Make Disciples
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired me and followed him.
In our effort to understand our mission: Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, last week we talked about discipleship – how being a true follower of Jesus requires us to count the cost and to commit ourselves completely to Him. Simon, Andrew, James, and John left their profession – left everything – to follow Jesus in this new endeavor. Now they were going to give their lives to catch people rather than fish.
If you were all-powerful and you wanted everyone on earth to follow you, how would you go about it? Jesus chose an interesting means to get his message out: he called people to himself and asked them to call others to him. And the people he called: not exactly the best and brightest. The goal of every Jewish father was for his son to become a rabbi, so they would begin by studying at home and would “apply” to follow a rabbi. They would then get as much as they could from that rabbi and then leave to learn from a “better” rabbi. But if the rabbi rejected you, you’d end up home, working your father’s business. So the very fact that Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen tells us that they washed out in their bid to become rabbis.
But Jesus called them anyway and invited them to be a part of what he was doing. It doesn’t seem very efficient; calling rejects and expecting them to call others. Much of Jesus’ ministry was equally inefficient: think about this: though Jesus spent time speaking to huge crowds and fed over 5,000 people on occasion, his main ministry was to 12. And of those 12, he spent most of his time with 3: Peter, James, and John.
Jesus’ last words to his disciples were: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, even to the very end of the age.
Why would Jesus institute this means of getting his message across?
First of all, it’s a reminder that this life is important, and that God thinks we are important. He has an awfully high view of His creation, and He knows our potential. He wants us to be a part of what He’s doing. He wants us to learn and grow, and the way to do that is by participating, not just watching.
Not only is this true, but God seems to think it’s effective to have His people do His work.
OK, so God planned it out that we’re supposed to make disciples for Him. But who are we supposed to make into disciples? When we think about who Jesus called as His first disciples, He chose fishermen. He chose those who had been rejected by other rabbis. He chose common, everyday people. They became his cell group.
Let’s take a look at another disciple maker, a tax collector named Levi. We can find his story in Luke 5:27-32 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Jesus takes his message to a hated tax collector. If you didn’t know, tax collectors were the worst of the worst. They were traitors, betraying their own people for money. But Jesus chose Levi anyway. Now that Levi’s life had been turned upside-down, what would he do next? Luke 5:29-32 records it: Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Did you know that Christ followers who do exactly what Jesus and Levi did are still attacked… by other Christians? People who go out of their way to invite the outsider or to welcome the unwelcome are often vilified by good church people. I grew up with a friend named Tony who was always made to feel uncomfortable in church. Why? Because he was the only one wearing jeans. He didn’t have “church clothes” to wear. People stared and whispered. I know that people right here in our very congregation have made people feel unwelcome here because of the way they dress or even because they didn’t drive the right type of vehicle. I can’t make this stuff up. This is one reason why I dress like I do and why I love the way Rudy dresses; because it demonstrates to outsiders that no matter what they wear, they are welcome here.
I’ll bet that’s why we don’t have an account of Levi inviting his friends to church. They weren’t welcome there. They were tax collectors and sinners, and that type of person wasn’t welcome.
But Jesus said those were the exact people he wanted as his followers.
You want to know who to make into disciples: all of your friends. It’s as simple as that. Do you have any friends who aren’t yet Christians? They need Jesus. If you want a good way to introduce your non-Christian friends to Jesus, why don’t you invite them to a party? Your cell group is a great place for that to happen; when it’s time for your cell group to party, invite some people who aren’t yet connected to Jesus.
Be forewarned, however that making disciples is messy. It isn’t a program; it’s living life together. Youth ministry pioneer Mike Yaconelli, one of my Christian heroes said this in his book Messy Spirituality:
Making disciples is not a quick fix. It is no easy 10-week program. It’s not tied to church membership. Though classes and cell groups are great places to grow, they aren’t the end of discipleship. Making disciples is a lifelong commitment that every Christian is accountable to make. Every Christian must not only be a disciple, but must also be making disciples. The Apostle Paul was well known for sharing the Gospel everywhere he went, for planting churches, and for his letters to those churches, many of which we know as Scriptures. It could be easy to think of him as some kind of Lone Ranger, all by himself spreading the Gospel, but Paul was serious about making disciples, and he called Timothy his true son in the faith (1 Timothy 1:2). But Paul was not just a disciple-maker. He also was accountable to Barnabas, whose very name means “Son of Encouragement.” When Paul was first converted to Christianity, the believers would not accept that he was no longer persecuting them. But Barnabas brought him in to the apostles and made the introduction. Then, in Acts 11, as Paul’s ministry began, it was Barnabas who accompanied Paul as he began his ministry and missionary journeys. Barnabas is a great example of a disciple maker; he wasn’t necessarily the big name – many of you probably never heard of him – but without him and his influence on Paul, we wouldn’t have half of the New Testament.
