A couple of weeks ago we started looking at the book of Joshua. This book is in the Old Testament! It is part of the story of the escape of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the land that God had promised them – a land of milk and honey. When they came to the border of the land the first time, the Israelites chickened out. They didn’t trust God to help them and so they were destined to wander for another forty years in the desert. All this time, they were led by Moses but at the end of that forty years, Moses died and God appointed Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land. The book of Joshua is about the conquest of the Promised Land with Joshua leading the people.
In the first chapter God repeatedly told Joshua to be bold; he would take the land. He was to live by God’s word and God would be with him.
I want to get into chapter 2 but I do want to make a couple of comments about the remainder of chapter 1.
V.10 says, “Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel....” Joshua had been told to lead and he did. God had repeatedly told him to be bold, which probably indicates that he was not naturally bold. Leadership is not easy. Leadership should be approached with some trepidation. There are responsibilities that go with it and there are difficulties. The person who is too eager to lead is probably the wrong person to lead. Leadership requires boldness and obedience just as much as any other ministry.
Joshua began leading – despite his diffidence. Joshua took up the reigns. Joshua stepped into Moses’ big shoes. Joshua trusted that God would be with him.
Finally, in that chapter, there is like an oath of allegiance from the people. Followership is also not easy. Followership is a matter of obedience as much as leadership is. These people swore to obey Joshua just as they had obeyed Moses and to deal with anyone who rebelled against him.
READ Joshua 2
1. Why did Joshua send spies into the land when that had failed so miserably last time?
Forty years earlier the spies had said, “We can’t conquer it. There are giants in the land.” This time the question was not whether the land could be conquered. Joshua had explicitly said, “God is giving us this land.” The spies were sent in to see, not if they could conquer it, but how they could conquer it.
2. What were these good Jewish men doing going to the house of a prostitute?
Maybe they went there because that would be one of the last places you would expect to find God-fearing Jews. Or, tradition says that Rahab was also an innkeeper and history shows that women innkeepers were often also prostitutes. If she was an innkeeper, then staying in an inn would arouse no suspicion. It doesn’t necessarily suggest immorality on their part.
3. Rahab was a prostitute who told lies and betrayed her own people. Why did God save her?
Rahab is listed in the Hebrews 11 catalogue of the great heroes of faith. Really? Perhaps even more surprisingly, she is listed in Jesus’ family tree. If you look at Matthew 1, this Canaanite prostitute was Jesus’ great, great, great... 29 greats... grandmother.
Rahab said the spies had left the city. They hadn’t. They were on her roof. Is lying OK?
No, it is not. Honesty is one of the key characteristics of Christian character. Jesus said, “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’.” Our speech is to be straightforward, honest and clear.
The fact that Rahab lied doesn’t make lying right. But she was a Canaanite. The Canaanites were a thoroughly wicked and perverse people who worshipped pagan gods. Rahab had no knowledge of the ethical standards that God had given to the Israelites, such as the commandment to not bear false witness against your neighbour.
Alan Bennett said the other day that people in Thailand will lie because they will say what they think you want to hear and what will avoid shame. In countries where there is no Christian heritage there is also no Christian ethic. Increasingly, in our society, people do not have a basic understanding of right and wrong. At the point of coming to faith in Jesus, they may still reflect their old values, or lack of values. But God accepts them and then starts the process of refining.
God doesn’t expect us to be Christlike before we come to faith, but He does expect us to become Christlike afterwards.
So the king’s men went off to search the road – which, obviously was going to be a fruitless exercise because the spies were under the flax on the roof. At night, Rahab went up to talk to them. What was it that she said that meant that God saved her? Why is she considered a woman of faith? Wasn’t she just afraid? Did she not simply betray her own people out of self-interest, so as to save her own skin?
Look at v.11: The Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.
That is a declaration of faith! Rahab almost certainly had worshipped the Canaanite gods Baal and Asherah – a highly sexualised fertility cult. But she had had a revelation. The God of the Israelites was the God of heaven and earth. It might look as if she had turned against her own people but the bigger truth is that she has turned away from their gods to worship the one true God.
It doesn’t matter that she was a prostitute. It doesn’t matter that she was dishonest. God still loved her. She put her faith in Him and He delivered her and her family.
This is story of God’s grace to a person who didn’t deserve it but who, in her desperation, turned to Him.
God’s judgement was about to come on Jericho.
Deut 7:1-6 1 When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you- 2when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. 5 This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. 6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
These seven nations worshipped pagan gods with worship that involved all sorts of immorality. God said they were to be destroyed completely lest they lure the Israelites into worshipping false gods and into immorality. God was going to destroy them because the Israelites were to be a holy people.
But there was one person who had faith. God would rescue her and her family. Rahab’s faith wasn’t strong. She probably didn’t even understand much about God, but she recognised that the God of the Israelites was God in heaven above and on earth below. And she acted on it. That is crucially important.
Hebrews 11:31 By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.
Rahab had come to her conclusion about God some time earlier. She showed the reality of that belief by welcoming the spies. She demonstrated which side she had chosen to be on. She was saved not by her belief. All of the people of Jericho shared that belief. Rahab said that their hearts had all melted and no one was courageous enough to fight against Israel. They had all heard that this God had delivered Israel through the Red Sea on dry land and had defeat the two kings on the east side of the Jordan. They all shared that belief that this was an awesome and powerful God. The belief didn’t save them. Rahab was saved because she welcomed the spies. She believed enough to act on it.
James 2:25-26 25In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
The difference between Rahab and all the other “Jerichoites” was that she chose to entrust herself to this new God. It was a risk. She might still have been killed by the Israelites. She might have been killed by her own people for having betrayed them. She still chose to align herself with Israel’s God and to trust Him. She demonstrated that faith by welcoming the spies. It is our actions that show the reality of our faith. Faith without works is dead.
We might tell people that we trust Jesus. We do. We really do. But if someone said, “Show me that you trust Jesus” what would you show that person? Faith without works is dead.
It was the evidence of God’s supernatural power that persuaded her. Today it is so often the supernatural that convinces people. It might be through the use of spiritual gifts – a miracle or a prayer answered or a healing. But people also have to hear the gospel. The word and the works are meant to go together. The last verse in Mark’s gospel reads:
Mark 16:20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.
The signs confirm the words.
But sometimes it is another type of miracle. It is the miracle of a changed character. It is the witness of a person who is being changed by Jesus. It is the fact that people see love, compassion, trustworthiness, integrity, a person who will do what is right, courage. It is the miracle of a person who has died to himself/herself – who is selfless. Jesus said people would believe because of our love for one another.
Is the supernatural apparent in our lives? Can people see God in us; in our ministry; in our character?
Rahab recognised God and entrusted her life to Him. Her neighbours recognised God and feared but chose to die as pagans.
Most people in our society are living lives far from God – some as blatantly immoral and godless as the people of Jericho. Some live apparently respectable lives – but actually still worship other gods. Good people but they haven’t come to the point that this prostitute came to of knowing that they are in danger of God’s judgement and therefore putting their lives into God’s hands.
God delayed the Israelite conquest of the land so that He could rescue one person. In fact, God’s grace extends to families. Rahab had a baby faith but her faith was sufficient for her family to also be saved. Of course, they had to show some faith too. They had to be in her house believing that this might be the means of escape. Because of Rahab’s faith, God’s grace was extended to her family.
They had to be in her house and hang a scarlet cord from the window. Many people see that scarlet cord as a symbol of blood. Forty years earlier the Israelites had been instructed to paint the blood of the Passover lamb on their door posts. Where there was no blood, the firstborn in each house perished but where there was blood the angel of death passed by.
Centuries later, the blood of Jesus would be shed to save the whole world. Those who trust in the blood are saved. Those who don’t aren’t. God required Rahab to hang the scarlet cord from her window.
This whole story is a story of God’s grace to a helpless sinner who believed and trusted. What was the outcome? Was Rahab saved? We won’t find out for another four chapters! But, as you probably already know, when the city fell, Rahab and her family were saved.
Is it time for you to choose which side you are going to be on? There is judgement ahead. Now is the time to choose to be on God’s side and to demonstrate that choice by your action. It doesn’t matter what your past has been. It doesn’t matter that your faith might be only new. If you choose to trust God, He will be merciful and you will be saved. Understand that Jesus’ blood was shed for you. Trust in that. Hang that scarlet cord outside your window. My only hope is in the blood of Jesus shed for me.
Is it time for you to tell someone else about this salvation that is freely available? Rahab, as a brand new baby believer, invited her family. Who should you be inviting?
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
17.10.10 - Words To A New Leader
READ Joshua 1:1-9
God’s words to Joshua include the clause “then you will be prosperous and successful.” Do those words interest you? Do you want to accomplish something for God? Do you want to be effective for Him?
Joshua was called to take over the leadership of Israel. That was his particular ministry but what we read here could apply to anyone starting any ministry. You can be prosperous and successful in your ministry.
