So You Call Yourself A Disciple!

JOHN STARKE|10:00 PM CT

Give Up Your Weak Definition of 'Disciple'

Sermons, talks, and books on discipleship usually give a basic definition of disciple as "learner." But the New Testament gives us a more thrilling and dynamic definition of a disciple and the cost that follows. Take for example the parable of the soils in Matthew 13. How do we know a disciple from merely a "learner"? Matthew 13:23 says, "He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." A disciple is, by nature---by definition!---a multiplier.

Disciples are not merely learners but fruit-bearing disciple-makers; they multiply themselves.

Dynamic Definition

As you read the New Testament, you see that discipleship is complex and thrilling. Hans Kvalbein wrote in 1988 a Themelios article on the concept of discipleship in the New Testament (see the entire archive of Themelios articles) that gives strength and depth to how local churches should think, talk, and teach about discipleship. He gives 13 theses on discipleship. Here are several of them in summary form:

1. The first word for Christians was not "Christians" but "disciples." Newcomers to the faith saw themselves in relationship to the risen Lord Jesus in some way similar to the relationship of the first disciples to the earthly rabbi Jesus.
2. A disciple learns by hearing his Master and doing like his Master. This is explicitly commanded by Jesus in John 13: "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set an example that you should do as I have done for you."
3. The disciples are chosen by Jesus. He says, "You did not choose me, But I chose you to go and bear fruit" (John 15:16).
4. Life as a disciple is "death and resurrection" with Christ, inaugurated in Christian baptism. Baptism is initiation into discipleship, giving admittance to the "school" of Jesus and starting a new life in obedience to him and his commands.
5. To be a disciple is to be called to make new disciples. Throughout the New Testament, the term "disciple" is a dynamic concept. It implies multiplication. All nations have been invited to this mission. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).

You can read the rest of Kvalbein's helpful article for the entire list and helpful summaries.

The Cost

As we should expect, whenever the New Testament explains discipleship, it immediately warns us of the cost. Being a follower of Jesus splits up your family, threatens your life, and calls you to radical sacrifice of your job, finances, desires, hopes, and reputation.

However, the cost comes after a promise. When Jesus tells his disciples to "sell your possessions, and give to the needy" (Luke 12:32), he does so after a very important assurance: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." In Jesus' day, they didn't have banks, savings, or CDs. Their net-worth was found in their possessions. Jesus is saying, if you are my disciple, you should be able to radically give, even if it means dipping into your savings (see Joel Green's The Gospel of Luke).

But notice the order. Jesus doesn't say, "Sell everything, give to the poor, and God will give you his kingdom." It's the exact opposite. Disciples can be radical in their giving because they've already been given the kingdom. Christ became poor, so his disciples might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9), and out of infinite riches, disciples become generous.

Another example is when Jesus instructs his disciples that he will be sending them out as "sheep in the midst of wolves," and the wolves will "deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues" (Matthew 10:16-17). That's not a very encouraging rallying cry for church growth and evangelism! Notice that Jesus isn't saying that they will be suddenly attacked by wolves; he's sending them out into them. This is deliberate. They will be mocked, shamed, and possibly even killed. He knows this will happen to them, because that's what the wolves will do to him. No servant is greater than his Master. Only when disciples are filled with God's grace can they go into the wolves hoping to see some turn into lambs.

Discipleship is as dynamic and costly as the gospel. Disciples can give up anything, go anywhere, and risk everything because the gospel has filled us with good things that can never be taken away.

Believing In God

Always have loved and always will love this mans writings and thoughts about the Lord!! Enjoy this quote from one of his books! Can't go wrong with anything you hear or read of this theology expert!

To believe in God means that we must believe implicitly in the promises of God to those who do thus follow him and give themselves to him. I imagine that this was the thing that our Lord was concerned to impress upon the minds of those troubled disciples. “Let not your heart be troubled . . . believe in God.” Why? Well, think of the promises that God has made to those who do believe in him. Read the Psalms, read the prophets, read God’s gracious promises throughout the Bible. Our Lord had already reminded these disciples of some of them. He said to them, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “Do not be afraid of men,” he said, “there is a limit to what they can do to you. But fear God.”

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled (Kindle Edition)

Is There Purpose For Singleness?

This is a post from a blog that I follow and I was smacked in the face by encouragement and conviction as I read it!! So good so I thought I would share, this will be mostly geared to single folks who read my blog! Enjoy!

