Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 1: How to Have a Rootlike Faith
200 Plays5 years ago
Today’s KEY IDEA: Our goal isn’t to be like Jesus, it’s to be with him. Becoming like him is a byproduct of being with him.
Mentioned in this show:
Connect with Ruth here:
Connect with Pat here:
Please share Rootlike Faith with your friends!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Root Like Faith
00:00:08
Speaker
Hi, we are Patrick and Ruth Schwank and we are so thrilled you are listening in with us at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's Word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by His mission and the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important. We can't wait to share today's episode with you, so let's go.
00:00:35
Speaker
On
Rooted in Christ: Colossians 2:6-7
00:00:36
Speaker
today's episode of Root Like Faith, we are exploring Colossians 2, 6-7 and what it means to actually be rooted in Christ. This is the foundation of our entire podcast. We are going to talk about growth and change.
00:00:55
Speaker
how do we experience real lasting change? And we're going to discuss Genesis 1 and our mission to be image bearers of God. So we've got a lot to talk about, and I am so excited to dive into this topic. And like I said, the foundation of this entire podcast with everyone listening
00:01:14
Speaker
because I believe it is the single most important lifelong choice we can make, choosing to be rooted in Christ. It changes how we live. It changes the course of all of our days. But what does that really mean? And how do we do it?
Meet Patrick Schwank
00:01:32
Speaker
Well, my co-host and husband, who you'll hear me call honey a lot on here, he's here with me. And for those of you
00:01:38
Speaker
listening who don't know him. Patrick is an author. He's been in full-time local church ministry. We've been a ministry for almost 20 years now and teaching and discipleship are at the core of all he does and whether that's with our family,
00:01:54
Speaker
here at home, whether it's at church, in our neighborhood, I have watched him live out a faith that desires to teach and disciple others to become rooted in Christ. So I could think of no better co-host than my husband, Patrick. So I'm so excited to have him on here today. Hi, honey, Patrick Pat. Hello. What should our listeners call you? Pat is just fine.
00:02:17
Speaker
Well, yeah, they probably shouldn't call you honey. That might get a little strange, but you'll hear me call him honey a lot. Actually, he calls me honey too. Well, I think that we should just start from the beginning here, which may seem obvious, but I think it's important for us to understand right up front here.
Maturity in Faith vs. Church Size
00:02:36
Speaker
When we talk about being rooted, and I know that's a word that I feel like is thrown around a lot today, but when we talk about being rooted, I really want people to understand what does that even mean?
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, so the idea of being rooted is language that comes from the New Testament. And we're really talking about this whole idea of being rooted from the perspective of Colossians 2 verses 6 and 7. And I want to read those verses, but before I do, I want to just highlight something that the Apostle Paul says at the end of chapter 1.
00:03:11
Speaker
And so, at the very end of chapter 1, Paul says that he, meaning Jesus, is the one that we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Now, what's interesting to me is that as you read throughout the rest of the New Testament, I can't
00:03:30
Speaker
think of any place where Jesus gets upset with the church because it's not big enough. And yet there's lots of places where Jesus challenges the church because it's not mature enough. And that's really what Paul is getting at here at the end of chapter one, where he's saying, my goal as an apostle, one of those early founders of the church is to present everyone that I minister to and minister among fully mature, grown up in Christ. I mean, that's God's vision.
00:03:56
Speaker
for all of us is that we might be mature, we might grow into the likeness of Jesus. And then, you know, Colossians 2, verses 6 and 7, we read these words, so then, just as you receive Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives rooted in Him, built up in Him, strengthened in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. And so that's the imagery
Metaphors of Roots and Foundations
00:04:19
Speaker
of
00:04:19
Speaker
that Paul is giving us of what it means to be rooted in Christ. And he really uses two different kind of pictures for us. He uses the picture of a tree being rooted, its roots going deep down into the soil and being nourished by the soil. And when I think about a tree with roots, that's how I think of being rooted. And maybe it's because we have a slight plant obsession, right?
00:04:43
Speaker
We have a plant problem. We do. I have a t-shirt that says plant lady ish because I'm kind of like a plant lady, but I don't really know what I'm doing. But we have been buying so many plants and I and I can think of some of the plants, you know, plants, plants, plants. Yeah. Well, we like landscaping, too.
