Those who did stay with Jesus, and later became his apostles, his witnesses to the world, they were not special because they were well-educated. If God wanted well-educated people he would have called the Pharisees. They weren’t rich, or well-known, or even especially faithful when they started. They were called because they were obedient to him. They followed him. No matter what they had to give up, or what sins they had to repent of, they obeyed. Just look at the life of Peter. He had to change from being self-righteous and over-confident, to where God could use him to serve. God even used the experience of Peter’s denial to change him into a humble servant. “Just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” And when Jesus reinstates Peter, he says to him in John 21:18-19 “I tell you the truth, when you were youngeryou dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go…Follow me!” Jesus was trying to make a point here, he was telling Peter that it’s more important that you be humble and listen to what I tell you, then for you to try to earn your own salvation.
A true disciple, a true “leader,” as Jesus put it, is someone who first of all sumbits to God, then secondly, becomes a servent to others. How do you actually submit to God? What does that mean? It means that whatever it is that’s more important to you than God must be abandoned, and given to God. Paul said: “whatever was to my profit I now consider a loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” Philippians 3:7 Basically, the disciple must become like Christ in all things. Paul makes an astounding claim that we must actually crucify ourselves, that Christ might dwell in us fully. For all intents and purposes we have become dead people walking around. We are corpses for Christ, but he doesn’t leave us that way. The sooner we abandom any claim on our lives, and our time on this earth, the sooner he begin a new work in you. (Galations 2:20, Romans 6, Romans 12:1-2) What is the work that God wants us to do? Like I’ve been saying, first and foremost he wants to transform you into Christ’s image. To made like Christ in death, and thereby like him in life as well. Becoming a Christian is not about what you do, but who you are. God wants your hearts first.
What does God want you to do once you have put yourself to death? Listen to the words of the Great Commission again, and think about them: “Therefore go and make disciples of all the nations.” He didn’t say go and make converts, he didn’t even say go and make Christians, he said make disciples, or better understood, followers. And how does one learn to follow Christ? They must know Christ in order to become like him, so the only way for them to learn is to be around Christians. This is a serious matter, because it’s not just about telling them the gospel, it’s about teaching, correcting, rebuking, training in righteousness. Jesus spent 3 years with his disciples, and they still weren’t quite perfect. How much longer must be bear with one another in teaching young Christians. Paul states that “though there are 10 thousand guardians in Christ, there are not many fathers.”-I Corinthians 4:15. Most people don’t have someone to personally teach them and help them grow in Christ. Paul was a father to the churches he planted. He did not simply preach a sermon, and then leave them. No, but he persevered and did not stop until they were spiritually mature themselves, and able to teach others. Paul loves with an intense love for all of his spiritual “children,” and he truly suffered and bled for many of them. Just skimming through the Bible, it’s hard to miss the intensity with which he cared for his flock of wandering sheep. A few verses: Colossions 1:28-29, II Corinthians 11:29, I Thessalonians 2:17-20, and many more.
The thing to remember is that discipleship is God’s chosen way of leading other into the family of God. Evangelism does a great work in making people familiar with God, but often leaves young Christians too weak to care for themselves, and dissolustioned with the church that virtually abandoned them after their conversion. Sure it looks good to be able to say that we have brought thousands to saving knowlege of Christ, but how many of them have gone on to become faithful followers, even able to spread the gospel to others. You see, then, that the proof is not in how many spiriual children you create, it’s about how many grand-children and great-grand-children, that’s the proof in the pudding right there. Remember Jesus spent 3 years with his disciples, day and night, they really never left him, and he was the son of God! How much longer does it take for us to teach and build up others in Christ?
If you remember only one thing from all I’ve said here, remember this: The best way to spread the gospel is not reaching thousands year after year who eventually lose faith and fall away. If we can only reach and truly teach 1 person every year, though it may start out slow, the numbers grow exponentially. for anyone that knows a little math, it’s sort of like looking at linear graphs and exponential graphs: the linear graph starts out above the exponential, but the exponential grows slowly and eventually overtakes the linear graph. So too, reaching only 1 or 2 people every year, you will eventually reach more people than the evangelist who saves thousands year after year!! This is because every person you reach out to disciple will be able to continue the work as well. The numbers grow quickly…1,2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072…
That is God’s chosen way to reach the world. Don’t let yourself believe that you have to be a preacher or a pastor to spread God’s word. You are God’s messengers! “Go and make disciples of all the nations!”
