Rick Harrison, of Newark, Ohio, talks about his six-year-old son, who seemed to demand Rick’s attention just when he was most busy around the house. Rick says, “My standard reply has been, 'I'm busy right now. Go ask your mother.’”
Then one day, the disappointed look on his son’s face convinced Rick to change his priorities. He resolved to give his son his immediate attention whenever he asked, but that resolve was quickly tested. Rick had just climbed a ladder to the top of their two-storied house with a paintbrush and bucket in hand. As he dipped his brush into the paint, he heard a little voice call, “Daddy, Daddy.”
Determined to keep his new resolution, Rick immediately laid the paintbrush and bucket aside and climbed back down to the ground to see what his boy wanted. Rick got down on both knees, looked him straight in the face and asked, “Well, now what can I do for you, son?”
His reply: “Daddy, where's Mommy?” (Rick Harrison, Newark, OH, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader, www.PreachingToday.com)
Rick knew he had to get his priorities straight; otherwise, he would lose his son. And that’s the way it is in life. Priorities are important! They can determine the success or failure of whatever we set out to do, whether it’s being a father, succeeding in business, or doing ministry.
Charles Schwab, former president of Bethlehem Steel, once hired Ivy Lee, a consultant, to (quote) “Show me a way to get more things done with my time.” Charles Schwab agreed to pay Lee “anything within reason” if his suggestions worked.
A little while later, Lee handed the executive a sheet of paper with this plan:
a) Write down the most important tasks you have to do tomorrow.
b) Number them in order of importance.
c) When you arrive in the morning, begin at once at number 1 and stay on it until it is completed.
d) Recheck your priorities, then begin with number 2… then number 3.
e) Make this a habit every working day.
f) Pass it on to those under you.
g) Try it as long as you like and then send me your check for what you think its worth.
Do you know, Schwab paid Lee $25,000 for that advice! He said it was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned, and it turned Bethlehem Steel into the biggest independent steel producer in the world within five years! (Charles Swindoll, Come Before Winter, pp.24-25)
That’s what ordering your priorities can do!
God has called us as a church to multiply disciples of Christ who love Him and people. He has called us to make disciples – all of us! (Matt. 28:19-20). So what does that mean in terms of ordering our priorities? What are our most important tasks as disciple-makers? What should be the first 3 things on our list as we go to work as a church on the task God has called us to?
Well, if you have your Bible, I invite you to turn with me to Acts 20, Acts 20, where the Apostle Paul sums up his priorities as a maker of disciples. Here, he is saying farewell to a group of men he has discipled and trained over the last 3 years, and he reminds them of the ministry he had among them.
Acts 20:17-18 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. (NIV)
And HOW did Paul live with them? As the great apostle, dispensing his vast store of knowledge? As the man who knew it all and was going to set the rest of the world straight? How did Paul live with them?
Acts 20:19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. (NIV)
Paul was with them, not as the great apostle, but as God’s humble servant. And THAT, my friends, is the first priority of a disciple-maker. If we are going to multiply fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, then 1st of all, we must…
BE PRESENT AS GOD’S HUMBLE SERVANTS.
We must be there, serving the Lord with tears and with trials. Jesus called His disciples, 1st, to be WITH Him (Mark 3:14). Paul says to these men, “I was WITH you.” We cannot make disciples from a distance. We must be WITH those we’re trying to reach. Our personal presence is an absolute MUST. We MUST be there humbly serving our Lord and suffering right along with them.
Just a few years ago, Leadership Journal did an interview with Saul Cruz, who along with his wife founded Armonia (Harmony) Ministries in Mexico City. They minister to hundreds of poor people all over Mexico today, but they began their ministry by planting a church on the edge of a vast garbage dump. Starting the church had its challenges. In particular, the people had a difficult time trusting Saul's leadership. Although Saul is a gifted strategist and thinker, he often appeared aloof. His education prepared him to be a psychologist, a family therapist, or a college professor, and by his own admission, at that point Saul was “unwilling to plunge into the pain and poverty of his people.”