The story of Joshua doesn’t start in chapter 1 of this book. He wasn’t plucked out of nowhere to become the leader of Israel. God generally puts people through a long period of preparation before they can lead and we see a hint of that in the description of Joshua as “Moses’ aide”. Joshua had been Moses’ second-in-command. He had been a servant to Moses. He had been mentored by Moses.
In Exodus, Joshua is referred to as Moses’ young aide (e.g. Ex 33:11). This probably means that he was a young man when the Israelites had left Egypt.
When Moses went up Mt Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, it seems Joshua went part-way (Ex 24:13; 32:17).
When Moses went to the tent of meeting, into the presence of God, Joshua went with him and when Moses returned to the camp, Joshua stayed at the tent.
You might remember the battle against the Amalekites when Moses went up the mountain with Aaron and Hur. While Moses arms were lifted up, the Israelites were winning. When Moses’ arms drooped, the Amalekites had the ascendency – and so Aaron and Hur held up Moses arms. While Moses was up the mountain doing the spiritual warfare, it was Joshua who was leading the army down below. (Ex 17)
It is possible that Joshua had been an assistant to Moses even before they had left Egypt which would mean that for more than forty years, Joshua had been the servant.
Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent to spy out the Promised Land and only Joshua and Caleb had come back saying the people should trust God and take the land. The other ten brought back a report of the difficulties, and discouraged the people. It was because of that that God said that generation would never enter the Promised Land but was condemned to forty year of aimless wandering in the desert. Only Caleb and Joshua would enter the land.
Then when Moses was told that he would not enter the Promised Land, he asked God to appoint someone else to be the leader of the people. God told Moses to commission Joshua “a man in whom is the spirit of leadership” and to give him some of his authority “so that the whole Israelite community will obey him”. Presumably Moses gave Joshua more leadership opportunities that he exercised with the authority that Moses had delegated. And so Israel saw that Moses had approved Joshua and Israel obeyed Joshua.
Eventually Moses died and Joshua was to take over completely. That is what we read about in the first few verses from the book of Joshua but the thing to notice first is that Joshua had served his apprenticeship. For many, many years he had been the assistant but, in that role, had learnt from Moses and had developed skills as diverse as military leadership and meeting God.
It is true of many people in scripture that there were many years during which God prepared them. Jesus Himself had thirty years of preparation for three years of ministry. Moses was eighty before he began his role as leader of Israel.
If you desire to serve God effectively, be prepared to serve your apprenticeship. The better the preparation, the better will be your ministry. That preparation might include simply serving and being found faithful in the little things. It might include playing second fiddle and learning to take commands before you can be trusted to give commands. Good leaders have learnt what it means to be followers. Let God build into your character and hone your skills and extend your knowledge. People who aren’t willing to be apprentices show themselves not fit to be leaders.
Joshua had served his apprenticeship. He had been Moses’ aide. Then came the day when he would become leader. God said to him, “Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then, you...” The time came for Joshua to step up and take responsibility.
God then reiterated the call. Joshua was to lead the people into the Promised Land. That was no small task. The land was already inhabited and heavily fortified. The inhabitants were highly organised military forces. The Israelites were a wandering rabble. Joshua’s leadership task was immense. You might think that the ministry God is calling you to is also immense. However, look at what God says.
He reiterates the call: Go and take the land.
When it does get hard – and there would be battles – Joshua could look back and say, “I know God called me.” If it had been his own bright idea doubts would set in. But it wasn’t his idea. It was God’s call on his life and he could always come back to that thought.
We too need to know what ministry God has called us to. That sense of call will strengthen us when it gets hard. It is a serious mistake to seek to be effective for God in an area to which He has not called us. There is no guarantee of God’s presence and God’s help if we are simply following our own bright ideas.
On the other hand, there is a promise of God’s help if we are obedient to the call on our lives. Where God calls He also enables. Notice how God gives Joshua an assurance with many promises. “I will give you this land. I will give you every place where you set your foot. Your territory will extend from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. No one will be able to stand against you...”
And then perhaps the greatest assurance of all: v.5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. In the same way that I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
That is a promise God has made to person after person and one that He makes to us. For example, in the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples and I will be with you to the very end of the age.” We can make disciples with the same assurance Joshua had: God has promised to be with us.
Then four times God says “Be strong and courageous.” (vv. 6, 7, twice in v.9) Presumably God had to keep saying it because Joshua didn’t feel particularly strong and courageous.
If you are not strong and courageous, does it do any good to be told to be strong and courageous? If you are worrying and don’t know how to stop, what good is it if someone tells you not to worry. You are worrying! That is the problem. It was not that Joshua had it in himself to be strong and courageous and he just had to pluck up the courage. He could be strong and courageous because of God – because of God’s call on his life; because of the promises God had given, but primarily because God had promised to be with him. The source of his strength and courage was not his own internal fortitude. The source was God.
We might be very afraid of what God is asking of us too. God doesn’t simply say, “Be brave.” He says, “I am with you. Therefore be brave.” It is about trusting God and because we trust Him, being strong and courageous. It is the bravery that comes from faith.
We see that very clearly in v.9. God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous, not afraid, not discouraged “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” There is the reason. This is about trust; faith.
There is a condition, or a requirement. God isn’t making a blanket promise to always be with Joshua no matter what. No, there are times when God says “I won’t be with you.” When the Israelites listened to the negative reports of the ten spies and refused to enter the land, God pronounced a punishment on them: they would wander in the desert until no one of that generation remained alive (except Caleb and Joshua). Then the people said, “OK we will go in.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up because the Lord is not with you! You will be defeated by your enemies... Because you have turned away from the Lord, He will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
We cannot assume that God is with us. God is not with us if we choose to sin – which leads to the next thing God said to Joshua: Be careful to obey all the Law my servant, Moses, gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (v.8-9)
If Joshua is going to lead these people successfully, he must obey all of the Law, doing everything in it. There isn’t room for a partially committed person in ministry. There isn’t room for the person who is going to pick and choose what he/she will obey; who will let Jesus be partially Lord. God is looking for dedicated people who have made Jesus Lord of their lives and desire to do what is right at all times.
To obey God’s word, one must know God’s word. And, again, not know just a little of it; not know just the stories taught in Sunday school, but know God’s word and to have heard God speak through it.
God says to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips.” On your lips? Joshua was to speak God’s word. As a leader, he was to take His leading from God and from God alone. Even as a leader, Joshua was to be a follower. He wasn’t to teach his own ideas and philosophy. It was the word of God that was to be constantly on his lips.
To be giving out the word of God, he had to be taking in the word of God and he had to understand it. Understanding comes from meditation. Meditation is simply focused thinking. Day and night, Joshua was to be thinking about God word. As we meditate, the Holy Spirit reveals understanding. The aim of meditating is obedience. God says here, “Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
If you do aspire to have an impact for God and especially if you aspire to lead others, meditate on God’s word day and night. We live in an age when Christians spend far more time sitting in front of their TVs and computer screens and reading all sorts of other literature than they spend reading the word of God. Be a student of the word and you will end up head and shoulders ahead of your contemporaries. You will be the sort of person God chooses to use.
Joshua proved to be a great leader. He wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes, but he was, nevertheless, a great leader. Much of that greatness can be traced back to these verses. It was because he had been willing to serve his apprenticeship. It was because he had learnt from Moses. It was because the call of God was on his life and he determined to fulfil what God had called him to. It was because He had God’s promises. It was because He was a man of faith and a man of the word of God. He sought to know and do all that God had said, and he knew the presence of God.
At one stage God had said to the Israelites, “Go up and enter the Promised Land. I will send an angel but I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people.” (Ex 33:1-4)
Moses then said, “Lord, if you don’t go with us, don’t send us. What else would distinguish us from the other nations?” You see, the one thing that makes Christians different is the presence of God in our lives – the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you want to be effective: serve your apprenticeship; let God train you; know God’s call on your life and the promises that come with it; and let His word soak into you and come out again. And He has promised to be with you. If God is with us, there is nothing in the whole world that can prevent us being prosperous and successful in the things He is calling us to do. If God is for us, who can be against us?
God’s words to Joshua include the clause “then you will be prosperous and successful.” Do those words interest you? Do you want to accomplish something for God? Do you want to be effective for Him?
Joshua was called to take over the leadership of Israel. That was his particular ministry but what we read here could apply to anyone starting any ministry. You can be prosperous and successful in your ministry.
The story of Joshua doesn’t start in chapter 1 of this book. He wasn’t plucked out of nowhere to become the leader of Israel. God generally puts people through a long period of preparation before they can lead and we see a hint of that in the description of Joshua as “Moses’ aide”. Joshua had been Moses’ second-in-command. He had been a servant to Moses. He had been mentored by Moses.
In Exodus, Joshua is referred to as Moses’ young aide (e.g. Ex 33:11). This probably means that he was a young man when the Israelites had left Egypt.
