“Therefore go and make disciples of all
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, and
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)
We’ve seen in the Gospel, that Jesus calls us to make
disciples of all nations. But, what in
the world does that mean? What does it
look like? The actual definition of disciple is the following: One who embraces and assists in spreading
the teachings of another. At the risk of over generalizing, I believe the
majority of Christians in our society have no problem with the idea of
embracing the teachings of Jesus. We agree that reading the Bible is
important. Some of us attend weekly
Bible studies and small groups. Many of us spend time memorizing God’s Word.
This is the “easy” part. However, for many of us, the stumbling block is the
idea of “spreading the teachings” of Jesus.
Plainly stated, the call
on our lives is very clear: We are to make disciples of all nations. We are to teach others the ways of our faith,
the truth of the Gospel. But, here’s a
reality check: How many of us are living out our faith in this capacity? How many of us are introducing others to the
Lord and walking with them? How many of us are investing time in others, and
mentoring them, just as Jesus did with his twelve disciples?
Our goal as Christians, as disciples, is not to simply know the
Word of God, we are to multiply. In essence, the key to discipleship is not
just soaking in God’s Word… we must pass it on. James, the half-brother of
Jesus, says it best: “Do not merely
listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
My friends, these words serve as a fierce warning… and I have to admit that
they terrify me. I look at my own life
and see very little fruit in this area.
Discipleship hasn’t even been on my radar... but it needs to be.
At some point in our history, we’ve
distorted the true essence of discipleship… in some cases, it’s been forgotten
altogether. In its place, we have “created
a church culture where the paid ministers do the ‘ministry,’ and the rest of us
show up, put some money in the plate, and leave feeling inspired or ‘fed.’ We
have moved so far away from Jesus’ command that many Christians don’t have a
frame of reference for what disciple making looks like.” (Making Disciples Study Guide,
2012) But, don’t despair… because Jesus
left us the most perfect example.
Jesus spent three years of his life in the company of 12
men. And of those men, there were three
with which He shared an even closer bond. He opened up His life. He shared the teachings of His Father. He spoke truth… even when it was hard to
hear. He invested Himself… all of Himself… for the sake of the Gospel. And as I write, I can’t help but wonder whether the real reason discipleship isn’t a priority in my life is because I
don’t really want to make that kind of effort.
I don’t want to invest that kind of time… I don’t even HAVE that kind of
time! And let’s be honest…
living a life completely committed to the Gospel would change everything. It
would change us.
And, isn’t that the point?
Challenge
Is discipleship a part of your walk as a Christian? Spend time thinking about the purpose of
discipleship and our role in spreading the Gospel. If you have about 30 minutes, I challenge you
to watch some new videos from Francis Chan and David Platt at http://multiplymovement.com (I’m warning you… this is pretty challenging
stuff!) Our family will be participating in the webcast on November 9th
and we encourage you to consider doing the same.
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