Living in Three Dimensions
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
I John 2:6
This verse is relatively easy to read; but it’s painfully difficult to apply, isn’t it? How does one actually walk in the way of Jesus? What does that look like practically speaking?
Author Mike Breen notes that Jesus oriented His life around three relational dimensions: Up, In, and Out. Luke 6 records a single day in the Lord’s life that illustrates these dimensions.
One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.
Luke 6:12-19
UP
In reading this text we see that, first of all, JESUS LOOKED UP. Verse 12 isn’t the only record of how the Savior prioritized this relationship with His Heavenly Father. In an earlier chapter of his account, Luke notes how "…Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16)
This vertical relationship was as fundamental to Jesus’ life as breathing. Mike Breen put it well: “He inhaled His Father’s presence so that He could exhale His Father’s will.”
Jesus’ UPWARD relationship with His Father was as fundamental to life as breathing.
Much of Jesus’ fruitfulness was the result of this UPWARD dimension. He not only modeled this in front of His disciples, He called them (and us) to emulate His example. There’s no way that we will be fruitful if we don’t recognize the need for “up.”
IN
Secondly, we see in vs. 13-16 that JESUS INVITED OTHERS IN. Jesus invited a select group to spend time with Him and learn from Him. While He didn’t dismiss the idea of ministering to the crowds, Jesus prioritized investing in a few.
Jesus invited others IN, prioritizing investing in a few. They did life together and in a very real way, were Jesus’ spiritual family.
Mark gives us a bit more detail in his gospel account: “He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach” (Mark 3:14).
To be sure, Jesus taught His disciples. However, this wasn’t merely a seminary setting.
Rather, Jesus “did life” with this small group of men. They ate together. They worked together. They played together. In a very real way, these guys were Jesus’ spiritual family.
The Lord recognized that this INWARD dimension was crucial to the expansion of the Kingdom. As His disciples learned from Him in an intimate setting, He could then trust them to multiply themselves.
OUT
Finally, JESUS REACHED OUT. We see in Luke 6:17-19 that Jesus never lost sight of the Father’s vision and mission to reach out to a lost and broken world. He not only pursued this mission individually but also invited His team to join Him in this.
Jesus never lost sight of the Father’s vision and mission to reach OUT to a lost and broken world. He not only pursued this mission individually but also invited His team to join Him in this.
He didn’t simply wait for the lost to come to Him (though many did); He went out to them. In fact, He often went out of the way to get to them. This OUTWARD dimension was an essential value that the Lord exhibited.
Thus it was that Jesus lived a balanced 3-dimensional life:
UP: with His Father
IN: with His disciples
OUT: with the world
The Dimensions of Our Lives
As Jesus lived a three-dimensional life, so we are to live three-dimensional lives. If one or more of these dimensions are weak, we will wobble.
How about you? How does your triangle look? If you’re up for doing some assessing, here’s a little activity for you. Rate yourself from 1-10 on how your Up, In, and Out relationships are doing.
If you’d say, “Yeah, I’m pretty much living like Jesus in this!” give yourself a 10. If you’d have to say, “That’s not even on my radar,” give yourself a 1. My guess is you’re somewhere in between. (To make it even more interesting…no 5’s allowed! Rate yourself either above the midpoint or below.)
Considering those numbers, how balanced would your triangle look? Which dimension needs to be addressed? What might the Lord want to say to you about that? And what would He have you do about it?
Here’s a great little video that might help you further understand and process this. Take a look.
All shapes used in this blog are copyrighted as the intellectual property of 3DM and can be found in:
Breen, M. (2016) Building a Discipling Culture, 3rd Edition, Pawleys Island: 3DM Publishing.
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