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We had dinner recently with a friend from out of town, only an acquaintance, actually, and I’ve never heard one person talk more and listen less. My wife is a saint. In a 2.5-hour “conversation” our friend might have responded to something June said twice, only to immediately go back to what she wanted to talk about.

I’m reading an intriguing book, not finished with it yet, called The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, narrated by a dog. Here’s what the dog said about conversation.

I cannot speak, so I listen very well. I never interrupt, I never deflect the course of the conversation with a comment of my own. People, if you pay attention to them, change the direction of one another’s conversations constantly. It’s like having a passenger in your car who suddenly grabs the steering wheel and turns you down a side street. For instance, if we met at a party and I wanted to tell you a story about the time I needed to get a soccer ball in my neighbor’s yard but his dog chased me and I had to jump into a swimming pool to escape, and I began telling the story, you, hearing the words “soccer” and “neighbor” in the same sentence, might interrupt and mention that your childhood neighbor was Pelé, the famous soccer player, and I might be courteous and say, Didn’t he play for the Cosmos of New York? Did you grow up in New York? And you might reply that, no, you grew up in Brazil on the streets of Três Corações with Pelé, and I might say, I thought you were from Tennessee, and you might say not originally, and then go on to outline your genealogy at length. So my initial conversational gambit—that I had a funny story about being chased by my neighbor’s dog—would be totally lost, and only because you had to tell me all about Pelé. Learn to listen! I beg of you. Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories.

Listen to other people rather than steal their stories. A good word, which I have been known to violate.

My dearest brothers and sisters, take this to heart: Be quick to listen, but slow to speak. (James 1.19, Passion Translation)

A different context but the same in principle…

And [Jesus] said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4.9, ESV)

He who has an ear let him hear... (7 times in Revelation 2 and 3)

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I wrote yesterday that Jesus seemed to be more into kairos time (opportune, appropriate) than chronos time (clock time) and illustrated the concept with a story from secondary education.

Let’s take a closer look at kairos versus chronos in discipleship training.

Way back in the 1920s, Bishop Roland Allen of the Anglican Church wrote a provocative book Missionary Methods, St Paul’s or Ours? One of the methods he decried was his tradition’s around-the-calendar schedule for teaching major concepts over a 3-year period. The problem, as he saw it, was that a concept would be introduced, and a couple weeks later, the church would be on to something else with no regard as to whether the people understood anything. Bishop Allen said something like, “You wouldn’t experience that too many times before you conclude that if church leadership had wanted us to understand that concept, they would have spent more time on it. Since they don’t, people conclude that they’re not supposed to understand.” Again, it’s the inadequacy of chronos-based training. 

By contrast, Tom Bourke, a Navigator, just posted an article for disciple-makers encouraging just-in-time training–kairos-based training, to use our new word. (As an aside, Mike Breen has also written about this approach in Building a Discipling Culture, which he calls a “kairos moment.”)

Tom tells the story of someone he’s training, someone who is already a disciple-maker who needs to share the gospel with someone he’s working with and doesn’t know the famous Navigator Bridge in either version!

Tom writes:

So why did Jeff ask me to help him learn how to share the gospel only after reading the Bible with his friend for a year? Traditionally, a good Navigator would have trained Jeff on The Bridge (and many other things) on the front end. But this Insiders Group is different. They learned how to join Jesus in His work first. This missional living had turbo-charged their relationship with Jesus as they realized they were “in the game” with Him.

Tom goes on to explain industry’s just-in-time inventory concept. Then he concludes:

I’m beginning to think just-in-time training would be a great idea for us. When we front-load discipleship training, we inadvertently send the message that folks aren’t ready to be used of God—yet. Plus, the training we offer comes to life when it can be applied immediately, rather than remaining a theory on a bookshelf or in a computer folder.

I don’t know all the implications of a kairos versus chronos approach, but I agree that too often we communicate that people will be ready after “one more course.” Jesus sent the disciples out before they were ready!

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” And when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease…These twelve Jesus sent out… (Matthew 9.37, 38, 10.1, 5, NKJV)

He taught them to pray when they were ready:

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11.1, ESV)

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I wrote yesterday that Jesus seemed to be relaxed about time. Not like some of us, especially in the U.S., who are always rushing to get somewhere and trying hard to get more things done.

