"And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20
As Christ-followers, we are included in this command to "make disciples of every nation". The flip side of this is that we also have to BE a disciple - to actually be an active follower of Jesus and all that means.
The word "Disciple" can be both a noun or a verb. To wit:
- disciple (noun): a pupil or adherent of the teaching of another
- disciple (verb): to teach; train.
It seems to me that in my life I wasn't enthusiastic about being a discipler because I wasn't being a very good disciplee. I lacked the dedication and discipline to dig in (how's that for some on the fly alliteration?) to the Word of God myself, too often relying on what other people said or wrote. Don't get me wrong, we need to sit under good preaching and avail ourselves of good teaching through books and other media, but I got in the habit of reading about the Bible rather than reading the Bible itself, and that stunted my growth. Things really changed when I dedicated myself to reading Scripture daily, That's when I started falling in love with God's Word again and started seeing an obvious "renewal of (my) mind" (Romans 12:2). With that came the confidence that I actually could get out there and "make disciples".
Which leads to the next part.
Hands On.
In the Gospel of Mark we read an account where one of the religious leaders of the day asked Jesus what commandment of God was the most important. Jesus answer was "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." One of the ways we show this love is by spending time in relationship with him, by allowing ourselves to be discipled through the reading of His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit, as discussed above.
But Jesus didn't stop there. He also said "The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
And that often means digging in and getting your hands dirty. Life is messy. People are messy. Sin is messy. Love can certainly get messy. And we don't like messes. But you can't really disciple someone by passing them in the hall on Sunday morning or saying hi from the comfort of your pew. I wish I had grasped this earlier.
I don't pretend to have all the answers. God is still working in my heart in this area. But I have found great joy in simply asking "How are you today?" and then really listening. No matter the answer there is always a conversation to be had, a relationship to be built, and an opportunity to speak God's truth into someone's life. People all around us are hurting. As Jesus hands and feet we have the power to do something about it, if we will only step out in faith and obedience. Sometimes we make things harder than they have to be. There doesn't have to be an outline to follow, you don't have to know Scripture backwards and forwards. We just have to be willing to get our hands dirty in a world that desperately needs what the Savior has to give.
Who needs you to be a Hands On Disciple?
