门训与成长中的矛盾
当我在大学里成为基督徒后不久，我感到有些困惑。不是因为我新结交的基督徒朋友讲起他们童年时候看的卡通片里会讲话的蔬菜（译者注：《蔬菜总动员》是讲圣经故事的卡通片），也不是因为他们车上有个鱼的标志，或者他们享受周五晚上一起玩桌游。虽然这些都叫我难以理解，但真正使我不解的是那些对于基督徒来说不可避免的矛盾之处。
当我开始与其他人一起学习圣经，我发现很多真理既清楚又不清楚。我学到只有一位神，却是永恒的三个位格。我学到耶稣既是完全的神也是完全的人。我学到神统管万事但人却要为自己的行为负责。这些真理既奥妙又令人难以理解，同时又使人大得益处。
但基督徒生活的矛盾性远不止这些。再细看经文的时候我看到，基督徒的成长与成熟也是以矛盾的方式发生的。如果我们作为基督徒想成长，而且也想帮助别人成长的话，理解这些矛盾的东西是非常有必要的。
我们是向死而生
首先，我们是向死而生。在《马可福音》8：35里耶稣讲到： “因为凡要救自己生命的，必丧掉生命；凡为我和福音丧掉生命的，必救了生命。” 如果我们想活着，我们要先死。这个建议看起来愚蠢难解，尤其是在一个时时刻刻鼓励我们“随心随性”、“活在当下”的时代里。我们学到的是，人生命只有一次，在努力攀登人生高峰的同时，要尽情享受生命的每一刻。
然而，作基督的门徒意味着把我们的生命交托给基督，并拥抱祂赐予的生命。这是真生命的唯一路径。就像朋霍费尔说的：”当耶稣呼召人的时候，祂呼召人跟随祂并且向自己死。“ 这样的死在去天堂之前要发生千万次，而每一次的死都是信靠耶稣的行动。
几年前，我被困在罪的网罗之中。不满足、私欲、没有信心悄悄地侵入我的心里，像一条大蟒一样渐渐地勒锁着我对主的委身。在那个时候，一个亲爱的弟兄带着权柄对我说话：他呼吁我向死而生。他指出我对世界的爱已经在慢慢侵蚀我对主的爱。他用真理与恩典对我讲话。神使用他打开我的眼睛，让我看到只有通过死去才能得着应许的生命。如果他当时不是再次将主的呼召提醒我的话，我不知道我现在在哪里。我对他真是心存万分感激。
在门徒训练的过程中，我们必须以永恒的眼光彼此提醒，以免“被罪迷惑，心里就刚硬了”（来3：13）。世界总是不停地在呼唤我们在生活里寻欢作乐。这支强毒的唯一解药就是默想基督如何为了我们而交托自己的生命。思想祂怎样地恨恶罪。默想祂何等地爱我们。记住祂如何流血、牺牲。也因着祂如何荣耀天父而喜乐。
我们的门训应该是帮助他人每天默想基督对我们的呼召：天天背起我们的十字架来跟从祂。死是通向活的唯一道路。
我们当竭力进入安息
第二，我们竭力进入安息。耶稣已经完成了工作，所以我们不能停歇直到做完工作。是么？
我怎样才能做到既能努力“保守自己常在神的爱中”，同时又能安息在神“保守我不失脚”（犹20，24）的事实中呢？一边归向“给我们安息”（太11：29）的耶稣，一边又说“所以，我们务必竭力进入那安息”，（来4：11）这究竟意味着什么呢？
在众多基督徒成长的矛盾里，一边努力一边安息的教义似乎是最令人费解的。我是一天到晚忙到死呢，还是坐在沙发上等着主耶稣把我像宠物狗一样抱起来？我怎么同时又“做”又“靠”呢？我如何一边努力工作却又不靠自己的力量呢？靠着神加的恩典殷勤作工到底是什么意思呢？
这个可能有点难懂，但我们应该把这种张力放在经文里去理解（申29：29，林前15：10，腓2：12-13）。 神呼召我们在基督作成的工作里完全安息（约19：30，来10：1，彼前3：18），同时又努力作工（约15：8，林前9：24-27，雅2：14-26）。《腓立比书》2：12-13把这种吊诡性完美地表现出来：“ 就当恐惧战兢，作成你们得救的功夫；因为你们立志行事，都是神在你们心里运行，为要成就他的美意。”
正是在这个矛盾里我们看到了信心的真义。我们迈开步子，我们做了，但我们脚落地的时候，我们发现托住我们的地正是神应许的地。当我们往后看的时候，我们发现，咦，步子迈出来了，但是神在我们里面做的工。我们在神的信实里顺服地努力。
那现在这样的矛盾性与我们的门训有什么相关呢？在你与其他信徒在一起的时候，安息于基督。一起仰望十字架。一起思想空置的坟墓。一起回想把我们从罪与审判中拯救出来的应许。（罗6:1-4,8:1）一起按照那些体现神在基督里对我们的爱的经文祷告。（弗2：1-10，罗8：32-39，约壹4：10）提醒各人神在天上没有给我们按好坏打分。你做错了，祂也不会把你打烂。我们要记住我们在神面前是讨祂喜悦的，因为耶稣是讨祂喜悦的。我们要互相传讲福音。鼓励各人安息于基督，因为祂喊叫说“成了”。
我们也安息于复活的基督在天上为我们代求这个事实（来7-10）。这样的代祷保证神对我们施怜悯，不再记念我们的罪（来8：1-12）。这是一个多么使人得安息的真理！我们在基督里罪得赦免。神不再按我们的罪孽审判我们。我们安息在基督为我们已然成就并且仍在继续的工作中。
与此同时，我们的门训也应该是一起努力的。我们要相互提醒，耶稣已经给了我们一位“帮助者”，就是圣灵。这样我们就可以活出一个讨神喜悦的生活（约14：26，罗8：4）。我们做工，但不是一个人在做工。我们通过圣灵与得胜的万王之王联合。祂使我们能够使万民作祂的门徒（太28：19-20），也能够忍受逼迫（路12：11-12），靠着祂我们可以忍受今生的苦难（林后12：9-10），这样就能安慰那些遭各样患难的人（林后1：3-7）。
所以，让我们作为基督的精兵一起努力与那恶者争战（提后2：2，弗6：10，彼前5：8-9）。操练自己，建立习惯，增长敬虔（提前4：7）。特意借着彼此的交流来激发爱心，勉励行善。（来10:24-25）总的来说，就是帮助彼此卸下身上的重担，一起完成我们当跑的路，最后一起享受那已经应许给我们的安息（来12：1-3）。
