A. Today, I want us to turn our attention back to our sermon series: “I Am A Disciple of Jesus!”
1. Let’s briefly review what we have learned so far.
2. First, we have learned that being a disciple of Jesus involves a lot more than church membership and church attendance.
3. Second, we have learned that a disciple is someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus, and is committed to the mission of Jesus.
4. Third, we have learned that although the call of discipleship is open to everyone, not everyone answers that call because the cost of discipleship is high – it is everything we are and have.
5. Fourth, we have learned that the command for all disciples of Jesus is to make disciples who will make disciples – that is our great commission.
6. And, fifth, we have learned that it is God’s will for all people to progress through the stages of discipleship from being spiritually dead, to being a spiritual infant, child, young adult, and finally a spiritual parent.
B. Today, we want to focus on the completeness of discipleship and what I mean by that is that being a disciple of Jesus means that every part of our lives must come under the lordship of Jesus.
1. If we are not careful, we will compartmentalize our lives and treat our spiritual life as just one separate part of our lives and keep the different parts separate so they don’t affect each other.
2. Many people find it much easier to compartmentalize their lives in order to justify their inconsistencies and to ultimately do what they want to do.
C. Consider this story true story told by Charles Swindoll.
1. One afternoon, a man went to a fried chicken restaurant in Long Beach, California and bought a couple of chicken dinners for himself and his date.
2. The person working the drive thru accidently gave him the bag with the money for deposit at the bank rather than the bag with his chicken order.
3. After driving to their picnic site, the couple sat down to enjoy their lunch.
4. When they opened the bag from the restaurant, imagine their surprise when it was filled with $800 cash rather than their chicken dinners!
5. The couple quickly got back in the car and drove back to the chicken place.
6. The man and woman hurried into the restaurant with the bag of cash and they became instant heroes.
7. By then the manager had discovered that the cash was missing and was frantic, so he was so relieved and thrilled when the man and woman returned with the missing money.
8. The manager said, “Let me call the newspaper and get a picture with you two on the front page. You’re the most honest and good people I have ever met.”
9. The man tried to downplay their heroic act, “Oh, no, no need to do that!”
10. Then the man leaned closer to the manager and whispered, “I don’t want our picture in the newspaper because this woman I’m with is married to someone else.”
D. It’s so easy to be inconsistent and compartmentalize things and end up obeying Jesus and allowing Him to be Lord about some things, but not about others.
1. Kyle Idleman put it this way in his book Not A Fan: One way fans try to follow Jesus without denying themselves is by compartmentalizing the areas of their lives they don’t want him to have access to. They try to negotiate the terms of the deal. I’ll follow Jesus, but I’m not going to sell my possessions. Don’t ask me to forgive the people who hurt me; they don’t deserve that. Don’t ask me to save sex for marriage; I can’t help my desires. Don’t ask me to give a percentage of my money; I worked hard for that cash. And instead of following Jesus with their financial life, they follow Money magazine. In their relationships, instead of Jesus they follow Oprah. In their sex lives, instead of following Jesus, they follow Cosmo. They follow Jesus, just not with every area of their lives (p. 146).
2. So, if we are going to be true followers of Jesus, then He must be Lord over our entire lives.
3. No part of our lives can be compartmentalized as separate from His lordship.
E. Each of our lives can be easily summarized and organized into four spheres, and these four spheres should not be seen as separate, nor kept separate, from each other; rather, they must be seen as a unit and be allowed to intersect with and to affect each other.
1. These four main areas of our lives are: (1) our relationship with God, (2) our relationship with the church (God’s family), (3) our relationships at home, and (4) our relationship with the world.
2. A growing and faithful disciple of Jesus strives to understand God’s commands and submit to God’s authority in each of these four spheres of life.
3. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians provides a good biblical foundation for each of these spheres, so let’s spend a few minutes looking at God’s principles in Ephesians and see how they apply to each sphere.
F. Sphere 1 – God – The Centrality of a Relationship with God.
1. In the first two chapters of Ephesians, Paul sets the tone of his letter by reminding us that we are adopted as spiritual children of our heavenly Father because of the Gospel (Eph. 1:4-10).
a. Paul reminds us that we came to be born again spiritually, even though we had been dead in our sins and had been under the control of the god of this world (Eph. 2:1-7).
b. Paul declares that we are saved by grace through faith, and that even though we are not saved by good works, God has created us to do good works (Eph. 2:8-10).
2. This sphere is at the center of our lives as represented in this Venn diagram.
a. Our relationship with God is central; it is the core and hub that unites the other spheres.
b. Without a relationship with God, we don’t really know what life is and what truth is.
3. And once we have a knowledge of God and a faith in God, then we must approach God on His terms and allow Him to be Lord and Savior.
a. If we forget that we are saved by grace and that our security and our strength are from God and not from ourselves, then we fall into a form of salvation by works.
b. Without an understanding of the Gospel, we become proud and begin to rely on ourselves, rather than God.
