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Scripture

Luke 6:12-19

Shape: Up, In, Out Triangle

If disciples of Jesus are to be learners of Jesus, we must pattern our life after his life. Jesus had three great loves in his life and was careful to balance his time towards these three relationships: (UP): The relationship with his Father. (IN): the relationship with his spiritual family. (OUT): The relationship with the broken world. Jesus stepped into the brokenness and sought transformation individually (people would come into relationship with him and his Father) and communally (seeing that systems of injustice are broken). As disciples of Jesus, we must regularly calibration UP, IN, OUT in our lives.

Story

The Triune God has infinite depth. As a model of Him, the Triangle too has infinite depth. One such layer is the Information/Imitation/Innovation combination. Jesus set the example of teaching by imitating the master. He used that wisdom to teach me in a surprising way a few years ago. I had a boss at work that came into the position through corporate mergers. I didn't think much of his leadership, his awareness of our business, or his intelligence about our products, so for years, I mentally placed myself above him. Being a kind man by nature, he didn't notice, and sought to invest in mentoring me anyway. Naturally, I thought there was nothing he could teach me. We found ourselves traveling internationally together for business. Over time, I became absolutely shocked at how easy it was for him to make personal, meaningful connections with the people we met on those trips. They felt genuinely cared for, and were happy to receive him. My focus on intelligence missed out on the highly relational aspects of connecting with other people. Being immersed in that environment with him is the only way I could have learned those lessons. It's also the only way I could see beyond my own biases and learn who he really is.

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