Discipleship – Traps and Treasure
Discipleship traps and treasures
• We contend to be better disciples
• As we strive to submit more, serve more, love
more, minister more
• As we pursue discipleship with everything we
are, the enemy has laid land mines to try to
ensnare us.
• The list is known as the 7 deadly sins.
• The list is not from one place in scripture, but
a compilation from traditional church history
Spiritual Pride
• They only talk about “spiritual things” to be
perceived as spiritually mature
• They fear confessing their faults one to
another
• They downplay sin to minimize its role
• They want to be seen as a great disciple
• God’s offer and antidote – humbly recognize
that every good part of you came from Him
(Jam 1:17)
Spiritual Greed
• The disciple can become dependant on the
“feeling” of devotion
• They focus on the affect of devotion, not the
substance of the devotion
• They want more and more, but for their
benefit, not for Him
• God’s offer and antidote – A removal of
feeling, and an offer of simplicity (Psalm 46:811)
Spiritual Lust
• The delight of the Spirit is pure and true love
• The delight of the flesh is lust
• The Spirit grows in love, the flesh battles back
with impure thoughts, temptations, fears
• God’s offer and antidote – an offer to replace
lustful temptation with self control and peace
(2 Cor 10:5)
Spiritual Wrath
• If we have seen the goodness of God, but it is
taken away for a moment of refinement
• Wrath is the child who throws a tantrum when
the bottle is taken away from us
• We think we did something wrong, we grow
impatient and struggle to “do things” to earn
His goodness, His attention
• God’s offer and antidote – Patience and trust –
contentment – Psalm 4:4
Spiritual Gluttony
• A desire to consume more “Christianity”
• A hope that the right conference, the right
teacher, the right books, the right event will
fulfill the disciple
• Consuming, self centered, indulgent pursuit
• God’s offer and antidote – A forced fast of
consumption, to break the selfish and offer
selflessness – moderation (Psalm 41)
Spiritual Envy
• A disciple who is distracted by the ministry,
calling, and function of others
• An inability to rejoice in another’s progress
• A desire to have a “higher calling”
• God’s offer and antidote – He can discipline by
removing what we’ve been given. He offers
gratitude and joy (Matthew 25:14-30)
Spiritual Sloth
• When the Spirit filled life does not yield fun
and excitement – a disciple can grow lazy
• What’s the good of doing it, if I don’t see
some benefit. Why bother….
• We allow our thoughts of weakness to
become actions of weakness
• God’s offer and antidote – He offers strength
for our weakness (2 Cor 12:9)