EP 18: BEING WITH AND BECOMING LIKE JESUS
Christine chats with Pastor Ian Simkins about church hurt and the “upside-down” kingdom way of Christ. They discuss why our greatest calling is to be with—and become like—Jesus (and why it must happen in that order,) and commiserate about ending up in ministry rather accidentally and against their will. If you have been wounded by/disillusioned with the church, we hope this episode will be an encouragement to you. ♥
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Our Guest
IAN SIMKINS
After an arduous wrestling match with God and a rather “accidental” and harrowing start to ministry, Ian now serves as the Lead Pastor of Teaching and Vision at a wonderful church called The Bridge just outside of Nashville, TN. There, he shepherds his congregation in learning to “be with Jesus and become like Him for the sake of the world.” Ian and the love of his life, Katie, have three amazing young boys; Owen, Redmond, and Ezra.
NOTE: Featuring a guest, resource, or organization on The Holy Shift does not necessarily constitute a blanket endorsement of their entire body of work.
We’ve highlighted some key points from this episode below. Feel free to share these on your blogs/feeds with proper attribution to the writer/speaker/podcast. Or stay tuned—we will be posting several of these verses and quotes, along with clips from this episode, on our IG page and you can save/share from there.
Scripture
Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
JOHN 14:6
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.
romans 8:29
For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
JOHN 15:4-8
Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.
MATTHEW 7:15-20
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Quotes
- This notion that I can pray a prayer and then just hunker down on planet earth until I just get sucked up to heaven when I die… the New Testament knows no such version of faith…. –Ian Simkins
- If we love him, if we are his followers, then we are ambassadors of goodness. We are ambassadors of his kingdom. –CCP
- To speak to someone who has been harmed in whatever capacity through or by or in the church and to say, “Oh man if that rattled you then you must not have been really believing Jesus,” feels so counter-gospel to me… And theology aside, that’s just an unkind posture. –Ian Simkins
- It can be really disillusioning to have sought church as a refuge and found it to be something else. –CCP
- My commitment, then, is to at the very least make sure, as best I can, that churches are safe places to wrestle and doubt, bring disagreement and disillusionment, [and] that also people feel seen and cared for and known because I just think that is what Jesus did and does. –Ian Simkins
- Whenever somebody hurts somebody “in Jesus’ name”, it grieves the heart of God. –CCP
- If you wanna know what God is like, look at Jesus. He is the sum and substance of all of God’s promises. –Ian Simkins
- A lot of well-meaning church mission statements begin with action like, “Here’s the thing we’re doing,” but it seems like the invitation of Jesus is always “Be with me before you do for me.” The shift for me was realizing that the invitation isn’t to produce fruit but to bear it, and that’s a really important distinction. –Ian Simkins
- Part of the reason we have a fruit problem in the church is because we have a root problem. We have applauded the leaders with the charisma and the crazy work ethic…[but] if the majority of the work we are doing isn’t the inner work of surrendering to Jesus and being with him, then there is no chance of becoming like him.
- Apart from the Holy Spirit, the Christian life is not just difficult, it’s impossible. Ian Simkins
Related Inspiration
MUSIC
Other Resources
Special thanks to my production team!
- Podcast Editor: Tammy Munson
- Video Editor: Alyssa Bruce
What is your biggest challenge in being with and becoming like Jesus?
