Are you a Disciple?
Purpose Driven Life- Chapter 23
Montreal/Cornwall
January 24, 2004
What do you think God wants of you, as far as your growth is concerned? What is God’s desire for you in spiritual maturity? How would you describe what He wants for you in that regard? (get responses).
Eph.4.15- can someone read this, please? What does this say? It says that God wants you, and me, to grow up like Christ in everything. We’re told that we have a standard to mimic- an example to rise to- an elder brother’s successful life as our model for behaviour.
What else?
Eph.4.14- what does this say? It says that we’re not meant to remain as children. We’re not meant to stay simply as we are, now, or at any one stage of our spiritual development. We’re meant to mature. We’re meant to grow up.
You might think this is inevitable. We look at babies and the fact that they just grow up. Unless there is some genetic difficulty, this is true. A baby will grow up. However, we know that some babies can grow older but never grow up, too. We know that there are adults who are simply big children- who have never really grown up- who are still incredibly immature and childish- not childlike, which is a good and commendable virtue, according to God. Such can be the case for Christians, too. Millions of Christians grow older but never grow up, but get stuck in continual spiritual infancy, all because they never intended to grow- they never made a commitment to grow and have never set out with growth in mind.
I want you to hear a statement that is what this message is all about. “While all disciples are Christians, not all Christians are disciples.” I’ll repeat that statement, which underscores this reality that I want to focus on today. The fact is that spiritual growth is not automatic- it takes intentional commitment. You must want to grow, decide to grow, make effort to grow, and persist to grow. The process of becoming like Christ-, which is what being a disciple, is all about- always begins with a decision.
Matt. 9.9- Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple and Matthew had to make the decision, which he did, to get up and to follow Jesus with that calling in mind. He was not to be just a follower, but was called to be a disciple, which is a student and a mimic of Jesus. I was reading, yesterday, and came across the idea of a disciple described as an apprentice; I find that definition helpful- I know that an apprentice is someone who learns from someone, doing as taught, and being guided in the process. The highest honor we can give to a teacher is to incorporate his or her life into ours- it is to copy their life into ours. This is the benefit of being exposed to teachers- some will be not so great, but all have something we can learn from and incorporate into our lives. Jesus, as the ultimate teacher, certainly did.
Do I believe that Matthew understood all that being a disciple would mean when he responded to that call of Jesus? No. None of the disciples understood all that their decision to follow Jesus would mean. They didn’t know the struggles and the martyrs’ deaths they would all know- except for John, as far as we know. They simply responded to Jesus’ invitation. That’s what you and I must do first, though. We must decide to become a disciple.
In life, today, far too often, we fall into situations. We fall into love and relationships. We fall into jobs, not so much by design and intentional training as by chance. We fall into a particular vehicle to drive. It goes on this way in many areas of our lives. However, as Christians, commitments we make are important. Nothing shapes your life more than the commitments you choose to make. Your commitments can develop you or they can hurt you and even destroy you, but either way, they will define your life. We become what we are committed to.
Whom we marry involves a decision and a commitment. We choose to love- either by conscious decision or by falling into something and refusing to make a choice. However, we’re meant to make a choice, based on factors that include issues of health, family backgrounds, education, interests, similarities, and the like. It’s more than simply a matter of happenstance. Our careers and jobs are, at their best, a matter of choice, where we’ve gone out and become trained in a field that matches our talents and gifts that God has given us, and then are able to bring all that to the table in working for an employer. We’re to decide and to be committed to something. We’re not meant to drift through life, yet many of us are afraid to make a commitment to something and to not drift through life. We’re not meant to make partial commitments to conflicting interests. God wants people who make commitments and who show, by the way they live their lives, that they are committed. He wants you and me to be committed to Jesus Christ and, through Him, to God, and to live our lives as if we are so committed. There’s every reason to do this, too, because this puts us into something that is permanent and eternal.
2 Pet.3.11- tells us that everything we see will disappear eventually, but that we have the opportunity to be involved with the eternal.
Becoming like Christ is the result of making Christlike decisions and choices. It means depending on his Spirit to help us fulfill those choices. It means, because of these choices, acting in new ways that reflect Jesus alive in us. It means letting go of old routines, for better ones, developing some new habits, and intentionally changing the way we think on many matters, knowing that the Holy Spirit will help us in those changes.
