The Mirror | What Is a Follower Of the Way? | Menlo Church Live Stream

Aug 16, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Interruptions as Assignments in a Hurried World

When life moves at a sprinter’s pace, interruptions feel like obstacles rather than invitations. James challenges believers to recategorize trials as faith-building assignments rather than wasted time. A crowded calendar isn’t merely a scheduling problem—it’s a formation issue, training us to view people as distractions rather than divine appointments. Slowing down creates space to recognize God’s work in unexpected moments. Lasting love requires unhurried presence, not efficiency. What interruptions have you dismissed as nuisances rather than holy invitations? [37:17]

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:2-4, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you labeled a current challenge as a “waste of time” instead of asking God how it might deepen your faith? How could slowing your pace this week create space to notice His assignments?

Day 2: Asking Without a Backup Plan

Double-minded faith asks God for help while secretly drafting contingency plans. James warns that divided trust leaves us unstable, like waves tossed by wind. God gives wisdom generously—no eye-rolls, no tally of repeated requests. True dependence means bringing weaknesses boldly, not hiding them. Cultural narratives equate self-sufficiency with maturity, but Jesus invites childlike reliance. Where are you hedging bets instead of leaning fully into God’s care? [42:14]

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. (James 1:5-6, ESV)

Reflection: What specific need have you stopped bringing to God because it feels too repetitive or shameful? How might trusting His generosity—not your performance—change your approach today?

Day 3: The Mirror That Transforms

Quick glances at God’s truth lead to spiritual amnesia. James contrasts casual listeners with those who “bend down and peer in,” allowing Scripture to expose and reshape them. Like Peter staring into Christ’s empty tomb, transformative reflection requires lingering attention. Distracted devotion breeds forgetfulness; focused gazing births action. What would it look like to trade fragmented quiet times for unrushed encounters with the Word? [51:54]

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. (James 1:22-24, ESV)

Reflection: When have you last walked away from Scripture with a concrete action step? What distraction needs boundaries to create space for deeper reflection this week?

Day 4: Graduating From Unseen Curriculums

Our calendars and spending habits silently shape us more than sermons. James writes to believers scattered geographically yet united in purpose—a counter to culture’s invisible formation. Like unknowing students acing a class they never enrolled in, we risk succeeding at hollow goals. Reclaiming Jesus’ way starts by auditing what’s truly teaching us. What “A+” achievements might actually signal alignment with broken systems? [30:44]

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV)

Reflection: What rhythms or expenses subtly train you to value productivity over presence? How might you intentionally “unenroll” from one cultural curriculum this month?

Day 5: Baptized Completely, Sword Included

Partial surrender mocks redemption. James—once Jesus’ skeptical brother—learned total allegiance costs everything. Holding back areas from God (“keeping your sword dry”) breeds internal scattering. True freedom comes through full immersion in Christ’s ways, trusting His path surpasses our control. What are you still clutching above the waterline, afraid to release to His care? [57:25]

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4:7-8, ESV)

Reflection: What hidden compartment have you labeled “off-limits” to God’s transformation? How might surrendering it—not just managing it—lead to deeper peace?

Sermon Summary

The fall calendar starts to tell a story before most people notice it. The days get shorter, the emails get longer, and the decisions that seemed small begin to form a life that does not feel chosen. The scattered life does not usually come from crossing Jesus off the list. The scattered life comes when the immediate keeps crowding out the important.

The Bay Area curriculum is always forming people. The calendar becomes the curriculum, and spending becomes the syllabus. The danger is not only failing at something important, but succeeding at something never intentionally chosen. Paul names the problem in Ephesians 5 when he says to “look carefully” and make the best use of the time, because the days are harmful like thieves. Time is not merely managed. Time has to be redeemed, bought back from whatever is stealing attention, affection, and life.

The way of Jesus calls for reclaiming what has been taken. Reclaiming is not soft or passive, because misplaced things are found, but stolen things have to be taken back. The kingdom qualities of an undivided follower, an unhurried friend, a thoughtful witness, and a sacrificial developer give shape to that way. The undivided follower comes first because the others cannot really work inside a fragmented life.

James writes as Jesus’ little brother, the one who had more access than almost anyone and still missed who Jesus was until the resurrection. James writes to scattered believers, but he does not tell them to unscatter geographically. James goes after the deeper scattering, the kind that can live inside a settled job, home, and church seat.

