The Discipleship Journey

Invitation – “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” The Great Commission is God’s idea and plan, not ours. God calls us to join him, which gives us the opportunity to partner with the Spirit in the grandest endeavor in creation. When we understand the call, we have a decision to make: will we follow him and take on the mission or not? It is not enough to grasp the meaning of the call and agree that it is good. We must commit.

Commitment – This is when we repent and stop making excuses and obedience ceases to be merely a preference. For some of us, this is like coming out of the fog. Committed disciples accept the responsibility to partner with God in his mission of going and making disciples, which of course means we first become one ourselves. It takes faith to put our convictions into action. Moving from preference to commitment is where most of us find ourselves. We would not be part of LifeNet if we did not agree with the mission. What keeps most of us from making a full commitment is the sacrifice which is involved.

Sacrifice – Once we receive the call and make the commitment, we must make some major adjustments to our lifestyle. This can be compared to Esther waking up to her call to intercede for the imperiled Jewish people before the king at the risk of her own life. She accepted the call, made the sacrifice, and saved her people. For many of us, change is difficult, if not horrifying, especially if it involves moving out of our comfort zone. Metaphorically the cost of discipleship is the cross, which represents our wills being crossed by God’s. Disciples stand at a crossroad: they must choose to go God’s way, no matter how much it may cost. For a disciple, everything in life takes a back seat to God’s mission as we learn to first delight in God and secondly do his mission. Commitment to God’s mission requires us to give ourselves and all that we have, including our money, family and time, to the work of God. Whether or not we are willing to make this sacrifice separates the DINOs (Disciples in Name Only) from the real thing. It is easy for us to fool others and even ourselves with noble sounding words, but what we do reveals our true level of commitment. When Eliezar asked Rebecca to come with him to Canaan to marry Isaac, she unhesitatingly went. She modeled the kind of sacrifice God calls followers of Christ to make. When Jesus asked the rich young ruler to sell all and follow him, he showed his lack of depth and commitment by turning away. Today, in the church, it is easy to fool ourselves because we can mentally assent to the mission without abandoning ourselves to it. The Lord is challenging us to make a full commitment, just as he did to Rebecca thousands of years ago. The choice is ours: we can follow or walk away. Walking away leads to loss and great sadness, but following leads to joy, life, and fruitfulness.

Learning – We only become good at doing something by practice. We have to start somewhere with doing the mission, and that means initially we probably will not be very good at it. Nevertheless, we must have the humility and faith to begin. It was pointed out that lovingly serving people through building relationships, praying for them, and becoming a mentor to them is not hard. The hardest thing is beginning. Fear is overcome by doing. A disciple is a lifelong learner. God is at work around us in the lives of those we know and love, and even in strangers we encounter. He wants us to be on the look out for signs that he is working and to join him. We should be at rest and confident that he will give us opportunities and success in the mission. God wants us to place ourselves in places and situations where we can see him move in people’s lives and be a part of it. Staying at home or otherwise away from people will not accomplish this. Eliezar positioned himself at the well at the time of day when he knew young women would come to draw water. This gave him the greatest opportunity to meet the woman God had called to be Isaac’s wife. We must place ourselves where we may encounter those whom God has called. Visiting and hospitality are great ways to do this.

Loving – We learn to love by getting involved in people’s lives. It’s difficult to love people we do not know, except in some high sounding general sort of way that has no feet. Genuine love for people will compel us to continue joyfully in the mission, but we may have to begin because it is simply the right thing to do. If you choose to get involved with the mission, you will fall in love with people. At that point, continuing in the mission will be much more natural. If you stay at home simply minding your own business, you will become self-centered and not make the necessary people connections. Once again, the choice is ours. God is challenging us to forsake comfort and ease to place ourselves in life situations which greatly enhance the probability of establishing relationships and having meaningful conversations.

Persistence – The journey of following Jesus and making disciples is a marathon, not a dash. God has been extremely patient with us over the years, and he expects us to be patient with those with whom we are loving and working. It takes longer to disciple someone than you might expect; so, do not become weary with well doing, for in the end you will reap a reward. Don’t give up on anyone God has not given up on. We must remind ourselves that much of the fruit of disciple making is hidden. We cannot always see the deep work of God in a person’s life, but we must believe that it is happening. We must see with eyes of faith while we wait for the fruit to appear.

Reward –We come to know God through obeying and partnering in the mission with him, which is a reward in itself. God delights to see the fruit of the Spirit develop in our lives, and one day he will say, “Well done,” because we helped others come to Christ and become disciples in their own right. There is no greater joy than bearing fruit in God’s kingdom. God is challenging us to forsake the pursuit of things that cannot last in favor of things which will never pass away.