灵性成长中的吊诡不是用来使我们气馁的。神把这些给我们，是让我们可以更好地定睛祂的话语，更自由地明白祂的应许。所以，我们要彼此鼓励向死而生，竭力进入安息。
Discipleship and the Paradoxes of Growth
When I became a Christian in college I soon found myself a little confused. Not because my new Christian friends reminisced about talking-vegetable cartoons from their childhoods, or had fish symbols on their cars, or enjoyed playing board games on Friday nights, though all that was confusing. What puzzled me were the paradoxes that seemed inescapable for those who followed Christ.
As I studied the Scriptures with other Christians I discovered many truths that were both clear and unclear. I learned that there is one God who is eternally three. I learned that Jesus is fully God and fully man. I learned that God is completely sovereign and that people are responsible for their actions. These ideas were mysterious, puzzling, and, at the same time, wonderfully edifying.
But the paradoxes of the Christian life didn’t end there. Looking into the Scriptures I saw that Christian growth and maturity happened in paradoxical ways. If we want to grow as Christians and to help others to grow, it is essential to understand these paradoxes.
WE LIVE BY DYING
First, we live by dying. In Mark 8:35 Jesus says, “Whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will find it.” If we want to live, we must die. This advice seems foolish in a world that constantly counsels us to “follow our hearts” and “seize the day!” We are told we only live once, and that we should drink up every moment as we climb to the top.
Being a disciple of Jesus, however, means surrendering our lives and embracing the life that Christ gives. This is the only way to true life. As Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” This death happens thousands of times before heaven, and is always an act of faith in Jesus.
Several years ago, I became entangled in a web of sin. Discontentment, lust, and a lack of faith had crept into my heart like a python and were slowly crushing my devotion to the Lord. In that season, a dear brother spoke into my life in a powerful way: he called me to live by dying. He showed me that my love for the world was quenching my love for Christ. He spoke with truth and grace. God used that brother to open my eyes to the promise of life that would only come through dying. I am not sure where I would be if he hadn’t brought Jesus’ call before me afresh, and I am forever grateful that he did.