Many of you probably had a Barnabas in your life, someone who accepted you as you were but weren’t content to leave you there. If you had someone who accepted you as you were and brought you to faith in Jesus Christ, why don’t you write them a note today and thank them for what they did for you? In reality, everyone needs both a Barnabas and a Timothy; we need someone to disciple us and we need to be discipling someone.
Remember, though, that real discipleship is messy. It isn’t linear. Sometimes you can go for ages without seeing the hoped-for result. I remember working in youth ministry with a boy I’ll call Ian. The only time he smiled was when he was making fun of someone. He was always scowling, and he seemed to reserve his biggest scowls for me. But for some reason, I felt drawn to him. So I made it my goal to say something nice to him every time we met. He usually responded like, “Yeah, so what?” I never saw any results from Ian. But I did my job anyway.
In 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul addresses the people of the church in Corinth, who are arguing about who followed Paul and who followed Apollos. What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
Each one of us, every one of us has a part in this. And each of us has our own gifts that connect with others. And because we are all so different making disciples looks different for all of us. Mike Yaconelli used to tell a story about a church whose board was shocked to see the junior high kids sitting on the church lawn, reading their Bibles and smoking. He continues by saying, “If I were in that church, I’d bring in that youth worker and tell him, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but you deserve a raise! If you can get kids who were smoking to read the Bible… WOO HOO!’”
Making disciples is messy. It doesn’t always look like it’s going in the right direction. It doesn’t always look “churchy.” Think about Levi’s party with tax collectors. That didn’t look anything like church. If that happened today, I’ll bet Levi would be wearing jeans (think about it). I’m convinced that we need to make church look less like church and more like Jesus if we want to get serious about making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Making disciples is all about getting real with one another and with God. Until we do so, then we are technically hypocrites. It costs a lot. If you are discipling someone, it means that you’ve got to stand up and hold them accountable. It means you have to encourage them even when you’re not feeling all that gracious. It means you have to intentionally spend time with them, and that means rearranging your priorities; moving your focus from productivity to relationship. And that takes a long time.
This is the way Jesus did it, and he invites us to take part in the greatest endeavor ever: making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!
Mark 1:16-20
In our effort to understand our mission: Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, last week we talked about discipleship – how being a true follower of Jesus requires us to count the cost and to commit ourselves completely to Him. Simon, Andrew, James, and John left their profession – left everything – to follow Jesus in this new endeavor. Now they were going to give their lives to catch people rather than fish.
If you were all-powerful and you wanted everyone on earth to follow you, how would you go about it? Jesus chose an interesting means to get his message out: he called people to himself and asked them to call others to him. And the people he called: not exactly the best and brightest. The goal of every Jewish father was for his son to become a rabbi, so they would begin by studying at home and would “apply” to follow a rabbi. They would then get as much as they could from that rabbi and then leave to learn from a “better” rabbi. But if the rabbi rejected you, you’d end up home, working your father’s business. So the very fact that Simon, Andrew, James, and John were fishermen tells us that they washed out in their bid to become rabbis.
But Jesus called them anyway and invited them to be a part of what he was doing. It doesn’t seem very efficient; calling rejects and expecting them to call others. Much of Jesus’ ministry was equally inefficient: think about this: though Jesus spent time speaking to huge crowds and fed over 5,000 people on occasion, his main ministry was to 12. And of those 12, he spent most of his time with 3: Peter, James, and John.
Jesus’ last words to his disciples were: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I will be with you always, even to the very end of the age.
Why would Jesus institute this means of getting his message across?
First of all, it’s a reminder that this life is important, and that God thinks we are important. He has an awfully high view of His creation, and He knows our potential. He wants us to be a part of what He’s doing. He wants us to learn and grow, and the way to do that is by participating, not just watching.
Not only is this true, but God seems to think it’s effective to have His people do His work.
OK, so God planned it out that we’re supposed to make disciples for Him. But who are we supposed to make into disciples? When we think about who Jesus called as His first disciples, He chose fishermen. He chose those who had been rejected by other rabbis. He chose common, everyday people. They became his cell group.
Let’s take a look at another disciple maker, a tax collector named Levi. We can find his story in Luke 5:27-32 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, and Levi got up, left everything, and followed him.
Jesus takes his message to a hated tax collector. If you didn’t know, tax collectors were the worst of the worst. They were traitors, betraying their own people for money. But Jesus chose Levi anyway. Now that Levi’s life had been turned upside-down, what would he do next? Luke 5:29-32 records it: Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Did you know that Christ followers who do exactly what Jesus and Levi did are still attacked… by other Christians? People who go out of their way to invite the outsider or to welcome the unwelcome are often vilified by good church people. I grew up with a friend named Tony who was always made to feel uncomfortable in church. Why? Because he was the only one wearing jeans. He didn’t have “church clothes” to wear. People stared and whispered. I know that people right here in our very congregation have made people feel unwelcome here because of the way they dress or even because they didn’t drive the right type of vehicle. I can’t make this stuff up. This is one reason why I dress like I do and why I love the way Rudy dresses; because it demonstrates to outsiders that no matter what they wear, they are welcome here.
