Heart Over Hype: Partial Obedience is Disobendience

Use this curriculum to help you further engage with the sermon, the scriptures, and each other. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring things up to encourage and guide you so that you are always growing in your faith. If the Spirit leads you away from these questions and into conversation and prayer that encourages and points you to Jesus, go for it.

scripture

Read the following scriptures together: 1 Samuel 15.

overview

Some of us are probably wondering why God commanded Saul to execute such extreme violence against the Amalekites. Jesus even acknowledges this tension when he says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subjected to violence, and violent people have been raiding it” (Matthew 11:12). But now he tells his disciples to put away their weapons because “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). As much as we might want him to, Jesus doesn’t give us a full explanation for all the reasons why God permitted violence in Israel’s past. But he does invite us to trust that God’s kingdom has been slowly unfolding throughout history, and that it has now reached its fulfillment in the person of Jesus.

question 1

Have you ever found it challenging to read passages about God permitting violence in the Scriptures? How do you make sense of difficult passages?

discussion

Throughout the story of 1 Samuel 15, Saul has been picking and choosing all the parts of God’s commands that benefit him personally, while dismissing all the parts he doesn’t like. In verse 20, after being confronted by Samuel, he responds in arrogance and bends the words from God’s command until it resembles something that Saul can say he “did obey”. Over and over again, Saul tries to “have his cake and eat it too” by being the king of God’s people without having an actual relationship with God.

question 2

Have you ever tried to be a “good Christian” without having an actual relationship with God? Was there a moment when this shifted in your heart towards the relationship with God that you have now?

Saul tries to cover up his disobedience with a sacrifice. But God has no interest in our heartless sacrifices that only look good on the outside. Samuel tells Saul that the Lord truly delights in obedience more than sacrifices. In other words, God is after our heart. Jesus says it this way, “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (John 14:15-17a). And shortly after this, he adds: “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14). God wants to be our friend. And the way that we participate in this friendship is through our obedience to his commands.

question 3

What does this kind of friendship with God look like in your life?

weekly application

This week, consider the powerful and simple truth that God calls you his friend. Allow this friendship with God to permeate the way you pray. Practice leaning on the Spirit’s help as you seek to walk in greater obedience to his commands.