Discipleship, "What Does It Mean To Follow Jesus?"

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25 ESV

What does it mean to “follow”?

follow - 1. to engage in as a way of life; obey, pursue, practice, conform (It is our duty to follow the commands of Christ. Good soldiers follow the orders of their general; good servants follow the directions of their master.) 2. to go after, pursue, chase 3. to accompany; to attend in a journey 4. to imitate; to copy; as, to follow a pattern or model

Webster’s

So, what does it mean to be a “follower” of Jesus? Well, if we incorporate Webster’s definition into the answer, to follow Christ means to engage Him as our way of life! To obey Him! To go after Him! To be His attendant while accompanying Him through life’s journey! To imitate Him while conforming to His example! Following Jesus requires the denial of self and fellowship with Him in the cross—a fellowship of faith as well as a fellowship of life, sharing in His sufferings not only inwardly, but outwardly if necessary. Following Jesus involves such inner, moral, spiritual and physical union that I am fully decreased and He is fully increased in me and through me! (“He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 ESV)

“…there is a vast difference between coming to Jesus for salvation and coming after Jesus for service. Coming to Christ makes one a believer, while coming after Christ makes one a disciple. All believers are not disciples. To become a believer one accepts the invitation of the Gospel. To be a disciple, one obeys the challenge of a life of dedicated service and separation. Salvation comes through the sacrifice of Christ, but discipleship comes only by sacrifice of self and surrender to His call for devoted service. Salvation is free, but discipleship involves paying the price of a separated walk.”

Dr. M. R. DeHaan (founder, Radio Bible Class)

Wag

Discipleship, "What Is It?" part 3

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19 ESV

Once we have recognized that our character is in need of ongoing development, discipleship is the “vehicle” for the Godly development of our character!

This term “make disciples” has much more to do with developing lasting relationships then it does with simply making converts! “Make disciples”, suggests the deep shaping of one’s character and the cultivation of one’s world-view through a close, personal relationship between the discipler and his disciple.

Discipleship is the process in which one is transformed, over time, into Christ-likeness.

“The renewal of our natures is a work of great importance. It is not to be done in a day. We have not only a new house to build up, but an old one to pull down.”

George Whitefield

In a nutshell, discipleship is...

·         REPRODUCTION!! – “LIFE giving LIFE”

·         learning and teaching “Life Principles of the Kingdom”

·         the empowering of others as God has empowered us

·         a committed relationship through which an individual receives ongoing council, instruction, encouragement and correction—enabling growth and maturity in Christ, thus becoming a fully devoted follower of JESUS

“It’s the biblical means to bring about positive change in the everyday lives of believers—or in the lives of everyday believers.” Bill McCartney

The disciple is a learner, open and teachable. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding”. Proverbs 9:9-10 The disciple seeks to be proficient* in his walk with the Lord, it’s not at all about perfection—for we are made perfect only in Christ but a disciple does need to strive to do his best for the Lord. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:22-24

* Proficiency comes from trying to do everything well through commitment to excellence. God has equipped each of us with skills and He gives us gifts for the complete accomplishment of His will, in us and in the world. The only hindrance to proficiency is ones level of commitment to excellence—we MUST find out what God’s will is for us and be about His business! For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5:8-11

A great deal of what discipleship is… is learning to view life through the eyes of God. A disciple will find it extremely hard to be successful in the walk of faith without proper “Perspective & Vision”.

-         perspective - the aspect in which things or circumstances are mentally or naturally viewed

-         vision - the aspect in which things or circumstances are viewed otherwise than by ordinary sight

For the disciple of Jesus Christ, it’s not a matter of either/or but a healthy blend of the two aspects for viewing life—God created us with the capacity to see in the natural, but He wants us to come and gain His perspective, “God-vision”, for walking through what we see in the natural (the stuff & circumstances of life). Unfortunately, good clear perspective mixed with “God-vision” are rare commodities among Christians, we tend to get stuck in the here and now—our immediate circumstances and situations…we must decide to “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5

Wag

Discipleship, "What Is It?" part 2

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-19 ESV

 

Discipleship is not only my favorite subject but it is God’s as well; the “Great Commission” makes that point clear. But what is it? If you Google search that question you will quickly discover that the Church is realizing that WE NEED TO MAKE DISCIPLES and not just converts.

 

The following are quotes on this subject; the first three are mine:

 

“To fear God more than man is the key which unlocks the door to one’s destiny!”

 

“Being a disciple requires a life-long commitment to Jesus, to the things of God and to the body of Christ (The Church). None could say, with any sincerity of heart, that he is committed to Christ if he does not care to grow in his knowledge of God through a lifestyle of study, prayer, worship and praise. A true disciple of Christ also carries the burden of His Lord—multiplication through active discipleship.”