I’m reminded that there are two words translated “time” in the New Testament. One is chronos from which we get our word chronometer: timepiece. The other is kairos, which has the idea of “the right time.”

Kairos: Time (particular and general); right time, opportune time, proper time, appointed time. (From www.stepbible.org, an excellent resource!)

In the field of education, for example, we’re normally driven by chronos time. One of my Air Force professors, Dr. Dan Brown, liked to tell this story illustrating, essentially, chronos time: most schools’ approach to teaching. He would say:

I attended Catholic school, taught by nuns, and I remember taking Algebra. Before the year was out, we switched to Geometry. I said to my teacher, “Sister, have I learned all the Algebra I need for college?” “No, Daniel.” “Do you think I’m incapable of learning any more Algebra?” “No, Daniel.” “Then if I need to learn more Algebra, and I’m capable of learning more Algebra, why are we switching to Geometry?” “Because it’s February.”

That’s chronos time! We do something because the schedule calls for it.

Jesus didn’t seem to operate that way. I don’t know how this would work out for you and me. I’m just beginning to think about it.

You go up to this feast. I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time (kairos) has not yet fully come.” (John 7.8, NKJV)

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My friend and I had a phone appointment scheduled: he was to call me at 9:00, but, running late, I texted him around 8:50 that I would call him by 9:05. When I finally called at 9:10, I said:

I can tell time; I just don’t pay any attention to it.

Since I am a retired Air Force officer, people expect that I’m on time and have always been on time. The opposite is the case, unfortunately. Someone wrote about me when I was a captain, “Bob was on time when he needed to be.” That’s reasonably accurate! A relaxed attitude toward time has not always served me well, and it’s a poor character trait in the U.S.

In other countries, I may have fared better. I’ll never forget during one of my trips to Haiti, a resident missionary and I were walking to a nearby village one Saturday afternoon when we encountered one of my seminary students coming out of the village as we approached. We all stopped and visited for a few minutes when he said, “Come up to the village with me; I will show you my house and introduce you to my mother.” The missionary said, “Weren’t you on your way to a meeting?” He replied, “Yes, but you’re here now!” Can you imagine an exchange like that here?

Jesus’ ministry was characterized by margin (he always had time for people) and lack of hurry. My friend and Navigator mentor Skip Gray says:

Jesus had a 3-mile-an-hour ministry. He didn’t go jogging through Judea, sprinting through Samaria, and galloping through Galilee. He walked wherever he went.

And I would add, he stopped. On his way to Jerusalem, facing passion week, he stopped twice: once for the blind beggar and once for Zacchaeus. Jesus seemed to have a relaxed attitude toward time!

The blind beggar shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity and show me mercy!” Those who were in the front of the crowd scolded him and warned him to be quiet. But the blind beggar screamed out even louder, “Jesus, Son of David, show me mercy!” Suddenly Jesus stopped. He told those nearby, “Bring the man over to me.” (Luke 18.38 – 40, Passion Translation, emphasis mine)

When Jesus got to that place, he looked up into the tree and said, “Zacchaeus, hurry on down, for I am appointed to stay at your house today!” (Luke 19.5, Passion Translation)

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I frequently cite Mark 3.14 in the context of Jesus’ training the 12:

And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. (Mark 3.14, 15, ESV)

With him…send out. That’s the strategy. But I just noticed a very good reason for that strategy in the context of Mark 3:

Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. (Mark 3.7 – 10, ESV)

It was a mob scene! So it’s no coincidence that right after that, Jesus begins his training program in earnest. If you have more than you can do, don’t work harder, start training people to help you!

A lady we met at Spring Canyon, about our age, who clearly had given herself a lot of people was bemoaning the fact that sometimes she would rather rest than respond to the latest cry for help. I shared with her at the time that we just needed more workers. She shouldn’t have to be the only one in her circle that could minister to people’s spiritual needs.

Later I read the early fruition of Jesus’ training:

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. (Mark 6.7, ESV)

Training. Jesus did it. The Apostle Paul did it and advocated it for Timothy.

After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade… After this, Paul …then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila…Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 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. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. (Acts 18.1-3, 18, 24-26, ESV)

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2.2, ESV)

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I was talking with a friend who has lived in Colorado for only a few years. I, on the other hand, have been here since 1984. He asked me if I had been to Paint Mines near Calhan. Never been there. Never heard of it.