James says the undivided follower counts the interruption as the assignment. “Count it all joy” is not a call to feel good about bad things. The word count belongs to the ledger, so trials get moved into a different column. Pain is not filed under wasted time, but under faith being developed and God getting a person ready. The pace of Jesus matters here, because love cannot happen at a sprinter’s pace.

James also says the undivided follower asks God without a backup plan. God gives wisdom generously, without reproach, without an eye roll, and without keeping score. Double mindedness is a two-souled life that asks God while quietly assuming he will not come through.

James finally says the undivided follower stays at the mirror long enough to change. Hearing the word is not the same as making something from it. A glance forgets, but a gaze bends down, peers in, and stays. The way of Jesus asks for the phone, the calendar, the wallet, the relationship, the addiction, and the thing still being held out of the water.

Key Takeaways

1. Calendars quietly disciple the heart The calendar is not neutral, because every appointment trains loves, fears, and expectations. A full schedule can teach a person that unplanned people are interruptions instead of possible assignments from God. The scattered life often succeeds by worldly standards while failing at the deeper work of becoming whole before Jesus. [30:23]
2. Time must be bought back Paul’s word for making the best use of time carries the weight of redemption. Time is treated like something already stolen, not something sitting untouched until a person gets organized. The way of Jesus begins with a serious recovery of attention from the thieves that keep shaping a life by default. [32:27]
3. Interruption can become assignment James does not ask suffering people to pretend pain feels good. James asks the faithful to move trials into the column marked “God is forming something here.” The interruption becomes spiritually dangerous only when hurry makes love impossible and people become obstacles to the plan. [39:22]
4. God gives without reproach God’s generosity is not mixed with disgust, impatience, or blame. Repeated weakness does not exhaust him, and repeated asking does not annoy him. Prayer becomes undivided when the heart stops building a quiet backup plan around the assumption that God will not come through. [44:09]
5. A glance cannot form obedience James’ mirror image exposes the difference between brief exposure and prolonged attention. The hearer sees clearly, but the truth does not stay long enough to become action. The doer bends down, gazes into the law of liberty, and makes something real from what God has said.

## [51:28]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[24:04] - Vision Weekend and Shorter Days
[25:15] - Fall Rhythms and Chosen Calendars
[28:29] - Scattered Souls and Crowded Priorities
[30:09] - The Hidden Curriculum of Formation
[31:35] - Paul on Redeeming Stolen Time
[32:57] - Reclaiming the Way of Jesus
[33:50] - Kingdom Qualities and James
[35:16] - Scattered People, Divided Hearts
[37:17] - Counting Interruption as Assignment
[41:46] - Asking God Without Backup Plans
[49:07] - Community as the Big Rock
[49:46] - Staying at the Mirror
[54:53] - Daily Questions for Undivided Living
[56:16] - What Stays Out of the Water?

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

James 1:2-8
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” [37:43]

Ephesians 5:15-16
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” [31:40]

James 1:22-25
“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” [49:58]

Observation questions

In Ephesians 5:15-16, what are believers told to do with their time, and what reason is given for that command? [32:27]
In James 1:2-4, what results does James say can come from trials and the testing of faith? [37:43]
According to James 1:5-8, what does God give, how does he give it, and what picture does James use for a doubting person? [42:14]
In James 1:22-25, what is the difference between the person who glances at the mirror and the person who stays long enough to act? [51:28]

Interpretation questions

If time must be “redeemed” or bought back, what does that suggest about what is happening to a person’s attention and life even when nothing obviously sinful is taking place? [32:31]
James says to “count” trials differently. How does moving pain from the “wasted” column to the “God is at work” column change the way a person responds to interruption, disappointment, or suffering? [39:22]
James describes double-mindedness as asking God while still quietly assuming he will not come through. Why is that divided posture so spiritually unstable? What does it reveal about trust? [46:33]
James does not contrast hearing with ignorance, but hearing with doing. Why can a person understand truth clearly and still remain unchanged? [51:43]