When Moses went up Mt Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, it seems Joshua went part-way (Ex 24:13; 32:17).
When Moses went to the tent of meeting, into the presence of God, Joshua went with him and when Moses returned to the camp, Joshua stayed at the tent.
You might remember the battle against the Amalekites when Moses went up the mountain with Aaron and Hur. While Moses arms were lifted up, the Israelites were winning. When Moses’ arms drooped, the Amalekites had the ascendency – and so Aaron and Hur held up Moses arms. While Moses was up the mountain doing the spiritual warfare, it was Joshua who was leading the army down below. (Ex 17)
It is possible that Joshua had been an assistant to Moses even before they had left Egypt which would mean that for more than forty years, Joshua had been the servant.
Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent to spy out the Promised Land and only Joshua and Caleb had come back saying the people should trust God and take the land. The other ten brought back a report of the difficulties, and discouraged the people. It was because of that that God said that generation would never enter the Promised Land but was condemned to forty year of aimless wandering in the desert. Only Caleb and Joshua would enter the land.
Then when Moses was told that he would not enter the Promised Land, he asked God to appoint someone else to be the leader of the people. God told Moses to commission Joshua “a man in whom is the spirit of leadership” and to give him some of his authority “so that the whole Israelite community will obey him”. Presumably Moses gave Joshua more leadership opportunities that he exercised with the authority that Moses had delegated. And so Israel saw that Moses had approved Joshua and Israel obeyed Joshua.
Eventually Moses died and Joshua was to take over completely. That is what we read about in the first few verses from the book of Joshua but the thing to notice first is that Joshua had served his apprenticeship. For many, many years he had been the assistant but, in that role, had learnt from Moses and had developed skills as diverse as military leadership and meeting God.
It is true of many people in scripture that there were many years during which God prepared them. Jesus Himself had thirty years of preparation for three years of ministry. Moses was eighty before he began his role as leader of Israel.
If you desire to serve God effectively, be prepared to serve your apprenticeship. The better the preparation, the better will be your ministry. That preparation might include simply serving and being found faithful in the little things. It might include playing second fiddle and learning to take commands before you can be trusted to give commands. Good leaders have learnt what it means to be followers. Let God build into your character and hone your skills and extend your knowledge. People who aren’t willing to be apprentices show themselves not fit to be leaders.
Joshua had served his apprenticeship. He had been Moses’ aide. Then came the day when he would become leader. God said to him, “Moses, my servant, is dead. Now then, you...” The time came for Joshua to step up and take responsibility.
God then reiterated the call. Joshua was to lead the people into the Promised Land. That was no small task. The land was already inhabited and heavily fortified. The inhabitants were highly organised military forces. The Israelites were a wandering rabble. Joshua’s leadership task was immense. You might think that the ministry God is calling you to is also immense. However, look at what God says.
He reiterates the call: Go and take the land.
When it does get hard – and there would be battles – Joshua could look back and say, “I know God called me.” If it had been his own bright idea doubts would set in. But it wasn’t his idea. It was God’s call on his life and he could always come back to that thought.
We too need to know what ministry God has called us to. That sense of call will strengthen us when it gets hard. It is a serious mistake to seek to be effective for God in an area to which He has not called us. There is no guarantee of God’s presence and God’s help if we are simply following our own bright ideas.
On the other hand, there is a promise of God’s help if we are obedient to the call on our lives. Where God calls He also enables. Notice how God gives Joshua an assurance with many promises. “I will give you this land. I will give you every place where you set your foot. Your territory will extend from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean. No one will be able to stand against you...”
And then perhaps the greatest assurance of all: v.5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you. In the same way that I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
That is a promise God has made to person after person and one that He makes to us. For example, in the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples and I will be with you to the very end of the age.” We can make disciples with the same assurance Joshua had: God has promised to be with us.
Then four times God says “Be strong and courageous.” (vv. 6, 7, twice in v.9) Presumably God had to keep saying it because Joshua didn’t feel particularly strong and courageous.
If you are not strong and courageous, does it do any good to be told to be strong and courageous? If you are worrying and don’t know how to stop, what good is it if someone tells you not to worry. You are worrying! That is the problem. It was not that Joshua had it in himself to be strong and courageous and he just had to pluck up the courage. He could be strong and courageous because of God – because of God’s call on his life; because of the promises God had given, but primarily because God had promised to be with him. The source of his strength and courage was not his own internal fortitude. The source was God.
We might be very afraid of what God is asking of us too. God doesn’t simply say, “Be brave.” He says, “I am with you. Therefore be brave.” It is about trusting God and because we trust Him, being strong and courageous. It is the bravery that comes from faith.
We see that very clearly in v.9. God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous, not afraid, not discouraged “for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” There is the reason. This is about trust; faith.
There is a condition, or a requirement. God isn’t making a blanket promise to always be with Joshua no matter what. No, there are times when God says “I won’t be with you.” When the Israelites listened to the negative reports of the ten spies and refused to enter the land, God pronounced a punishment on them: they would wander in the desert until no one of that generation remained alive (except Caleb and Joshua). Then the people said, “OK we will go in.” But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up because the Lord is not with you! You will be defeated by your enemies... Because you have turned away from the Lord, He will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”
We cannot assume that God is with us. God is not with us if we choose to sin – which leads to the next thing God said to Joshua: Be careful to obey all the Law my servant, Moses, gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (v.8-9)
If Joshua is going to lead these people successfully, he must obey all of the Law, doing everything in it. There isn’t room for a partially committed person in ministry. There isn’t room for the person who is going to pick and choose what he/she will obey; who will let Jesus be partially Lord. God is looking for dedicated people who have made Jesus Lord of their lives and desire to do what is right at all times.
To obey God’s word, one must know God’s word. And, again, not know just a little of it; not know just the stories taught in Sunday school, but know God’s word and to have heard God speak through it.
God says to Joshua, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips.” On your lips? Joshua was to speak God’s word. As a leader, he was to take His leading from God and from God alone. Even as a leader, Joshua was to be a follower. He wasn’t to teach his own ideas and philosophy. It was the word of God that was to be constantly on his lips.
To be giving out the word of God, he had to be taking in the word of God and he had to understand it. Understanding comes from meditation. Meditation is simply focused thinking. Day and night, Joshua was to be thinking about God word. As we meditate, the Holy Spirit reveals understanding. The aim of meditating is obedience. God says here, “Meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
If you do aspire to have an impact for God and especially if you aspire to lead others, meditate on God’s word day and night. We live in an age when Christians spend far more time sitting in front of their TVs and computer screens and reading all sorts of other literature than they spend reading the word of God. Be a student of the word and you will end up head and shoulders ahead of your contemporaries. You will be the sort of person God chooses to use.
Joshua proved to be a great leader. He wasn’t perfect. He made mistakes, but he was, nevertheless, a great leader. Much of that greatness can be traced back to these verses. It was because he had been willing to serve his apprenticeship. It was because he had learnt from Moses. It was because the call of God was on his life and he determined to fulfil what God had called him to. It was because He had God’s promises. It was because He was a man of faith and a man of the word of God. He sought to know and do all that God had said, and he knew the presence of God.
At one stage God had said to the Israelites, “Go up and enter the Promised Land. I will send an angel but I will not go with you because you are a stiff-necked people.” (Ex 33:1-4)
Moses then said, “Lord, if you don’t go with us, don’t send us. What else would distinguish us from the other nations?” You see, the one thing that makes Christians different is the presence of God in our lives – the presence of the Holy Spirit. If you want to be effective: serve your apprenticeship; let God train you; know God’s call on your life and the promises that come with it; and let His word soak into you and come out again. And He has promised to be with you. If God is with us, there is nothing in the whole world that can prevent us being prosperous and successful in the things He is calling us to do. If God is for us, who can be against us?
Monday, October 4, 2010
03.10.10 - The Church has Power
Alan Bennett
Slide 1 Isaiah 12 and John 7:37-39 Sunday Oct 3 2010
Introduction… last week we looked at history and future of the church. Today is the all important “secret” to any church having a future i.e. engine room, power, Holy Spirit and prayer.
Slide 2 Feast (Festival) of Tabernacles. On each of the 7 days one major part of the celebrations was when the Priest drew water from the Pool of Siloam and paraded it through the streets back to the Temple to the crowds singing along the way from Is.12:3 “With joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation”. At the temple it was poured over the alter (via a tube, as not the days when priest could enter)
Lots of explanations for this, thanks for rain, good crops etc.
(The Jerusalem Talmud c200 AD lets the cat out of the bag on this by recording, “Why is the name of it (this ceremony) called, the drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said, “With joy you shall draw waters out of the wells of salvation”.)