But all of that changed one Sunday morning when someone burst into their worship service with a frantic need: the local sewage system had started leaking and then flooding the street. As the sewage continued to gush, the street was on the verge of collapse. The crisis also threatened to sweep away dozens of nearby homes. To make matters worse, the city wouldn't respond for at least three days.
Saul and a local engineer organized the onlookers and church members to stop traffic and make sandbags. After working frantically for nearly fifteen hours, by three o'clock the next morning they had finally stopped the flow of sewage. It was cold and drizzling, and Saul was shivering. Exhausted, covered with mud and sewage, Saul and his church members emerged from the pit and walked back to the church. Some of the women had heated water so the volunteers could wash off the filth.
As they gathered together, Saul started to cry. “I'm sorry,” he said, “but I need to pray. I need to thank God, because he just saved us. He saved you. He saved me. Can we pray?” Then Saul put out his hands as they all held hands and knelt to pray. By the time they had finished praying, Saul had earned their trust, becoming their leader and their friend. Later on, Saul would comment, “People need to see you're for real – that you really care for them, that you're even ready to put your life on the edge for them.” (“Dumping Ground: An Interview with Saul Cruz,” Leadership Journal, October, 2007; www.PreachingToday.com)
Saul’s education and knowledge alone could not open any doors for him. Instead, he had to get into the mud and sewage with his people before they would even begin to listen to him. In essence, that’s what Jesus did for us. He descended from heaven into the mud and sewage of our world to reach us. And that’s what we must do if we want to reach people with the Good News of Jesus Christ. We must “plunge into their pain and poverty” if we want to help people grow in their relationship with Christ and become fully devoted followers of Him.
In a word, we must be WITH them. We must be present, not as the experts, but as God’s humble servants, suffering right along with those we’re trying to reach. It’s the first priority of a disciple-maker. Then 2nd, we must…
PREACH THE WORD AS GOD'S HUMAN SPOKESMEN.
We must speak the truth in love. We must teach the Bible every chance we get in the context of our relationships. It’s not enough just to be there. We must be there with a word from God.
Acts 20:20-21 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. (NIV)
Paul preached the Gospel. Paul preached the message of the Bible, and that's what we must do, if we want to multiply fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, if we want to make disciples who love God and people. We must open the Bible and share it every chance we get.
In an interview about his book The Folly of Prayer (IVP, 2009), author and pastor Matt Woodley shared a story about his friend Theresa. She had married the man of her dreams, but soon after that dropped into the pit of a deep depression. Everything went dark in her mind and body. She even started writing her obituary.
Matt Woodly said, “Three years ago I would have had plenty of answers and solutions for her. I would have been so clever and powerful. But now I could only sit with her in her pain.” They prayed, but Matt didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t have any answers, so he said, “Theresa, I have no idea what to say, so could we just read the Psalms?” Then he read Psalm 77, an agonizing psalm of lament, and went home. Matt left her feeling utterly powerless, and he sure didn't think that he made her feel better.
The next week another leader of their church visited Theresa. She was still suffering intensely, but when the leader asked if he could pray for her, Theresa said, “Yes, but before you pray, please read Psalm 77. I've been clinging to it all week. It's my lifeline to God.”
Matt commented, “Apparently when we read Psalm 77 in utter powerlessness, God showed up in her life with power.” (“Are You There, God? An Interview with The Folly of Prayer Author Matt Woodley,” IVP Books, www.PreachingToday.com)
Often we don’t have answers and solutions for people; even if we did, it wouldn’t do them much good, because it is not OUR words that have any power; it is the Word of GOD. The Bible can get through to people even when we don’t have the words. So if we want to make disciples, that’s how we do it. We simply share the Bible with friends. We speak the Truth of God’s Word in love. We open this book as often as we can in the context of genuine relationships.
Sure, we must BE there for people – that helps us to make friends. But we must also BE there with a Word from God – that helps us to make followers of Jesus; that helps us to make disciples.
