J-Curve Classes, Chapter 24: The Secret of an Irritation-Free Life

Class Description: Session 24, Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Secret of an Irritation-Free Life: The J Curve Cures Grumbling (Mention UnOffendable)

Consciously re-enacting the story of Jesus sustains the outer shell of Christin behavior - the purity of love. You see, the problem with grumpiness is you’ve become too important. The J Curve kills your self-importance.

*** We are currently unable to produce video from this session due to technical difficulties.

Class Notes:

1. P. 194 whole paragraph beginning w. “I’ve detected...” Then P. 193 read the passage from Philippians 2.

a. Why does remembering the context from which Paul was writing so profoundly inform for us the weight of Phil. 2:14-16?

b. Are you and I living as if the spirit of the age is indeed more powerful than the Spirit of Jesus? How do our lives testify to what we actually believe?

2. P. 195 “Here’s the point ..... so imagination dies.”

a. Describe the gap between the moralizing taking place in the ‘good sermon’ and the beauty of what Paul is attempting to create. Why does it matter?

b. He ends with talking about how in simply moralizing leads to the death of imagination. Why does imagination matter, and what kind of imagination is PM talking about here? The imagination to see what exactly? (Hint: Look down at p 196 bottom Col. 3)

3. P. 196 halfway down. “Paul frames...”

a. What are the two parts of this hidden I beam?

b. Why are they only possible when, “sustained by the beaten path of the J Curve?”

4. P. 196 bottom Col. 3 passage then... P. 197 By embedding our obedience in the J Curve, he wants to imprint us with the image of Jesus. His image drives Paul’s pristine visions of goodness that make the pagan Stoic visions of goodness pale in comparison. Paul’s vision of the good reflects the sheer, unbelievable beauty of Jesus. The ongoing process of dying and rising with Christ imprints his image on us...You have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Col. 3:9b-10) Participating in the J Curve creates a new person who looks like Jesus.

a. How does Paul’s vision of the good make the Stoic visions of the good pale by comparison? How is it better?

b. From Colossians 3, what things above are we to set our hearts on? Let’s make a whiteboard list.

c. Too tired to look like Jesus.

5. P. 197 “Then, in the next breath...” and down through Col. 3 passage:

a. Who has embodied Christ in your direction in these kinds of ways and how did they do it?

i. Did you notice it when it first happened or only after some time had passed?

ii. How did it make you feel?

iii. Did witnessing this kind of embodiment of Christ in someone else make you want to embody him yourself? Discuss.

6. P. 198 Read final two paragraphs:

a. Respond to the first sentence of that second paragraph... Describe what kinds of weights PM envisions us bearing in love.

b. Caution re. a legalistic approach to what we’re discussing. This is not a ‘grit your teeth and be a better person’ approach to embodying Christ. What steps need to be in place for us to actually live out what we’re called to here?

c. How do the things we’ve been discussing this morning cure grumbling?