Brennan Manning, an American author once remarked: “For those who feel their lives are a grave disappointment to God, it requires enormous trust and reckless, raging confidence to accept that the love of Jesus Christ knows no shadow of alteration or change. When Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy burdened," He assumed we would grow weary, discouraged, and disheartened along the way. These words are a touching testimony to the genuine humanness of Jesus. He had no romantic notion of the cost of discipleship. He knew that following Him was as unsentimental as duty, as demanding as love.” Matthew 28:18-20 reminds us: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
A proponent is essentially defined as a person who advocates a theory, proposal or course of action. It is often considered a key factor in any new venture. The disciples of Christ were designated proponents of God because their core mission was to represent and promote His existence, primarily through the teachings and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus selected them to be His followers, to learn from Him, and then to preach the Gospel to others. As the hand-picked witnesses to His resurrection, they were instrumental in establishing the early church and sharing the message of God's kingdom. In practice, disciples are usually chosen individuals regarded as having the ability to fulfill certain feats in a particular field. Jesus recognized this potential in his disciples, as evidenced by his deliberate choice of ordinary fishermen, tax collectors, and others who lacked social standing to become the foundation of the early Church. He disregarded their societal limitations, providing them with a divine perspective, encouragement, and mentorship to nurture their growth and equip them for God's purposes. His act of renaming Simon as Peter signifies his ability to see and transform individuals, demonstrating a profound belief in their latent potential to become influential leaders. Discipleship includes the process of actively and intentionally following Jesus Christ in love and dedication, growing in spiritual maturity by learning from His teachings and imitating His life, and then helping others to do the same. It's a relational, holistic apprenticeship incorporating challenges that go far beyond mere knowledge, by overcoming obstacles through a transformation of one's thoughts, values, and actions to become more like Christ and to spread His message by personal connection and obedience. Everyone in life has hidden or even unknown potential to achieve a greatness, sometimes never personally envisaged. This dormant possibility within, often emerges and fulfills its development through the doctrine, leadership and encouragement of another.
Disciples are made through a process of spiritual development involving both verbal instruction and practical demonstration of a creed’s traditional teachings. Mark 3:13-19 describes Jesus choosing the twelve apostles, ordinary but diverse individuals, to be with Him, to be sent out to preach, heal and to have authority to cast out demons. The passage highlights God's purpose and ability to work through unlikely people, giving nicknames to some disciples to show Jesus' human relationships, and also foreshadows Judas Iscariot's betrayal, showing God's sovereignty even in difficult circumstances. The passage states: “And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach and have authority to cast out demons. He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”
Jesus was an exponent of preaching and was actively involved in teaching and proclaiming his message to the people. While his role as an advocate also refers to his function as a spiritual defense attorney for believers in heaven, his time on Earth was characterized by extensive demonstrations and preaching. He instructed his disciples to spread his teachings, and his ministry involved sharing the will of God and the message of repentance and salvation.
The "power of preaching," in a Christian context, is understood to have originated from the disciples' reception of the Holy Spirit, which empowered them to preach with divine authority, as described in the Bible. This power is rooted in Jesus Christ's commission and the Holy Spirit's gift to the apostles after Pentecost, enabling them to fulfill the Great Commission and continue preaching with divine power, a legacy passed down through church tradition.
From a Christian perspective, true and effective preaching is considered dependent on the unforeseen and inspirational power of the Holy Spirit. Conversely, preaching can become a "shadow" when the messenger's character or motivation detracts from a true message, or when the message itself becomes a mere representation of truth instead of its factual substance. Shadows are not solid objects, but merely defined areas of darkness that can become distorted. Divine enablement is seen as necessary for understanding scripture, applying its truth to people's lives, and achieving the miraculous spiritual work of awakening hearts and minds to the message of the gospel. Without the Spirit's power, preaching is considered ineffective. It is considered a divine act that requires faithful, Holy Spirit-empowered proclamation of God's Word to change hearts and minds, rather than mere human eloquence or intellect. As Tim Keller, an American Presbyterian pastor, preacher, theologian, and Christian escapologists once remarked: “A sermon should "wake people up to realities they have assented to with the mind but have not grasped with the heart," while John Wesley, an English cleric and theologian stated that: "One hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God...alone will shake the gates of Hell."
Ephesians 4:11-17 explains that Christ gave spiritual leaders - apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers - as gifts to the church to equip believers for ministry, build up the body of Christ, and guide them to spiritual maturity in unity and truth. Through the truthful teaching and loving application of these roles, the church matures, becoming stable against deceptive teachings and growing into the full stature of Christ. True discipleship incurs new life at a high cost, including commitment to Christ's teachings, a daily willingness to self-denial, and taking up one's cross by accepting suffering for one's faith. It involves obediently following Jesus's commands, prioritizing a relationship with Him, and demonstrating love and service to others.
Discipleship also demands perseverance in faith, a commitment to living according to Scripture, and bearing spiritual fruit in character and deeds. The passage reminds us: “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.”
Amen.