00:05:02
Speaker
With the houseplants, you have to transplant them into another pot when you get them. I can picture some of those plants that I've tried to pull out of that original little plastic pot and how they can be so stuck in there because the roots are so strong and so they're attached to the plastic. That's the imagery I get in my mind of our houseplants that I've tried to transplant.
00:05:29
Speaker
We've killed a few of those plants, too, just not potting them the right way. But what a difference it makes, because then there's some of the plants that actually kind of just dump right out. They're hardly rooted at all. And then there's the others that I feel like I'm pulling at to get out of that plastic pot. I feel like that's a good image of our life being rooted. We have no idea what we're doing, like you said, in terms of planting and potting, all of those things. We are planting newbies. But you're right.
00:05:56
Speaker
of learning how to take a plant that you buy at the store or the nursery and creating the right environment for its roots and putting the right amount of soil and then feeding it and watering. I feel like we're learning so much. Sometimes we do it the right way and sometimes the wrong way. But you're right, that's exactly the imagery. That's one of the images that Paul's using in Colossians 2 that
00:06:18
Speaker
that just like a plant needs the right environment, it needs roots that are gonna grow in the right kind of soil, it needs water and food. I mean, that's one of the images that Paul is using. We wanna be followers of Jesus that are being rooted like a plant or like a tree that has roots that go down into good soil. And the other image that Paul uses in these two short verses is that of a house that has a firm foundation that we might be built up, that our life might be,
00:06:45
Speaker
you know, really built on the solid foundation of who Jesus is and what he's done for us and what he says. And so Paul uses those two images in particular in Colossians 2 verses 6 and 7 to describe the kind of life that I think we all want, the kind of life that we're after, a life that is rooted, being built up and strengthened, and a life that lasts, a life that's built on Jesus himself.
00:07:06
Speaker
And I think a lot of us can really understand, because we've probably heard before about not building your life on the sand, like building your foundation on the sand versus a strong surface. And in my mind, I feel like I get that. You can understand how sand so easily is washed away. So that picture, I love that other image of what it really means to be rooted and built up.
Being Made in God's Image
00:07:33
Speaker
in Christ. So I feel like we really should talk a lot about in this episode about growth and change because I think it's something that so many of us struggle with. And I think about when I was in high school, I started following Christ. Somebody invited me to youth group and I went and it was like the light bulb went on and that is what I had been looking for.
00:07:58
Speaker
was the truth that they presented there about following Christ. And so I accepted Christ in high school, but it was a real challenge to change. And it took me a couple of years to really feel like I was getting anywhere with change. I feel like it was like two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward. I had this real desire to change, but it was really hard. And I think that's probably how a lot of us feel.
00:08:26
Speaker
that change and transformation is somewhat elusive? Like, where do we even begin? So I think, you know, honestly, understand if we just back up, start at the beginning of the Bible, understanding the very beginning of the Bible is really so important when it comes to this. It really is. And I think you make such a good point. Like, I think, you know, all of us understand if we're Christians, we need to change or be transformed. And sometimes we lack that larger
00:08:54
Speaker
context, that big picture that what you're saying, that Genesis 1, Genesis 2 in particular, really paint for us. And so if you go to the very beginning of the Bible, you read the story of God's creation, God speaking into existence all that there is. And one of the things that we learn when we read those opening two chapters in particular is that God is father, He's son, He's spirit, that God is triune, that language doesn't appear there, but that's how we'll
00:09:20
Speaker
you know, later in church history, you know, we use that language to describe who God is, that God made us for relationship with Him and that God is the source of all that is good and true and beautiful and right. And so we were made by God and we were made for God. We were made to share in this intimate relationship with Him. And then Genesis 1 verses 26 and 27 say something staggering about us, that we were made in the image of God. We were made like Him. And so
00:09:47
Speaker
We were made to know God, to live in this intimate relationship with Him. That's where real life is found. And yet we were also made for mission. We were made to be image bearers of God, to reflect the truth about who God is to a watching world. And so when we then think about change or transformation, I think it's really important to have that perspective.