But on the “Great Day” Lev 23:36 day 8, this was not done. Hence the powerful significance of Jesus words about thirst, “If anyone is thirsty let them come to me”. Until now Jesus had not taught openly outside of the synagogue, nor is anything recorded of that teaching. He had only been answering questions and false statements. But now Jesus goes on the offensive. Now, at the culmination of the greatest feast of the Jewish calendar year He interprets the song of Isaiah in terms of the life He came to bring into his people and into his church.
Jesus takes the water symbolism and speaks of the living water he will pour out. V39 “By this he meant the Spirit.” The people are thinking of rain and their bodily needs past and future. He turns their attention to the deep needs of the soul and the way he would supply that need. In John 4 Jesus referred to the living water. But now, here we have His meaning, that living water is the Holy Spirit, the third all important person of the trinity
Slide 3 Now for some comments on the text of John 7:37-39…
“stood” as against normal practice of sitting when teaching. Recognize and remember. Emphasis importance of what is being said. (Perhaps especially for the out-of-town crowds they only had this one opportunity to hear Jesus and He knew it.)
“Loud voice” also v 28 “cried out” (no 500w amp and speakers) to be heard and with emotion. Jesus was passionate about what he said. (If it’s not worth saying don’t say it.)
“Come to me” and “believe in me” emphasis there is no other way to meet those needs. John 14:6 “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life”. For 7 days water has been poured out and nothing has happened, nothing has changed, either in their lives or in the life of the temple where all that water has gone.
“Streams of living water will flow from within” continuous supply from God flowing into and out of the heart and life of every believer who is in touch with Jesus.
Through the first believers and the Holy Spirit empowered disciples, this then carries over into the growing church, as in Acts where we recognise the life and work of the Holy Spirit is best seen and has the greatest impact on the world. The Holy Spirit is to flow through us. As individuals this may be a small brook, creek or stream, but what Jesus intends is for RIVERS to flow. Rivers are formed by (first bogs and swamps!) brooks, creeks and streams coming together as a church river and flowing in the same direction down through the dry valleys and across the vast parched plains of a struggling, lost, “God-is-irrelevant” society such as NZ.
Slide 4 We can see this and take heart from many references in Acts e.g.
Acts 4:7-12. Here is the first Apostle of the early church, telling it as it is.. and forever should be….. (read) “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit….”
Acts 6:2-5 a necessary standard for ministry in the church for any age surely… (read) “known to be full of HS” i.e. already seen, already involved.
Acts 8 the Holy Spirit is given for power evangelism, both collective and personal evangelism. Also in directing the church’s outreach.
Acts 13 the Holy Spirit leads the church into missions, more power evangelism, with confrontation with sorcery and evil spirits.
Slide 5 We can see the power and influence of the Holy Spirit upon the church through the references in the letters to the early churches…e.g.
1 Cor. 2:9-11 “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things even the deep things of God. No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
Gal. 5:22-25 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. …. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Eph. 3:14-16 “I pray he may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being…..and I pray that you have power together with all the saints to grasp all the love of Christ”
Phil. 2:1-2 “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”
1 Thess. 1:4-6 “the Gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction…..you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”
Revelation Letters to all 7 churches ends with...”He who has an ear, let him hear what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.”
Slide 6 Conclusion…
So where does all this lead us to? How is the Holy Spirit at work here at Calvin? What is the Holy Spirit saying to us? Us members, leaders, the many programmes of Calvin, internal and external.
Our combined power in ministry and service can only be the sum total of the spiritual temperature of us as individuals.
Are we hearing, listening and acting on what the Spirit is saying?
Are we experiencing the joy given by the Spirit?
Are we fellowshipping in the Spirit?
Do we know the power of the Spirit in our lives?
Are the fruit of the Spirit evident?
I pray that all of us experience the Water of Life washing over us and through us in the week ahead.
BTW how are you going with your first words in the morning? Perhaps a good thermometer of all the above!
03.10.10 - The Master's Method
I am of the view that Jesus is the master disciple-maker. I don’t believe anyone has improved on His strategy. In fact, some of the best training methods down through the centuries have simple copied Jesus. Apprentices were trained traditionally, using Jesus’ model. I have recently learnt a little about the training of knights. By-and-large, it used Jesus’ method. Because we are students of Jesus, let’s look at how Jesus made disciples and seek to imitate Him. Discovering His approach will be the key to being effective.
Well, it is pretty obvious, isn’t it? Disciple-making requires that we wear sandals and grow beards; we select 12 men and we live together, for three years, in Israel.
That might actually work. It did work for Jesus. However, they are not the essential components. There are other aspects that I think are essential. We might try to do it differently. We might want to cut some corners, but I think we will not see the results either. It pays to study the Master and to imitate Him.
The first thing we learn from Jesus is that disciple-making is relational. We would prefer to achieve it using programmes. The typical method for what is called “discipling” is a short, maybe 6-week, course for new Christians in which they learn the basics about Christianity and Christian living. It wouldn’t be unknown for new Christians to be given material to work through all by themselves, meaning no relationship, and growth as a disciple being seen as acquiring a certain amount of basic knowledge.
Jesus commands us to teach them to obey everything He has commanded and that can’t be done in six weeks. But besides that, Jesus modelled relationships, not programmes.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” We learn from each others. We learn in community. We learn as we listen to other people and watch them. We learn when things go wrong and we have to apologise or patch up a relationship. We learn by doing things together.
On Thursday I mentioned Mark 3:14 which says that Jesus appointed twelve that they might be with Him. That was the key to discipling – being with Jesus. They listened to Him, they watched Him, they ate with Him and did the dished with Him and journeyed with Him and asked questions and grappled with His questions. They saw Jesus teaching and healing and dealing with opposition and getting discouraged and befriending outcasts. They learnt massive amounts just by watching Jesus.
In Acts 4:13, when the rulers and elders and teachers of the law put Peter and John on trial, we read...
Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
What had turned these unschooled men into courageous healers and preachers? They had been with Jesus.
Discipleship is caught more than taught. Jesus’ method is relational.
Secondly, Jesus was very intentional. We talked about this on Thursday. Remember when Jesus called the first disciples, He said, “I will make you fishers of men.” And Mark 3:14 tells us that Jesus chose the twelve to be with Him that He might send them out (to preach and to cast out demons). He started the process with the end in mind. He knew what His objective was. It was to make missionaries.
From that point on, Jesus was very intentional about growing those men and readying them. We see His purposefulness in the strategic way He went about it.
John 17 contains Jesus’ prayer, prayed at the Last Supper. He prayed for these 11 men who had been with Him. It is fascinating because Jesus said to God that He had finished the work He had given Him to do. He had not yet gone to the cross so we might wonder how He can say he has finished His work. The general explanation is that Jesus is speaking as if the cross was behind Him but maybe the context suggests He was talking about a work that He had finished. This section of the prayer is all about His input into the lives of His disciples.
READ John 17:1-19.
I have revealed you to them. V.6
They have obeyed your word, v.6
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. V.7
I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. V.8
They know with certainty that I came from you. V.8
I pray for them. V.9
Glory will come to me through them. V.10
They will be in the world. V.11
I protected them. None has been lost (except Judas). V.12
I have given them your word. V.14
They are not of the world, just as I am not. V.16
Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. V.17
As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them. V.18
I sanctified myself that they might be truly sanctified, v.19
Jesus prayed, “Father, I have invested in these men just as You asked me to and I have completed that task. They now believe.” Four times Jesus refers to the word. I have given them your word. They have believed your word. Sanctify them by your word. The word of God must be central to our disciple-making. “I have protected them. I have prayed for them. And now they are ready to be sent into the world.” Maybe the work that Jesus had completed was the work of making disciples who were now ready to be sent into the world. Jesus’ prayer was about having completed that task.
Yes, this is a prayer for unity but it is also Jesus still thinking and acting and praying as a disciple-maker.
You will remember too that Jesus then, in John 17, prays for those who would believe in Him through the message of the apostles. In fact, Jesus starts the prayer by praying about Himself, then his disciples, then his disciples’ disciples. There are three generations in view in this prayer. In fact, there are multiple generations because Jesus intended that this process would continue. Every succeeding generation has come to believe because of the message of the eleven, passed on from one generation to the next.
This prayer not only demonstrates the intentionality but, again, how relational it was. I have revealed You. It is not just that Jesus has passed on theoretical concepts. In His own person, He had revealed God. They had walked with God. I have given them your word. I pray for them. I have protected them.
Besides anything else, just seeing how intensely Jesus prays for His disciples shows His love for them, His desire that they be effective in the world and His focus on preparing these disciples for ministry.
Jesus’ disciple-making was relational and intentional. It was also focused on a small group. Jesus obviously did have a mass ministry but it was focused much more on just twelve men.
Jesus chose to go for quality rather than quality. He could have had hundreds of so-called followers, partially trained. Instead he opted for 12 who would be highly trained; twelve who had observed Him in all manner of situations and who had heard Him at length and who had been given ministry opportunities and had had the chance to de-brief with Jesus afterwards.
