The Way of Attentive Discipleship

Listening to Jesus in a sea of voices.

Photo: Daniele Franchi

A Tidal Wave of Voices

Among all the factors that shape our experiences, none holds more sway over our well-being than the voices we choose to listen to. This is why one of the great challenges of modern life is the tidal wave of voices we’re faced with each day.

Think about it.

• Each day is filled with the thoughts, opinions, and feelings of your family, friends, co-workers, and classmates.

• There are an ever-growing number of gurus and celebrities telling you how to hack your life, invest your time, spend your money, and live a better life.

• You also have spiritual leaders like me and others you might read or listen to online trying to help you think clearly about who God is and how you can know Him more.

• We also have politicians crafting narratives of how the world is and how they believe it should be.

My point is, you and I face a tidal wave of voices every day.

Little holds more sway over our well-being than the voices we listen to. So it’s crucial that we be careful with our attention.

The voices we pay attention to shape our thoughts. Our thoughts influence our emotions. And our emotions serve as the lens through which we perceive all our experiences.

I bring this up because I want to look at a hard-to-believe story with this simple invitation:

This is the invitation that comes to us from the story of what is commonly referred to as “The Transfiguration.” And this amazing experience came on the heels of an uncomfortable conversation.

An Uncomfortable Conversation

One day, Jesus asked His disciples who people were saying He was. The disciples were having almost daily interaction with the crowds of people coming to hear Jesus teach and be healed by Him. So He wanted them to share what they were hearing.

And apparently, there was great debate about which resurrected dead prophet from the past Jesus might be.

Some were saying John the Baptist, who had recently been beheaded.

Others were saying Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the other OT prophets.

But then Jesus turns the question on them. He says, “But you, who do you say that I am?” And in one of his greatest moments, Peter replies, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus immediately affirms this, but then says something causes them pause.

Jesus tempers Peter’s declaration by once again telling them about the nature of His calling and the cost of following Him.

Jesus tells them that He was on His way to suffer, die, and then be raised from the dead. He also tells them that if they want to follow after Him, they have to deny themselves, take up their own cross daily, and follow Him. So He tells them He had come to be a suffering Messiah and that the cost of following Him was the daily decision to die to self.

So not the sexiest sales pitch and, more importantly, not what they had been expecting from the Messiah.

As a result, questions creep in.

• What if Jesus isn’t the Messiah?

• What if we’ve gotten this wrong?

• What if the cost was great?

• This isn’t what we were expecting.

Chapter 16 closes with Jesus reassuring them, saying, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.” Our story in chapter 17 sees this promise come to fruition.

Here’s Matthew’s account:

“After six days, Jesus took Peter, James, and his brother John and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured in front of them, and his face shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light. Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you want, I will set up three shelters here: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

While he was still speaking, suddenly a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. Listen to him!” When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown and were terrified.

Jesus came up, touched them, and said, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus alone.” - Matthew 17:1-8 CSB

Matthew says all this happens “six days” after the conversation in chapter 16. This is about a week after Jesus says that some of them would “see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” prior to their death.

Jesus climbed a high mountain with His inner circle of Peter, James, and John. Luke mentions that they went up the mountain for prayer, but none of the Gospels specify which mountain.

Luke tells us that the disciples fell asleep as Jesus prayed. But they awakened to an incredible sight: The inward reality of Jesus’ divinity began to literally shine out of Him. Matthew says His face “shone like the sun; his clothes became as white as the light.”

Now, if that weren’t overwhelming enough, the long-gone Moses and Elijah were standing there talking with Jesus about what He was headed to Jerusalem to endure.

If you’re wondering how the disciples knew this was Moses and Elijah, you’re in good company, and that’s a fair question. The story doesn’t tell us, but there could be a couple of ways: For one, Jesus presumably would have used their names as He talked with them. Additionally, both men were described in fairly distinct ways in the OT. So there could have been something about their appearance alone that the disciples recognized.

In response to this, Peter flies into action as he was prone to do.

He expresses his desire to serve Jesus and honor this sacred moment by constructing three shelters, one for each of these three men. But while Peter is still speaking, a cloud like the one God used to guide Israel in the OT descends over them.