Humility and the Beatitudes
00:10:06
Speaker
that as Jesus invites us to come follow Him, to root our lives in Him, to abide in Him, He's really inviting us back into the life that we were created for, the life that sin separated us from, right? I mean, Genesis 3 is that story of sin severing that intimate relationship and the catastrophic consequences of sin, you know, the effects that we have in our relationships with one another, with creation itself, with God. And so Jesus is restoring us back into that right relationship with God.
00:10:36
Speaker
And making us new. Yeah, and that again takes me to Colossians live your lives rooted and built up in him Strengthened in the faith as you were taught and I think you know that is the foundation of it all I mean we we are to live our lives rooted in him the very one who made us the very one that we are life is found
00:10:58
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. So, you know, when we talk about change, I think a lot of us, like I said, you know, something that I can think, I can see clearly when I had first started following Christ was that there was this real battle and there's this is a lifelong battle. Obviously, change is a lifelong battle. But I think where the struggle comes is that we want to change on our own accord. Like we think, OK, next time I'm going to do better. You know what I mean? Like I'm not going to be a more loving husband tomorrow.
00:11:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm starting tomorrow. Right, exactly. But, you know, like, I think it's coming to the realization, like, Lord, I can't do this on my own. Gosh, I'm just I'm laughing because I'm thinking about when, you know, many some of you know, because, you know, as personally know that I just got my doctorate from Biola University out in California. And oddly enough, it was in discipleship. And so, you know, I would have to go out there
00:11:53
Speaker
for two weeks every summer for three years. And so that first residency, that first two-week residency, our entire family went out. And so on Sunday night, my classes were set to start on Monday morning. And on Sunday night, the kids were getting ready for bed, and our two boys, Tyler and Noah, were in the bathroom brushing their teeth. And Tyler had scared Noah or poked him in the ribs or something. And it caused Noah to hit his mouth on the sink, and he started bleeding.
00:12:23
Speaker
And so I, of course, then erupted into a less than Christ-like response. And so that caused Tyler and Noah. Noah's crying because his mouth hurts. He's bleeding. And Tyler's crying because I got upset. And I'm standing there wide-eyed like, what are you doing?
00:12:40
Speaker
You were like the Holy Spirit in that whole scene, you know, calm, quiet, sort of out of the picture, yet convicting all at the same time. And so the girls then, you know, Bella and Sophia are two girls, they started crying. And so it was just this huge meltdown, colossal meltdown. Of course, I would later- Family meltdown. Family meltdown. Of course, I would later apologize and repent to the kids for how I should not have responded and how dad needs Jesus too.
00:13:06
Speaker
I just remember going in the next day, Monday morning to class, my first day of my doctoral studies on discipleship, the very thing that I had lacked the night before. And I remember our professor asking, why this program? What motivated you to want to enter into this particular graduate study program?
00:13:27
Speaker
And I remember just going, because I need Jesus. Like last night was just one example among many, right? I just need Jesus. I need to be more like him. I need more of his life. I need less of the life of Pat Schwank. And I just need more of Jesus. And I think that sometimes the place to begin is just acknowledging that we can't change ourselves. Matthew chapter five says, blessed are the poor in spirit.
00:13:52
Speaker
for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who see their own sinfulness and turn to Jesus as their savior and say, God, I need your grace, I need the power of your spirit to change me and to transform me from the inside out.
00:14:05
Speaker
Yeah, and one thing you didn't mention in that story, which really I think about is that the teacher asked that question, the professor asked that question, he went around the room and everybody had these elaborate answers as to why they were doing this program, which there's nothing wrong with that. And then it came to you and you're like, well, because I need it.
00:14:28
Speaker
honestly isn't that that when you read when you talk about that verse that's being poor in spirit like it's not it's because i need this you know like we all find ourselves in this place where we want to change but we can't do it on our own and so i know that you know there might be somebody listening who's thinking oh my word i've been trying to change for so long and i don't even know
00:14:52
Speaker
where to begin. So I really think, you know, helping people see that step, that first step towards change is so important. Yeah, which is humility, right? I mean, that's blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who humble or who are humble, for they see their need. And what's interesting
God's Patience in Our Growth
00:15:10
Speaker
is the very next, you know, be attitude
00:15:12
Speaker
is blessed are those who mourn over their sins. So blessed are those who see their sin, basically, and then blessed are those who mourn over their sin, and then the very next one is blessed are those who are comforted. And so there's a progression there when we see our need for Jesus. You know, we see our sin and we're broken over that. We go, oh, I failed and I so need God's grace, and we mourn over that.