Application questions

Calendars quietly disciple the heart. Looking at the next two weeks, what is one pattern in the schedule that is shaping the soul in a scattered direction? Where does the immediate keep crowding out the important? [30:29]
Interruption can become assignment. What interruption in this season might actually need to be received as part of God’s work instead of resisted as a threat to the plan? [41:39]
Love cannot happen at a sprinter’s pace. Where is life moving so fast right now that people are starting to feel like obstacles instead of neighbors, family, or friends to love? What might it look like to reclaim a slower, more faithful pace there? [40:42]
God gives generously without reproach. What is one area of repeated weakness, confusion, or need that has become hard to pray about honestly? What would it look like to ask again without embarrassment? [44:21]
A two-souled life asks God for help while quietly building a backup plan. Where is that happening right now—in work, family, money, a decision, or a relationship? [46:52]
A glance cannot form obedience. What helps a person stay at the mirror long enough for truth to become action? What usually pulls attention away too quickly? [53:45]
Many people leave something “out of the water.” What part of life is most tempting to keep outside Jesus’ rule right now—a phone, calendar, wallet, relationship, addiction, or something else? What makes that area especially hard to surrender? [57:02]

Sermon Clips

68s

#ReclaimPace

“``But interruptions, they can't be assignments when we are moving at a sprinter's pace. You can't love people in a hurry. Love takes a minimum amount of time, and there isn't a version of it that gets faster. As a matter of fact, the best expressions of love in your life, the people that you feel like love you the deepest, are the people that love you the slowest, which brings us back to the calendar. See, a full calendar is not a scheduling problem in your and my life. It's a formation problem. It teaches you and me that people who are not on our calendar are in the way of it. So the first thing that we have to reclaim if we wanna reclaim the way of Jesus in our life is pace. Not because being slow is the goal. I'm a pretty fast paced person. Being late is not a virtue. But hear me, slow, it's the only speed at which you can stop and notice somebody that God may put in your way, in which an interruption could be understood as an assignment. And I know it means changes. Jesus would call us to make them.”

64s

#CalendarIsCurriculum

“And it reveals something bigger about what's happening around all of us. Nobody in the Bay Area is unformed. Everybody is being taught something all the time. And the education that we are experiencing, man, it is working. It's diligent. It's consistent. It shows up every day. It never misses a week. It never takes a vacation. Heck, it never misses a nanosecond of hacking your attention for its benefit and your cost. Your calendar is the curriculum. Your spending is the syllabus. It's happening everywhere. And for a lot of us in that system, you are getting great results. If there was a letter grade for this kind of scattered pursuit of excellence in our moment, you are getting an a. But that should scare us. Not that we're failing at something, but that we are succeeding at something we never intentionally agreed to, and that succeeding at it may actually make you fail at something bigger.”

36s

#WhoIsFormingYou

“Here's what we're gonna talk about this week and, to a certain extent, this entire year. You are graduating from a class you never knew you enrolled in. You are graduating from a class in your life, from a pursuit, and from a curriculum you didn't even know you had enrolled in. So the question is not whether or not you are being formed. That's already answered. The question is who is doing the teaching and whether or not you want your life shaped into the image of that algorithm, that agenda, that political figure, or that person.”

54s

#StrengthInDependence

“God's agenda, his calendar for you is not to make you a strong independent anything. God wants you increasingly dependent on him, interdependent on others. That's what real strength is, and it's way different than the schedule and the curriculum of the education that we are in without realizing that we've enrolled in it. Now the easiest reminder for us is to just ask God whenever and whatever we need help with. But James affirms something about God that many of us, we aren't sure if we believe. He gives graciously to all without reproach. He's not holding back. He's not trying to find fault or assess blame in our life. There's no sigh or, like, eye roll or side eye from God when you ask again. That's not how he works.”

52s

#KeepAskingGod

“You can ask him for the same thing for the rest of your life, and there is no tally, and he isn't gonna make you feel small for asking again. As a matter of fact, he'll love that you did. But some of us, we stopped asking a long time ago. And it's not because we don't believe in god, but because somewhere along the way, we picked up this idea in the cultural curriculum around us that capable and mature people stop asking for help. We definitely stop asking for help for the same things. Somebody asked told me after the last service, they said, well, Phil, you know, we don't have to ask God for the same things over and over again. He doesn't forget. I'm like, hey. Oh, I'm so sorry. Maybe you didn't realize. We don't ask God over and over again because he forgets that we need help. We ask God over and over again because we do.”

