In this “reformation” season, it is imperative that we rediscover the “old landmarks” of God’s building processes. One of the most critical of these old landmarks is the respect for the boundaries that the Lord Himself has established for every dimension of our lives. These boundaries are established by God and manifested in us according to our obedience. As we are obedient to these eternal values, our character is shaped and manifested in the earth in the image of Christ.                                

Proverbs 22:28 gives us wisdom for the ages when it says “remove not the ancient landmark, which thy father’s have set.” A landmark is a boundary which defines parameters naturally or spiritually. The Old Testament’s reference to respecting landmarks speaks prophetically to us today as an admonition to respect boundaries as a principle of life.  Many of the problems which we encounter in life and ministry originate in our failure to respect the boundaries of life.

“And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12-13)

In this Scripture God admonishes the people of God to, “walk in all His ways.” Walking in the “ways’’ of God requires us to live in such a way that we respect the boundaries that God has established. These boundaries essentially become “landmarks” in our walk as representatives of the King and the Kingdom. The word “ways” in this verse is a significant word for understanding the nature and character of God. The Hebrew word for “ways” is “derek.”  The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament defines this word as “a path worn by constant walking.” Another reference;  Wilson’s Old Testament Word Studies, defines it as “a course [or], manner in which one walks.”

As a result of this insight we can conclude that this word “derek” is literally describing character as we know it. A detailed study of this word will give us great insight into the dimension of character that God desires for us to live in. For now, let us simply embrace the reality that there is a “well worn path” that God “walks” in that He also desires for us to walk.

How Jesus Developed Character and Values in His Disciples

As a matter of principle, every community of Christ must have a process; a methodology of building disciples who have the character of Christ and the values of the Kingdom. These are old landmarks that provide a “well worn path to walk in.” Jesus had such a methodology and used it strategically in “training schools” such as the one depicted in Matthew 5-7. On this occasion, we see Jesus pull His disciples aside to impart Kingdom values to those who had become followers of the Teacher and the teaching. In this session, Jesus established a new paradigm of thought, behavior and values. A thoughtful examination of the truths He communicated will provide a template for us today in our quest to build the character of Christ and the values of the Kingdom in those we serve.

In verse I, we see Jesus separate Himself and His disciples from the crowd as He ministers to them. In our building of the Church of Jesus Christ, we must establish times of meeting with disciples alone so that we can deposit the landmarks of Kingdom values in them. We must in this season bring balance in our emphasis on bringing  people into the Kingdom and building people of the kingdom. One has a focus on salvation and the other has a focus on making disciples who will mature practically into sons of God.

So what did Jesus teach these disciples in this training session? He taught them from the wellspring of Kingdom values that produce Christ-like character. In this record, Jesus focuses on three broad themes as He communicated a new set of Kingdom values to His disciples.  These three themes are as follows:

A Renewed Mind Based Upon Kingdom Realities

The first thing that Jesus addressed with these new converts was the need to think different thoughts and embrace new attitudes. After reconnecting with God spiritually, the soul life of man must be recalibrated to carry Kingdom values. Jesus did this by imparting new Kingdom values which established a foundation for the renewing of their minds. We have called the first part of this training the “beatitudes” quite appropriately.

In this initial session, Jesus speaks to them about the qualities of meekness, mercifulness, purity of heart, peacemaking, etc. He reshapes the inner construct of their character by speaking to them about a new way of thinking, a new way of understanding and a new identity. He further expands their understanding of their new Kingdom life by informing them that they are salt of the earth, they are a light set on a hill and that their newfound objective in life is to allow men to see the light of God through them. That my friend is developing the character of Christ based upon the values of the Kingdom of God.

What Jesus demonstrates is that new disciples must literally adopt a new identity upon entering into the Kingdom. They must literally embrace the truth that “old things have passed away, behold all things are new”(2 Corinthians 5:17).

A Standard of Righteousness

The next thing that Jesus addresses with His disciples is the issue of righteousness. In verses 17 – 20 of chapter 5, Jesus begins to address a number of issues regarding righteousness. Many of the failings of new disciples have to do with an inadequate understanding of issues of righteousness. In the New Testament alone the term “righteousness” occurs at least 99 times in the King James Version of the Bible. Thirty nine (39) of these uses occur in the foundational epistle of Romans.  In this “training school” of Jesus, He taught His disciples about the many dimensions of righteousness and ends by instructing them to “seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). We would do well to follow this example.

Developing Wisdom and Discernment in Judgment

The final dimension of character and values that Jesus deals with in this particular training session is the issue of personal development in the area of “judgment.” Biblically, “judging” is the act of critiquing a situation, circumstance, or person and drawing conclusions based upon that evaluation. Jesus warned His disciples about applying this technology to others before using it on themselves. Some have used portions of this record, to excuse errant behavior and avoid accountability. But, that is not what Jesus was communicating. What Jesus was addressing here is our tendency to critique others when we haven’t applied the same standard to ourselves. He was addressing our tendency to be critical of others while justifying ourselves. This was the spirit of the Pharisees that Jesus Himself judged.

The standard then for making critical decisions and developing spiritual discernment is to first learn to first “take the mote” out of our own eye. From there we may be able to mature to the point where we can then exercise righteous judgment in governmental authority over the Lord’s heritage.

This spirit of righteous judgment serves as a backdrop for other areas of wisdom that Jesus progresses into. This is essentially a  “wisdom” session as Jesus teaches His disciples how to walk in the earth with discernment and how to see life through spiritual lens. The Bible speaks prophetically of this dimension of Christ’s life in Isaiah 11:3,4, “…and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth…” So let it be with the Body of Christ today.

It is quite interesting to note that Jesus never spoke to them about their spiritual authority in this session. I believe that Jesus knew that they were not prepared to walk in spiritual authority until they had addressed issues of character development first.  If the character of a disciple is not addressed prior to the impartation of power, immaturity will give way to ego and misuse and abuse is inevitable. I believe there is great revelation and wisdom in the training process of Jesus that we need to receive.

It is critical today that we rediscover the building blocks of effective discipleship that will produce a people of character. Otherwise, our good works will be evil spoken of and our errant behavior will destroy our credibility and sabotage the good that we do. May we take note of the “training schools” of Jesus as we endeavor to build men and women of character in the Body of Christ. Then we will be able to reestablish the old landmarks of the Gospel of the Kingdom. 


Eric L. Warren is the Founder and Senior Pastor of Ambassadors for Christ Fellowship (AFCF) and Ambassador Ministries International, which is a multi-dimensional ministry committed to develop and release apostolic ministries to serve the body of Christ and the marketplace. He holds degrees in Sociology, Philosophy, and Theology, as well as an Honorary Doctorate degree and has completed the Harvard Divinity School Summer Leadership Institute. He can be reached at www.ambassadorministries.org.