Tag: tools

Are We Married to Our Methods?

The Difference Between Principle and Practice (Form and Function)

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I sat across the table from Sam, a passionate younger co-laborer, listening intently as he described his ministry. As the conversation unfolded, a knot of concern began to tighten in my stomach. The direction we were heading felt off.

Finally, I paused and asked, “Sam, how exactly do you define discipleship?”

He didn’t miss a beat. “Well, it’s what we do with all our guys,” he answered confidently. “You know, we meet one-on-one at a coffee shop and talk about life and ministry.”

My heart sank a little. I knew right then we were in trouble. Sam was confusing the practice with the principle. In his mind, the method—coffee shop meetups—had become the main thing. The tail was wagging the dog. I realized we needed to pump the brakes and steer the conversation back toward a biblical definition of discipleship, stripping away the methods to rediscover the actual principles.

When we try to navigate faith, community, and life as disciple makers, we often run into this exact kind of friction. Most of the time, this friction isn’t actually a disagreement about what is true, but a confusion between two vital concepts: Principle and Practice—or, in design terms, Function and Form.

Understanding the difference between the two is the key to maintaining a deeply rooted faith that is also vibrant, adaptable, and culturally engaged. It also helps us maintain Biblical fellowship with those who don’t do ministry exactly like we do. 

1. The Principle (The Function / The “Why”)

A principle is the foundational truth, the universal value, or the ultimate goal. It is the function—what something is supposed to accomplish at its core.

Principles are timeless, unchanging, and transcend culture. They are the bedrock of biblical truth. No matter what century or country you live in, the principles remain identical.

Examples of Principles:

  • Worship God in spirit and truth.
  • Love your neighbor as yourself.
  • Be guided by the Word of God.
  • Live a life of generous hospitality.

Think of the principle as the water. It is the life-giving substance that we actually need to survive and thrive.

2. The Practice (The Form / The “How”)

A practice is the specific application of a principle. It is the form—the tangible shape that the principle takes in a specific time, place, and culture.

Practices are flexible, highly contextual, and subject to change. They are the methods we use to express the unchanging truths of our faith.

  • Examples of Practices:
    • Principle: Worship God. Practice: Singing hymns with an organ, or singing contemporary songs with an acoustic guitar.
    • Principle: Love your neighbor. Practice: Taking a meal to a sick friend, or helping someone change a flat tire.
    • Principle: Be guided by the Word of God. Practice: Reading a physical Bible every morning with coffee, or listening to an audio Bible during your daily commute.

If the principle is the water, the practice is the cup. A cup is incredibly useful—it helps you drink the water. But the cup is not the water itself. You can drink water out of a glass, a ceramic mug, or a plastic bottle. The form changes; the function remains exactly the same.

The Danger: Confusing the Two

To be clear: practices, methods, tools, and traditions are not bad in and of themselves. In fact, they are absolutely necessary! Every principle needs a method in order to actually be practiced in the real world. You simply can’t drink the water without a cup. The trouble only starts when we put the cart before the horse—when the method becomes more important than the principle it was meant to serve.

When we blur the lines between form and function, we usually fall into one of two traps:

Trap 1: Elevating Practice to Principle (Legalism)

This happens when we take a specific cultural practice and treat it as a universal principle. We start believing that our specific “cup” is the only valid way to hold the “water.” This leads to rigidity, judgment, and the classic “we’ve always done it this way” mentality.

  • Example: Jesus confronted the religious leaders about this constantly. They had taken the beautiful principle of the Sabbath and buried it under hundreds of rigid practices. Jesus reminded them of the true function in Mark 2:27: “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.”

Trap 2: Discarding the Principle because of the Practice (Drifting)

This is especially common today. When a traditional practice (form) no longer resonates or feels authentic, people sometimes throw the baby (the underlying principle) out the window with the bathwater.

  • Example: Someone might get burned out by the specific corporate structure like a megachurch, house church, denomination, etc… (a practice) and decide to abandon gathering with other believers altogether (a principle).

A Stern Warning: When Tradition Invalidates Truth

Jesus had incredibly strong, sobering words for leaders who fell into the trap of elevating their practices above God’s principles. In Matthew 15:1-9, He gives us a stern warning about what happens when we cling so tightly to a practice (“the tradition of the elders”) that it causes us to break God’s clear commands:

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS,

BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.

‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,

TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.'”

Here, the religious leaders had created a practice—dedicating their money or resources to God—which they then used as a loophole to ignore the foundational principle of honoring and caring for their parents. Jesus calls them hypocrites.

This is a terrifying warning for us as disciple makers: if we enforce our preferred traditions, structures, or methods at the expense of God’s actual principles (love, mercy, honor, justice), our worship becomes “vain.” We must constantly examine our hearts to ensure we are teaching the precepts of God, not merely the traditions of men.

Beyond just invalidating truth, another grave danger of elevating practice over principle is breaking fellowship over ancillary issues and lesser doctrines. In Romans 14:1, the early church was fiercely divided over specific practices: what kind of food was acceptable to eat and which days should be considered holy. The Apostle Paul warns them not to pass judgment on each other over these disputable matters—the forms. He points them back to the core principle in Romans 14:17: “for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

When we demand that those we are discipling conform to our specific secondary practices, we risk fracturing the body of Christ over the “cup” rather than unifying around the “water.” We must relentlessly guard against breaking fellowship over lesser doctrines, choosing instead to “pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another” (Romans 14:19).

A Scriptural Case Study: Washing Feet

In John 13:14, Jesus washes His followers’ feet and says, “If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

  • The Form (Practice) in the 1st Century: People wore sandals and walked on dusty, manure-covered roads. Washing feet was a necessary, practical, and highly degrading task usually reserved for the lowest servant. Jesus doing it was a radical cultural statement.
  • The Function (Principle): Humble, self-sacrificial service to others, regardless of your status.
  • The Form (Practice) Today: If you invite friends over for dinner today and insist on washing their feet, it would likely be awkward, weird, and unhelpful. Their feet are already clean. To fulfill the principle today, the practice must change. It might look like helping a friend move out of a third-floor apartment in the Texas heat, or stepping in to babysit for a stressed single parent.

Beware of the “Best Practice”

In our modern ministry culture, the equivalent of clinging to “the tradition of the elders” is often packaged under a much more corporate, appealing phrase: The Best Practice.

Best practices are a double-edged sword. On one hand, learning from what has worked well for others can save us time and give us a great starting point. But on the other hand, blindly copy-pasting a “best practice” into your unique context can actually make matters worse. What works beautifully in a college town might completely flop in an inner-city neighborhood or a rural community.

Often, leaders and authors will try to sell their specific method as a universal “best practice” simply because… well… they are married to it. It worked for them, they wrote a book or launched a podcast about it, and now they truly believe it’s the only valid “cup” for the water. We have to be discerning. We must remember that just because a method is highly effective for someone else doesn’t mean it is the Holy Spirit’s blueprint for the specific people you are discipling.

Navigating Conflicting Principles

Sometimes the hardest friction isn’t between a principle and a practice, but between two competing principles. What happens when two foundational truths seem to be at odds in a specific, messy real-world situation? This requires deep spiritual wisdom and reliance on the Holy Spirit.

My wife, Deb, and I experienced this firsthand while in Denver for a conference. Since we had never explored the city, I promised to take her on a proper downtown date. But then, a good friend attending the same conference asked me to accompany him on a tough, nerve-wracking fundraising appointment down in Colorado Springs.

Suddenly, I was caught between two competing principles: Love and honor my wife, or Serve and support my friend.

You would think the answer was a no-brainer—especially since the absolute last thing I wanted to do was fundraise! But when I paused to listen to the Holy Spirit, the answer surprised me: I chose to help my friend.

Why? Deb and I had just finished a week-long vacation together. Our relational tank was full. When I explained the situation to her, she entirely agreed that doing the harder, more uncomfortable thing to support my buddy was the right call in that specific moment. Had I not stopped to think through the context, relied on the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and leaned on my incredibly understanding wife, I would have defaulted to the easiest option and let the wrong principle win out.

We see this same tension, on a much larger scale, in Scripture. A perfect example of this is the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The religious leaders brought her to Jesus and presented a sharp conflict:

  • Principle 1: God’s Righteous Law and Justice. The Law of Moses clearly stated the consequence for this sin (John 8:4-5).
  • Principle 2: God’s Grace and Mercy. The heart of God desires redemption and restoration.