55s

#RedeemTheDays

“Now Paul is not saying that the days of your and my life are wicked. He's saying he's saying they're harmful, something that does damage to us. Paul isn't saying that our days are immoral. He's saying that days are like thieves, that you set your life down somewhere in whatever culture you find yourself, and you expect that until you come back and pick it back up or look at it more carefully, it'll sit still in those decisions, in those priorities, in that direction. Or that if it is moving, it's gonna head in the direction that you wanted it to head. But that's not the way it works, which is why he says that we should make the best use of it. The word underneath that idea is the word redeemed, that we should purchase it back from a thief in a broken world that is trying to rob you of your time, your most precious and rare commodity.”

47s

#ReframeInterruption

“James actually James actually isn't saying what we think he's saying in this passage. He isn't telling you and me to feel good about bad things in our life. He isn't telling you to me to simply choose a different altitude for your attitude. That's a good poster in the break room. It might be culturally convenient in a hustle culture, but it's not what the text says. See, the word that we translate count is actually an accounting word, which makes sense. Something that you do with a ledger. He isn't asking you and me to just change how we feel about something. He's telling me you and me to move something that we're experiencing to a different column in the ledger of our mind.”

29s

#FromKnowledgeToAction

“Because when you file interruption under loss or that year was wasted or that relationship didn't go the way that I wanted, you're missing out. James says to move it. That even if we feel, like, the pain and the grief about it, he says it belongs under the work being done column. It it belongs under the faith being developed column. It belongs to the god's getting me ready for something even if it's painful column.”

49s

#UndividedFocus

“Now James, he uses this word doer on purpose. And it's not just this idea of, man, go manufacture obedience. No. No. It actually comes from professions like poet. It's about making something. He's saying that a doer of the word is someone who takes what they hear, and they make something out of it. They build something in their life from the truths and the goodness of God. That's why we're focusing on reclaiming the way of Jesus this year together. We don't wanna just research it. We've spent seven weeks researching. That's great. It's really valuable. But data is not the same thing as discipleship. Hear me. Many of us are already more spiritually educated, far more spiritually educated than we are personally activated.”

41s

#NoHalfMeasures

“As a matter of fact, in this passage, we get a profile of two different people looking in two different mirrors. The same information, the same insight is available, but it delivers very different outcomes for each one of them. The difference that James is painting is not a difference of sincerity. It's not a difference of intelligence. It's not a difference of effort. It's about prolonged attention. You wanna talk about something being relevant to 2026. He's saying giving your undivided, prolonged attention to what God has to say is the difference.”

54s

#ReclaimTheWay

“And I don't think that probably anybody at Menlo is like, hey. Wanna get baptized next baptism Sunday. And, but, like, I need to keep my arm and sword out of the water because I got some stuff to do. No. I don't think we do that. But here's what I do think we do. In our heart and in our mind, I think we go, god, you can have all of me. I'm willing to get baptized and going all in with you, but, like, I'm gonna keep my phone out of the water. I'm gonna keep my calendar out of the water. I'm gonna keep my wallet out of the water. I'm gonna keep that relationship out of the water. I'm gonna keep that extracurricular out of the water. I'm gonna keep that addiction out of the water. Because, god, you can have all this, but I don't necessarily wanna give you that.”

42s

#StayAndGaze

“And I'm just telling you, like, that that is being divided in a way you don't even possibly understand the consequences of. Because you think, like, well, if God gets that, things are gonna have to change. And you know what? The good news is things will have to change. But do you really believe that Jesus offers you a way of life that is a better way of life? That thing you're holding out of the water because you think you know better and can do better, you're wrong. He's right. Let him have it. And trust that the way of Jesus for your life now and forever is a better of life.”

55s

#AskForWisdom

“So that is our work together over the course of this year. Today, we are starting a year that is focused on reclaiming the way of Jesus. A lot of people have tried to co opt that and make that about something different. We're gonna turn back to the words of the scripture to identify what it looks like. Reclaim is not soft or passive. You can't reclaim what you simply misplaced. You reclaim what has been taken from you even if you haven't noticed that it was taken for a while. We're not we're not retreating from the Bay Area. You and I, we live here. We work here. We're raising our families here, and we are going to reclaim our humanity in the middle of it as a testimony to our communities, our families, ourselves, even God that the way of Jesus offers a better way of life. It's not an easier way, but it is a richer, healthier, life giving way.”

