Discussion Questions

The chapter opens with the image of a soldier not leaving the post assigned by his commander; what do you think it means, in practical terms, to “desert the post the Logos has assigned,” and where do you feel most tempted to leave your post rather than remain under Christ’s command? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What would it look like in real life to “leave the post” the Logos gave you? Where are you most tempted to stop obeying Christ and do your own thing?

David Bercot says many people never ask “if there is one we ought to follow…who he is or how he is to be followed”; what does that expose about how modern Christians often approach discipleship, and what specific questions about following Jesus have you avoided because the answers would be costly? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does it say about modern discipleship that many people don’t ask who they should follow and how to follow him? What questions about following Jesus have you avoided because the answers would cost you something?

The chapter claims, “When a Christian sins against the Logos, he is thereby sinning against God”; how does that challenge the way you separate “Jesus stuff” from “God stuff,” and how might this reshape the seriousness of sins you’ve come to treat as minor? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does the idea that sinning against the Logos is sinning against God challenge the way you separate “Jesus stuff” from “God stuff”? How might it change how serious you take sins you’ve been calling “small”?

The transcript distinguishes between sin from a “sudden outside influence” and becoming “ordinary again” through old habits regaining control; how would you tell which category best explains your recurring sins, and what would “completely stop those habits and discipline your soul to oppose them” require in your actual schedule, relationships, and boundaries? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How can you tell if your repeat sins come from a sudden outside push or from old habits taking over again? What would it require to stop those habits for real in your schedule, relationships, and boundaries?

When “conflicting teachings” cause doubts, the solution given is to go to a church teacher “skilled at reconciling doctrines” by showing “the link between the two testaments”; what does this assume about the role of the church, tradition, and trained teachers that clashes with modern “just me and my Bible” independence? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does this solution assume about the church, tradition, and trained teachers that goes against a “just me and my Bible” approach? How do you react to the idea of needing a skilled teacher to connect the Old and New Testaments?

The chapter says people reject truth because it is “morally strict and solemn,” then describes three states of the soul—ignorance (Gentiles), opinion (heretics), knowledge (true church); where do you see yourself being drawn to “opinion” rather than “knowledge,” and what moral strictness of Christian truth do you most want to soften? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where are you tempted to settle for “opinion” instead of real “knowledge” of the truth? What part of Christian truth feels too strict to you, and how do you wish it were softer?

The text assigns marks to each group—sensuousness (Gentiles), quarreling (heretical sects), joy (church), and ecstasy (intimacy with God); what do these categories reveal about God’s intention for the church’s emotional/spiritual life, and which mark most describes your Christian environment—and why? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What do these “marks” (sensuousness, quarreling, joy, ecstasy with God) say about what God wants the church to be like on the inside? Which mark best describes your Christian setting, and why?

The chapter reduces “ten thousand” sinful actions to two sources: ignorance and inability, insisting we are responsible for both (“either we will not learn, or we will not restrain our lust”); which of these is more true of you right now, and what does it imply about repentance being more than sorrow or “trying harder”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Right now, is your biggest problem that you won’t learn (ignorance) or that you won’t hold back your desires (inability)? What does that say about repentance being more than feeling bad or just “trying harder”?

Two remedies are offered: for ignorance, “knowledge and clear proof from the testimony of the Scriptures”; for inability, “training…regulated by the discipline of faith and fear,” both developing into “perfect love”; how does “fear” as a discipline confront modern evangelical instincts about grace and freedom, and what would it look like for faith-and-fear training to actually produce love in concrete behaviors? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does using “fear” as a spiritual discipline challenge how many evangelicals think about grace and freedom? What would training in faith and fear look like if it really produced love in your daily actions?

The chapter insists God “does not punish…as retaliation” but “chastises for the good of those in error,” even praying that heretics receive “fatherly rebukes before the judgment”; how does this view of God’s discipline change the way you interpret hardship, correction, and church rebuke, and what would it mean to respond as someone “curable” who lets truth “cut away and burn false opinions” rather than ridiculing or evading it? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If God’s discipline is meant to heal and correct, not to get even, how does that change how you view hardship, correction, or church rebuke? What would it look like to respond like someone who can be healed—letting truth cut out false ideas instead of mocking or avoiding it?