5 Types of Christians

We had the pleasure of strong preaching from Randy Harris last Sunday morning. He did a great job (no surprise) introducing Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. During his intro he discussed 5 different types of Christians today. Here they are (descriptions loosely based on his comments):

1) Intellectual Christians: those who approach faith from the area of the mind. Tend toward Bible studies and sermons.

2) Servant Christians: those who approach faith by serving others. Tend toward active invitations to service oriented opportunities.

3) Relational Christians: those who approach faith by focusing primarily on relationships with others. Tend toward hospitality, parties, all things social in order to build relationships.

4) Contemplative Christians: those who approach faith by seeking alone time with God. Tend towards prayer meetings, quiet, solitude and other simple spiritual disciplines.

5) Emotive Christians: those who approach faith by expressing their feelings toward him. Tend toward more expressive worship, activities that help them to feel good or help others to feel good, they follow their hearts.

So which one are you? From what direction do you typically approach your faith? Which one do you relate to the least? Is there one that you need to grow in or be more like in your walk with Christ?

Links to Living Jesus Materials

Randy's Message at Grace Crossing

Discipline: it hurts

Discipline is not everyone's favorite word. For most it seems to conjure up painful memories and thoughts. We see discipline as a negative word, associated with following the rules.

But there is another way to define discipline: activity, exercise or regimen that develops or improves a skill; training. Training, now there's another word that gets a bad wrap regularly. Here's what I know, I may not like discipline or training but that doesn't mean it isn't good for me.

As I prepare to go climb Mt. Whitney in April my physical preparations have begun. It starts out small and will slowly intensify over the next 3 months. This week I started P90X in the evenings. The first night hurt, and so did the second. But although I'm sore today- it's already better than the first day. And that is the way discipline works. When I train my body it goes from painful, to it hurts good, to enjoyable even if it hurts.

Isn't that the way it works spiritually too? I have struggled the last couple of months to spend regular time in The Word and in prayer. But starting Monday, sitting down on my couch in my office I made my self read through the prayer list and read 2 chapters from Matthew. And then I did it the next day. Now today, I knew I was missing something, I hadn't sat down to read & pray.

Discipline the body. Discipline the spirit. How is God showing you the meaning of discipline?