Title: Discernable Differences for Disciples
Texts: Mark 1:16-20, 9:33-37 and 16:14-16
Thesis: Followers of Christ respond when he calls, corrects, and commissions them.
Series: The Bible in 90 Day Whole Church Challenge
Introduction
A disconnect exists when there is a gap between our claims of being followers of Christ and the actual outliving of that claim.
Dallas Willard cited that disconnect when wrote in his book, The Divine Conspiracy, “The Lord is my Shepherd” is written on many more tombstones than lives.
George Barna…has been surveying American evangelicals to see if we practice what we preach. He is finding that we don’t preach doctrine from the Bible, and therefore don’t practice differently from the world. For example, he says that evangelicals divorce at about the same rate as the nation at large. Only 9 percent of evangelicals tithe. Of 12,000 teenagers who took the pledge to wait for marriage, 80 percent had sex outside marriage in the next seven years. Twenty-six percent of traditional evangelicals do not think premarital sex is wrong. White evangelicals are more likely than Catholics and mainline Protestants to object to having black neighbors.
According to Mr. Barna’s definition, an "evangelical" is willing to say, "I have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in my life today." In addition, evangelicals agree with several other things like: Jesus lived a sinless life; eternal salvation is only through grace, not works; Christians have a personal responsibility to evangelize non-Christians; Satan exists. Mr. Barna says that 7 percent to 8 percent of the U.S. population is in this group. And they do not live very differently than the world. (John Piper, “The Doctrine Difference,” World Magazine (3-5-05) p. 5)
It would seem that there ought to be a way of discerning a person’s commitment to Christ. Jesus addressed the issue in Luke 6:46 when he asked, “Why do you call me Lord and not do what I command?” How can you tell if you are genuinely a follower of Christ who calls him “Lord” and does what he says?
Probably the first underlying question has to do with your initial response to Christ’s invitation to follow him.
I. When he calls, you follow.
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. Mark 1:16-20
In our story Jesus is walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Imagine any port city with its marinas, docks, wharfs and maybe even fish markets. When Jesus happened upon Simon and Andrew they were probably standing knee deep out in the lake fishing with a draw net. A little further along he happened upon James and John who were in their fishing boat working on their nets.
The Discovery Channel reports that in 2009 American Chopper and Deadliest Catch are the two most highly-rated series. Deadliest Catch documents the crab fishing industry off the coast of Alaska in the icy Berring Sea where fishermen work at one of the world’s most dangerous jobs. Those crab fishermen are among the craziest, crustiest, crudest and hardest working men on the planet.
Jesus did not just happen upon some namby pamby guys playing croquet on an exclusive Lake Side Country Club lawn. Additionally, they were not Christians. They had not repented of their sins and received Jesus into their hearts when Jesus called out to them, inviting them to “Come, follow me.”
Whenever we fly in an airplane there is a critical moment. As the airplane accelerates toward the end of the runway, the pilot must decide if the plane is moving fast enough for a safe takeoff. This speed must be determined preflight based on several factors, including the air pressure, temperature, speed of the wind, and weight of the aircraft.
The pilot maintains a hold on the throttle as the plane approaches what they call, V1 speed, so that he or she can abort the takeoff if something goes wrong. However, after V1, the plane must take off.
As Christians, we have a V1 commitment to our walk with Christ. Once we have placed our faith in Christ alone, we have reached the point of no return. (Mike Silva, Would You Like Fries With That? Word, 2005)
There was that moment in the minds of Simon, Andrew, James and John when they could have aborted the take-off. There is a critical moment for each of us when we hear the call to follow… we are accelerating down the runway, so to speak, and at some point we have to decide if we are going to fly or throttle back, drop the flaps, apply the brakes and return to the gate.
Genuine followers of Christ have made a discernable decision to follow Christ. They are committed to the take-off and the ensuing flight. This is more than just a mental acquiescence or a nod of the head… this is an “I have decided to follow Jesus” momentous decision.
A second measure by which you can discern the genuineness of your discipleship is if you, as Jesus put it, “do what” he says. Are you allowing the Word of God to transform your life and character?
II. When he corrects, you respond.
When they came in the house, Jesus asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. Sitting down, Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Mark 9:33-35
Wanda Vassallo tells of her friend, Linda, who teaches first grade. Linda told her about an interaction she had with one of her students on the first day of school. Accustomed to going home at noon in kindergarten, Ryan was getting his things ready to leave for home when he was actually supposed to be heading to lunch with the rest of the class. Linda asked him what he was doing. "I’m going home," he replied. Linda tried to explain that, now that he is in the first grade, he would have a longer school day. "You’ll go eat lunch now," she said, "and then you’ll come back to the room and do some more work before you go home." Ryan looked up at her in disbelief, hoping she was kidding. Convinced of her seriousness, Ryan then put his hands on his hips and demanded, "Who on earth signed me up for this program?"
As believers, it’s easy to feel a little like Ryan when we consider the Christian life. The requirements are daunting—"Surely the Lord doesn’t expect me to forgive seventy times seven;" "Surely he doesn’t want me to turn the other cheek when someone hurts me;" "What does he mean, “take up my cross’?" It isn’t long before you want to say, "Who on earth signed me up for this program?" (Wanda Vassallo, PreachingToday.com)
The first followers of Christ were not without their flaws. They had large egos just as we have large egos. Their egos were so large that they even engaged in discussions about who was the greatest among them. They were like horned steers jousting for position at the feed bunk or chickens in a coop establishing their pecking order or pigs in a confinement facility tail-biting for territorial dominance. They were trying to establish who was Jesus’ executive vice president and who were his executive board members and who were middle managers and who was the mailroom clerk.