I’ll bet that’s why we don’t have an account of Levi inviting his friends to church. They weren’t welcome there. They were tax collectors and sinners, and that type of person wasn’t welcome.
But Jesus said those were the exact people he wanted as his followers.
You want to know who to make into disciples: all of your friends. It’s as simple as that. Do you have any friends who aren’t yet Christians? They need Jesus. If you want a good way to introduce your non-Christian friends to Jesus, why don’t you invite them to a party? Your cell group is a great place for that to happen; when it’s time for your cell group to party, invite some people who aren’t yet connected to Jesus.
Be forewarned, however that making disciples is messy. It isn’t a program; it’s living life together. Youth ministry pioneer Mike Yaconelli, one of my Christian heroes said this in his book Messy Spirituality:
Spirituality is not a formula; it is not a test. It is a relationship.This is what discipleship looks like. Accepting someone right where they are, broken and flawed, and helping them to find God, who is present in the tangledness in their lives, too.
Spirituality is not about competency; it is about intimacy. Spirituality is not
about perfection; it is about connection. The way of the spiritual life begins
where we are now in the mess of our lives. Accepting the reality of our broken,
flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life
will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead,
seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives. Spirituality
is not about being fixed; it is about God’s being present in the mess of our
unfixedness.
Making disciples is not a quick fix. It is no easy 10-week program. It’s not tied to church membership. Though classes and cell groups are great places to grow, they aren’t the end of discipleship. Making disciples is a lifelong commitment that every Christian is accountable to make. Every Christian must not only be a disciple, but must also be making disciples. The Apostle Paul was well known for sharing the Gospel everywhere he went, for planting churches, and for his letters to those churches, many of which we know as Scriptures. It could be easy to think of him as some kind of Lone Ranger, all by himself spreading the Gospel, but Paul was serious about making disciples, and he called Timothy his true son in the faith (1 Timothy 1:2). But Paul was not just a disciple-maker. He also was accountable to Barnabas, whose very name means “Son of Encouragement.” When Paul was first converted to Christianity, the believers would not accept that he was no longer persecuting them. But Barnabas brought him in to the apostles and made the introduction. Then, in Acts 11, as Paul’s ministry began, it was Barnabas who accompanied Paul as he began his ministry and missionary journeys. Barnabas is a great example of a disciple maker; he wasn’t necessarily the big name – many of you probably never heard of him – but without him and his influence on Paul, we wouldn’t have half of the New Testament.
Many of you probably had a Barnabas in your life, someone who accepted you as you were but weren’t content to leave you there. If you had someone who accepted you as you were and brought you to faith in Jesus Christ, why don’t you write them a note today and thank them for what they did for you? In reality, everyone needs both a Barnabas and a Timothy; we need someone to disciple us and we need to be discipling someone.
Remember, though, that real discipleship is messy. It isn’t linear. Sometimes you can go for ages without seeing the hoped-for result. I remember working in youth ministry with a boy I’ll call Ian. The only time he smiled was when he was making fun of someone. He was always scowling, and he seemed to reserve his biggest scowls for me. But for some reason, I felt drawn to him. So I made it my goal to say something nice to him every time we met. He usually responded like, “Yeah, so what?” I never saw any results from Ian. But I did my job anyway.
In 1 Corinthians 3:5-6, Paul addresses the people of the church in Corinth, who are arguing about who followed Paul and who followed Apollos. What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
Each one of us, every one of us has a part in this. And each of us has our own gifts that connect with others. And because we are all so different making disciples looks different for all of us. Mike Yaconelli used to tell a story about a church whose board was shocked to see the junior high kids sitting on the church lawn, reading their Bibles and smoking. He continues by saying, “If I were in that church, I’d bring in that youth worker and tell him, ‘I don’t know what you’re doing, but you deserve a raise! If you can get kids who were smoking to read the Bible… WOO HOO!’”
Making disciples is messy. It doesn’t always look like it’s going in the right direction. It doesn’t always look “churchy.” Think about Levi’s party with tax collectors. That didn’t look anything like church. If that happened today, I’ll bet Levi would be wearing jeans (think about it). I’m convinced that we need to make church look less like church and more like Jesus if we want to get serious about making disciples of Jesus Christ.
Making disciples is all about getting real with one another and with God. Until we do so, then we are technically hypocrites. It costs a lot. If you are discipling someone, it means that you’ve got to stand up and hold them accountable. It means you have to encourage them even when you’re not feeling all that gracious. It means you have to intentionally spend time with them, and that means rearranging your priorities; moving your focus from productivity to relationship. And that takes a long time.
This is the way Jesus did it, and he invites us to take part in the greatest endeavor ever: making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!
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