Phil.2.12-13 is a very interesting passage. It shows us the two parts of spiritual growth: ‘work out’ and ‘work in’. The part that is our responsibility is ‘work out’, and God is responsible for the ‘work in’. This tells me that spiritual growth is a partnership effort between myself and the Holy Spirit- between you and the Holy Spirit. This tells me that the Spirit works ‘with’ us, not just in us. NOTICE: this is written to believers and it not about how to be saved, but how to grow. It does not tell us to work FOR our salvation, because you can’t add anything to what Jesus already did. If you exercise, which is highly recommended for a Christian because our bodies are temples of the Spirit that we need to guard and preserve, you exercise to develop your body, not to get a body, right? When you ‘work out’ a puzzle, you already have the pieces and simply have to figure out how to put them together. You, farmers or gardeners, ‘work’ the land, not to get land, but to develop what you already have. God has given you a new life- now you are responsible to develop it ‘with fear and trembling’. This tells us- you and me- to take our spiritual growth seriously! Let us not be casual about growing, but make a commitment to it and be serious about it. Live as if Jesus is right there with you, because he is!
Among other passages, I read through Proverbs while I was away in Korea. Whenever I do this, some passages jump out at me and take on new meaning over what they might have at other times of reading.
Proverbs 4.23 jumped out at me and renewed my motivations and me. I’m to be careful how I think! Imagine, God telling any of us this. Be careful even how you think! Wow! That’s strong. But the reality is that each action started as a thought, so how I think will lead to how I act. When it comes to my becoming like Christ, I have to examine and be careful about my beliefs and thoughts, as they will affect my actions and will show Christ, or not. But, am I to control my thoughts by myself? No! Always, I have Jesus there to help me. My willpower is not that great- I need Him. Willpower is not enough because that would have me depending on myself, alone, and that is a formula for reverting. Before I went to Korea, I went through a process of losing 15 pounds, and I’m glad and proud of that, because I’ve never done that before. I feel better because of this, but I know how easy it is to revert and I have to be careful about eating and activity levels. I can’t simply depend on my own willpower- the power of chocolate is so very great, especially, when I got tired of rice. But, overall, I stayed the course.
Ro.12.2- tells us how to change thinking. (Have someone read it.) Yes, we have to let God do the transforming- we have to stop depending on ourselves and let God free in our lives. The first step in spiritual growth is to start changing the way we think- change always starts in the mind, first. The way we think determines how we ‘feel’ and the way we feel influences the way we ‘act’. The mind is the key and Jesus in the mind changes everything.
Eph.4.23- we have to renew our thoughts and attitudes. This is what ‘repentance’ is all about. Repentance occurs whenever we change the way we think by adopting how God thinks- about self, sin, God, other people, life, future, and everything else. It means to ‘change the mind and take on Christ’s outlook and perspective’. It happens every day, all day long. We are supposed to think the way Jesus thought- Phil.2.5. How do we do this?
1 Cor.14.20- tells us to stop thinking immature, childish thoughts. Babies are completely selfish, by nature- and that’s fine, for babies. They are incapable of anything else, but they are meant to grow out of that state. They are incapable of giving, but can only receive, and that is what Paul says is immature thinking. Sadly, many people never grow beyond that kind of thinking. The Bible says that selfish thinking is the source of sinful behaviour.
Ro.8.5.
The second half of thinking like Jesus is to start thinking maturely, which focuses on others, not yourself.
In the great ‘love chapter’, Paul winds up his discussion by telling us that thinking of others is the mark of maturity: 1 Cor.13.11.
Spiritual maturity is not measured by how much Bible knowledge you have, or doctrine you know. It is not a matter of how many verses you have memorized. Those things are important and valuable, but you can know a lot and be incredibly immature. I know people who are very intelligent, but who only think of themselves. Biblically, therefore, they are immature, according to Paul. Christianity is not a religion or a philosophy, but a relationship and a lifestyle, and the core of this lifestyle is thinking of others, as Jesus did, instead of ourselves.
We’re told to be this way: Ro.15.2-3. Thinking of others is the heart of Christlikeness and the best evidence of spiritual growth. This kind of thinking is counter-cultural- it is not natural- it is difficult and it is rare. But we’re given help for this:
1 Cor.2.12
Conclusion
So what? What are you supposed to do with what we’ve looked at today.
1. Jesus is calling you to be a disciple- to be one of his apprentices. Will you get up and follow him, like Matthew?
2. If so, you need to commit to new ways of thinking. I want you to intentionally and purposefully, commit to seeking Jesus way of thinking in at least one new area of your life each day this week. I want you to write down what that area is, so that, next weekend, you’ll be able to look at that list of 7 areas of life or situations where you have consciously thought of how Christ wants you to handle this. You may do this imperfectly- so will I. But we will do it. Your list will be private, but keep it where you can look at it.
3. I want to give you just a few moments right now to talk with God, yourself, about being a disciple of Jesus and about changing your ways of thinking. This might well be your area of thinking for today because this, alone, may be a new activity for you. Begin your list, and come back next week to celebrate and prepared to understand some of the tools the Spirit will use to help you grow.
