James A. Scudder: Lessons in Discipleship

In his book Your Secret to Spiritual Success, author James Scudder details what he calls "31 parable principles" from Mark 4. His reason for centering his discipleship discussion on the parables is simple: Parables are simple explanations of biblical truths. And as Scudder notes, "With any good teacher, it is not how smart you are, it is what the people learn. Jesus was absolutely the most wonderfully smart person who ever lived, but He taught so that people understood Him."

Much of the book delves into one particular parable -- the Parable of the Sower. "This is the one that really talks about why people don't go ahead and finish their course," he says. "If you know what the devil is going to throw at you, you are a lot better off than if you have no idea."

According to this parable, the devil can throw a lot our way: trouble and persecution, the worries of this life, and the deceitfulness of riches -- all to take away the effectiveness of the Word of God in our lives.

Beyond this one parable, though, there is yet another tactic that the devil uses to keep Christians away from the path of Truth. He convinces us that the old sin nature has been completely done away with. After all, the old has gone and the new has come, as the Bible says.

But Scudder makes it clear that the two natures co-exist and this fact is extremely important.

"The old nature is just as powerful as the day that we got saved," he explains. "I tell people that our new nature is always perfect; our old nature is always corrupt. Whichever one we yield ourselves as servants to obey is whom we will obey.

"When we understand that we have the old nature, then it will help us to understand why we have these struggles. Paul 25 years after he was saved said, 'Oh wretched man I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?' He still fought it even 25 years later -- and that is the apostle. I wouldn't even want to try to be as good as he is!"

How does a Christian obey the new nature? The Bible talks about walking in the Spirit. In Galations 5:16, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

But Scudder says that many Believers get this passage of Scripture wrong.

"A lot of people reverse the verse," he says. "They say, 'If I don't fulfill the lusts of the flesh, I will walk in the Spirit.' No, it doesn't work that way. You can't reverse it."

So what does walking in the Spirit truly mean?

"It is literally being conscious of God living in us," Scudder explains. "We get all of the Holy Spirit that we are ever going to get the moment we get saved, and the Spirit needs to get more of us so that He can be more effective in our lives."

According to Scudder, walking in the Spirit naturally includes obeying God's Word, yielding to God, and talking about Jesus to everyone we can, something Scudder takes very seriously.

"We are all to be soul winners, not just a certain group," he says. "Too many people never win a soul to Christ. Can you imagine standing before Christ and never having won a soul?"

For those who struggle with thinking their testimony isn't sufficiently dramatic enough to be interesting or important, Scudder gives much encouragement. "The greatest act of grace are those that have never fallen into sin. I would tell that the same as someone else would tell the terrible story."

When asked what final thought he would most like to share with the Christian community, Scudder concludes, "Don't give up. Don't quit. It is OK to be weary in the work, but never be weary of the work. Keep marching. "