teaches an unpopular teaching that leads to many of His followers walking away (again).  Jesus has what it takes to do the will of God.  He doesn’t always get the results for which we might think He deserves.  But He has the capacity to obey.

Of course we have Judas.  Here is a man who just doesn’t have the capacity.  My hope and prayer is that He finds forgiveness.  But the reality is that he just doesn’t have the capacity to obey.  He is unable to accept Mary’s sacrifice for her Lord.

Finally, we have the rest of the disciples.  At the triumphal entry, they just don’t get it.  But here’s the cool perspective on this.  They don’t get it while it is happening, but they do get it eventually.  After the resurrection, they do understand it!  Therefore, they do have the capacity to understand, just not in this particular moment.  But that is so true about all of us.  None of us are always prepared to act and understand in our full capacity.

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Year 5, Day 258: John 10

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

I find Jesus’ question to the religious leaders haunting.  “I have done many good works from the Father, for which of these are you going to stone me?”  Jesus lays the truth before them plain and simple.  He has come and demonstrated His power again and again.  He turned water into wine.  He fed a tremendous crowd with only a few fish and a small amount of bread.  He healed a blind man.  In every single one of these instances the focus was neither on the miracle nor on Jesus’ reputation.  Each of these acts happened so that the power of God might be put on display and He might receive the glory.

The religious leaders are blind to this reality, however.  They ask tell Jesus that they will stone Him because of His blasphemy.  The truth is, they just do not have the capacity within them to believe.

As I finish this passage, I have to ask myself why they do not have the capacity to believe.  I don’t actually know the answer to this question.  But I can take a few guesses.  Yesterday I made the case that they were seeking the approval of the people around them.  I have often spoken on this blog about the religious leaders’ desire to retain power and status in Jerusalem.  I think these are excellent reasons to explain their lack of capacity.

However, I think that the Gospel of John brings out yet one more huge dynamic: pride.  To follow Jesus would imply that they didn’t know everything.  To hear Jesus would imply change.  To adhere to Jesus’ teaching would mean that they might have to admit that they had made some mistakes.  They weren’t willing to do that.  They didn’t have the capacity for change.  Because of their prideful incapacity for change, they also have a natural incapacity for following Jesus.

This makes me wonder about myself.  Where am I prideful and unwilling to change?  Where am I so stuck in my human tradition and human understanding that I will be deaf to God’s Word of truth in my life?  where am I no different than the religious leaders with respect to my capacity to be obedient to the Lord?

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Year 5, Day 242: Psalms 112

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

As we look at this psalm, we continue in a great line of thinking that we’ve developed since starting psalm 109.  The human condition means that we call upon the Lord for protection.  He responds.  He does protect us.  He lifts us up.  He is King.  He enters into our life and changes who we are.  This leads us today’s psalm.  Blessed is the one who fears the Lord.

Blessed is the one who asks the Lord to make him more like Him.  Blessed is the one whose life is changed by God.  Blessed is the one for whom God makes a difference in their life.  Blessed is the one who lives with a perspective that is from God ad not from their humanity.

Such a person has the capacity to be kind.  Such a person has a capacity to be generous.  Such a person has a capacity to be wise.  Such a person has the capacity to be light in a dark world.

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Year 5, Day 50: Nehemiah 2 & 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

As I do every day, before writing this post I went back and edited the theological commentary that I wrote 3 years ago.  This is the commentary to which I link at the beginning of each of these posts.  Today I was inspired by the story of Nehemiah and how he set his spiritual life into motion around him.  I was inspired by the applications of Nehemiah’s example to the realm of spiritual discipleship.

Look at what Nehemiah does in these chapters.  Nehemiah goes about his task in small order at first.  He examines the wall at night so that he won’t have to put up with the distractions of other opinions or curiosity that he would no doubt get during the day.  After he formed his own opinion he consulted the leaders around them to see what they thought.  Then he divided the task up into manageable portions that were not too daunting to accomplish.

So how am I going to apply this thought to the concept of capacity?  Well, the idea of capacity has much to do with time.  If Nehemiah had arrived and invited everyone to talk about how to rebuild the wall, the task would have been too daunting and nothing would have happened because everyone around him would have decided that they didn’t have the capacity – or the time – to accomplish everything that needed to happen.  But by going about the process in small and manageable steps, Nehemiah was able to keep the capacity angle manageable.  By keeping the capacity angle manageable, Nehemiah was able to get other people to invest in the construction and fruit was brought forth.  Not one of the people that Nehemiah invited into the plan refused Nehemiah because they didn’t have the time to do it.

I really think this has direct application to our life as disciples of Jesus.  If I get up every morning and say, “Today I am going to be the perfect follower of Christ that He desires me to be,” well, I’m going to give up before I ever try.  I don’t have the capacity – the time – to live up to that statement with all the other things in my day that need to get accomplished.  However, if I sit back and say, “I’m going to invest a few minutes here in God’s Word.  Then I’ll think about it throughout the day.  Maybe I’ll even try and talk to one person about what God is saying to me.  And while I’m at it, I’m going to find one person this day to whom I can show God’s love.”  No, that’s completely doable.  I can manage that during my day.  In fact, I can manage that most days before I even leave my house in the morning!  I do have the capacity to accomplish that list.