Jesus navigates this brilliantly. He doesn’t discard justice or ignore the sin, but He elevates mercy. By saying, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7), He forces the accusers to look at their own need for grace. Then, He extends that mercy to the woman: “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:11).

When guiding those you are discipling, they will inevitably face complex situations where principles seem to collide—like deciding between speaking hard truth or showing patient grace to a difficult friend or family member. We must teach them not just what the principles are, but how to search the Word of God and seek the Holy Spirit’s wisdom to weigh them, remembering that God’s ultimate wisdom will guide them through their most complex circumstances.

Application: Mentoring and Life

When you are pouring into those you are discipling, it is crucial to teach them the difference. If you only teach them practices (read your Bible at 6:00 AM, listen to this specific worship music, pray using this exact method), you are simply giving them a fragile checklist. When their life circumstances change—when they get a demanding new job or have their first child—their practices will break, and their faith might crumble.

However, if you teach them principles (the necessity of daily abiding in Christ, the function of learning from Him, obeying Him, and becoming like Him), you give them the tools to build new practices. They learn how to design a new “cup” that fits their current season of life, ensuring they never stop drinking the water.

One of the things we often do at the end of a Bible study or teaching is to have a discussion about the principles and practices that correspond to the topic. You’d be amazed at how difficult it is for those you are discipling (and maybe some older believers, too) to accurately distinguish between the two. Try asking these questions:

  • What are some ways we can practice what we have discussed today? (The cup we would use to drink today’s living water?)
  • What is the core “why” behind this specific “how”? (If this method is just the “cup,” what is the actual “living water”—the unchanging, biblical command from Jesus—that we are trying to drink?)

Summary: Form follows function. Practices must always serve the principles. Hold tightly to the principles, but hold loosely to the practices.

I Don’t Know – #74

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Welcome Back! Today, we’ll be looking at the Gospel of Mark to discover the attitude we should have as we advance God’s kingdom.  

So let’s dive in.

(Click here to get a copy of the Gospel Sync document) 

Mark 4:26-29

Jesus also said, “The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. All by itself the earth produces a crop—first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within. And as soon as the grain is ripe, he swings the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

My Thoughts 

Jesus continues to teach His disciples about the kingdom of God. He says it’s like a man, a farmer planting seeds in his field. It’s a pretty normal view of agricultural activities except for one aspect. The farmer has no clue how his crop is growing. It’s a mystery to him how a few little seeds can mature into healthy plants and bear fruit.

Now, today with all our advances in science and technology we think we know so much more than a simple Judean farmer in the first century AD or a 30 year old Jewish Rabbi who was a carpenter. And we absolutely do know more today than that farmer (but probably not the Jewish carpenter who is omniscient).  If you do a Google search “Have we solved all the mysteries of how plants grow?” you’ll get a hundred links to mysteries we have solved with modern technology and knowledge over the past few years. But that only proves the parables point, the “farmer,” past or present, is still learning and he doesn’t “really know” how it grows, not completely anyways. There’s still a lot of mystery.

Listen to Sujata Gupta, author of an article entitled “Scientists should report results with intellectual humility” and describes a problem with scientific findings that undermines our assumption that “we know it all.”

“Because scientists’ careers often hinge on publishing research papers in top-tier journals, Hoekstra says, they can feel pressure to exaggerate their findings. Scientists might hype the novelty of a study, tinker with statistics to obscure uncertainties in the data, gloss over failed experiments or imply that theoretical results are closer to real-life application than they actually are. Problematically, Hoekstra says, the publication process rewards this behavior. Journal editors and paper reviewers who green-light studies tend to prioritize clear narratives over more nuanced ones.” 

