Andy suggested that the fake fruit of secular faithfulness is success. In what way have you seen this in your life? In the culture? Think about how differently you’d respond if someone asked you who your favorite person to meet would be, versus if someone asked you who your hero was. Don’t the people we’d love to meet tend to be celebrities, while the people we deeply admire tend to be, for example, our youth pastor, our grandmother, or someone who has lived a life of unsung faithfulness?
What do you make of the suggestion that the fake fruit of religious faithfulness is something more like “faithism”– inward spiritual authenticity, enthusiasm, and feelings? What is the difference between faithfulness and “faithism”? How do you reconcile Andy’s distinction between this kind of “faithism” and the people whom Jesus commended for having great faith? What’s the difference? Why is inward authenticity, sincerity, or “just believing really hard” actually selfish?
What was wrong with the third servant who buried his master’s treasure? What was his essential failure? Why is it such a tragic failure?
How do you manage both the natural nervousness of having great responsibility with the sense of being honored when you are given great responsibilities?
What are the three things that every human longs to hear said to them? Why does Jesus get to hear these from his Father? Can you live a life in which you are longing and pursuing the One who will speak these words to you at the end of your life? What do these three things tell you about heaven? What do they tell you about hell?
What is God saying to you? What are you going to do about it? Who is going to help you?
