A Discipling Movement Begins with Feeding Jesus' Sheep

"Feed my sheep." (John 21:15-19)

Jesus had just spent years pouring his life into Peter and the other disciples. It had gone fairly well, but of course there was a lot of heartache and pain too. Judas turned his back on Jesus. Peter denied Jesus three times. All of the disciples except John ran away. All of that time invested and Jesus still had a messy lot of ragamuffins. Such is disciple making. People are deeply broken and we need to be reparented in what it means to be human, to live a good life, and what actually matters. We know that people were created to glorify God and enjoy him forever. I appreciate the Westminster Confession for making this clear for us. The truth is, we can know this and fail to believe it. If the disciples who had been with Jesus fell into this trap, we are likely even more vulnerable to it. Jesus looked at Peter in John 21 and asked him if he loved him several times. Peter replied with a resounding yes every time and with increasing grief that Jesus had to ask. Of course Jesus was doing something symbolic here by having him declare his love three times, the same number of his denials. He followed each yes with "feed my sheep." Peter was to show his love for Jesus by pouring himself out for new disciples in the same way Jesus had poured himself out for Peter and the other disciples. Everything he had learned from Jesus, seen Jesus do, and practiced with Jesus was coming to a head with this command of Christ. This is just as true for us today as it was for them.

We cannot expect to make new disciples if we are not ready and willing to feed the sheep we already have. A movement of disciple making requires many disciple makers ready to engage the mission. We are at a phase in church history, where our churches lack people who have been discipled and are ready to make disciples. It will be very difficult for us to make any real attempt at building a discipleship movement in the church until we have several who have been apprenticed to a high level in the ways of Jesus. We have been good at giving information. We have well informed churches to a large degree. They know theology and perhaps some catechism, but knowledge will never be enough.

Mike Breen, in his book Building a Discipling Culture, reminds us that Jesus not only informed but provided an atmosphere for apprenticeship. Here people can watch the master and learn to imitate him. This is important because by imitating a discipling leader people learn to actually apply what we have learned in real time. Then we can innovate and learn to how to live our lives in our particular context as Jesus would live if he were us. Mike makes it clear that immersion is critical to learning the way of Jesus, not just a core of theological concepts. We indeed want to have a strong theology but we also need a practical theology.

So back to where we started... the sheep are hungry and they may not even know it. In fact, they are often starved. How can we go about getting a new disciple making movement started in our local churches? It starts with each leader discipling a few potential leaders. It will be a slow burn. It will require some major shifts in the way we operate. It will take a lot of time and just like it was for Jesus, it will be messy. Also, few of us have been discipled in a meaningful way that goes beyond an information dump into our heads. We lack the experiential part so we will likely struggle, but we have to trust the Spirit to lead us and go for it.

I suggest that we do three things. First let's pour over the scriptures, especially the Gospels and Acts, while asking the question "how would Jesus make disciples if he were me?" Second, if there is someone in your life you want to pattern your Christian life after, ask that person to disciple you. I don't care how long you have been a Christian or even a pastor, if you have never been intentionally disciple in both word and deed, you need to sit under someone in order to see an example. Knowing isn't enough. We need to be apprenticed. Thirdly, jump into the pool even if you aren't quite ready. We have the Holy Spirit to help us and he will. The best way to learn is to be immersed into discipling ministry. You will make mistakes, but as long as you follow Jesus, staying committed to his Word and Spirit, you will be okay. You will stay on the path by following the signs you get from Jesus. Let the Spirit be your discipling GPS and invest into a few other people who need to be discipled.

So... what is God saying to you though this? Who is he calling you to disciple? Who can help disciple you so your gaps can be filled in? Let's not settle for less that what Jesus called us to do. Let's feed his sheep so we can build an army of disciple makers who are ready to take on the yoke of Jesus and help others along in their journey. This is the only way we can be truly effective at passing on the ways of Jesus to new believers. Jesus body must be equipped and engaged. You and I are the ones to prepare them. Let's go!

Faith is a Fight

One thing that is certain is this... growing and maintaining faith in Christ will always be a battle. The Apostle Paul reminds us that we are to "fight the good fight of the faith" in order to "take hold of the eternal life" we have been called to (1 Timothy 6:12). What are we fighting against?