It seems like a huge risk to rely on eleven men who had not shown great promise and had quite often frustrated Jesus with their slowness. But actually quality produces quantity. Quality disciples will make more disciples. And the biblical principle is multiplication which very quickly produces quantity. Could the crowds have been relied on to make more disciples? Absolutely not. But these men had been trained.
Disciple-making is about depth not breadth. Disciple-making producing quality followers of Jesus. Quality followers will soon make more.
Jesus also led the disciples through growth stages. Different scholars and authors describe those stages differently. It is possible to use a human analogy and talk about birth and infancy and childhood, youth, adulthood, with the goal of full maturity. When we raise children we know what stage they are at and we treat them accordingly. We don’t send six year olds to university. We treat six year olds as six year olds but always wanting to see growth. Similarly, in growing Christians, we need to know what stage they are at and what input or training is appropriate. We don’t want to assume new Christians are mature and we don’t want to try to re-convert mature Christians.
READ Hebrews 5:11-6:3.
The writer knew that his readers should be teachers but actually were still babies needing milk not solid food. There shouldn’t have been the need to repeat basic teaching but, in fact, they did need to. It is just wrong and frustrating that these people haven’t grown and aren’t teaching. Should the people in our churches be teachers by now? Are they?
Jesus was sometimes frustrated that the disciples were so slow. He knew what they should have understood and what they should have been able to do but He also knew where they were actually at.
Can I suggest one way of describing the stages of a Christian’s growth?
The come and see stage. In John 1 in particular, there is a theme of “come and see”. It seems that Jesus simply invited people to go with Him and observe. There is no commitment involved. They possible went back to their fishing in between but they had opportunities to watch.
But then came the “follow me” stage. Jesus walked along the lake front and challenged Peter and Andrew, James and John to follow Him. Now a commitment was required. Would they or would they not? “You have seen me in action. Will you follow me?”
Some time later Jesus invited twelve of them to be with Him. The “be with me” stage is about much more focused one-on-one time with Jesus. The twelve were selected for more individual attention and more focused training.
As part of that, they were given practical ministry assignments. When the crowd of 5000 men plus women and children was hungry, Jesus said, “You feed them.” That was a test. What would they do? Given what they were learning about Jesus, what should they have done? They didn’t have a clue what to do. They had no expectation of a miracle. Jesus had to take over but even then He gave the bread and fish to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. The disciples had to take a step of faith and take those meagre portions to the crowd not knowing what would happen or whether they would simply look silly.
Jesus got them involved. He sent them out to preach the good news of the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead, long before we would probably think they were ready. Then they came back and reflected with Him on the experience.
Part of the “Be with me” stage was a “you do it” stage. Practical ministry under supervision.
Ultimately there was the “Go” stage when they graduated and were commissioned to make disciples themselves. Whereas they had so often been so inept, they got to the point where Jesus trusted them to go solo. He would no longer be with them. They would still require the empowering of the Holy Spirit but, with that one proviso (and it is interesting that Jesus emphasised in all of the versions of the Great Commission that they would need the Holy Spirit and that they should not try to minister until they had received the Holy Spirit) with that one proviso, they were ready. They had been trained. They knew what to do. They had seen Jesus do it. They could graduate. They could be commissioned.
Very obviously Jesus gave the disciples large amounts of time. He modelled what He wanted to see in them and urged them to imitate Him. He taught. He questioned. He gave them authority. He rebuked. He did all sorts of things – more than we can cover today.
Are those essential? Can we make disciples without investing time? Can we do it properly without significant relationships? Can we do it without setting an example for others to follow? Can we do it if our example doesn’t match our words?
I think they are essential. I don’t think anyone has yet improved on Jesus but here we have a problem. Doing it Jesus’ way is hard – maybe too hard. I have found that people react against making disciples if it requires time and relationships and modelling what we want to see in others. We would rather use programmes. Relationships are time consuming and messy. Relationships have the potential to be painful and disappointing. We are not even sure that we can have relationships that are good enough to sustain intentional growth. It suggests a depth of relationship that frightens us. We don’t have time to invest in people. Let’s find another method that doesn’t require copious time.
It seems impertinent to talk about someone’s growth stage. It is something you simply don’t talk about. We would never suggest that someone was immature.
We also squirm at the idea of a mentoring relationship that implies that the mentor is more mature than the disciple. We don’t like any suggestion that one person might be more mature than another.
There’s lots about Jesus’ approach that we don’t like. But what are our results like compared with His? We have not yet discovered a more effective way than the one Jesus modelled for us.
Many of us have never been intentionally discipled. We haven’t experienced it and so we fear we don’t know how to do it. It hasn’t been modelled for us because no one took this interest in us.
True, but it has been modelled by Jesus. Yes, we are at a disadvantage. We are asked to do something that we haven’t experienced. It is like asking people who didn’t have good parents to be good parents. But we can learn from Jesus. We can start a new cycle of making disciple-making disciples. It will take commitment. It will take real disciples – disciples utterly committed to Jesus – to do it.
How did Jesus do it? How we can implement whatever He did in our context?
Can we, as individuals, have time to have relationships with just a few people because we want to invest in them?
Most of our churches have established relationships for pastoral care. We allocate certain people to care for other people. We do it for people’s wellbeing. Could we do it for people’s growth? If we have some growing, committed Christians could we match them to some people who are eager to grow and ask them to spend time together each week or each fortnight?
If they are not sure what to do, there are resources that they can work through together. Just that would pick up several aspects of what Jesus modelled: the intentionality, the relational nature, the investment of time, the mentoring.
Learning from the Master is a bit daunting. Jesus’ methods are radical. We struggle with them. But they also make it possible. We don’t have to make up a method of making disciples. Jesus models the best possible method. We just need to be willing to learn from Him and then figure out how we can apply the principles in our setting.
It will always remain challenging. Investing in people with this level of intentionality; deciding to make followers of Christ who will lay down their lives for Him is radical. It will attract criticism and it will have its disappointments but it is also the one thing worth doing. There is nothing more worth devoting our lives to than making disciples of Jesus Christ – real disciples of Jesus Christ – committed disciples of Jesus Christ – mature, trained disciples of Jesus Christ who will also make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Well, it is pretty obvious, isn’t it? Disciple-making requires that we wear sandals and grow beards; we select 12 men and we live together, for three years, in Israel.
That might actually work. It did work for Jesus. However, they are not the essential components. There are other aspects that I think are essential. We might try to do it differently. We might want to cut some corners, but I think we will not see the results either. It pays to study the Master and to imitate Him.
The first thing we learn from Jesus is that disciple-making is relational. We would prefer to achieve it using programmes. The typical method for what is called “discipling” is a short, maybe 6-week, course for new Christians in which they learn the basics about Christianity and Christian living. It wouldn’t be unknown for new Christians to be given material to work through all by themselves, meaning no relationship, and growth as a disciple being seen as acquiring a certain amount of basic knowledge.
Jesus commands us to teach them to obey everything He has commanded and that can’t be done in six weeks. But besides that, Jesus modelled relationships, not programmes.
Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” We learn from each others. We learn in community. We learn as we listen to other people and watch them. We learn when things go wrong and we have to apologise or patch up a relationship. We learn by doing things together.
On Thursday I mentioned Mark 3:14 which says that Jesus appointed twelve that they might be with Him. That was the key to discipling – being with Jesus. They listened to Him, they watched Him, they ate with Him and did the dished with Him and journeyed with Him and asked questions and grappled with His questions. They saw Jesus teaching and healing and dealing with opposition and getting discouraged and befriending outcasts. They learnt massive amounts just by watching Jesus.
In Acts 4:13, when the rulers and elders and teachers of the law put Peter and John on trial, we read...
Acts 4:13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
What had turned these unschooled men into courageous healers and preachers? They had been with Jesus.
Discipleship is caught more than taught. Jesus’ method is relational.
Secondly, Jesus was very intentional. We talked about this on Thursday. Remember when Jesus called the first disciples, He said, “I will make you fishers of men.” And Mark 3:14 tells us that Jesus chose the twelve to be with Him that He might send them out (to preach and to cast out demons). He started the process with the end in mind. He knew what His objective was. It was to make missionaries.
From that point on, Jesus was very intentional about growing those men and readying them. We see His purposefulness in the strategic way He went about it.
John 17 contains Jesus’ prayer, prayed at the Last Supper. He prayed for these 11 men who had been with Him. It is fascinating because Jesus said to God that He had finished the work He had given Him to do. He had not yet gone to the cross so we might wonder how He can say he has finished His work. The general explanation is that Jesus is speaking as if the cross was behind Him but maybe the context suggests He was talking about a work that He had finished. This section of the prayer is all about His input into the lives of His disciples.
READ John 17:1-19.
