The Reason for Discipleship

Introduction

I. The Reason for Discipleship

It’s vital for the Christian to live their lives with purpose, production and passion.

Purpose speaks of a reason.

Too many Christians don’t understand their purpose, therefore they have no goal to shoot for.

Production speaks of usefulness.

Christians should be producers.

There are two kinds of people. Givers & Takers.

(Ill.) Consider our society as a whole. There are some who simply do not produce. They are a drain to society. They will not work, instead they allow your tax dollars to support them. They simply ride the system.

As Christians, this shouldn’t describe us - but it does for some. Some will come to church with the attitude of ‘What will I GET today’. They are looking for what’s in it for them. They are not concerned about producing, only receiving.

We should be looking for ways on how we can be a blessing to others. How we can produce something for the consumption of others.

Passions speaks of desire.

Christians should be passionate about Christianity - for several reasons:

Why not? What’s not to be excited about?

I’m not going to the Hell I deserve, but going to the Heaven that I don’t!

Christ was passionate for me

They call His last 24 hours on this earth ‘His Passion’. Because of His fervent dedication to His calling.

If we’re not passionate about Christianity, then we’ll not do much for Christ.

Passion moves us… without it, we’ll be stagnant, selfish Christians

Disciple (defined) a follower who has learned to believe in the truth of the doctrine of his teacher; an adherent in doctrine

Words mean things - therefore, I have defined some important words concerning discipleship that we’re going to examine.

So in order to be a disciple, you must understand doctrine.

Follow (defined) To ­­­­­accept as authority; to adopt the opinions of; to obey; to yield to.

To accept as authority - this is the big one. Men want to be free & do as they wish.

We are a people under authority!

Adopt - to take on someone / something as your own that didn’t originally belong to you.

God’s thoughts & ways are not ours naturally. Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Adhere (defined) To hold, be attached, or devoted; to remain fixed.

Like glue.

Not tossed to & fro. But firm in His foundation.

There’s many who’s doctrine & opinions change as societies does.

(Ill.) I saw a mormon dad testify before a state legislature a couple years ago and his testimony was such that ‘I used to be against LGBT stuff, but NOW my child is one - I have now changed my opinion on the matter’

Regardless of what is popular, what is being pushed - a disciple of Jesus will hold on to His Words!

Being a ‘disciple’ is not something you become when you are born again, it’s something you do after.

Read: Luk. 14:25-35.

The abbreviated definition of ‘disciple’ is: ‘a disciplined follower of Christ’

The most important thing that is required for this course is self-examination.

It does no good to examine me, or others. You must look inward. Look for where you’re really at and then look to where you’re supposed to be - and figure out what is keeping you from it.

Whether it will be life changing or a waste of time will be determined solely by me.

Going from a Christian to a disciple is truly life changing. And what I have to offer is only information. Whether you take that and by wisdom apply it to your life will determine what you gain from this.

II. Realizing Your Responsibilities

Luke 9:23 (KJV)

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

The first thing to understand is that as a Christian you have responsibilities.

Christ doesn’t bear Christians without a purpose. Every Christian has responsibilities.

1Cor. 12:13-31

Salvation is not the end but the beginning.

For many, it seems as though the journey from rejecting Jesus to accepting Him - when you finally give your life to Christ, and you feel that weight lifted off your shoulders, it feels similar to completion.

However, Salvation is not being dead again, but being born again! (Joh. 3)

And when we’re born again, everyone of us starts out as BABES!

The natural thing for the Christian is to grow so that they can be productive, functioning members of the Body of Christ.

Now, babes are reliant on their caretakers. They’re part of the family, but they cannot contribute to the well-being of the family.

The natural thing for a baby to do is to grow. They grow into toddlers, then children, then teens, then adults.

Babes in Christ SHOULD grow. It’s the natural thing for them to do. It’s wholly UNnatural for them not to. Then when they grow, they can take on chores to help the rest of the family bear the burden.

Salvation is simple enough that a child can benefit, but God desires more for us.

God truly has SO MUCH MORE TO OFFER besides a ticket out of Hell.

(And more FROM us)

God has expectations and desires for us just as we do with our children.

We have responsibilities unto both God and man.

Mark 12:28–31 “And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.”

Love is action - so what does this look like?

For ye are bought with a price: 1 Cor. 6:20a

Remember - we’re not our own, therefore we should stop acting like it.

Conclusion