49s

#FaithUnderDevelopment

“The first man looks, just kind of a quick glance, and then he walks off. He he forgets what he looked like in the first place. And James isn't saying that he didn't see it. He has an accurate assessment of himself. He understands what God expects, but the assessment doesn't stick around long enough for him to do anything with it. We're like spiritual goldfish when we do this. The second person that he talks about does something else. The word behind looks in verse 25, it carries the idea of bending down and peering in. It's about a posture of getting closer and staying there. It's the same word that Peter and John get used for when they look into the tomb to find Jesus and find an empty tomb two thousand years ago. Glanced and gaze are way different postures.”

53s

#ChooseYourLegacy

“So where are you hedging your bets today, Menlo? You're asking God, but you aren't really counting on him to come through? Why do we do this? Well, I think one of the reasons for me is that I assume God is willing to help me in areas where I'm, like, contributing, doing good things for him, where I'm strong, where I'm like, man, I'm I'm an asset to the kingdom of God here. But where I'm weak, especially where I'm repeatedly weak, man, that's that's harder to even ask for help. It's harder to believe that God will show up. I live in a culture that says to hide that, And God says, I already know it. In my moment of need, God is actually waiting for me. He's waiting for you to simply ask for wisdom. God, not just what's the right information. Help me discern the right direction. Give me the courage to take the step.”

38s

#TrustWithoutPlanB

“Because, Menlo, time is running short, and you are graduating from something. Do you know what it is? At the end of your life, as you walk across the stage and receive the diploma for the degree that you have been getting with the behavior that you've been committing your entire life, the path that you've been on, Are you gonna be grateful by the person who hands it to you, by the degree you receive without realizing it? Let's begin a journey together to ask god to show us that we might submit to his plans and his way first.”

34s

#UnscatterYourHeart

“Now if you're a follower of Jesus, I think that we can all acknowledge that you didn't wake up one day and decide you weren't gonna prioritize Jesus. Nobody this fall is gonna put church, spiritual practices, or meaningful community on a visual list of fall priorities and cross it out. We don't do it like that. We don't cross this stuff out. We crowd it out with other, not even more important decisions, just more immediate ones, ones that feel more pressing pressing.”

38s

#MakeWorshipPriority

“And if you're here today and you're not sure about any of this, you're not sure you believe it, you're not sure Jesus is, who he says he is, great. I'm so glad that you're here. This verse actually isn't aimed at you. You should ask hard questions. You should should dig deep into the propositional claims of God, the Bible, and gospel. We just actually spent seven weeks doing that through a comparative lit religion conversation. He's talking about the person who makes the ask as a follower of Jesus while simultaneously making plans because they're assuming that god isn't going to come through. And, man, are we good at this.”

65s

#InterruptionAsAssignment

“This letter is different than much of what you see in the New Testament of the Bible, because it's believed to have been written to the broader early church on purpose. It's not just written to one individual church. These were the Jewish believers who had become followers of the way, which is what Christians were called in the first century. And they are now living in places that are hostile to their faith. They're scattered people literally. But notice what James doesn't do. He never calls them in the entire letter to unscatter. He never says, you know what? Why don't you come out back home? Come to a safe place. Let's move to Idaho. We'll get some land. We'll go where it's safe. We'll find people that vote like we do. He chases an internal scattering instead. He knew what we knew. You can be geographically settled and internally scattered, divided. You can feel settled at work, at home, even in this room, and still scattered where it counts most.”

60s

#MakeDifferentDecisions

“Asking without a backup plan isn't something that we restrict to prayer or wisdom either, that we actually live that way. That's why a community like ours exists. We wanna create better rhythms for this over the course of the year. Part of that, looks like a church community that's choosing to encounter god in community. It's why many of you are here today. But I would say it will likely if, you know, gathering and worshiping with us regularly is a part of it, it may challenge you in reclaiming the way of Jesus around this to change your habits a little bit. For some of us, the way we think about gathering and attending a worship service on a weekend is, well, if I'm in town, if brunch doesn't look that good, if we wake up on time, if my kids bother me because they like it, then maybe I'll go. But if you wanna have an encounter with god, this is not the last resort of your schedule. It's the big rock you put in because you know you need it.”

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