I have revealed you to them. V.6
They have obeyed your word, v.6
Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. V.7
I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. V.8
They know with certainty that I came from you. V.8
I pray for them. V.9
Glory will come to me through them. V.10
They will be in the world. V.11
I protected them. None has been lost (except Judas). V.12
I have given them your word. V.14
They are not of the world, just as I am not. V.16
Sanctify them by the truth. Your word is truth. V.17
As you have sent me into the world, I have sent them. V.18
I sanctified myself that they might be truly sanctified, v.19
Jesus prayed, “Father, I have invested in these men just as You asked me to and I have completed that task. They now believe.” Four times Jesus refers to the word. I have given them your word. They have believed your word. Sanctify them by your word. The word of God must be central to our disciple-making. “I have protected them. I have prayed for them. And now they are ready to be sent into the world.” Maybe the work that Jesus had completed was the work of making disciples who were now ready to be sent into the world. Jesus’ prayer was about having completed that task.
Yes, this is a prayer for unity but it is also Jesus still thinking and acting and praying as a disciple-maker.
You will remember too that Jesus then, in John 17, prays for those who would believe in Him through the message of the apostles. In fact, Jesus starts the prayer by praying about Himself, then his disciples, then his disciples’ disciples. There are three generations in view in this prayer. In fact, there are multiple generations because Jesus intended that this process would continue. Every succeeding generation has come to believe because of the message of the eleven, passed on from one generation to the next.
This prayer not only demonstrates the intentionality but, again, how relational it was. I have revealed You. It is not just that Jesus has passed on theoretical concepts. In His own person, He had revealed God. They had walked with God. I have given them your word. I pray for them. I have protected them.
Besides anything else, just seeing how intensely Jesus prays for His disciples shows His love for them, His desire that they be effective in the world and His focus on preparing these disciples for ministry.
Jesus’ disciple-making was relational and intentional. It was also focused on a small group. Jesus obviously did have a mass ministry but it was focused much more on just twelve men.
Jesus chose to go for quality rather than quality. He could have had hundreds of so-called followers, partially trained. Instead he opted for 12 who would be highly trained; twelve who had observed Him in all manner of situations and who had heard Him at length and who had been given ministry opportunities and had had the chance to de-brief with Jesus afterwards.
It seems like a huge risk to rely on eleven men who had not shown great promise and had quite often frustrated Jesus with their slowness. But actually quality produces quantity. Quality disciples will make more disciples. And the biblical principle is multiplication which very quickly produces quantity. Could the crowds have been relied on to make more disciples? Absolutely not. But these men had been trained.
Disciple-making is about depth not breadth. Disciple-making producing quality followers of Jesus. Quality followers will soon make more.
Jesus also led the disciples through growth stages. Different scholars and authors describe those stages differently. It is possible to use a human analogy and talk about birth and infancy and childhood, youth, adulthood, with the goal of full maturity. When we raise children we know what stage they are at and we treat them accordingly. We don’t send six year olds to university. We treat six year olds as six year olds but always wanting to see growth. Similarly, in growing Christians, we need to know what stage they are at and what input or training is appropriate. We don’t want to assume new Christians are mature and we don’t want to try to re-convert mature Christians.
READ Hebrews 5:11-6:3.
The writer knew that his readers should be teachers but actually were still babies needing milk not solid food. There shouldn’t have been the need to repeat basic teaching but, in fact, they did need to. It is just wrong and frustrating that these people haven’t grown and aren’t teaching. Should the people in our churches be teachers by now? Are they?
Jesus was sometimes frustrated that the disciples were so slow. He knew what they should have understood and what they should have been able to do but He also knew where they were actually at.
Can I suggest one way of describing the stages of a Christian’s growth?
The come and see stage. In John 1 in particular, there is a theme of “come and see”. It seems that Jesus simply invited people to go with Him and observe. There is no commitment involved. They possible went back to their fishing in between but they had opportunities to watch.
But then came the “follow me” stage. Jesus walked along the lake front and challenged Peter and Andrew, James and John to follow Him. Now a commitment was required. Would they or would they not? “You have seen me in action. Will you follow me?”
Some time later Jesus invited twelve of them to be with Him. The “be with me” stage is about much more focused one-on-one time with Jesus. The twelve were selected for more individual attention and more focused training.
As part of that, they were given practical ministry assignments. When the crowd of 5000 men plus women and children was hungry, Jesus said, “You feed them.” That was a test. What would they do? Given what they were learning about Jesus, what should they have done? They didn’t have a clue what to do. They had no expectation of a miracle. Jesus had to take over but even then He gave the bread and fish to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. The disciples had to take a step of faith and take those meagre portions to the crowd not knowing what would happen or whether they would simply look silly.
Jesus got them involved. He sent them out to preach the good news of the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead, long before we would probably think they were ready. Then they came back and reflected with Him on the experience.
Part of the “Be with me” stage was a “you do it” stage. Practical ministry under supervision.
Ultimately there was the “Go” stage when they graduated and were commissioned to make disciples themselves. Whereas they had so often been so inept, they got to the point where Jesus trusted them to go solo. He would no longer be with them. They would still require the empowering of the Holy Spirit but, with that one proviso (and it is interesting that Jesus emphasised in all of the versions of the Great Commission that they would need the Holy Spirit and that they should not try to minister until they had received the Holy Spirit) with that one proviso, they were ready. They had been trained. They knew what to do. They had seen Jesus do it. They could graduate. They could be commissioned.
Very obviously Jesus gave the disciples large amounts of time. He modelled what He wanted to see in them and urged them to imitate Him. He taught. He questioned. He gave them authority. He rebuked. He did all sorts of things – more than we can cover today.
Are those essential? Can we make disciples without investing time? Can we do it properly without significant relationships? Can we do it without setting an example for others to follow? Can we do it if our example doesn’t match our words?
I think they are essential. I don’t think anyone has yet improved on Jesus but here we have a problem. Doing it Jesus’ way is hard – maybe too hard. I have found that people react against making disciples if it requires time and relationships and modelling what we want to see in others. We would rather use programmes. Relationships are time consuming and messy. Relationships have the potential to be painful and disappointing. We are not even sure that we can have relationships that are good enough to sustain intentional growth. It suggests a depth of relationship that frightens us. We don’t have time to invest in people. Let’s find another method that doesn’t require copious time.
It seems impertinent to talk about someone’s growth stage. It is something you simply don’t talk about. We would never suggest that someone was immature.
We also squirm at the idea of a mentoring relationship that implies that the mentor is more mature than the disciple. We don’t like any suggestion that one person might be more mature than another.
There’s lots about Jesus’ approach that we don’t like. But what are our results like compared with His? We have not yet discovered a more effective way than the one Jesus modelled for us.
Many of us have never been intentionally discipled. We haven’t experienced it and so we fear we don’t know how to do it. It hasn’t been modelled for us because no one took this interest in us.
True, but it has been modelled by Jesus. Yes, we are at a disadvantage. We are asked to do something that we haven’t experienced. It is like asking people who didn’t have good parents to be good parents. But we can learn from Jesus. We can start a new cycle of making disciple-making disciples. It will take commitment. It will take real disciples – disciples utterly committed to Jesus – to do it.
How did Jesus do it? How we can implement whatever He did in our context?
Can we, as individuals, have time to have relationships with just a few people because we want to invest in them?
Most of our churches have established relationships for pastoral care. We allocate certain people to care for other people. We do it for people’s wellbeing. Could we do it for people’s growth? If we have some growing, committed Christians could we match them to some people who are eager to grow and ask them to spend time together each week or each fortnight?
If they are not sure what to do, there are resources that they can work through together. Just that would pick up several aspects of what Jesus modelled: the intentionality, the relational nature, the investment of time, the mentoring.
Learning from the Master is a bit daunting. Jesus’ methods are radical. We struggle with them. But they also make it possible. We don’t have to make up a method of making disciples. Jesus models the best possible method. We just need to be willing to learn from Him and then figure out how we can apply the principles in our setting.
It will always remain challenging. Investing in people with this level of intentionality; deciding to make followers of Christ who will lay down their lives for Him is radical. It will attract criticism and it will have its disappointments but it is also the one thing worth doing. There is nothing more worth devoting our lives to than making disciples of Jesus Christ – real disciples of Jesus Christ – committed disciples of Jesus Christ – mature, trained disciples of Jesus Christ who will also make disciples of Jesus Christ.
30.09.10 - Between Conversion and Commissioning
John Ortberg tells the story of Denny. Denny was in John’s church. He had attended church his whole life but was not happy man. He was perpetually negative. Everyone expected him to be negative and his face showed it. When John Ortberg tried to introduce some contemporary music into the church service – nothing radical, just more contemporary music - Denny began complaining that the music was too loud.
John tried to explain to him that the church wanted to reach people in the community who didn’t know Jesus and wanted to remove one of the cultural barriers that stopped people coming into the church. Denny just responded, “The music is too loud.” He was just a grumpy man.
