Discussion Questions:
LEAN IN
- What is the most common answer you hear from other people about the meaning and purpose of life? What is good in that answer, and what would you disagree with or add?
LOOK UP
- Read Matthew 22:34-40
Make some observations about this passage (What does the text say?):
- What do you notice, and what are you curious about?
- Jewish tradition from the 3rd Century says there are 613 laws
- These laws were in place to teach the people to live differently in the land SO THAT when other nations saw the way they lived, it would point to the kind of God they served.
- Look up the references found in this passage – what observations do you make in those verses and the surrounding context?
Make some interpretations (What does the passage mean?)
- What do you learn about God?
- What do you learn about humanity?
- Why are these the two commands Jesus points to out of the 613 laws?
Now make some applications (what’s my response?)
- How are you encouraged, challenged, or convicted by this passage?
- What needs to change in your life in order to align with what you’ve read?
- Read Genesis 1:26-28. In this passage, the word “image” comes from the Hebrew word tselem. It was used to describe idols representing different gods in a Temple. These idols were thought to be embodied images, so if they were present in a town or land, that land had the provision and blessing of that God as if he were physically there.
- How does thinking about yourself as God’s living idol (representative) challenge how you live your day-to-day life?
- How do you bring God’s rule, blessing, or flourishing in the spaces you occupy and have influence?
- How would God live your life differently than you are (besides the fact that He is perfect!)? What changes could you make to better reflect God in your life?
Scripture
Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Matthew 22:34-40 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Prayer (pray this out loud)
Breathe in me, O Holy Spirit, that my thoughts may be holy. Act in me, O Holy Spirit, that my work may be holy. Draw my heart, O Holy Spirit, to love what is holy (taken from Lectio 365)
- Then spend time praying over specifics that came up while answering the above questions.
Practice
STEP OUT
- At the end of each day this next week, take an honest look back at the day. How did you do at being a living idol of God? Where could you improve? What can you celebrate? Spend some time praying and asking for God’s help!
We are all unique and have different gifts we bring to the world. This is God’s good design. If you don’t know what you bring to the world and how you can specifically live in a way that leads to yours and others flourishing, use this resource that explores the idea of calling. It will help you consider how God might be inviting you to partner with Him in your community!
https://ericbryant.org/2013/06/20/a-process-to-create-a-better-future-today/