Why the Christian Life Isn't Working | Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe
Everyone's faith journey evolves. Many of us have been deconstructing and reconstructing, tearing down practices and beliefs that don’t work as we seek to rebuild something that does.
Matt Tebbe and Ben Sternke, authors of Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate a Robust Faith, discovered, through their own personal journeys and as they guided others, that many were becoming disillusioned and needed help reconstructing their faith.
They turned to Jesus as the model and started to see that Jesus operated under some basic assumptions about God and his Kingdom. As they dug and learned, they identified eight foundational principles that Jesus assumed and operated under – starting with love. They say the first foundational principle this way: God is love, so it’s all about love.
It seems logical on the surface but dig deeper, and you’ll quickly see that we may believe this is true, but we don’t really live it.
Matt and Ben are cofounders of Gravity Leadership and co-pastors at The Table in Indianapolis. Listen in as we talk about their story, why they wrote this book, why love matters, and hear their insights on Mark 3.
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You can get a copy here: https://www.ivpress.com/having-the-mind-of-christ
Some highlights from our conversation:
- Matt tells us about his journey of deconstruction and how it created dissonance in his life that he could no longer ignore. He says: It’s not working anymore, but I can’t quit Jesus
- Ben also shares his story and how he saw leaders failing. This made him question: “Is there a way to do ministry that’s rooted in love?”
- We talk about how they decided on the eight axioms and what they are.
- We dive into the first one: God is love, so it’s all about love. And if we believe this, how many parts of our life do we live as if it’s really all about love?
- We talk about some of the practices they offer in the book as opportunities for us to live like these axioms are true.
- We end processing through Mark 3 and what it meant to both Matt and Ben.
- A golden nugget toward the end of our conversation is when we discuss our real pain. Sometimes what God is up to is different than we would think because the goal is eternity. Hopefully, we can say on the other side of the experience: I wouldn’t wish this on a friend, But I can’t imagine having not gone through it.
- We wrap up with a discussion on our meditation passage from Mark 3. Why was Jesus angry? And what was the man’s role in this whole scenario?
You can connect with Ben at: https://bensternke.com/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ben.sternke.56/
On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bensternk3/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/bensternke
You can connect with Matt at: https://gravityleadership.com/matt-tebbe/
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matttebbe/
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/matttebbe
You can find Jodie at http://www.jodieniznik.com/
Instagram @creatingspaceforgod
Facebook @JodieGNiznik
Download free sample chapters from Jodie's Bible studies here.
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