Paint Mines is off of Highway 24 at the tiny town of Calhan, population 795. We pass it every time we drive east, probably at least 50 times since 1984. There are no signs (that I’ve seen) directing you to the park, which is only 2 miles off the main road. It’s about 45 minutes from my house, so we’ll be going there soon.

What else is lurking right under my nose that I’m ignorant of? How open am I to new knowledge, new experiences, new people? For example, I’ve just learned that the fellow who discovered Frank Peretti and edited his blockbuster book This Present Darkness lives two houses from me!

Then Philip went to look for his friend, Nathanael, and told him, “We’ve found him! We’ve found the One we’ve been waiting for! It’s Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth, the Anointed One! He’s the One that Moses and the prophets prophesied would come!” Nathanael sneered, “Nazareth! What good thing could ever come from Nazareth?” Philip answered, “Come and let’s find out!” (John 1.45, 46, Passion Translation)

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One final word from the Mark 6 account of Jesus’ visit to Nazareth: and it is just that: a word.

He marveled because of their unbelief. (Mark 6.6, ESV, emphasis mine)

What’s fascinating is that this word marvel is only used twice about Jesus: here and in Matthew 8 (and Luke 7):

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. (Matthew 8.5 – 10, ESV, emphasis mine)

One story is about a profound lack of faith from people who should have known better, and the other is about unusual faith from someone who was considered an “outsider.”

Which end of the faith/no faith spectrum am I on?

Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11.6, ESV)

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22.31, 32, ESV)

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Here’s another snippet of Jesus’ visit to Nazareth as recorded in Mark 6.

He was unable to do any great miracle in Nazareth, except to heal a few sick people by laying his hands upon them. (Mark 6.5, Passion Translation)

I’ve always this verse somewhat amusing. “No great miracle” except, well, heal a few sick people… I think healing a few sick people is pretty cool, but he could have done more. Why was he “unable”?

I was using the Gospel of Mark to teach some people how to have daily time with God, and one of them conjectured: “He couldn’t do many miracles there because no one asked!”

You do not have because you do not ask. (James 4.2, ESV)

Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (John 16.24, NIV)

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More on the adventures of Jesus in what turned out to be his last visit to Nazareth as recorded in Mark 6. Here’s what struck me:

Isn’t this Mary’s son, the carpenter, the brother of Jacob, Joseph, Judah, and Simon? And don’t his sisters all live here in Nazareth?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6.3, Passion Translation)

Sometimes we reject people because we don’t know them. But in this case, Jesus was rejected because the people thought they did know him. We know this guy! We grew up with him! We remember when he was a teenager! We know his family!

I saw this attitude in spades when I was on church staff in Alabama. One young man joined the staff, and all people could talk about was what they remembered from his growing up years (when he wasn’t exactly a model child!). But how unfair is that? And how silly it was for the people of Nazareth to miss Jesus, Son of God, Messiah, because of past memories.

Can we hear from God through unexpected people? People that used to be (fill in the blank) young, immature, irresponsible,… (I’m not suggesting that Jesus was any of these negative things, but if it could happen even to him, how much more regular people!)

And there’s a flip side: Jesus did not let his hometown folks define him. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people. (Mark 6.6, NLT) And, as I said, he never returned to Nazareth as far as we know.

So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5.16, 17, NLT)

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. (1 Timothy 4.12, NLT)

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I’m fascinated by the short record of Jesus’ visit to Nazareth as recorded in Mark 6. Here’s how it starts:

Afterward, Jesus left Capernaum and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. On the Sabbath, he went to teach in the synagogue. Everyone who heard his teaching was overwhelmed with astonishment. They said among themselves, “What incredible wisdom has been given to him! Where did he receive such profound insights? And what mighty miracles flow through his hands! Isn’t this Mary’s son, the carpenter, the brother of Jacob, Joseph, Judah, and Simon? And don’t his sisters all live here in Nazareth?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6.1 – 3, Passion Translation)

Today, let’s think just about “What incredible wisdom has been given to him! Where did he receive such profound insights?” Answer: Jesus received his wisdom and insights the same way we could: by meditating on the Word and listening for the voice of the Spirit.

I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. (Psalm 119.99, ESV)

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16.13 – 15, ESV)