Many things...
1. The undercurrent of culture that wants to pull us away from Christ.
2. The darkness within ourselves that longs to go with the culture.
3. The devil and his minions who know all too well your sin patterns, where you are weak and prone to failure.
4. Other people who would rather you play nice with the world than follow a counter cultural revolutionary like Jesus.

I could keep going but you get the idea. The deck is stacked against us with regards to following Jesus in the world. So how do we win this battle? We win through grit and determination, through discipline empowered by the Holy Spirit. We win by having a relentless commitment to achieve everything Jesus said that we would be able to in him. We were never promised ease or worldly contentment. We were only promised that those who persevere to the end would be saved, rewarded with eternal life in the presence of Christ Jesus and a place at his table. We get to be his family, adopted through his blood as sons and daughters of the Most High God.

Christian, do you want this more than anything? Because my observations tell me that there are many in our churches who want a lot of other things more. Are you willing to be truly inconvenienced for the cause of Christ, for his church and his kingdom? This is a question every Christian needs to be asking and it's a very important one. Our answers will show us a lot about where our hearts truly are and what truly moves us.

What do you see in yourself? What's going well in your walk with Jesus right now? What is a struggle? What is God saying to you about all of this? May the Spirit lead you into all truth, just as Jesus said he would.

Time to Let Old Things Die?

"It's time to let old things die." -Kylo Ren

Kylo Ren may be evil, but he has a point. I mean, honestly, let's consider the idea he set forth. There are times in history where something old has to fall by the wayside in order for something new to emerge. Sometimes it's something entirely new, and sometimes it is a refreshing of something old. In any case, something old has to step aside for the new thing to arise. Of course I am speaking about that which is spiritual, though the point applies elsewhere too. Just because something is new does not make it better. This is often the case. However, if we do not try to do new things, we cannot move forward and I am convinced that God wants us always moving forward. The Gospel must advance. The church must flex and grow all while holding steadily to our ancient truth we received from God through Christ and his Apostles.

Churches tend to struggle at changing and taking new roads. It is true that we humans tend to be creatures of habit, so this is no surprise. We get attached to that which worked, ways we saw God move and form us in the past. Our tendency is to think it was the form rather than the Spirit who provided the growth. It has never been about the forms. The gospel was designed to perfectly meld itself to any time and culture, appropriating what is true and jettisoning what is false. As cultures change, so must the way we express ourselves as the church. Our content is unchanging but our form must always be.

Kylo Ren saw Jedi and Sith orders which had lost the ability to change with the times. As a result, they both failed to accomplish the will of the Force and they both fell apart. Even though Star Wars isn't real, it echoes something which is. We Christians can get so focused on what we think is the right format, that we forget to seek out the God who has called us to follow him. Thus we may find ourselves giving lip service to Jesus but failing to serve him and becoming obsolete with regards to his mission in the world. We must be quick to reform ourselves however Jesus leads us to. We must hold loosely to forms and firmly to Word and Spirit. Some things never change, particularly the gospel, our need for community, and spiritual discipline. Other things must change. Jesus told us that new wine is meant for new wineskins unless we want our efforts to be disastrous (Mark 2:22). Jesus' words were a commentary on the spirituality of his day, but they are an important word for us too. We are just as prone to stagnation and unwillingness to follow God as they were back then. God does not want his church to be lazy or stagnant. He is calling us out. Will we depend on what we know and what we can do? Or will we depend on Christ and where he is leading us? Will we be willing to get out of the way so Christ can shine through us?

This is an important question for anyone who desires to follow Jesus well, but especially for leaders. I pray that God will give you wisdom to see where he is leading, and willingness to go where he has called you to go.

Looking Forward

"Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body." -Mark 15:43 CSB

I wonder how many Americans who would call ourselves Christian could have such a statement written about us. What about our lives would say that we are looking forward to the kingdom of God? For many of us our days are too full of distractions to do much for the kingdom of God. We are often more devoted to culture, entertainment, reputation, and our various daily activities than we are to Christ and his kingdom. We do little with intent to bring glory to God. Doesn't this feel off base to anyone else?

