For all my growing up and young adult years we equated the idea of discipleship with one thing: Sunday School. That meant that people came together on Sunday mornings, sat in classes mostly segregated by age groups, and learned about the Bible. Like we said a few weeks back, it was a Sunday thing. And you did discipleship (Sunday things) on Sunday. But not the rest of the week.
OJ, It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore video
There was quite some time within the Western/American church where we bought the idea that this country was a “Christian” nation and things were pretty good. If you believed that before you can surely see by now it’s not so. For some that realization engenders a feeling of hopeless frustration. But instead, maybe we should see it as a course correction and an opportunity.
While we’ve by and large been treating discipleship as a Sunday morning activity, the church as well as the world around us has disengaged from activities like Sunday School en masse. Many still plug along at it, hoping against hope that if we do it, they will come. But they don’t. And there’s a reason.
Discipleship isn’t just for Sundays.
What if we began to take a new perspective on following Jesus? What if, instead of seeing it as something Christians do in the privacy of a church building, at designated times every week, we began to see discipleship as the logical extension of our faith into every part of our lives?
The apostle Paul uses the third chapter of Colossians to give us instructions for living our new lives in Jesus. I want you to notice that these instructions have nothing to do with Sunday worship; he speaks first to home life, then to our interactions in the community. Discipleship isn’t just for Sunday anymore.
Colossians 3:22-25
What motivates people? At school, at work, at home, at play. What motivates your average person?
Success. Power. Attention. Money. Pleasure. Love. Approval. Loyalty. Courage. It’s all context-dependent. Some motivations are good. Others are bad. They might be neutral depending on the situation.
At the beginning of that chapter we just read from, Paul proposes that, “Since you have been raised to new life with Christ,” there is now a new motivation for the disciple. In 2 Corinthians he’d say we’re different people than we once were, so I guess we ought to be motivated by different things.
Colossians 3:16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.
Disciple’s Life Pie
In other words, he’s saying Jesus, and what he’s done in us, ought to permeate every part of who we are.
I think of it like this: When I make an apple pie, I don’t just put apples on one side, or over on the edge. No! I want apples in the whole thing! That’s what makes it an apple pie.
If I’m a follower of Jesus, a Christian, Jesus should be in the whole thing. I’m not just a disciple on Sunday, or at youth group. He’s in every part of my life. That’s what makes me a Christian, a disciple of Jesus!
Our interaction in the community – work, school, neighbors – is one of the most likely places for Jesus to get left out of our pie. But Paul, speaking about work says, “Work willingly…as though you were working for the Lord…”
A friend of mine recently told the story of one of his first “real” jobs in a factory in Central Illinois. He got the job because of a Christian friend who was a machinist, and he was excited for the opportunity. On one of his first days his friend was showing him around until just before the start of their shift, when he disappeared. Bill rounded the corner to find him praying over his station and the machinery there.
Bill asked him what was up and his friend replied that he was praying that nothing would break down and that he’d be very productive and skilled as a machinist for the company today. Bill was surprised until his friend reminded him of this verse and said, “They know I’m a Christian and I want to make sure I’m doing my best.”
What does that have to do with being a disciple? Our approach to those in our community directly impacts our witness and credibility as a disciple.
Ephesians 5:1-2
A man is being tailgated by a woman who is in a hurry. He comes to an intersection, and when the light turns yellow, he hits the brakes. The woman behind him goes ballistic. She honks her horn at him; she yells her frustration in no uncertain terms; she rants and gestures.
While she is in mid-rant, someone taps on her window. She looks up and sees a policeman. He invites her out of her car and takes her to the station where she is searched and fingerprinted and put in a cell. After a couple of hours, she is released, and the arresting officer gives her her personal effects, saying, “I’m very sorry for the mistake, ma’am. I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, using bad gestures and bad language. I noticed the ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ window sign, the Christian fish emblem on your trunk, and I naturally assumed you had stolen the car.”
The world gets pretty tired of people who have Christian bumper stickers on their cars, Christian fish signs on their trunks, Christian books on their shelves, Christian stations on their radios, Christian jewelry around their necks, Christian videos for their kids, and Christian magazines for their coffee tables but don’t actually have the life of Jesus in their bones or the love of Jesus in their hearts.
Does your attitude in the marketplace reflect your devotion to Jesus? Would your teacher/boss/co-worker/customer/neighbor look at your approach and attitude and imagine that you are his disciple?
Your credibility, my credibility as a disciple is tied to what we do. And since we have an obligation to live our discipleship out in the public square, since so many people need to see Jesus, it’s vital that we live the example of Jesus for our community.
When I was in college I worked for the Department of the Navy as an intern for a while. During those months I learned to term, “Good enough for government work.” Many in that place did the bare minimum necessary to get by. Their personal lives were a mess and that bled through into their work. They didn’t really care about doing their best, and I’m sad to admit, that attitude became mine, at least for a while.
What you do is bound to impact how others see you. And if they hear you profess to be a Christian, then what you do impacts their impression of the faith as well. We’ve been talking on Wednesdays about the fact that, like it or not, people are watching us. They hope we’ll check out at work, take the easy way, cut corners, tell white lies, or whatever. That validates their decision to ignore Jesus.
So how do we fix it? What can we do to change our approach?
Paul said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…”
o But my boss is mean!
o The teacher is unfair!
o No one else gives 100%!
o My neighbors never do nice things for me!
o That cashier isn’t even nice to me!
Doesn’t matter though. Because Paul didn’t say we’re motivated by the people around us.
Paul said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…as working for the Lord.”
How do I change my attitude, adjust my pace, increase my output and generally make a positive impression in my own personal community? By learning to see Jesus standing beside every person I cross paths with each day.
When my neighbor is complaining about my yard…see Jesus
When the cook makes my hamburger wrong…see Jesus
When the teacher doesn’t listen to my side…see Jesus
When my boss asks me to work over again…see Jesus
Let’s wrap up by going back to our “disciple pie.”
This is not an all-encompassing list. But which one of these areas is your greatest challenge? Do you know why?
What happens to our credibility as a disciple if we settle for typical “good enough” living?
How can we help each other to live a life marked by a desire to do whatever we do as unto the Lord?