In discipleship, we must consistently hold the lens of eternity before each other’s eyes to ensure that we are not being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” (Heb. 3:13). The world constantly calls us to find life in its pleasures. The only antidote to this powerful demand is to meditate on how Christ surrendered his life for our sake. Consider how he hated sin. Ponder how he loved us. Remember how he bled. Think of how he died. Rejoice in how he glorified the Father.
Our discipleship must be marked by helping each other meditate on Christ’s call to take up our cross daily and follow him. Dying is the only way to live.
WE REST BY STRIVING
Second, we rest by striving. Jesus has finished the work, so we must not rest until the work is done. Huh?
How do I strive to “keep myself in the love of God” while at the same time rest in the fact that God “keeps me from stumbling” (Jude 20, 24)? What does it mean for us to come to Jesus who “will give you rest” (Matt. 11:29) while at the same time being told, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest” (Heb. 4:11)?
Of all the paradoxes of Christian growth, the idea of striving and resting at the same time seems to be the most puzzling. Do I work each day until I pass out from exhaustion or do I sit on the couch and wait for Jesus to pick me up like a puppet? How do I “do” and “depend” at the same time? How do I work without working in my own strength? What does it mean to labor fervently by the grace that God supplies?
While it may be puzzling, we must embrace this tension as presented in Scripture (Dt. 29:29; 1 Cor. 15:10; Phil. 2:12-13). God calls us to rest completely in Christ’s work (Jn. 19:30; Heb. 10; 1 Pet. 3:18) and at the same time to work hard (Jn. 15:8; 1 Cor. 9:24-27; James 2:14-26). Philippians 2:12-13 captures the paradox perfectly: “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
It is in this paradox that we see the point of faith. We step out, we do, but when we put our foot down, we find the ground that supports us is the ground God promised would be there. When we look back, we find that, yes, we stepped out, but it was God at work in us. We rest in God’s faithfulness to empower our striving in obedience.
So what does this paradox mean for our discipleship with other Christians? As you spend time with other believers, rest in Christ. Stare at the cross together. Ponder the empty tomb together. Recall promises that highlight our freedom from sin and condemnation (e.g., Rom. 6:1-4, 8:1). Pray through verses that speak of God’s love for us in Christ (Eph. 2:1-10; Rom. 8:32-39; 1 Jn. 4:10). Remind each other that God is not keeping a scorecard in heaven. He doesn’t have a “smite key” on his computer for the next time you mess up. Treasure the fact that we are pleasing to God because he is pleased with Christ. Preach the gospel to each other. Call each other to rest in Christ’s cry that “it is finished!”
We must also rest in the fact that the risen Christ intercedes for us in heaven (Heb. 7-10). This intercession guarantees that God will be merciful toward our iniquities and will remember our sins no more (Heb. 8:1-12). What a wonderful truth to rest in! We are forgiven in Christ. God does not hold our transgressions against us. We rest in Christ’s finished and ongoing work on our behalf.
At the same time, our discipleship should be marked by a striving together. Remind each other that Jesus has given the “Helper,” the Holy Spirit, to empower us to live in a way that pleases God (Jn. 14:26; Rom. 8:4). We labor, but we do not labor alone. We are united with the presence of the victorious King of Kings through his Holy Spirit. He enables us to make disciples among the nations (Mt. 28:19-20) and to endure persecution as we go (Luke 12:11-12). We can endure sufferings of this life through his strength (2 Cor. 12:9-10) and then comfort others in their sufferings (2 Cor. 1:3-7).
So strive together by living as soldiers of Christ who are at war with the evil one (2 Tim. 2:2; Eph. 6:10; 1 Pt. 5:8-9). Discipline yourself and structure your habits around increasing in godliness (1 Tim. 4:7). Intentionally use your interactions to build up each other for love and good works (Heb. 10:24-25). And above all, help each other strip off everything that slows you down so that you may finish this race and enter that final rest we have been promised (Heb. 12:1-3).
The paradoxes of spiritual growth are not given to us to paralyze us. God gives them so that we will peer into his Word more intently and dig into his promises more freely. So encourage each other to live by dying and rest by striving.
作者：Garrett Kell
Garrett Kell是位于弗吉尼亚州Alexandria的 Del Ray浸信会主任牧师
翻译肢体：高蒙恩
用圣经视野和实用资源装备教会领袖
进而通过健康的教会向世界彰显神的荣耀
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