First, Dan's message at church last night really resonated with me. Or rather, it was more like a Gibbs-style smack upside the head, but either way it was really good. (I know, how can a smack upside the head be a good thing? Trust me. It was.) Last night, Dan talked about how Jesus went about making disciples as part of a series in the Gospel of Mark. I'll confess, this is not something I excel at. In fact, I feel a bit like a fish out of water when it comes to this topic of following Christ. But, there were a couple points that really hit home for me.
Being a disciple-maker is a natural outflow of being a Christ-follower. In Mark 1:17, Jesus tells Simon and Andrew, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people!" (HCSB) Not, "You might end up fishing for people", or "You'll probably fish for people". No. "I will make you fish for people." The NIV says that Jesus will send you out to fish for people. He will send us out. The problem is, we can refuse to go, which is in direct opposition to the command we are given in Matthew 28. "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations."
I can't really honestly say that I've ever invested in somebody's life in a way that says, "I'm discipling this person." Which causes me to question a few things. Do I really get what it means to follow Christ? Sure, I can spout off the right answers to the questions and I know all the right things to say, but when it comes down to it, will I be that person who gets to heaven by the skin of their teeth? How have I made an impact for eternity? Where do I start?
This is where I think my own discipleship process is severely lacking. While there have been people in my life who have invested in me and in my growth as a believer, I don't think there has really been that one person who has guided me and shown me what all of this is supposed to look like. I suppose some of it you figure out as you go along, but some things don't come as naturally to me as others. I also think that many of the people who have taken the time to invest in me have since left the area, left the church, etc, may have an effect as well. I don't know. Maybe I'm reaching here and the only person I can really look at as to why I'm not making disciples is me. Perhaps it's a combination of both.
Dan's last point about how Jesus made disciples was that He loved them. How? What is love? The Oxford Dictionary of English defines love as "A strong feeling of affection and sexual attraction for someone"..."Great interest and pleasure in something". This is how the world defines love. It is a feeling. But somehow, I don't think this is the kind of love we're talking about here.
There are several different types of love in the Bible. There is brotherly love, loving in a social sense (to welcome, to entertain, to be fond of, to love dearly), and then there is agape love. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that love is a feeling, but instead, it is an action. It is in how we serve our neighbor. It is a choice that we make.
And it is key to making disciples. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says,
1If I speak human or angelic languages
but do not have love,
I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge,
and if I have all faith
so that I can move mountains
but do not have love, I am nothing.
3And if I donate all my goods to feed the poor,
and if I give my body in order to boast
but do not have love, I gain nothing.
In all that I do for Christ, if I do not love, it means nothing.
How have I loved? Have I loved people in the same way Christ as loved me?
I failed to love someone today. I drove right by someone who I think was having car troubles because I was too focused on getting somewhere else to serve somebody else. Who had the greater need? I could have stopped and I cringed as I drove on by as I realized that I could have stopped. I probably could have done something to help. It's times like these that I am so grateful for the grace and forgiveness that I have in Christ.
Part 2 up next!
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