00:15:32
Speaker
And then it says that we're comforted by God's grace, that we're not condemned, but we're comforted. And what a gift change is. We all need change. We all need to be transformed. And we're all in that lifelong process of being renewed and restored into what God originally created us for. And God's not in a rush with us. God is patient with us and He comforts us in that. And He gives us the strength and the power to change from the inside out. And that's a really good point when you say God is not in a rush with us because I think,
00:15:59
Speaker
I don't know. Maybe we put the pressure on ourselves or maybe it's those around us that we just feel like, okay, I have to change everything right now. Like I'm going to go from this point to this point in no time. Um, so I love that. That's such a good point.
00:16:15
Speaker
So what for the listener who wants to change? I really think there's something that Pat and I have been talking about a lot lately that I want to share with you because it's really given me a new perspective and I hope that it gives you a new perspective on change as well.
Being With Jesus vs. Being Like Him
00:16:34
Speaker
So, honey, will you share that with them? Because I think it's something that's so important and can be so helpful if we can change our perspective on change.
00:16:42
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't know who said it first. It's certainly not original to me, but I remember hearing it for the first time where, you know, as we think about change and transformation, it is, you're so right, it's so easy to just immediately launch into, I wanna do this better, I wanna try harder. And so I think the place to begin is not so much something we do, but it is how we think. It's a shift in our perspective. And it's simply that, you know, our goal is to be with Jesus and not to be like Jesus.
00:17:08
Speaker
that as we are with Jesus, the byproduct of that is becoming like Jesus. And so I think the place to begin is really that shift in perspective. It's changing the way we think. It's going, I just want to be with you that you're my savior. You love me unconditionally. You know me. And I want to be with you through the reading of your word and through prayer and a variety of other ways. But I want to be with you. And as I'm with you, I know that you're going to change me and transform me. And that's really what you see in the gospel is Jesus inviting us to come be with him.
00:17:38
Speaker
and we're changed in his presence, and then he sends us out to live on mission with him. Yeah, and in our minds, we have this list of to-dos to become like him. And this is so freeing to know that if I really take the time to be with him, then a byproduct of that is becoming like him. I love that so much. So I hope that's an encouragement to you today.
00:18:04
Speaker
You know, like I said, I think change is something a lot of us wrestle with. The desire to be rooted and to change and having a right understanding of what it means is the beginning to growth and transformation. So we'll continue this conversation in the next episode. I can't wait.
00:18:23
Speaker
I loved our time together today and here's the cool thing. Now typically this will be after the music plays but today for our first episode I want to put it right here so you don't miss it and so you know every episode to hang on until the very end. But this is what I need and so I hope it's something that you find helpful as well. Every single episode we will walk away with our key idea and it's that main takeaway summing up what we've talked about.
00:18:51
Speaker
So today's key idea is our goal isn't to be like Jesus, the goal is to be with Jesus. Our goal isn't to be like Jesus, the goal is to be with Jesus. And again, becoming like him is a byproduct of being with him. Becoming like Jesus is really the restoration of what it means to be image bearers of God.
00:19:17
Speaker
Well friends, you can follow us on Instagram at PatrickWSchwank and at RuthSchwank or on Facebook.
Preview of Spiritual Discipline
00:19:23
Speaker
And everything we talked about is linked in our show notes at rootlikefaith.com backslash podcast. Coming up in our next episode, we will be looking into what it means to be rooted a bit more as we talk about spiritual discipline. So be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes so you don't miss an episode.
00:19:44
Speaker
And as if you can't tell already, we're thrilled you are joining us and we welcome you into our family here at Root Like Faith. It is our deepest desire to encourage and equip men and women to be rooted in God's word, transformed by the love of Jesus and moved by his mission in the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing is more important.