 

“We don’t become a disciple of Jesus solely through conversion. With Jesus’ words “Make disciples” we see that a disciple is made not birthed; one is “re-born” through converting from a life contrary to God then invited to become a disciple of Jesus through interaction with Him via other disciples. Again, with Jesus’ words “…teaching them…” it is clear that discipleship is a life-long process in which each believer is transformed into the likeness of his Master, Christ. This then should be the Christians motto, ‘Those who don’t know…must be taught—those who do know…must be teachers!’ ”

 

For the rest of this list, I did the best I could to give proper recognition:

 

“Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

“Salvation is free... but discipleship will cost you your life.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

“The emphasis to-day is being put on the fact that we have to save men; we have not. We have to exalt the Saviour, who saves men and then make disciples in His Name.” Oswald Chambers

 

“Maturity doesn’t come with age; it comes with acceptance of responsibility”. Ed Cole

 

“One does not surrender a life in an instant—that which is lifelong, can only be surrendered in a lifetime.” Jim Elliot

 

“God’s plan for an individual’s life is not incubation, but transformation. The church is a place where God empowers people to become Christlike. Today, heaven is again calling each of us to break free of the shell of “religion” and embrace the liberty and power of a Christlike life.” Francis Frangipane

 

“Our call is not to be conformed to the world, but by grace to be transformed by God. This call is not to be static, but to move beyond rigidity and relativism, tribalism and compromise. It is not to resist all change, bury our heads and dig in our feet. Rather, it is a cry to be transformed by God in a changing world without being conformed to its contemporary powers. What a challenge for the people of God!” Dick Keyes

 

“Christianity does not consist in any partial amendment of our lives, any particular moral virtues, but in an entire change of our natural temper, a life wholly devoted to God.” William Law

 

“If you have not chosen the Kingdom of God first, it will in the end make no difference what you have chosen instead.” William Law

 

“Until you have given up your self to Him you will not have a real self...” C.S. Lewis

 

“No man has the mind of Christ, except him who makes it his business to obey him.” George MacDonald

 

“How disabled the body of Christ has become because our primary purpose for church attendance has been to hear one man exercise his gifts, rather than to prepare people to develop their gifts for ministry, not only within the church but within society.” David R. Mains

 

“A Christian is not of hasty growth...but rather like the oak, the progress of which is hardly perceptible, but in time becomes a deep-rooted tree.” John Newton

 

“The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort. This means that to be a follower of Jesus you must renounce comfort as the ultimate value of your life.” John Ortberg

 

“Christianity must evoke from the believer the same response it drew from the first disciples: a passionate desire to obey God - a willingly entered-into discipline. That is the beginning of true discipleship. That is the beginning of loving God” Randy Peck

 

“You have but one Pattern; follow Him inwardly and outwardly. If other believers will go step for step with you, well; but if not, follow Him!” John Wesley

 

“Blessed is the man who finds out which way God is moving and then gets going in the same direction.” Unknown

 

Conclusion… Let’s be about the Kings business and MAKE DISCIPLES!

 

Wag

Cleanse - To Purify; To Make Clean; To Remove Filth Or Foul Matter Of Any Kind

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:-9 ESV

 

The word cleanse is used twice and each time it speaks to a very specific need of the human soul… to be forgiven and to be found right in the eyes of God.

 

cleanse - to purify; to make clean; to remove filth or foul matter of any kind

 

In the original Greek the word for cleanse places emphasis on “making or purging” – illustrating that man can’t cleanse himself, he must be “made clean”! Only in this can ones conscience be free from the guilt of sin.

 

Sin is simply the act of “missing the mark”. Sin is an archery term and an archer who can not hit the bulls-eye will adjust and re-adjust until he hits his target – the “bulls-eye”. The bulls-eye that man is to hit is Christ. We are to aim for Him (seeking to be Christ-like in our characters) and each time we miss that mark we are to adjust and try again. Now, sin manifests in many different ways; just as each archer will miss the bulls-eye in varying degrees (high, low, left, right, somewhere on the target to completely off the board), humans will miss the target in varying degrees (sex, greed, lies, drugs, thievery, rage etc.) and we all need the same thing… forgiveness smothered with grace. Jesus’ blood provides for this.

 

Unrighteousness is the condition we are found in if we don’t adjust our aim and shoot right. To be righteous is to be “in” right standing with God. It’s not perfection, for only Christ is perfect, but it is being “in” Christ and then benefiting (through union with Him) from His rightness with His Father, God.

