A few weeks ago a guy named Cory Fehr came to my church and gave a message on “disciple making”. That’s Christianese for how one person can help another person (usually little kids and younger bros and sis’, but it goes both ways) grow in personal maturity and as a follower of Jesus. It’s deeper than just getting rid of bad habits or bad influences, it’s about living a life based on convictions rather than impulses, loving people based on Christ’s love rather than simple personal affection and find our joy and rest in God himself. Cory made 3 observations about Jesus’ pattern of discipleship that really challenged me, both in their force of clarity and in how I have fallen quite short of them. They come from Mark 3:13-14
Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.
1. Grace and Intentionality. Jesus chose and called a small group of guys that he wanted to invest and pour his life and love into. He didn’t have an application process, his choice was not based on performance or even of character. He chose them out of his grace and was going to create men of great faith and sacrifice because of the love and direction he was going to give them. Point? Prayerfully and intentionally choose a few people around you that you can invest and pour into. Don’t choose the highest potentials. Trust that if you are faithful in showing God’s love and truth God will make them into men or women of great faith and boldness.
2. Walk the walk and Plug them in. These 12 were not like the rest of the crowds that followed Jesus. These 12 would see how Jesus dealt with the daily routines of life. They would see how he reacted to challenges and disappointments, they would see how he treated people around him, they would how he dealt with money, with having plenty and having need. Would Jesus get annoyed at setbacks? Would he give into a little selfish pleasure after a long day of hard ministry? Would he make promises he really wasn’t planning to keep? Point? Two things. One, we gotta walk the walk. We can’t lead people where we haven’t been. We can’t disciple people into people that we are not. And Two, we gotta plug people into the daily routines of life. Don’t just box discipleship into one hour blocks where both people share well crafted stories of the struggles of the past week. Do stuff together and meet challenges together and show by example how a Christ filled heart lives differently. Gotta go to Wegmans? Take someone with you and learn to be good stewards of time and money together(And how to be safe and responsible drivers). Gonna cook dinner for some people, ask someone to help you do it. It’s true people are busy, it doesn’t always work out. But be intentional. Many times you’ll strike out but every so often you’ll make a hit.
3. Empower them. Crazy stuff. Jesus calls these twelve and what does he tell them to do? Go preach and cast out demons. That’s like giving an automatic rifle to 6 year olds. After only a few months of watching Jesus do his preaching and healing thing He sends them out with power and authority. That word authority in the Greek mean exactly what it says: Authority! The ability to make the decision on the spot. Point? We gotta empower the people we disciple. Give them responsibilities and ownership over tasks, events, projects. Give them room to explore, work, fail and recover. The line between a newbie and a veteran is only as thick as the the distance the next opportunity and only as long as the roadblocks we choose to put in their way. The truth is there are plenty of people younger than me who will surpass me in wisdom, passion and ability. How dare I stand in their way when God is calling them to service? Finally, aren’t we all facing new challenges we hardly know how to deal with ourselves? We need people ahead of us to point us away from the potholes and onto the open roads. So in all these things we should actively seek out those can learn from and grow with.
There is an audio version of the message. If you are interested in a copy ask me.
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