Christian or Disciple?

What is a Christian?

To drive home the point even further from our own culture the vast majority of people who say that they are Christians can’t even define what that is. I have talked to countless people over the years who say they are Christians.

Do you know how many times the word christian shows up in the bible? A whopping 3 times. Do you know how many times the word disciple is used 304 times in the gospels and acts. By far the preferred term for a follower of Christ is a disciple.

We often times see a disconnect between Christian and disciple. We look at 9:57-62 and we say disciple someone who is committed to follow Jesus where ever he leads. And we somehow disconnect the word disciple from the act of making disciples. We think that disciples go out and the convince people to become Christians.

We have cheapened gospel, by requiring nothing from those who would seek to follow Christ. You know that we even in our experiments archery and other programs that when we make them free people are quick to sign up but just as quick to not show up. But when we charge a nominal fee that people actually see value in it. Now to be sure salvation and grace cannot be purchased with any amount of money or with any merit of man. But we have done this with our christianity disconnected chirstian from disciple. We have sold a brand Christianity that you can have a casual relationship with Christ but He wont demand anything from you. Just ask Jesus into your heart, say this prayer and do it quickly before you change your mind.

Last week we looked at the leaving, that is the counting of the cost, the forsaking of all, and now we want to look at the going, the sending, the commissioning.

Jesus never asks us to go where He is not himself willing to go. All that he requires from us He is leading the charge and has paved the way with His own blood. Jesus is on His way from Galilee through Samaria to Jerusalem. Where He will ultimately suffer and die.

2 by two he calls them in echoes of the law in Deuteronomy where no matter may be established outside of 2 or 3 witnesses. So he sends them out 2 by 2.

He calls us to Go.

The going is urgent.

We see the urgency in the fact that the Lord tells them not to greet anyone on the way. The mission is too urgent for us to waist time on pleasantries. Not that Christ was excusing rudeness, nor that He was even forbidding them to give a common nod along the way. Some cultures have elaborate greetings.

Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Notes. Luke 10:1–7)

“If two Arabs of equal rank meet each other, they extend to each other the right hand, and having clasped hands, they elevate them, as if to kiss them. Each one then draws back his hand, and kisses it instead of his friend’s, and then places it upon his forehead. The parties then continue the salutation by kissing each other’s beards. They give thanks to God that they are once more permitted to see their friend,—they pray to the Almighty in his behalf. Sometimes they repeat not less than ten times this ceremony of grasping hands and kissing.”

I think that the Prohibition here is to dispense with the elaborate greetings. I was on the phone with someone just this week that was very good at this. Don’t worry it wasn't anyone here. But could have easily been put back they had no time for pleasantries and were all business. Skip the greetings what do you want. People who are task driven might act this way because they are annoyed by the interruption. But God call us to this because the task at hand is so urgent.

Having things in common and talking about work, and the weather, and the war in Israel are all fine and dandy but at some point we need to get to the gospel. Some of us need to work on getting past all of the pleasantries. The harvest time is a short window. In the context of this passage, it is this. The kingdom of God has come and requires a response.

Most of the time when the scriptures speak of the harvest it refers to judgement. The eschatological end times when the Lord come and make a distinction between the wheat and the tares.

Matthew 13:30 ESV

Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ’ ”

the angel with the sickle Rev. 14. winepress of God’s wrath.

Notice here the two different responses to the kingdom of God. To the “sons of peace” the kingdom of God is near. He says to the ones who do not receive the disciples , “nevertheless the kingdom of God has come near” One kingdom near two different responses. To the one the cloud overhead sends down healing rain that replenishes the ground and revitalizes the dried and cracked earth, but to the other the kingdom of God looms over head like a cloud full of lightening ready to strike and release its torrent. So the kingdom that has come is to some peace to others judgement, to some blessings others a curse, both positive and negative, life and death.

He calls us to pray.

Because the workers are few. The cost of discipleship is greater than many are willing to pay. The way is way more dangerous than other are willing to traverse.

10/40 window north/latitude

Hence the warning in the previous verses. We are called to self- reflect. That the road to discipleship is a costly one and and dangerous one. Those who desire to follow

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Where are the laborers coming from? They are coming from the converts, the people of peace who receive the disciples become themselves disciples. So this is really multiplication.

1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

Jesus called disciples who go and make disciples , who go and make disciples and so on. So the harvesters that the Lord is calling them to pray for are in the very towns and villages that the Lord is sending them to.

He who calls us produces the results.

The results of the harvest are not up to us. He is the Lord of the harvest. We are called to go and to be faithful and to harvest the fields that are ripe, and ready. But you know there is such a thing as a bible thumper. Sometimes we want to cut down the fruit that is not ripe. We go over to that stalk and cut it off before it is ripe. No one likes to eat a green banana. I have literally been told knock on the door say this, this and this and you will be successful.

1 Corinthians 3:6 ESV

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Our job is to identify the “sons of peace” and when a person receives us we rejoice and allow the peace of the Kingdom of God fall upon that person through the gospel. For the apostle Paul this was Macedonia, the Lord had prepared the region for the reception of the Gospel. God prepared the people of Ninevah that they would repent at the preaching of Jonah.

There is however a proclamation of the gospel and a judgement. They shake the dust from their feet.

We are responsible for obedience to the call to go, not the obedience of those we preach to.

Acts 18:6 ESV

And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

A few centuries even before Christ there arose a saying “may you be covered in the dust of your rabbi” What was meant by this was that while a disciple traveled which is how much of the learning took place the dust of your rabbi would be kicked up and it was a badge of honor so to speak be covered in it.

Dust was important in ancient times it symbolized a lot of different things. To sprinkle dust and ashes on ones head was a sign of mourning, to sit in the dust was to suffer affliction, to lick the dust was a sign of submission, to throw dust was to show abhorrence of someone, to bite the dust means to fall down or even to die, even in our modern day.

Dust was considered representative of a place region or even town. You might recall the story of Naaman the leopar from Syria who was healed by Elijah the prophet. He was told to go wash in the Jordan 7 times. After he was healed what did he ask of the prophet? He asked for 2 loads of dirt . Seems strange but it showed his faithfulness to the God of Israel, the dirt if you will was holy it represented the God of Israel.

To shake the dust off of ones feet it to curse the land to pronounce judgement on a particular place.

Frees us up from the traditional way that we have been taught to do evangelism.

We have called them to pray but not called them to follow. Does God use our broken methods to bring people to faith? Yes, is there a better more biblical approach, yes. Christian or disciple? Lead them to faith, lead them to Jesus, preach the kingdom of peace, but the road begins with counting the cost.