Then he started talking to other staff, the ushers, even strangers in the foyer saying, “Don’t you think the music is too loud?” The staff realised they had to deal with it and thought they had, until, one day, an official from the equivalent of OSH turned up because of a noise complaint against the church. The OSH man felt embarrassed about busting a church. They laughed about it. It came to nothing.
But who had filed the complaint? Denny, of course.
John Ortberg’s observation on the entire affair is telling. He says, “Denny is not changing. He is a cranky guy. He has been cranky his whole life. Not just about the church – he does not effectively know how to love his wife, his children cannot relate to him and he has no joy. He’s been going to church his whole life – sixty years. And nobody is surprised. Nobody in the church is surprised that he stays cranky year after year. No one is particularly bothered by it. It is as if we expect it – that’s just Denny. Nobody is expecting him to be more like Jesus year after year.”
My guess is that most of us have people like Denny in our churches. Or people who display other signs of bad behaviour. We just accept that that is how people are. But that is not what Jesus intended.
I am really sorry if this is kindergarten stuff for you but I fear at times that we have lost sight of our primary calling. To put it bluntly, I think we have largely forgotten what Jesus intended.
Each of the four gospels finishes with the Great Commission. Let’s hear them all.
Matt 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Mark 16:15-16
15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Luke 24:46-49
46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
John 20:21-23
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Each of the gospels concludes with this commissioning of His followers. We have to conclude that this is important. As Jesus’ mission ended, He defined the mission of His followers. This is our mission.
The story of the early church in Acts begins with the Great Commission.
Acts 1:8
... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
In Acts we see the church doing what it had been commanded by Jesus to do – making disciples.
If it wasn’t enough that each of the gospels ends with this charge to mission and the story of the early church starts with it, Jesus was equally clear about it when He began His ministry of making disciples.
Matt 4:18-22
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of people." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
When He began His ministry and called these men, Jesus was very clear about what the end result would be: I will make you fishers of people. What were they to become? Evangelists and disciple-makers.
Again, when He chose the Twelve,
Mark 3:13-15
13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons.
He appointed them “to be with Him... that He might send them out.” The intention from the beginning was to send them out. He was about making missionaries.
When people join our churches, do we say, “It is great to have you as part of our church. You know, our purpose is to make missionaries. You become part of us; we will train you to be sent out”? It might be debatable when the Twelve were converted but if we see their agreeing to follow Jesus as their conversion, then at the point of their conversion, Jesus was already talking about their commissioning. Those two events are watershed events in a Christian’s life: conversion and commissioning. For Jesus, at the point of conversion, the intention is commissioning. What happens between conversion and commissioning?
These five versions of the Great Commission are all a bit different but if we consider them all together, there is one single thrust: It is all about preaching the gospel of forgiveness to all nations in the power of the Holy Spirit and then training the converts to follow Jesus.
Matthew calls that “making disciples”. We have heard the Matthew passage preached on dozens of times. One problem is that that is often in the context of a missions service. It is about what happens overseas.
In the Commission there are four verbs: Go, make disciples, baptise and teach to obey. Grammatically, one is the main verb and the other three are participles, or supporting verbs.
When I ask people which they think is the main verb, the answer is often “Go”. That is what we hear preached. In fact, “go” is not the main verb. The main verb is “make disciples”. That is not about what is done overseas. That is our mission. Our mission is to make disciples. The participles tell us how to do it.
We are to make disciples by going, which means getting off our backsides and out of our comfort zones, taking the initiative to go to people. Literally, “go” means “as you go”. In other words, as we go through life, in all we do, we are to make disciples.
We are to make disciples by baptising them which is about bringing them to faith. The first phase is evangelism. It means sharing the good news of Jesus, seeing people converted and celebrating that new faith through baptism. The first half of the Great Commission is about conversion. If we are going to do what we have been commissioned to do, we have to be very intentional about seeking conversions – people coming to a faith in Jesus Christ.
But Jesus didn’t stop there. We are to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. The disciple-making process doesn’t stop when someone is converted. Jesus talked about then intentionally training Christians to obey all of Jesus’ teaching. He didn’t say, “Teach them everything I have commanded.” He said, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded.”
What would that look like? Can you imagine whole churches of people actively learning to obeying everything Jesus commanded? They would love God with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength. They would love each other. Imagine if we had lots of people who knew how to turn the other cheek.
The reality is often that we have churches full of Dennys; people who are self-centred, when Jesus said we can’t even be disciples without dying to ourselves. People who are still spiritual babies.
This is what happens between conversion and commissioning: coaching.
In the Great Commission, Jesus command conversion then coaching. Bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ then bringing people to maturity in Jesus Christ. This is our mission.
Of course, if disciples are to obey everything Jesus commanded, that includes this command to make disciples. And so disciples are to become disciple-makers. It is a cyclic process analogous to parents who raise children to become parents who can raise children. Or, the master craftsman who trains an apprentice to the point where he/she can become a master and train another generation of apprentices. Disciples are to be coached to be disciple makers. The sequence is conversion, coaching, commissioning.
For the apostles, that was exactly how it was. They were called to follow, then they were trained, then they were commissioned. The disciples became disciple-makers.
That is why our theme doesn’t simply talk about making disciples. It talks about making disciple-making disciples: growing people to the point where they make disciples.
Think about those three words: conversion, coaching, commissioning. Is your church intentional about each of them? How focused is your church on evangelism? What strategies does your church have in place for coaching; for training people to obey everything Jesus commanded? At the point of conversion are you already talking about commissioning? It is about training people for ministry. The gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are given “to equip God’s people for works of service”. The objective is followers of Christ who are converted, then coached, then commissioned. That is what happened in the New Testament. That is what disciple-making is all about. That is our mission.
I remember the first two sentences in my first third form Latin text book: Discipuli picturam spectate. Britannia insula est. Pupils, look at the picture. Britain is an island.
The English word “disciple” is derived from that Latin word “discipulus” (plural, discipuli). It simply means a pupil, a student. It translates the New Testament Greek word “mathetes” which also means a pupil or a student - except that, in the New Testament, disciples are always disciples of someone. John the Baptist had disciples; the Pharisees; rabbis; Jesus. The philosophy was not so much that the disciple learned facts from the teacher but that the disciple became like the teacher. It was not about information but about imitation. It was about gaining knowledge, yes, but also about developing skills and growing in character – to become like the teacher.
In Matthew 10:24 Jesus said, “The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.”
The goal was for the disciple to become like his teacher. The disciple was not just a student but a follower. We should recognise that word. Jesus called people to follow Him. The follower is someone who attaches himself/herself to a particular leader wanting to be like that leader. It is that “being like Jesus” that he summed up in the words “obeying everything I have commanded.” Living like Jesus; thinking like Jesus; doing what Jesus did; having the mind of Christ; having the character of Christ.
This is our mission: making followers of Jesus, or students of Jesus, who are becoming like Jesus.
Jesus set the discipleship bar very high. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) There were no exceptions. Anyone who would come after Jesus must lay down his/her life. We should say the same to people who want to join our churches.
In Luke 14:25-27 we are told, “Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
There is no discipleship without that. People who don’t do these things cannot be disciples. We have drifted a long way from that sort of aspiration; that sort of self-denying followership. We are meant to be making disciples love Jesus above everything, including their own families and even their own lives. We are not doing it. The best thing we can do for our towns and cities and country is produce citizens who are increasingly like Jesus. Just imagine what our communities would be like. This is our mission.
It is a huge ask and yet Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of people.” He is still in the business of making missionaries. He can do in people’s lives what we can’t. He doesn’t expect instant maturity. The Twelve were frustratingly slow to grow, and yet those men became world-changers. Jesus did make them fishers of people. A disciple is a student, a learner; not instantly perfect but a student of Jesus Christ and becoming like Him.
My prayer is that we will be convicted that this is what we are called to. I pray that we might know beyond all doubt that it can be done. God is still in the business of making disciple-making disciples. This is on His heart. If we say yes to being disciples who make disciples, God will enable us for that. He will be so excited that we are doing what we have been commissioned to do. That church will grow. That’s my prophecy because you know what? Jesus said, “Go, make disciples, baptising them and teaching them to obey... and surely I will be with you to the very end of the age.” Do this and I will be with you.
Apart from His sacrificial work on the cross, the most significant thing our Lord did upon earth was to make disciples. He relied on having 11 trained disciples. It was the basis for the spread of His movement. The scary thing is that disciple-making is still the basis for the spread of His movement.
Some have said the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is in terminal decline. But what if we listened to Jesus’ last words and we said “Yes, Lord”? What if we committed ourselves to seeing people converted, then coached and then commissioned? Might we see a miracle? Might we experience God’s blessing?
John tried to explain to him that the church wanted to reach people in the community who didn’t know Jesus and wanted to remove one of the cultural barriers that stopped people coming into the church. Denny just responded, “The music is too loud.” He was just a grumpy man.