The truth is that if I have the capacity to accomplish that list then I will be inspired throughout the day to do even more.  By breaking up discipleship into small and manageable pieces, I can find that I do have the capacity to follow God and do what He asks of me.  The overarching task is daunting.  But the small daily pieces that make up that list are absolutely able to be accomplished.  We all do have the capacity to follow God on a daily basis if we think about it under the right perspective and plan as Nehemiah did.

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Year 4, Day 257: Acts 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Capacity

• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.

I don’t talk about capacity much on this blog, so this is a great time to bring up the topic.  Note that when I speak about capacity I’m not talking about ability.  That would be competency.  When I speak about capacity I am speaking about the amount of time that a person has and whether they use the time for doing the work of God.

We’ve seen Paul apply capacity all throughout his life in the book of Acts.  Everywhere he went he actively sought out opportunities to talk about Christ.  He sought out the women in Philippi and found a great friend in Lydia.  He sought out the Philippian jailor.  He sought out Timothy and actually brought Timothy along with him.  He sought out the people in Athens.  He found Gentiles in Corinth.  He found the disciples of John the Baptizer in Ephesus and helped them find the Holy Spirit.  Wherever Paul went – he always was seeking time to find God’s work.

This is no different in Acts 24.  Paul is in a difficult spot.  He’s arrested.  He’s on trial.  He could be looking at the end of his life.  And then he finds himself in a holding pattern while Felix seems to be waiting for a bribe to either kill Paul or set him free.  But look at what Paul does.  In the time where his case is not advancing he is talking to Felix – and likely his court and household.  Paul could be getting angry at God that his case isn’t going anywhere and he could be mad at God that his life feels like it is on hold.  But that’s not what he does.  Paul sees his life through the eyes of God and realizes that God has given Paul the capacity to speak into the life of Felix and his household.

We don’t speak often about Paul’s ability to use his time to disciple others, but he was a master of capacity.  When Paul had an opportunity, he took it.

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Year 4, Day 23: Genesis 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Calling, Capacity, Character, Chemistry, Competency

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.
• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.  
• Character asks whether or not a person have the interior spiritual life needed to be obedient to God.
• Chemistry asks whether the person in question can work with the other people that God has called.
• Competency asks whether or not the person has the readiness to be obedient to God’s will.

Whenever I read Genesis 24 I am struck by Rebekah.  Here is a woman that is put together.  She has been raised well.  Her faith in God is strong.  She is a leader, but one who is humble about her leadership.  She is willing to do as God asks of her.  I believe the presentation of Rebekah in this chapter is one of the great examples in God’s Word.

We can use the 5 C’s to evaluate leadership potential.  If we look at this story of Rebekah through the lens of the 5 C’s we can also get at what it is that God really sees in Rebekah.

Certainly Rebekah displays calling when she listens to God as he asks her to be hospitable and draw water for Abraham’s servant and his camels and in so doing answer his prayer.  Certain Rebekah displays calling when she agrees to go with this man and be a wife for a man she’s never met.  Rebekah displays capacity in taking the time to serve Abraham’s servant thoroughly enough to also water his camels.  Rebekah displays character in her hospitality.  She also displays character when she meets Isaac for the first time and she covers herself up in modesty.  Rebekah displays chemistry with Abraham’s servant at the well in addition to displaying chemistry with Isaac, enough so that the Bible notes that Isaac loved her all his days.  Finally, Rebekah displays competency in both her discernment about what God is asking her to do as well as in her hospitality at the well.

In this story we see a leader who is clearly demonstrating all five of the leadership dynamics at a very high level.  Rebekah was the full package.  She was a great choice for Isaac as God continues to unfold his plan for humanity through the descendants of Abraham.

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Year 4, Day 6: Genesis 6

Theological Commentary: Click Here 

Discipleship Focus: Calling, Capacity, Character, Chemistry, Competency

• Calling asks whether or not God has called the person to the particular work at this point in their life.
• Capacity asks whether or not the person has the time in their life to obey God.  
• Character asks whether or not a person have the interior spiritual life needed to be obedient to God.
• Chemistry asks whether the person in question can work with the other people that God has called.
• Competency asks whether or not the person has the readiness to be obedient to God’s will.

The 5 C’s are a means of looking for spiritual leadership.  In order for a person to successfully follow God’s directive, each of these characteristics should be present.  It takes Calling, Capacity, Character, Chemistry, Competency in some form to obey.

Within this opening story of Noah, we can clearly see each of these aspects, although some are admittedly more prominent than others.  Certainly Noah is called; God clearly speaks to Noah about His plan.  Noah has capacity as he is able to seemingly drop his life’s work and dedicate his life to the building of this large boat.  Noah has the character he needs as he is willing to obey God’s specifications regardless of how the people around him may have reacted to his actions.  Noah has the chemistry needed to work with others, although admittedly the people with whom he’s working is his own family.  Noah has the competency to accomplish the task as at the end of this chapter we can see that the ark is constructed and ready to be used.  Noah has what it takes to be obedient to God.

We can obey God.  But it is always easier to be obedient to God when our Calling, Capacity, Character, Chemistry, Competency increase.  The greater we have these characteristics within us, the more likely we will obey and be successful in our obedience while not wrestling with what God has asked us to do.

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