The Bible says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
It is God’s Word which gives people faith to believe, and it is God’s Word which equips believers for ministry. So if we are going to multiply fully devoted followers of Christ, we must teach and preach this Book. And as Paul did, we must teach and preach this Book publicly and from house to house (vs.20).
We must proclaim the message of God’s Word in our large group gatherings on the weekends, but also in our living rooms, in small groups, throughout the week. Here’s how it works. First, invite friends to church where they can hear the Word of God proclaimed publicly. Then get together with your friends in your home or someone else’s home (in small groups). There you can discuss the Word together. Discuss how it applies to your everyday lives, and then help each other apply it to your specific situations.
Like the apostle Paul, teach God’s Word publicly AND from house to house. Then watch God, through the process, turn your friends into followers of Jesus! Those have to be our priorities as a church if we’re going to multiply disciples of Christ who love God and people. We must be there for people. But more than that, we must be there with a Word from God. That is, 1st, we must be present as God’s humble servants. 2nd, we must preach the Word as God’s human spokesmen. And 3rd, we must…
PRESENT OURSELVES AS GOD'S HOLY SACRIFICES.
We must give ourselves wholly and completely to God. We must allow Him to have full control of our lives, to do whatever He wants in and through us. That's what the Apostle Paul did.
Look at vs.22 “And now, compelled by the Spirit” – lit., bound by the Spirit – “I am going to Jerusalem.” I find this very interesting. In Acts 9, before Paul trusted Christ, he was on his way to Damascus to bring Christians “bound to Jerusalem” (same word we have here). Now he finds the Holy Spirit has “bound HIM to Jerusalem.”
Acts 20:22-24 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. (NIV)
Paul is completely sold-out to the Lord, willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish God’s will in His life. Even if it means death, he will finish the course God has laid out for him; he will accomplish the ministry God has given him. And that's exactly what we must do, if we’re going to multiply fully devoted followers of Christ. We must be fully devoted to Christ ourselves, committed to completing the task He has given us no matter the cost.
A little more than 10 years ago (2000), a movie called The Perfect Storm was released, which graphically portrayed the dangers of the fishing industry even in modern times. The movie is about the crew of the Andrea Gail, a fishing boat out of Gloucester, Massachusetts. Their families and the whole town is hurting financially, so they decide to risk everything and travel to a remote, but fertile, fishing ground during the unpredictably stormy month of October. On their way back to Gloucester, the Andrea Gail encounters the “perfect storm” of 1991 and is never heard from again.
Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm, says, “There are many kinds of work that are dangerous, but one of the interesting things about fishing is that it really hasn't changed much over time. It's been mechanized, of course, but the basic reality of going to sea for months at a stretch is the same as it was 100 years ago. You're way beyond help from anyone else; you're on your own. I think that forms a certain kind of character. Not only does everyone know someone who has died at sea but everyone who works in the fishing industry has almost died. Every single fisherman you talk to has almost gotten nailed at one time or another.” The fact is the fishing industry kills more of its workers per capita than any other job in the United States. (Eugene A Maddox, Interlachen, Florida; www.PreachingToday.com)
It takes courage to be a fisherman, and it takes courage, as well, to fish for the souls of people. Jesus has called us to “make disciples,” but that is not a job for the fair-weather Christian. We must be willing to spend time with people, sharing the Word as God gives us the opportunity, to be sure. But we must also be willing to keep at it until the job is done.
In the meantime, we risk ridicule; we risk rejection; we risk persecution, and some of our number around the world risk even death. At the very least, we face discouragement sometimes, and the job gets hard and tiring, but if we’re going to multiply disciples, as Christ commanded us to, then we must not give up. We must be committed to completing the task no matter what it costs.
These are the priorities of a disciple-making church. More important than maintaining buildings and budgets, we must first give ourselves to the Lord, then give ourselves in service to Him and others. Be present as God’s humble servants. Preach the Word as God’s human spokesmen, and present ourselves as God’s holy sacrifices.
If we as a body will commit ourselves to these priorities, then with God’s help we will continue to multiply disciples until Jesus comes.