Now we know honest mistakes are made by even the smartest people. But what she is referring to is when people intentionally stretch the truth to make things look better than they actually are. In this case it’s the scientist looking “smarter” than they are. Before we start dogpiling on scientists we need to admit that the same integrity problems exist in every field of work and study. I’ve known theologians and disciple-makers who do the same thing! And this brings me to my point; We need to acknowledge that we don’t know as much as we think we do about kingdom growth. In other words, with all our theological knowledge, all our methods and traditions, all our tactics and strategies, it’s still a mystery and all the credit goes to God. Listen to how the Apostle Paul echoes the trues of Jesus’s assessment of the farmer;

I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.  (1 Corinthians 3:6-7)

Notice how Paul, even with our human contribution, attributes the growth to God. I think that is the point Jesus is getting at when He says the farmer doesn’t know how the crops grow. The kingdom of God grows because it is a work of God not a result of our intellectual prowess or exceptional skills. We need to stay humble.

My Story

I love to tell the story about two of my friends who went to India to observe a “movement of the gospel.” Hundreds of people were coming to Christ every month. They were blown away by the amazing kingdom growth. They asked the missionary, “What tools are working here?” To which he nonchalantly replied, “All of them.” My friends responded, “No, no, what methods are you using that are leading to so many people receiving the gospel?” Again he replied, “All of them.” 

My friends were dumbfounded and to be honest, so was I. We had to admit that it wasn’t necessarily a method of sharing the gospel or a style, it was God who was doing the work through His servants in the ways He chose to do it. This immediately puts the credit for ministry where it belongs. And we have to acknowledge that we don’t know as much as we thought we did.

As disciple makers we need to embrace several things;

  1.  Avoid getting married to our tools
  2. Teach Biblical principles as the foundation, not methods  
  3. Let those we are discipling adapt their methods to their context and situations
  4. Acknowledge God is really the One doing the work and give Him glory

“God can use crooked sticks to hit straight licks.” Jeff Sundell

Our Action Plan

What are the tools or methods you enjoy using? Here’s some ideas to help you separate the principles from the methods and avoid methodolatry and stay humble.  

  • Spend some time in prayer asking God for wisdom in this area
  • List all your “tools” and categorize them by the Biblical principle they fulfill
  • Teach those you’re discipling the difference between principles and methods

We know a lot and we are learning more everyday. But do we know it all? This reminds us to stay humbly dependent on the One who does and at the end of the day, give Him the credit.

Index for all posts in the Gospel Sync Series

No Sé – #74

¡Bienvenido! Hoy, veremos el Evangelio de Marcos para descubrir la actitud que debemos tener al avanzar en el reino de Dios.

Así que vamos a comenzar.

Marcos 4:26-29

Decía además: Así es el reino de Dios, como cuando un hombre echa semilla en la tierra;  y duerme y se levanta, de noche y de día, y la semilla brota y crece sin que él sepa cómo.  Porque de suyo lleva fruto la tierra, primero hierba, luego espiga, después grano lleno en la espiga;  y cuando el fruto está maduro, en seguida se mete la hoz, porque la siega ha llegado.

Mis Pensamientos

Jesús continúa enseñando a Sus discípulos sobre el reino de Dios. Dice que es como un hombre, un agricultor que planta semillas en su campo. Es una visión bastante normal de las actividades agrícolas, con una excepción importante. El agricultor no tiene ni idea de cómo está creciendo su cultivo. Es un misterio para él cómo unas pocas semillas pequeñas pueden madurar y convertirse en plantas sanas y dar frutos.

Ahora, hoy, con todos nuestros avances en ciencia y tecnología, creemos que sabemos mucho más que un simple agricultor judío en el siglo I D.C. o un rabino judío de 30 años que era carpintero. Y sabemos absolutamente más hoy que ese agricultor (pero probablemente no el carpintero judío que es omnisciente).  Si haces una búsqueda en Google “¿Hemos resuelto todos los misterios de cómo crecen las plantas?” Obtendrás cien enlaces a misterios que hemos resuelto con tecnología moderna y conocimiento en los últimos años. Pero eso solo prueba el punto de las parábolas, el “agricultor”, pasado o presente, todavía está aprendiendo y no “sabe realmente” cómo crece la semilla, al menos no completamente. Todavía hay mucho misterio en ello.

Escuche a Sujata Gupta, autora de un artículo titulado  “Los científicos deben informar los resultados con humildad intelectual” y describe un problema con los hallazgos científicos que socava nuestra suposición de que “lo sabemos todo.”