Jesus was quick to remind them that being a follower of his was not about positions or pecking orders or power. The follower of Christ does not see himself or herself as #1 of anything. The genuine follower of Christ sees himself or herself as a servant to all. The genuine follower of Jesus Christ is neither too good nor too important to serve even at the most menial ways.
In Mark 10:45, after James and John had apparently missed the earlier lesson and were vying for the privilege of sitting at Jesus’ right and his left in the kingdom, Jesus reiterated, “Whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:44-45
If we are sincere in our desire to follow Christ we will inevitably come under the corrective hand of God and when we do, the genuineness of our faith will be reflected in the way we respond.
The bible says, “All Scripture is God-breathed [inspired] and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that we may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” II Timothy 3:16-17
When you reach the point of no return and take the leap of faith to answer the call and become a devoted follower of Jesus Christ you, you cannot then dig in you heals and demand, “Who on earth signed me up for this program anyway?”
The whole point of being a follower of Christ is to enter into the process of becoming more and more conformed to his likeness. When God speaks to us about our actions or reactions or our attitudes and behaviors we hear and we respond if we are the real deal. Nothing in our lives is off-limits. Teaching, rebuking, correcting and training are about marriages, relationships, the way we talk, how we handle money, the kind of employee or employer we are, our openness to the moving of God’s Spirit, our neighborliness, our compassion for the poor and our heart for those who do not know Christ. When God corrects us, WE respond.
And third, are you responding to his sending you into service?
III. When he commissions, you go.
Later Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Then he said to them, “Go into the world and preach the Good News to all creation.” Mark 16:14-15
One of the most disturbing things about Jesus is that he had a preference for sinners. He was often accused of being a friend of sinners. He related his love for lost people in the parables of the lost sheep, coin and son. He told stories about throwing big banquets in which the master would send his servants out into the highways and byways and country lanes to find anyone and everyone straggling along in life to come back for the feast. He spoke of the purpose of his own life and death as a ransom for many… than he had come to seek and to save the lost.
The second-century Greek philosopher Celsus captures well just how upside-down the Kingdom of God is—and just how confusing that can seem to unbelievers. In an attack on followers of Christ, he wrote:
Those who summon people to some religions make this preliminary proclamation: "Whosoever has pure hands and a wise tongue." And again, others say, "Whosoever is pure from all defilement, and whose soul knows nothing of evil, and who has lived well and righteously." Such are the preliminary exhortations of those who promise purification from sins.
But let us hear what folk [the people] these Christians call. "Whosoever is a sinner," they say. "Whosoever is unwise, whosoever is a child, and, in a word, whosoever is a wretch, the kingdom of God will receive him." Why on earth this preference for sinners?
On July 4, 1854, Charlie Peace, a well-known criminal in London, was hung. The Anglican Church, which had a ceremony for everything, even had a ceremony for hanging people. So when Charlie Peace was marched to the gallows, a priest read these words from the Prayer Book: "Those who die without Christ experience hell, which is the pain of forever dying without the release which death itself can bring."
When these chilling words were read, Charlie Peace stopped in his tracks, turned to the priest, and shouted in his face, "Do you believe that? Do you believe that?"
The priest, taken aback by this verbal assault, stammered for a moment then said, "Well…I…suppose I do."
"Well, I don’t," said Charlie. "But if I did, I’d get down on my hands and knees and crawl all over Great Britain, even if it were paved with pieces of broken glass, if I could rescue one person from what you just told me." (Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story, Word, 2000)
As followers of Christ we are commissioned to represent him in the world. We are to see ourselves as “sent ones.” Some are sent into the far reaches of the world while most of us are not sent to far. But we are non-the-less sent…
We are always representatives of Christ: In our homes… to our spouses and our children; in our neighborhoods and in our workplaces; in the gym or the playing field; in social gathering and the community; in the hair salons and barbershops; in the restaurants and the marketplace.
Conclusion
The first season of the TV show The Apprentice tracked the lives of 16 up-and-coming business people as they vied for a highly coveted job with Donald Trump. It was the top-ranked-show among new TV series in the first half of 2004, with over 20 million viewers.
In this scene, Donald Trump faces two of his apprentices at the opulent boardroom table. On the left is Kwame, the polished Harvard MBA, and on the right is Troy, a business-savvy risk-taker without a college education. They have earned their place among the final few contestants, but now, one of them must leave. Trump turns on Troy and in his gruff manner says, "Troy in reality we’re dealing with multibillion dollar companies here. The consequences of hiring a live wire like you could be costly and devastating. So I have to say, you’re fired!" The camera fades to Troy, head bowed in disgrace.
How different from the scene Jesus promises his people. In the opulent boardroom of heaven, Jesus turns to us and says, "In reality, we’re dealing with something far greater than multibillion dollar businesses here, we’re talking about the salvation of the world. The consequences of hiring someone like you could be costly and devastating. So I have to say, you’re hired!" (The Price Is Height, The Apprentice: The Complete First Season, DVD disk 4, scene 4)
The discernable differences that mark the life of the devoted follower of Jesus Christ are:
• When called they follow.
• When corrected they respond.
• When commissioned they go.