From that cloud, God Himself speaks, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased.”

It’s almost like God is saying, “I know you’re confused by what you’ve been hearing. I know you didn’t expect a suffering Messiah that would sacrifice their life. I know the cost of following is great. But make no mistake, this is my Son. He is your Messiah.” And then He follows this same affirmation from Jesus’ baptism with three critical words:

“Listen to Him!”

As you can imagine, they were terrified and they fell face down the way everyone in Scripture does when having an encounter with God like this. So Jesus comes to them gently, touches them, and says, “Get up; don’t be afraid.” I think it’s important to camp on this simple command, “Listen to Him!” This wasn’t just for Peter, James, and John. This was for everyone who chooses to walk with Jesus. If we’re going to take the Father’s call seriously, these three words are loaded with implications requiring immense intention on our part.

If we’re going to receive what He says, let’s call this:

The Way of Attentive Discipleship

Embrace His identity.

Remember that so much of the meaning of this story is bound up in the conversation surrounding Jesus’ identity. He looked at them and said, “Who do you say that I am?”

But He also wants to know who you believe He is. Everyone believes something about Jesus. The question is what? And there is a huge difference between Jesus as nothing but a teacher of wisdom and Jesus as the one true God. Who you believe Jesus to be will inform how you listen to Him.

Our world is filled with gurus of various kinds. And much of what they might share in their respective areas of expertise is helpful and wise. But listening to a guru is optional. I can take, or leave whatever I want. They have no claim, or authority over my life. But if Jesus is truly God, He’s far more than a guru.

This is why coming to terms with what you believe about Jesus is the first and most foundational part of your faith. Who He is will be the lens through which you understand everything else.

If we’re going to fight for Jesus to be the center of our attention, first we have to embrace His identity. The next step in the way of attentive discipleship is…

Position yourself to hear.

Here’s something that should be obvious, but still bears stating: You can’t listen to someone you don’t hear. Agreed?

If you saw me on the street about to step in front of a car, but I have headphones, you can scream and scream at me, but I won’t hear you. And because I don’t hear you, I can’t listen and get out of the way.

To listen to Jesus, you must first position yourself to hear Him, which involves reading or hearing the Scriptures and listening for His voice within them. This is why I often ask, “What do you sense God inviting you to?” The Bible wasn’t written to you, but it contains God’s voice for you. When you listen to songs, prayers, and sermons filled with Scripture, you are positioning yourself to hear Him. It’s worth considering how you might better position yourself to hear.

If you’re going to fight for Jesus to be the center of your attention, you have to position yourself to hear. The next step in the way of attentive discipleship is…

Respond to His voice.

Hearing is obviously critical. But what you do with what you hear is equally so. Let’s go back to me walking toward traffic.

Let’s say I have no headphones on, so I can hear you telling me that I’m about to walk in front of a car and get hit. If I give you the finger and just keep walking, how helpful was my hearing your warning? Zero! I didn’t do anything with what I was hearing.

Many of us adopt a similar posture with Jesus, especially due to the vast amount of content available. Even if you spent all your time on books, articles, podcasts, sermons, and songs about God, you’d still only access a fraction. This abundance leads us to confuse consumption with discipleship. In Luke 11:28, Jesus said, “…blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” The Father meant, “Trust and obey what He says.” So, how might Jesus be inviting you to respond today?

If you’re going to fight for Jesus to be the center of your attention, you have to embrace His identity, position yourself to hear, and respond to His voice.

Returning To Jesus.

During this season of Lent, we prioritize the practice of repentance. We listen for any areas we’re being called to return to Jesus.

So, I’d like to invite you to reflect on these three aspects of attentive discipleship. Ask the Holy Spirit where He’s leading you to repentance. Perhaps you’ve viewed Jesus merely as a wise teacher, rather than the one true God He is. Or maybe you haven’t been positioned to hear His voice at all. Perhaps there’s something He’s been saying, and you’ve resisted or refused to obey.

The first step in fixing any of this is acknowledging it.

So, will you give Him your attention today? Will you listen and respond to whatever He might be saying to you?