Discipleship and Discipling

I spent 3 years in Zambia at a mission boarding school. In my time there, I made many mistakes but I truly loved the students. By God’s grace, this did touch many of them. What a blessing it is to hear students tell me many years later that I helped them to grow closer to God. But when I was there, I struggled with my role as a teacher. I wondered if I couldn’t have a greater impact if I was with a small group of students for more of my time. I saw many students who seemed to want to follow Jesus, make decisions to follow Christ, but there was not much visible fruit that anything had changed. Yet these students were preached to every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They had heard and, they knew in their minds the truth, but the truth did not set the majority free. “What was missing?” I asked myself later. I believe discipleship was missing. And this is the topic that the Lord has laid on my heart lately. So the topic is The Great Omission - Disciples. When we think of Jesus’ last words recorded in the book of Matthew, commonly known as The Great Commission, His last instructions are important for those of us who accept Him as Savior. What does the Great Commission tell us about what was on the heart of our Lord when He left the disciples? Matt. 28:18-20 Then Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all things I have commanded you. And surely I am with you even until the end of the age.” Matt. 28:18-20 Dallas Willard in his book The Great Omission, which I highly recommend asks, What has the N.A. church done with the Great Commission for the most part? What do we mostly think about? We focus on the go and convert people so that they will accept Christ as Savior. Once they are converted, our part is done. The Holy Spirit had the rest to do. What is omitted, left out and ignored? Another writer stated that we often think of making disciples as a simple process of converting, add water through baptism and you have disciples. In his book Disciples are Made - not born, Walter A. Heinrichsen states that we are to teach others also, this is where discipling takes up a head of steam...teaching others cannot be done solely in a classroom setting. It entails the imparting of a life. He emphasizes that it is not as simple as much of our processed food today - add water and you have milk, or juice or even a fully rehydrated meal. Conversion and discipling are not the same thing. And therein lies the great omission. We may have separated the two. Jesus did not. His instruction was to go and make disciples of all nations. It did not say go and make believers, or go and make converts. According to Dallas Willard, “The word “disciple” means a learner, a student, an apprentice, a practitioner. Disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of their life on earth.” The Great Omission 2006 Every aspect of life...Are we living in a completely sold out way, or do we keep some areas to ourselves? Our society has a tendency to compartmentalize our lives. We keep our viewing of movies and TV separate from our Christian walk. After all what would Jesus care bout what I watch in my free time? Or what games I play or what books I read or...the list can go on and on. What are the things that you don’t consider God has an interest in that fill your life? If we do not give all parts of our lives to Christ, and fail to pursue Him with all of our being, we are not truly giving up all and following Jesus. In the end we are unchanged and ineffective - not really disciples like the 12 that followed Jesus, leaving family, friends and occupation to learn from the master. True disciples are people who pursue Christ with all that they are and have, imitators of Christ, living as Christ would live his life in and through us. How can we do this? Acts 1:8 You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. And surely I am with you until the end of the age. This promised Holy Spirit which had not come to the disciples until the day of Pentecost empowered them to be witnesses wherever they would be. They were changed people, and it was noticeable in every part of their lives. Willard states that “the church of God is present where people gather together in the power of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ.” p.51 This power of the resurrected life is a totally transformed life, and the power to change comes from the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are not passive vessels that God chooses to impact and change with our consent, but rather it is up to us to pursue God, to practice the life of Jesus in pursuit of Him, knowing Him and becoming like Him. Willard repeatedly states that "grace is opposed to earning, not to effort." To follow Jesus and become like him requires both decision and effort. For to be disciplined in life and thought requires a devotion of effort. What was the example of Jesus? Some activities that Jesus lived out are often called spiritual disciplines, and disciples invariably practice some of these disciplines in following Jesus. This is not a complete list, but several of these practices are scripture memorization, solitude, prayer, meditation, fasting and singing spiritual psalms or hymns. These are infused in the life of the disciple of Jesus, and draw us to Him, reveal him to us, and transform us with the power of the Holy Spirit in us. A passage that I believe encapsulates these ideas of discipleship are found in Colossians. Paul is telling us about the importance of pursuing Christ, living in Christ, Colossians 1   4...we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— 5 the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel 6 that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace. This first section talks about the difference that was seen in Disciples of Jesus, the Church. Others were talking about the faith, love, hope and fruit that was seen in the lives of these who lived with a different compass. They had a different focus or end in mind. They were living lives of Faith in Jesus Christ. Does the world talk about you or I in this way? In verse 6 Paul says that it is a continual process, this bearing fruit and growing. It started when they heard the gospel and continued in their lives. We all who are saved are in a stage of this process. Let us jump to vs. 9.  9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. This next section is focusing on the life that is lived of growth and maturing in Christ. Paul says they pray continually that they will be filled with knowledge, wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives. Why? So that they could live a life worthy, pleasing, bearing fruit, growing in knowledge of God. Strengthened with all power. What an amazing picture of what we can be. That is my prayer for you and I. May we continue to pursue God, to live in union with the Triune God as he shapes and molds us. Vs. 13-20 emphasize the power of Jesus and his work of what he has done for us. In vs. 21 we see this.  21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.  28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. Here is the power of discipleship, where we strenuously contend with all energy, living in Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father, obeying all things He has commanded, and teaching these to others as well. Christ has done everything for us to make us holy in His sight, but we must continue in our faith in the gospel of Jesus. This requires effort, tenacity, discipline. We can’t stop with the gospel of redemption and justification, but continue in sanctification and glorification. This means we must live a life changed and pure, of obedience and devotion to Christ. This is by grace, but requires effort on our part. In Colossians Chapter 2 vs. 5 He mentions the importance of discipline. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is. Paul is delighted by the churches discipline and firm faith. Discipline and disciple have a common root word. Discipline in the online Merriam-Webster dictionary was defined as training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. Disciple means a learner. So the two are closely connected, as the disciple learns, he uses this discipline, the training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character. Whose character are we to imitate? vs. 6&7 continue to urge us to live lives in Christ.  6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. Jesus is to be our root, we are built in him. Let me close with this passage, as God speaks to you each individually about where your heart is in the process of following Jesus. Perhaps you have been distracted by hardships or earthly concerns. May this draw you back to Him. Or if you have never really committed to being a disciple of Jesus, may you commit to him, for He is faithful and will reward those who diligently seek Him. Perhaps you thought you could accept Jesus forgiveness and then go on living your life as before. You could, but that is not what Jesus called disciples for. He told those who wanted to follow him that there is a cost, whether family and household, oxen and fields, friends and popularity See Luke Ch.14:25-36 for further study on the cost. Yes there is a cost, but to not become a disciple can be much more costly. Colossians 3 in closing... Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.  5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. So there you see in bold a list of actions that we are to be doing as disciples and disciplined followers of Jesus. Let us live out our lives of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, touching the lives of others for the glory of our Father!