4. Jesus tells us in John 15 that we must abide in Him (the Vine) if we want to bear fruit.
a. As disciples, we must be the branches that remain connected to the Vine, and therefore receive direction from Jesus through His Word, strength from His Spirit, and help from His people.
5. As disciples of Jesus, this first sphere (our relationship with God) is the most important and must receive our prime attention and effort.
a. And as we work with new Christians and growing disciples, we need to help them develop their relationship with God.
b. We do so by helping them grow in their handling of Scripture through Bible reading and study, we help them grow in their prayer life and their ability to daily walk with God.
c. Trying to live as a disciple without this relationship is like a branch trying to live apart from the vine.
G. Sphere 2 – Church – Relationships within the Family of God
1. In chapter 4 of Ephesians, Paul shifts his focus from the central importance of our relationship with God and addresses the effect our relationship with God should have on our relationships with God’s people in the church.
2. As disciples who are growing in our relationship with God, we should also be growing in our relationships in God’s family – with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
3. As the family of God, the church works and lives together in a network of loving relationships.
4. Many of the earliest Christians lost their earthly families when they joined the spiritual family.
a. Some of the earliest Christians lost their jobs when they turned to Christ.
b. Others had been societal outcasts and were among the poor or sickly.
c. The church is God’s answer to these needs for belonging, support and service.
5. Paul emphasizes that the church family is led by spiritual shepherds, evangelists, and teachers who are spiritual fathers to growing disciples (Eph. 4:11-13).
a. The spiritual leaders are to prepare and equip God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up and move toward maturity.
6. Paul also emphasizes that every member of the body needs to work together, building the body up in love (Eph. 4:15-16).
a. Brothers and sisters in Christ should be willing to put others first and put aside their own desires for the good of the mission and to help other believers in need.
7. Paul goes on in chapter 4 to talk about how to deal with conflict and anger through kindness, compassion, and forgiveness and by learning to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:25-32).
8. Disciples who are growing up in Christ are developing the understanding and ability to have healthy and helpful relationships in the church.
a. They are committed to the body of Christ and are committed to using their gifts to serve their brothers and sisters.
b. They are developing and maintaining loving relationships with other believers – they are being helped by those who are older or stronger in Christ, and are helping those who are younger or weaker in Christ.
9. It is easy to see that there is a direct connection between growing in our relationship with God and growing in our relationship with God’s family.
a. As we grow in our walk with God, we should be learning how to love and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ.
b. The two should go hand in hand, and in reality, you can’t have one without the other.
c. We deceive ourselves if we think we can have a great relationship with God, and yet have no relationship with God’s people or a very bad or loose relationship with the church.
H. Sphere 3 – Home – Relationships at Home
1. Paul addresses this third sphere of relationships in Ephesians 5 and 6.
a. In these chapters, Paul describes what the Christian home should look like and how it should function.
b. Paul describes how a Christian husband should love and lead his wife, and how a wife should love and respect her husband (Eph. 5:21-33).
c. Then Paul writes about the responsibility that Christian fathers and mothers have to raise their children in the Lord and about how children should obey their parents (Eph. 6:1-4).
2. This is a very important sphere of a disciple’s life and one that sometimes gets ignored.
a. Unfortunately, some people who are serious about spiritual things fail to embody God’s will at home, they think they can hang their Christianity on the hook when they enter their house - you know, “they can let their hair down” so to speak.
b. Thankfully, that wasn’t Paul’s opinion – Paul knew that having a right relationship with God includes having a right relationship with our spouse and children.
3. We can’t compartmentalize our Christianity in a way that it doesn’t apply at home.
a. As a matter of fact, if a disciple’s mission is to make disciples who make disciples, then one of the first places that that should be applied is in the home.
b. The hope of every Christian parent is that their children will also become believers who walk faithfully with the Lord.
c. Helping our children learn about God and learn how to navigate a life of faith in this sinful world is the high calling of Christian parenting.
d. Unfortunately, even if we as Christian parents do our very best job with God’s help, there is no guarantee that our children will follow our example after they leave our homes.
e. Proverbs 22:6 offers the hopeful principle that if we train up a child in the right way, that when they are old they will not depart from it, but it is no guarantee because of free will.
4. There are so many important Christian principles that must be lived out in our home life – including all the aspects of love (like selflessness, consideration, patience and forgiveness), the proper use of our tongues, hard work and responsibility, and financial and time management.
5. It is no surprise that Paul explains to Timothy and Titus that a man’s home life is a good measurement of his spiritual maturity and whether he is a good candidate for elder or deacon.
a. These spiritual servants are able to be good models of godly family life for the church and become examples that other Christians can look to and follow.
