J-Curve Chapter 4 — J-Curve Educational Classes

Class Description: Session 3, Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Liberating the Self: The Foundation of the J-Curve

We can only embrace J Curve living if we actually believe that our significance and standing are already fully established in the finished work of Christ. The justification that Jesus alone can provide us is sufficient to bear us up under suffering. Find out what a Dixie cup has to do with righteousness.

Class Notes:

1. P. 42-43: 2/3 down the page... I bristled....

a. Why did PM need a foundation more substantial than his own righteousness in order to respond rightly to Jill’s accusation re. the Dixie cup?

2. Turn back a page... P. 41: Read the passage from Phil 3:9

a. How did PM’s understanding of that passage translate into godly thinking? How did it that new foundation empower him remain silent?

b. What is the substance of that foundation?

c. Why is this understanding of our true foundation mission critical to our ability to embrace own J curves?

d. Why can we say, “I don’t need to be right,” when this foundation is in place and trusted

3. Pp. 43-44: Stare at the diagram on p. 43 while I read through the four points PM makes on p. 43.

a. After pt. #3: Why is the work of the Spirit so crucial to our ability to successfully live within this J curve?

b. After pt. #4: Why is it crucial to look outside ourselves for this justification? (I don’t mean ultimate justification - I mean in those Dixie cup moments.)

4. Pp. 44-45: Stare at the diagram on p. 45 while I read PM’s notes on page 44.

a. Where is PM seeking justification?

5. In the next couple paragraphs PM uses words like ‘touchiness’ and ‘fragility’ to reveal something about how we, in our culture, respond to threats against our pride and self-righteousness.

a. What is it that our touchiness reveals?

6. P. 46 quoting PM: “So faith undermines our need to boast, to constantly defend and display ourselves; it kills the boast. It kills, in principle, a touchy, defensive spirit.

a. Respond to that concept... Agree, disagree, why and how?

b. Here is another resource:

c. How does this kind of faith free us from ‘feelism’?

7. On pp. 46-48: PM retells the plight of Michael Richards who blundered badly in a very public forum. He goes on to tell about the efforts that Richards and his friend Jerry Seinfeld went through to attempt to alleviate the shame that Richards experienced in the wake of his failure. P. 47: 2/3 down the page... Read 2 paragraphs: Richards couldn’t put it down...

a. This is what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ so stunningly unique. In Jesus alone we’re offered a justification that is complete and outside any of our own resources!

8. P. 48: read the two paragraphs beneath Failure is Not Faith.

a. Where did Judas Iscariot’s response to his sin look like genuine repentance?

b. Where did it fall short? What was missing? (See Mt. 27:1-4)

c. The apostle Peter sinned in ways that were, in many senses, identical to Judas’ fall. How was Peter’s repentance different?

9. Pp. 49-50: PM gets into the core of what he’ll be driving after throughout the book - essentially attempting to move us toward receiving suffering precisely as our Lord intended us to receive it - as the gift that it is.

a. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake. (Phil 1:29).... A few poignant observations:

i. Believing comes before becoming

ii. God has not only gifted us with believing in Jesus, but also with suffering for his sake... A few questions:

1. Connect the embracing of suffering with becoming... How is the embracing of suffering an act of becoming?

2. How does suffering with this attitude in place transform suffering into a gift?

3. How does filling up in our flesh the sufferings of Christ add purpose to suffering?