Think of a circle, and then think of a ball. One is two-dimensional, and the other is three-dimensional. From a distance, they look the same.

But the closer you look, the more you notice a difference. One is flat, the other is, well, not flat. You can play basketball with a basketball. You can’t play basketball with a piece of paper. 

Let me make a comparison. Following Jesus is 3D, not 2D. 

2D is motionless. It begins well—with listening and learning. But it stops there. It is dead in its tracks, tracks which, we should note, imply forward motion. Professor Howard Hendricks observes: “Biblically speaking, to hear and not to do is not to hear at all.”*

James 1:22 says: “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

What area of your life is still 2D?

Where and when are you motionless when you should be following? 

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Notes:

–Sermon (January 30, 2022): “The difference between a 2D and 3D disciple.”

–Bible Study Podcast (January 30, 2022): “Follow me: Jesus enlists disciples (Growing Deeper with John 1:35-51).”

–*As quoted in: Andy Stanley, Deep and Wide (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 184.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.