The Discipleship Journey

Pastor Pete Beck III • February 17, 2015

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. Acts 13:2-3 (NASB)

The first thing that needs to be stressed is that it is not so much that the church has a mission as it is true that the mission has a church. The Great Commission is an extension of God’s mission to seek and save the lost, which began when Jesus came to earth to redeem a people to God. Our Lord sent his followers to do the same by sharing the gospel in his name. In the passage above from the Book of the Acts of the Apostles , the disciples made it their first priority to delight in the Lord and set aside time to be in his presence with no other agenda. In that context, the Spirit communicated what he wanted them to do. The resulting missionary thrust did not come from men planning a strategy, but from the Spirit. God wants us to DELIGHT in him before we go about the DOING of his great mission. This is what we attempted to do by spending time in prayer and fasting. If we put doing first, we may end up becoming legalistic, frustrated, or man-centered. If we put loving God first, he will make sure we get around to loving people by serving them and going to make disciples. When we make our first priority to seek God, we illustrate that we believe he is in charge of the mission and knows how to direct it.

The DOING part can be looked at as a process or journey – The Discipleship Journey. This can be broken down into parts or segments of the journey, so to speak. Let’s look at each point.

  • 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.

How about you? Are you ready to commit yourself to God and his mission? If so, why not pray this prayer?

O Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Son to redeem me from my sin. Forgive me for being self-centered in my relationship with you. I now realize that my life is meant to be spent partnering with you to enlarge your family by adding many more through the gospel. I commit myself to be a disciple maker, no matter what it may end up costing me. Holy Spirit, I depend on you to equip and empower me for the task. Lord, Jesus, I submit to you because you are the Lord of the Harvest. Use me, O Lord, as you see fit. Amen.

By Pete Beck III February 10, 2025
Following Christ is not a spectator sport. Each of us has a role to play and a job to do.
By Pete Beck III December 18, 2024
Bitterness imprisons its victims and subjects them to demonic harassment, a version of self-inflicted torture.
By Pete Beck III December 17, 2024
One of the most difficult and challenging times is when we are not sure of what to do next.
By Pete Beck III December 13, 2024
When the gospel accomplishes its purpose in us, it brings glory to our Lord and a sense of peace and contentment to us, while it furthers the advance of God’s kingdom.
By Pete Beck III December 12, 2024
Our heavenly Father has great interest in our lives and shows his children what he wants us to do.
By Pete Beck III December 3, 2024
Christianity is not a spectator sport. The Reformation renewed some very important truths of the faith that had been lost over time, one of which is the priesthood of the believer . This doctrine means that in the New Covenant there is no clergy-laity distinction. Everyone is called to ministry. All followers of Christ are called, equipped, and expected to partner with the Holy Spirit in the adventure of using their spiritual gifts, time, energy, finances – everything – to fish for people and encourage them to become followers of Christ and fishers of men in their own right. Every football and basketball season an interesting phenomenon takes place. People personally identify with their favorite teams. When their team is doing well, they feel good about themselves and become enthusiastic, vocal, and visible fans. What is so intriguing is that many of us think that we somehow acquire greater worth and prestige, if our team excels and does better than the other teams. It is almost as if we were the ones who are competing. All big sporting events are filled with such fans who get satisfaction out of watching others play the game. So it is with many people who attend churches. We all know that playing and spectating are vastly different. When we spectate, we can imagine ourselves making better decisions and better plays than the players on the court or the field, but the reality is that we are not playing. Jesus has invited his followers actually to participate in the greatest adventure of being his Spirit-filled and empowered representatives. Unfortunately most of us who call ourselves Christians are merely spectating fans. We may agree with the concept of being involved in the Great Commission, but we have fallen into the trap of being passive, sitting on the sidelines, hoping that someone else will lead our family member, neighbor, or friend to Christ and teach them how to follow him fully. Many Christians think that evangelism is inviting someone to church, where they will hear the preacher talk about Christ. We do not see ourselves as the one who can best share the gospel with them. However, the truth of the matter is that we cannot transfer our responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission to someone else. God does not give us the option of merely being fans or spectators. God asks us to be players – disciples and disciple makers. Not everyone is equally gifted in this area, but we are all asked to participate. Some may win thousands to Christ, while others may help only a few become followers of the Master over a lifetime. Sadly, a great number of those who call themselves Christians have never led even one person to faith in Christ. In some cases they have given up trying. This ought not be. Could this be because we do not even talk about Jesus in a serious way with anyone outside of church meetings? Suggestions Ask God to forgive us for succumbing to laziness, fear, and the spirit of the age that tells us to keep our faith to ourselves. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir in us the fire of enthusiasm for Jesus and the Gospel. Ask him to give us a love for those who live around you who do not yet know Christ. Familiarize ourselves with the Gospel. (I recommend The King Jesus Gospel by McKnight. You can read my summary by clicking here or you may wish to read my articles on the subject .) Pray for opportunities to speak meaningfully to people. Make it a priority to get to know the people in your neighborhood, at work, at the gym, at school, and wherever you have the opportunity to connect. As we spend time in conversation, we will begin to see how Jesus and the Gospel can help them. Our care for them may give us a platform from which to speak about Jesus to them. Visit people and have them over to our homes. The more time we spend with people, the greater the opportunity we provide for the Holy Spirit to work in the relationships. Offer to pray for people on the spot when a genuine need for God’s help surfaces. Join a group (or start one) whose focus is fishing for people and making disciples. In many cases this will be what some call a “missional” church, as opposed to an event-oriented spectator church. We need to be encouraged in the work of the Great Commission because, although it is rewarding, it can be difficult and discouraging at times. Never, never, never, never give up. Our heavenly reward will be great!
Show More
Share by: