Discipleship
This past Sunday I preached this sermon on making disciples and several people asked me to post my notes, so here they are:
Matt 28:19-20
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
A lot of people think that the Great Commission was about
getting people to pray the sinner’s prayer.
If you are one of those people, then you need to rethink your philosophy
and amend it, in light of Jesus’ words.
There are 3 key ingredients to what He has called all of us
to do.
The Bible doesn’t say, wait for them to come to church and hear a good sermon, or wait for someone else to guide them through the steps. It says GO and make disciples, not converts. A lot of people look at Billy Graham and think of him as doing more of the Great Commission that anyone else over the last 50 years. The truth is that Billy personally, has made very few disciples. Where Billy has been exceptional is at using and training the local churches to follow up and make disciples. It is not enough to get people to come to church or to pray the sinner’s prayer. It is up to each person individually to get new converts hooked up to the body of Christ and to help them understand what it means to have Jesus as Lord of their lives.
2. Teach them
New converts are often unsure of what they have just signed up for. They need to be taught and guided. That job is yours, the person who led them to Christ, their neighbor, friend, and relative. It is not the primary job of the pastor or the elders. Yes, we will teach them and equip them, but Discipling them is your primary task. It is your job to get them started reading the Bible. It is your job to warn them against starting in Genesis, but to get them to start in the Gospel of John and to tell them why. It is your job to teach them the basics of the faith. If you need help, that is where the Elders can help you. You can use our brochures as a starting point, especially our Statement of Faith. It is your job to get them involved in a small group and get them to know more people.
3. Overcome your personal fears and doubts
2 Tim 1:7-8
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (Fear),
but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord,
Fear is not from the Lord. It is tool the enemy uses to immobilize us
and take us out the game. Most of us are
afraid of the unknown. Our worst day on
any job is our first day. We don’t know
what to expect. But after a few days we
start to feel at ease because we are getting familiar with our surroundings. It is the same thing with sharing. The more you do it, the easier it gets and the
more you want to do it. Get in the
game! Just do it!
a.
Remember that Jesus says, “go”
It is far better to go and make mistakes than to sit on the
sidelines. God can use your mistakes,
but He can’t use your inaction. I used
to get so mad at fanatics who beat people over the head with the Bible, or who
got into people’s faces to point out the sin in their lives. Granted, those aren’t the best methods, and
some people do get turned off at the time.
Over time, however, I have been thankful for those people because they
have opened doors for me. People see who
I am and how I conduct myself and then they ask questions because they see a difference
between those who came before me and myself.
It opened up doors for me to share the Good News with them. Don’t worry about blowing it. Go and God will honor it.
b.
Don’t worry about what people might think
about you
No matter what you do, there is always going to be some
people who will be responsive to you and your message, others will appreciate
you and reject your message, and yet others will reject both you and your
message. This is a fact of life. Jesus knew this and that is why He told His
disciples to shake off the dust when people didn’t receive them. Forget about it! Move on.
Don’t let it affect you. It is
their loss. Instead focus on the fact
that you are doing what God called you to do.
Men and women may reject you, but God chose you. Which is more important: the approval of man
or the approval of God? If they rejected
His prophets and His Son, you need to realize that they will reject you also. Don’t dwell on it. Also realize that though it may seem as if
they have totally rejected what you have to say, you may have prepared them for
the next person to come along.
c.
Don’t worry about the results
Our job is to move people along the Engels scale. It is the Holy Spirit working through us and
in a person’s life that makes the difference.
Our responsibility is to preach the Good News and to make
disciples. John Wesley is quoted as
saying that the average conversion takes 2 ½ years, and that in a time when
most people grew up in church!
John 4:37-38
Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.
38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard
work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."
Discipleship in the post-modern world
We are living in a different world
than we grew up in. At the beginning of
the 20th Century most people grew up with at least a rudimentary
knowledge of God. Most at least attended
Sunday School and when you mentioned the Bible it meant something to them. Not anymore.
Most people only have second-hand knowledge about Christianity. The Bible is just another book filled with
myths to them. The Church is irrelevant
to them. In the past, we appealed to
mind first and then to the heart. We
tried to convince people of the truth of the Bible. In the Post-Modern world we need to do just
the opposite. Appeal to the heart first,
and then to the mind. They may believe
in God, but what they believe is a hodge-podge of many religions and philosophies. When you talk to them you can’t say, “The
Bible says…” because that doesn’t mean anything to them.
Things you should know about pre-Christians:
- Most have rejected Church but
they haven’t rejected God. Many
even pray. Some even consider
themselves Christians.
- They are morally adrift, but
secretly want an anchor.
- They resist rules but respond
to reasons.
- They have judged Christianity
and don’t understand it, but are also ignorant about what they claim to
believe in. The information they
have about Christianity comes from the headlines in the news, which are
mostly negative.
- They have legitimate
questions about Christianity but they don’t get answers from Christians,
just judgment.
- They don’t want to know if
Christianity is true. They just
want to know if it works and will it work for them. Ex.
- They don’t want knowledge
about something they want to experience it!
- They don’t want to be
somebody’s project, but they would like to be somebody’s friend.
- They are distrustful of
Religious leaders but are receptive to authentic Biblical leadership. They want to see if your walk lines up
with your talk. They want to see if
God makes a positive difference in your life or if it just a crutch.
- They want their children to
get quality moral training even if they feel they themselves are not
spiritually sensitive.
- Go
and make disciples
- Teach
them
- Overcome
your personal fears and doubts
2 Tim 1:7-8
For God did not give us a
spirit of timidity (Fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of
self-discipline.
8 So do not be
ashamed to testify about our Lord,
Fear is not from the Lord. It is tool the enemy uses to immobilize us
and take us out the game. Most of us are
afraid of the unknown. Our worst day on
any job is our first day. We don’t know
what to expect. But after a few days we
start to feel at ease because we are getting familiar with our
surroundings. It is the same thing with
sharing. The more you do it, the easier
it gets and the more you want to do it.
Get in the game! Just do it!
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