Finding 'The Purpose' for My Singleness

from Boundless Line by Ashley Boyer

Ah, singleness. The thing in my life that constantly keeps me on my knees before God, so aware of my own sinful attitude and heart tendencies. Anyone else feel like that? Just when I think I have a handle on how to live out this season with grace and purpose, something happens to reveal a wrong way of thinking or a distorted view of God.
I was talking with another single friend, and I mentioned how I just wanted to know that I was single for areason. That this extended time of singleness is for a purpose, and that I would know what exactly that purpose is. I think of a few older single women I know, and there is an obvious calling on each of their lives that is better lived out single. One is a long-term missionary in Romania and is able to devote all of her time to running English evangelistic camps for students. Another is a well-known speaker and author who travels every weekend to speak at conferences. She’s in such demand that her schedule is completely booked through the end of 2013. Sure, both of these women could have changed careers if they had been married, or served alongside their husbands, but in the absence of marriage, their lives have a huge impact. To me, there is an obvious purpose in their singleness.
If I’m going to be single longer than I thought, I want to know there’s a purpose for me like that, too. I want there to be some grand plan for my life that I couldn’t have been able to do had I been married in my 20s. But there isn’t. I work a corporate 8-5 job, co-lead a small group and baby-sit for friends every week. I could do all of these things married, and in some cases, probably even be better. I struggle with looking at my life and not seeing The Purpose for my singleness. I don’t have a platform; I don’t influence thousands. I’m an average girl leading an average life. (Since I'm only a month into this blogging thing I'm not counting Boundless as a platform.)
But my friend, in a very gracious and gentle way, reminded me that that’s OK. Maybe some people are called to extraordinary things, and maybe some (me) are called to be faithful with the small things. Maybe God’s call on my life is for me to just do the best with what He’s given me. To work hard and with integrity at my job. To be a listening ear and supportive friend. Maybe part of my calling is to be available for God to use me to serve and love others well as my primary focus until He calls me to serve and love my husband and kids as my top priority. Of course we're all called to love and serve our neighbors whether single or married. But a married person has the additional, and I would argue, first priority to love a spouse and children sacrificially.
Even though it might not seem like there’s a huge, obvious purpose, I can still trust God and His love for me. I go back to Matthew 7:11, “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”
Maybe someday The Purpose will be revealed, and maybe it won’t. But my faith and trust in God shouldn’t hinge on that knowledge. I’m reminded of the words of Corrie Ten Boom, “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” So let’s learn to trust God with whatever good gifts He’s given us.
Have you ever tried to find The Purpose for the delayed answer to things you’ve been praying for? Is it easier to trust God if He reveals that to you?

Searching For the MORE!!

Walking through Balboa Park the other day on my way to work at the coffee cart my attention was captured. In a the grass to my left was a woman with a table set up for palm readings and fortune telling, she was talking to a lady in her mid 30's. I only caught a few sentences as I was quickly walking my. I felt this huge heaviness as I continued on my and I began to pray for these woman as I was working the rest of the day. The image of them sitting there has been burned in my mind ever since that day and my heart cannot help but break when I think. Here was a woman troubled looking for answers for some kind of hope and here in her life came a woman who was willing to offer her what she thought would be the answer and or solution to the problems she is having in life. 

I came to the realization that while some want nothing to do with Christ or so they think there is another group of people, the majority of souls in this world who are searching, grasping for an inkling of hope. Something to hang on to, something to believe in. So often I know I have this mentality in my head that Christ is all mine and as long as I mind my own business in life, go one about life fellowshipping with those who also have Christ that there is no one else who needs or is looking for Christ. On the contrary, yes those of us who are believers have Christ without a doubt and what a blessing that is, but there are so many men and woman like the one I saw getting her palm read who want hope, they have questions and needs and they are hungry for more. They desire to live for something more, to be truly loved and known, and to live a life of peace and joy. While they do not know it they are searching for a Savior, our Great Father and God. 

My biggest prayer and desire is that I would not waste one minute and opportunity to show the hope and glory of Christ through my every word, deed, attitude, and smile. May my life scream JESUS to those who see me and come in contact with me. Oh may my life in its entirety point to everything Christ is, everything they don't have, everything they need, everything they can hope, and everything they can posses if only they will come to surrender and believe. Romans 1:16 reminds us not to be ashamed of the Gospel for it is full of the power to save anyone who believes. We are to be the living testimony of the Gospel, the good new of who Christ is and what He has done for us. 2 Corinthians 2:14 also speaks to this very thing saying "Thanks be to God who in Christ always leads us in triumphant precession and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere." 

It is so humbling to know that even in our sanctification, in our weakness Christ still uses us as living vessels to spread the knowledge and fragrance of His name throughout the world, in all the places that He has sovereignly placed us. Praise be to God, forever and ever Amen! 

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

This a beautiful hymn that I fell in love with today after dong it for worship after not hearing it in a really long time. Old hymns are filled with such amazing Scripture and Gospel truths and promises. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!!