I. Sphere 4 – World – Relationships with the World
1. The final sphere of our lives is our relationship with the world – our relationships with people outside our family and our church.
2. And for many people this also includes our relationships in the workplace – our relationships with our boss and our coworkers.
3. In Ephesians 6, Paul addresses Christian workers and refers to them as slaves who must obey their earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity (Eph. 6:5-8).
a. We shouldn’t be put off by Paul using the terms slave and master, because it is estimated that 90% of people in the Roman world of Paul’s time were classified as slaves.
b. We often think of slaves in the context of American history, and certainly there was some of that kind of slavery in the Roman world, but most of the slaves in the Roman empire were simply workers whose employer paid their living expenses.
c. Today, we should apply Paul’s words to the context of our workplaces and the relationship between employees and employers.
4. Paul offered instructions for Christians who found themselves on both sides of the employment relationship (Eph. 6:5-9).
a. He makes it clear that when we are in the world, we represent Christ in all that we do, and that no Christian simply works for an earthly boss; rather, we work for our heavenly boss.
b. And earthly bosses, also find themselves working under their heavenly boss as well.
c. All Christian workers, whether they are employees or employers, are impacting God’s reputation for good or for ill.
d. Therefore, all Christian workers should be hard-working, trustworthy, and respectful.
e. Christians should be highly sought after by both Christian and non-Christian employers because of their work ethic, attitudes and trustworthiness.
5. Another important aspect of our relationship with the world is the way we serve as missionaries to a lost and dying world, both in the workplace and in the neighborhood and other places we encounter non-Christians, and we see that Paul asked for prayer about this in Eph. 6:19-20.
a. Whenever we are in the world, whether behind the wheel of our car, in the line at the grocery store, or on the sideline at the ballfield, we are to be light and salt in the world.
b. We should not only be trying to shine the light of God by our example, but should be trying to build relationship bridges to the lost people around us so we can share the gospel.
J. So, let’s try to pull it all together as we review what we have learned today.
1. As disciples of Jesus, every part of our lives are to be lived under the leadership of Jesus.
a. There are no areas or parts of our lives that are separate from our spiritual life.
2. At the center of it all must be our relationship with God and how we try to walk with God and remain attached to God’s power and wisdom.
3. Then as we live in relationship with God, we then take that relationship with God into our relationships in the church, in the home and in the world.
a. We seek to honor and obey God by applying God’s principles to all our relationships.
4. I want to encourage all of us to do a personal inventory of our own lives.
a. Let’s ask ourselves, how well we are allowing Jesus to be Lord over all the spheres of my lives?
b. How strong is our relationship with God? How well are we staying connected to the vine?
c. How consistently are we living the way God wants us to live in our relationships in the church, in the home, and in the world?
d. Which areas do we need to grow the most in? Whom can we ask for help to grow?
K. And then, as we think about becoming spiritual parents and mentors – disciples who make disciples who make disciples – let’s use these four spheres as an outline and target as we work with spiritual infants, children and young adults to help them grow.
1. As we come alongside disciples at these different stages of development, we can help them grow in their relationship with God, within the church, within their home, and in their world.
2. We want to help these younger Christians understand that all these areas of our lives need to come under Christ’s control.
3. And we want to understand that it is in our best interest to be under Jesus’ leadership and control, because we will make a mess of our relationships and our lives if we try to be lord.
4. We want to develop a biblical worldview and to develop the mind of Christ, because God’s word is a light to our path, and God’s will for each area of our lives is a blessing for us.
L. Let’s read the words from Ephesians 4 where Paul so eloquently and hopefully describes the goal for growing disciples: 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God’s Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part (Ephesians 4:11-16).
1. Helping each other grow in the completeness of discipleship is so important.
2. We want to grow into maturity with a stature measured by Christ’s fullness.
3. We don’t want to be little children tossed about and blown around, but we want to grow in every way into Him who is the head – Christ.
4. It takes all of us working toward the same goal with God’s power and wisdom, each of us doing our part, for the whole body to reach completeness.
M. But as we learned in our sermon two weeks ago, the path of discipleship starts by helping those who are spiritually dead to be born again and become infants in Christ.
1. In John 3:5, Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
2. On the Day of Pentecost, when the apostle Peter preached the first Gospel sermon, he commanded the people who believed his message to repent and be baptized so they might receive the forgiveness of their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:36-38).
3. It is in baptism – immersion in water – that a person is born of the water and the Spirit – at that moment that they cross over from death to life because of their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus.
4. We would love to help anyone cross from death to life and begin to follow Jesus.
5. And we would love to help those who are disciples to grow up in Christ and bring all the spheres of their lives under Christ’s control through mentoring.
Resources:
Discipleshift, Jim Putman and Bobby Harrington, Zondervan, 2013.
Story of the partly honest man – Charles Swindoll, from Growing Deep in the Christian Life.