“Debido a que las carreras de los científicos a menudo dependen de la publicación de artículos de investigación en revistas de primer nivel, dice Hoekstra, pueden sentirse presionados para exagerar sus hallazgos. Los científicos pueden exagerar la novedad de un estudio, jugar con las estadísticas para ocultar las incertidumbres en los datos, pasar por alto experimentos fallidos o insinuar que los resultados teóricos están más cerca de la aplicación en la vida real de lo que realmente están. Problemáticamente, dice Hoekstra, el proceso de publicación recompensa este comportamiento. Los editores de revistas y los revisores de artículos que dan luz verde a los estudios tienden a priorizar las narrativas claras sobre las que tienen diferencias”.

Ahora sabemos que incluso las personas más inteligentes cometen errores honestos los. Pero a lo que se refiere es a cuando las personas intencionalmente estiran la verdad para hacer que las cosas se vean mejor de lo que realmente son. En este caso, es el científico parece ser “más inteligente” de lo que es. Antes de comenzar a perseguir a los científicos, debemos admitir que existen los mismos problemas de integridad en todos los campos de trabajo y estudio. ¡He conocido teólogos y hacedores de discípulos que hacen lo mismo! Y esto me lleva a mi punto: necesitamos reconocer que no sabemos tanto como creemos que sabemos sobre el crecimiento del reino. En otras palabras, con todo nuestro conocimiento teológico, todos nuestros métodos y tradiciones, todas nuestras tácticas y estrategias, sigue siendo un misterio y todo el crédito es para Dios. Escuche cómo el apóstol Pablo hace eco de las verdades de la evaluación de Jesús sobre el agricultor:

Yo planté, Apolos regó; pero el crecimiento lo ha dado Dios. Así que ni el que planta es algo, ni el que riega, sino Dios, que da el crecimiento.  (1 Corintios 3:6-7).

Observe cómo Pablo, incluso con nuestra contribución humana, atribuye el crecimiento a Dios. Creo que ese es el punto al que Jesús se refiere cuando dice que el agricultor no sabe cómo crecen los cultivos. El reino de Dios crece porque es una obra de Dios, no el resultado de nuestra destreza intelectual o habilidades excepcionales. Necesitamos mantenernos humildes.

Mi Historia

Me encanta contar la historia de dos de mis amigos que fueron a la India para observar un “movimiento del Evangelio”. Cientos de personas venían a Cristo cada mes. Quedaron impresionados por el asombroso crecimiento del reino. Le preguntaron al misionero: “¿Qué herramientas están funcionando aquí?” A lo que él respondió con indiferencia: “Todos”. Mis amigos respondieron: “No, no, ¿qué métodos están usando para que tantas personas reciban el evangelio?”. De nuevo respondió: “Todos”.

Mis amigos estaban estupefactos y, para ser honesto, yo también. Tuvimos que admitir que no era necesariamente un método para compartir el evangelio o un estilo, era Dios quien estaba haciendo el trabajo a través de Sus siervos de la manera que Él eligió hacerlo. Esto inmediatamente pone el crédito por el ministerio donde pertenece. Y tenemos que reconocer que no sabemos tanto como pensábamos.

Como hacedores de discípulos, debemos abrazar varias cosas:

– Evitar “casarse” con nuestras herramientas

-Enseñar principios bíblicos como fundamento, y no como métodos

-Dejar que aquellos a quienes estamos discipulando adapten sus métodos a su contexto y situaciones

-Reconocer que Dios es realmente el que hace el trabajo y darle gloria 

“Dios puede usar palos torcidos para dar golpes rectos”. Jeff Sundell

Nuestro Plan de Acción

¿Cuáles son las herramientas o métodos que te gusta usar? Aquí hay algunas ideas para ayudarte a separar los principios de los métodos, evitar la metodolatría y así mantenerte humilde.

–       Pasa algún tiempo en oración pidiéndole a Dios sabiduría en esta área

–       Haz una lista de todas tus “herramientas” y clasifícalas según el principio bíblico que cumplen

–       Enseña a aquellos a quienes estás discipulando la diferencia entre principios y métodos 

Sabemos mucho y estamos aprendiendo más cada día. Pero, ¿lo sabemos todo? Esto nos recuerda que debemos permanecer humildemente dependientes de Aquel que lo sabe todo y, al final del día, darle el crédito.

Translation by Norma Klingler