I was raised in a Christian home and for that I am grateful. Also, I was raised in a theologically strong, mission oriented church. I would say that I was given just about every Christian advantage anyone could receive. Yet I didn't come to a point where my faith was personal to me until I was a teen. My religious background taught me a lot, but I could never hope to be much different than anyone else in the world until the Spirit of God wrecked my heart with the love of Jesus. Many people today are just like I was before Jesus made himself real to me. We believe in him intellectually, but our hearts remain relatively unconditioned by the message of the gospel.

How do I know this is true? Because of how few Christians I know who are truly bold about anything regarding their supposed faith. Joseph could have died for his devotion to Jesus. He risked status, reputation... his very livelihood to come out as someone who cared for Jesus and yet he did it. For many so called Christians in our day, we are afraid to stand up and take a Christian position on issues at hand for fear of what people might say or do. We are unwilling to put our phones down and pray. We are unwilling to turn off Facebook and Netflix for a while to spend time in God's word daily listening for his voice. I know we don't have Joseph's faith because there are few signs of such boldness amongst many believers in our culture today.

I don't write this to discourage anyone per se, but I do want to see people grieved over how little we love God. I want us to feel something again regarding Jesus and the life he has called us to. Perhaps if we could grieve over our sin and indifference again, we would turn our hearts back to God and the Spirit would walk with us and teach us as never before. Then also we would make a profound impact for the Gospel in our land.

I am crazy enough to believe that God wants a holy, single-minded church in America. He wants a church that is obsessed with Jesus, his glory, and his kingdom over everything else. I also know that God is not withholding himself from his children. If anything, we are withholding ourselves from him. Have you wandered from God? He is calling you to repent once again and return to him. If you are hearing him speak to you in this, realize he does not convict you to crush you, but to restore you. His endgame is your good and his glory. Those two are very closely related so don't tarry any longer in apathy and sin when Jesus is calling.

Oh... and remember that he loves you. His bloody cross and empty tomb stand eternally to remind you that this is true.

The Wrong Scorecard

I am convinced that much of Evangelical Christianity in the West has been playing with the wrong scorecard for a long time. We have measured success by the size of our buildings, by the number of attenders, by the signs and wonders produced in services, and by the number of hands raised at an alter call. I'm sure I can add several other metrics, but the common theme here is that these are all outward rather than inward. I would not assert that outward signs are a bad thing. In fact, they are important. However, outward signs are easily faked and that is my concern. Jesus has not called us to build a good show, but to make disciples. Disciple-making can only occur where inner transformation is taking place. 

There will be many people in hell who thought they were good with God, but will discover they were far from him. Rather than trusting in Jesus, they appeal to their works. They think that they are good because they raised their hand and walked down an isle during a church service. They think they are good because they speak in tongues or have performed signs and wonders. They think they are good because they were baptized. They missed the fact that it is not about outward appearances and works, but inner transformation that leads to good works. Jesus said that many would come to him saying "Lord, Lord" and appealing to their good works rather than to his good grace. Those will be cast out (Matthew 7).

People of God are a working, sign producing people. More important than the signs themselves, is the motivation behind them. Do we really love Jesus? Have our hearts been regenerated in his grace and truth? I am convinced that we Christians work from grace, not towards it. The difference is often subtle and hard to distinguish on the surface. Some discerning types of people might very well see motivation in a person, but for most people we have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. We can't see the condition of their heart so we have to go off of what we see. It's not so with God. He knows our hearts. He knows whether we serve him because we love him, or because we want something from him.

So what is the proper scorecard? Spiritual transformation is prominent. We should be asking ourselves whether or not we are actually becoming more like Jesus. If we are not, then we must question whether the Holy Spirit is involved with out spiritual pursuits at all. I have much more to say on this, but I am going to stop here. All I know for certain is that God is about his glory and he is about redeeming a people for his glory. Those whom he redeems he does not leave as we once were. In fact, Scripture teaches that those he foreknew, he also predestined and those he predestined he also gloried. It is a foregone conclusion then, that those who are in Christ will be like Jesus one day. Right now he is working with us to move the dial a lot closer to where it should be. None of us are perfect, but if we are being worked on by the Spirit, we should be getting closer. 

So then let's not look only to the external factors, but to the inner life which should be the motivation behind any externals we produce. Amen.