 

Consider again, the lyrics of one of the most famous songs in Christendom:

 

What Can Wash Away My Sin

What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the blood of Jesus

For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus! 

Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ‘tis all of grace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus! 

This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

 

I hope you are getting the point of this post – God absolutely, positively, without question is madly in love with YOU! If you want peace of mind, freedom from feeling guilty - then I beg you… Let Go And Let God! I know that is an over used sentiment but in this case it is valid. God is longing to cleanse you from your sin and your unrighteousness.

 

Here is another song that has been gaining in popularity because speaks to the simple truth, He loves us – period!

 

He Loves Us

John Mark McMillan

 

He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy

When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me

And oh, how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us so

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves

We are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking

So Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,

When I think about, the way…

He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves

Yeah, He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves

Cause He loves us, 
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh how He loves us,
Oh how He loves us, 
Oh how He loves

 

Wag

Live Well, It Is For His Glory!

Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. Colossians 4:5 GNB

 

Normally, I like to focus on the fact that God accepts us 100% - there is nothing any of us can do to affect this…He loves us each as much as He ever has and ever will – period! His love for us doesn’t increase as we “mature” nor does it decrease when we “fail”. But… He does desire for us to become more and more like His Son. The more Christ-like we are…the more people are attracted to the One who can set them free!

 

As the Church, we represent God to the world and it is His name and reputation on the line, NOT OURS. Those whom we come into contact with each and every day form an opinion as to who/what we are. That opinion may not always be accurate but we all know that first impressions matter, right?

 

While reading Colossians the other day I came across this interpreter’s perspective on the above verse (Albert Barnes from Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible):

 

§  People of the world judge of religion, not from the profession, but from the life of its friends.

§  they judge of religion, not from preaching, or from books, or from the conduct of its Founder and His apostles, but from what they see in the daily walk and conversation of the members of the church.

§  they understand the nature of religion so well as to know when its friends are or are not consistent with their profession.

§  they set a much higher value on honesty and integrity than they do on the doctrines and duties of religion; and if the professed friends of religion are destitute of the principles of truth and honesty, they think they have nothing of any value. They may be very devout on the Sabbath; very regular at prayer-meetings; very strict in the observance of rites and ceremonies - but all these are of little worth in the estimation of the world, unless attended with an upright life.

§  no professing Christian can possibly do good to others who does not live an upright life. If you have cheated a man out of never so small a sum, it is vain that you talk to him about the salvation of his soul; if you have failed to pay him a debt when it was due, or to finish a piece of work when you promised it, or to tell him the exact truth in conversation, it is vain for you to endeavor to induce him to be a Christian. He will feel, if he does not say - and he might very properly say - that he wants no religion which will not make a man honest.

§  no person will attempt to do much good to others whose own life is not upright. He will be sensible of the inconsistency, and will feel that he cannot do it with any sense of propriety; and the honor of religion, therefore, and the salvation of our fellow-men, demand that in all our intercourse with others, we should lead lives of the strictest integrity.

 

Again, God loves and accepts us not because of our perfect & upright life but because of the blood Jesus shed on the cross in our behalf. This issue isn’t about whether or not you are going to spend eternity with God but it may just have baring on someone else’s eternity – yes, we each are responsible for our own decisions and none can ultimately blame someone else for their decision to reject so great a gift as salvation through Christ alone but, I for one would hate it if someone could look at me and say that my example turned them off to God. Am I perfect? No way! Do I fail in front of Him and others? Absolutely! But I seek to live each day according to His pleasure (the best that I can) so that others would know Him…

Wag

God Loves You And He Is Not Mad At You!

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13-14 ESV

 

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. Colossians 2:13-14 ESV

 

I have always had a problem with the bumper sticker which reads – “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven…” My problem with it is that often there is a shirking of responsibility “to become Christ-like” in our behavior, behind the bold statement so casually stuck on the back of our car. I am not going to spend anymore time on this…that is for another day.

 

That being said though, there is also great truth within the message – we aren’t expected by God to be perfect, that’s impossible. Only Jesus is perfect and in and through His perfectness, we find our forgiveness! Thank You God! This leads me to the point of this post.

 

First, I find it very cool that verses 13 & 14 in two different chapters speak to the same point. I don’t know what, if anything, that means – it was just cool J.

 

I want to re-write the sticker, place it on the driver side of the window and then write a second one for the passenger side. The first one should read “Christians are delivered, transferred, redeemed and forgiven” The second one should read “I was dead in my sin but GOD, (I love the “but God’s” in the scripture – they are always loaded with some kind of power statement regarding His activity within His creation) made me alive…forgiving my sinfulness and canceling the debt I owed by way of the Cross.”