Then he started talking to other staff, the ushers, even strangers in the foyer saying, “Don’t you think the music is too loud?” The staff realised they had to deal with it and thought they had, until, one day, an official from the equivalent of OSH turned up because of a noise complaint against the church. The OSH man felt embarrassed about busting a church. They laughed about it. It came to nothing.
But who had filed the complaint? Denny, of course.
John Ortberg’s observation on the entire affair is telling. He says, “Denny is not changing. He is a cranky guy. He has been cranky his whole life. Not just about the church – he does not effectively know how to love his wife, his children cannot relate to him and he has no joy. He’s been going to church his whole life – sixty years. And nobody is surprised. Nobody in the church is surprised that he stays cranky year after year. No one is particularly bothered by it. It is as if we expect it – that’s just Denny. Nobody is expecting him to be more like Jesus year after year.”
My guess is that most of us have people like Denny in our churches. Or people who display other signs of bad behaviour. We just accept that that is how people are. But that is not what Jesus intended.
I am really sorry if this is kindergarten stuff for you but I fear at times that we have lost sight of our primary calling. To put it bluntly, I think we have largely forgotten what Jesus intended.
Each of the four gospels finishes with the Great Commission. Let’s hear them all.
Matt 28:16-20
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Mark 16:15-16
15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Luke 24:46-49
46He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things. 49I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
John 20:21-23
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Each of the gospels concludes with this commissioning of His followers. We have to conclude that this is important. As Jesus’ mission ended, He defined the mission of His followers. This is our mission.
The story of the early church in Acts begins with the Great Commission.
Acts 1:8
... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
In Acts we see the church doing what it had been commanded by Jesus to do – making disciples.
If it wasn’t enough that each of the gospels ends with this charge to mission and the story of the early church starts with it, Jesus was equally clear about it when He began His ministry of making disciples.
Matt 4:18-22
18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of people." 20At once they left their nets and followed him.
21Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
When He began His ministry and called these men, Jesus was very clear about what the end result would be: I will make you fishers of people. What were they to become? Evangelists and disciple-makers.
Again, when He chose the Twelve,
Mark 3:13-15
13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons.
He appointed them “to be with Him... that He might send them out.” The intention from the beginning was to send them out. He was about making missionaries.
When people join our churches, do we say, “It is great to have you as part of our church. You know, our purpose is to make missionaries. You become part of us; we will train you to be sent out”? It might be debatable when the Twelve were converted but if we see their agreeing to follow Jesus as their conversion, then at the point of their conversion, Jesus was already talking about their commissioning. Those two events are watershed events in a Christian’s life: conversion and commissioning. For Jesus, at the point of conversion, the intention is commissioning. What happens between conversion and commissioning?
These five versions of the Great Commission are all a bit different but if we consider them all together, there is one single thrust: It is all about preaching the gospel of forgiveness to all nations in the power of the Holy Spirit and then training the converts to follow Jesus.
Matthew calls that “making disciples”. We have heard the Matthew passage preached on dozens of times. One problem is that that is often in the context of a missions service. It is about what happens overseas.
In the Commission there are four verbs: Go, make disciples, baptise and teach to obey. Grammatically, one is the main verb and the other three are participles, or supporting verbs.
When I ask people which they think is the main verb, the answer is often “Go”. That is what we hear preached. In fact, “go” is not the main verb. The main verb is “make disciples”. That is not about what is done overseas. That is our mission. Our mission is to make disciples. The participles tell us how to do it.
We are to make disciples by going, which means getting off our backsides and out of our comfort zones, taking the initiative to go to people. Literally, “go” means “as you go”. In other words, as we go through life, in all we do, we are to make disciples.
We are to make disciples by baptising them which is about bringing them to faith. The first phase is evangelism. It means sharing the good news of Jesus, seeing people converted and celebrating that new faith through baptism. The first half of the Great Commission is about conversion. If we are going to do what we have been commissioned to do, we have to be very intentional about seeking conversions – people coming to a faith in Jesus Christ.
But Jesus didn’t stop there. We are to make disciples by teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded. The disciple-making process doesn’t stop when someone is converted. Jesus talked about then intentionally training Christians to obey all of Jesus’ teaching. He didn’t say, “Teach them everything I have commanded.” He said, “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded.”
What would that look like? Can you imagine whole churches of people actively learning to obeying everything Jesus commanded? They would love God with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength. They would love each other. Imagine if we had lots of people who knew how to turn the other cheek.
The reality is often that we have churches full of Dennys; people who are self-centred, when Jesus said we can’t even be disciples without dying to ourselves. People who are still spiritual babies.
This is what happens between conversion and commissioning: coaching.
In the Great Commission, Jesus command conversion then coaching. Bringing people to faith in Jesus Christ then bringing people to maturity in Jesus Christ. This is our mission.
Of course, if disciples are to obey everything Jesus commanded, that includes this command to make disciples. And so disciples are to become disciple-makers. It is a cyclic process analogous to parents who raise children to become parents who can raise children. Or, the master craftsman who trains an apprentice to the point where he/she can become a master and train another generation of apprentices. Disciples are to be coached to be disciple makers. The sequence is conversion, coaching, commissioning.
For the apostles, that was exactly how it was. They were called to follow, then they were trained, then they were commissioned. The disciples became disciple-makers.
That is why our theme doesn’t simply talk about making disciples. It talks about making disciple-making disciples: growing people to the point where they make disciples.
Think about those three words: conversion, coaching, commissioning. Is your church intentional about each of them? How focused is your church on evangelism? What strategies does your church have in place for coaching; for training people to obey everything Jesus commanded? At the point of conversion are you already talking about commissioning? It is about training people for ministry. The gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are given “to equip God’s people for works of service”. The objective is followers of Christ who are converted, then coached, then commissioned. That is what happened in the New Testament. That is what disciple-making is all about. That is our mission.
I remember the first two sentences in my first third form Latin text book: Discipuli picturam spectate. Britannia insula est. Pupils, look at the picture. Britain is an island.
The English word “disciple” is derived from that Latin word “discipulus” (plural, discipuli). It simply means a pupil, a student. It translates the New Testament Greek word “mathetes” which also means a pupil or a student - except that, in the New Testament, disciples are always disciples of someone. John the Baptist had disciples; the Pharisees; rabbis; Jesus. The philosophy was not so much that the disciple learned facts from the teacher but that the disciple became like the teacher. It was not about information but about imitation. It was about gaining knowledge, yes, but also about developing skills and growing in character – to become like the teacher.
In Matthew 10:24 Jesus said, “The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master.”
The goal was for the disciple to become like his teacher. The disciple was not just a student but a follower. We should recognise that word. Jesus called people to follow Him. The follower is someone who attaches himself/herself to a particular leader wanting to be like that leader. It is that “being like Jesus” that he summed up in the words “obeying everything I have commanded.” Living like Jesus; thinking like Jesus; doing what Jesus did; having the mind of Christ; having the character of Christ.
This is our mission: making followers of Jesus, or students of Jesus, who are becoming like Jesus.
Jesus set the discipleship bar very high. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) There were no exceptions. Anyone who would come after Jesus must lay down his/her life. We should say the same to people who want to join our churches.
In Luke 14:25-27 we are told, “Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them He said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes even his own life – he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
There is no discipleship without that. People who don’t do these things cannot be disciples. We have drifted a long way from that sort of aspiration; that sort of self-denying followership. We are meant to be making disciples love Jesus above everything, including their own families and even their own lives. We are not doing it. The best thing we can do for our towns and cities and country is produce citizens who are increasingly like Jesus. Just imagine what our communities would be like. This is our mission.
It is a huge ask and yet Jesus said, “I will make you fishers of people.” He is still in the business of making missionaries. He can do in people’s lives what we can’t. He doesn’t expect instant maturity. The Twelve were frustratingly slow to grow, and yet those men became world-changers. Jesus did make them fishers of people. A disciple is a student, a learner; not instantly perfect but a student of Jesus Christ and becoming like Him.
My prayer is that we will be convicted that this is what we are called to. I pray that we might know beyond all doubt that it can be done. God is still in the business of making disciple-making disciples. This is on His heart. If we say yes to being disciples who make disciples, God will enable us for that. He will be so excited that we are doing what we have been commissioned to do. That church will grow. That’s my prophecy because you know what? Jesus said, “Go, make disciples, baptising them and teaching them to obey... and surely I will be with you to the very end of the age.” Do this and I will be with you.
Apart from His sacrificial work on the cross, the most significant thing our Lord did upon earth was to make disciples. He relied on having 11 trained disciples. It was the basis for the spread of His movement. The scary thing is that disciple-making is still the basis for the spread of His movement.
Some have said the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand is in terminal decline. But what if we listened to Jesus’ last words and we said “Yes, Lord”? What if we committed ourselves to seeing people converted, then coached and then commissioned? Might we see a miracle? Might we experience God’s blessing?
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