 

I want to break down each nugget of truth within this text –

§  DELIVERED – to deliver is to 1. free; to release, as from restraint; to deliver one from captivity. 2. to rescue, or save.

§  TRANSFERRED – to transfer is to 1. move somebody or something to a different position or location or from the control of one person or organization to that of another 2. transplant: lift and reset in another soil or situation 3. a changing of ownership

§  REDEEMED – to redeem is to 1. repurchase captured goods or prisoners; the act of procuring the deliverance of persons or things from the possession and power of captors by the payment of an equivalent; ransom; release 2. deliverance from bondage, distress

§  FORGIVEN – to forgive is to pardon; to remit (In pardoning sin, God releases the sinner from the condemnation of the law because of Christ’s work on the cross; His death removes the sinner’s actual liability to eternal wrath on account of it. The sinner is by His grace, freed from the guilt and penalty of his sins.)

§  ALIVE – 1. a state of action; unextinguished; undestroyed; unexpired 2. in a scriptural sense, regenerated; born again

 

If you are a Christian, rejoice and again I say rejoice in what He has given you.

If you are not walking in a sense of forgiveness, if you feel despair, hopelessness – please email me and let me help you… GOD LOVES YOU AND HE IS NOT MAD AT YOU!

Wag

Discipleship, "What Is It?" part 1

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20 ESV

Any of you who know me are not surprised that I am writing about “discipleship”… This is my favorite subject, not because it is necessarily exciting, fun or even popular – although it is very exciting (there is nothing more enjoyable than watching an individual get fired-up for the things of the Kingdom) and it is filled with very and challenging season’s & events! Yet, it is one of the most controversial and un-popular subjects of modern day Christendom. I personally believe it is the lack of solid Biblical and Holy Spirit led discipleship that keeps Western Christianity weak in influence.

The root of discipleship is not contrived in the mind of man…quite the contrary; it is at the heart of God’s plan for you and me! God wants us to be shaped and molded into the image of His Son, Jesus and He has provided the vehicle for the Godly development of our character in discipleship. We don’t “accidentally” become Christ-like in our behavior - we must be intentional in shaping our life-pattern to that of Christ’s and only through Biblical discipleship can this happen.

Today, I read a great quote by Dallas Willard; he was speaking to fact that the lack of discipleship within the Church today is the proverbial “elephant the room”. He says that we need to “…make disciples and let converts happen instead of intending to make converts and let disciples happen…”. Converts are not God’s ultimate plan for man, yes one must be converted in order to become a disciple but making disciples is the call upon the Church.

Being a disciple requires a life-long commitment to Jesus, to the things of God and to the body of Christ (The Church). It is impossible for a true disciple of Christ to say, with any sincerity of heart, that he is committed to Christ if he does not care to grow in the knowledge of God. A true disciple of Christ also carries the burden of His Lord—multiplication through active discipleship. It’s interesting to note the definition of the little 2 letter word “go”. Go means to be habitually in a certain state or condition of action. In the context of Matthew 28:19 it also means to be aggressive in the process of making disciples (not like the cults with their overzealous annoyance’s) but to be aggressively about the King’s agenda of making of disciples.

We don’t become a disciple of Jesus solely through conversion. With Jesus’ words “Make disciples” we see that a disciple is made not birthed; one is “re-born” through converting from a life contrary to God then invited to become a disciple of Jesus through interaction with Him via other disciples. Again, with Jesus’ words “…teaching them…” it is clear that discipleship is a life-long process in which each believer is transformed into the likeness of his Master, Christ. This then should be the Christians motto, ‘Those who don’t know…must be taught—those who do know…must be teachers!’

More quotes on Discipleship:
Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

How disabled the body of Christ has become because our primary purpose for church attendance has been to hear one man exercise his gifts, rather than to prepare people to develop their gifts for ministry, not only within the church but within society. David R. Mains

No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life, wholly yielded, adjusted and obedient to Him. D.L. Moody

Christianity must evoke from the believer the same response it drew from the first disciples: a passionate desire to obey God - a willingly entered-into discipline. That is the beginning of true discipleship. That is the beginning of loving God. Randy Peck

Life is a pilgrimage of learning, a voyage of discovery in which our mistaken views are corrected, our distorted notions adjusted, our shallow opinions deepened and some of our vast ignorance diminished. John Stott

You have but one Pattern; follow Him inwardly and outwardly. If other believers will go step for step with you, well; but if not, follow Him! John Wesley

Wag