Lifelong Living with Jesus

What is Discipleship?

I want you to think about your experience with discipleship. Some of you may have a lot of experience with discipleship, but some of us may have little experience to discipleship.

As you are thinking about this experience, let’s see if we can get an idea of what discipleship is based on your experiences.

(Brainstorming activity: Using a white board, brainstorm some key components to discipleship and write them out. This is just about throwing out concepts. All ideas are welcomed).

These are some really intriguing experiences as it relates to discipleship. I would like to share with you what my definition of discipleship is. My definition of discipleship is...

Definition of Discipleship

A committed follower of Jesus (Jesus said, “Follow Me”)

Changed from the inside out (Jesus said, “Repent and Believe”)

Who loves others (Jesus said, “Love one another”)

And makes disciples. (Jesus said, “Make Disciples”)

You see, as believers, we are called out to be a disciple of Christ Jesus first. From that calling out of personal discipleship, we are then called to make disciples.

When I first started seminary, I had a professor say something that has stuck. She said that she wish we would introduce ourselves as “My name is Nicolas Jones, and I am a disciple of Christ Jesus cleverly disguised as a student of Leavell College.”

What this statement does is it allows us to identify with being a disciple above the other aspects of our lives. Our identity ought to be centered around our identity in Christ as Christ followers.

Let’s look at a couple passages to start out our night delving into discipleship:

Luke 14:25–27 ESV

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

If we are honest with ourselves, this is some pretty intense wording, right? “Hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters”. Yikes. Let’s be clear — this is a comparative statement. We are not suppose to literally hate our family members, but our love for the Father must be SO evident and SO big in comparison to the people in our lives closest to us.

Discipleship is a costly thing. Discipleship is a sacrificial thing. But it is imperative, as this is the call of a Christian life. Let’s look at another passage that is pretty familiar in the Christian faith:

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

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.”

This was the last thing that Jesus said to his disciples before He took the position of sitting on the right hand of the Father in Heaven. Jesus spoke here with authority and commanded this task for the disciples, which in turn, is our task today.

The comfort we have here is that we do not, and SHOULD NOT do this in our own strength. Jesus said he is with His disciples to the end of the age. Let’s take comfort in this, friends!

As we look into discipleship, I think it is important to see how Jesus modeled discipleship in His ministry. We are going to look at 4 different components of Discipleship that Jesus modeled as He called his disciples. Let’s look at the first one.

Explore (Come and See)

John 1:35–39 ESV

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

1. Discipleship begins with spiritual seeking. (v. 35-37)

Notice how John’s disciples responded. They heard John talk about this amazing Lamb of God, and because of this, they decided they would follow after Jesus. John acted as the catalyst for his disciples in following after Jesus. We must be the type of people who spiritually seek out discipleship. Who are you allowing to pour into you in the realm of discipleship?

2. Jesus will meet you (v.38)

As John’s disciples were following after Jesus, Jesus met them where they were at. Jesus asked them “What do you want” or “What are you seeking”. But notice the next part of this passage where

3. Jesus extends the invitation to “come and see” (v.39)

When Jesus called John’s disciples, he says come and see. The implication in coming is to just show up, and the implication in seeing is to check it out and pay attention. So come and see means to show up and pay attention. It’s an invitation into a person’s life. It’s so special.

Moving on to another component of Jesus’s Discipleship

Connect (Follow Me)

John 1:43–46 ESV

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

1. Jesus will find you and challenge you (v.43)

As we talked about earlier, following Jesus is costly, and for Jesus to call someone to follow him means living a sacrificial life.

2. We can connect others with Jesus (v. 44-45)

This is why telling people about Jesus is so important, because it’s connecting them to the one who lived a sinless life, paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross, was buried and resurrected and now sits at the right hand of the Father. Jesus provides salvation. We MUST connect others with Jesus in such an intimate way.

3. We can connect others with Jesus so they can explore. (V.46)

Do you notice a certain phrase that has been repeated? “Come and see”? Philip connected with Nathanael and invited Him to explore the things of faith together. This is discipleship.

Another component of Discipleship as lived out by Jesus is

Growth (Fishers of Man)

Matthew 4:18–22 ESV

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

1. Jesus calls you to be His disciple. (v 19a)

2. Jesus wants you to make disciples. (v. 19b)

3. Obedience is key. (V. 20, 22)

Go (Bear Fruit)

John 15:15–17 ESV

No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

1. Jesus calls his disciples his friends (v.15)

It’s a beautiful thing to know that we are on mission with Christ, our friend. He is a friend who teaches us the way to live and is with us along this journey called life. This brings to the fact that

2. Jesus wants you to be on mission with him in making disciples. (v. 16)

When Jesus calls us out to follow Him as savior and as Lord, he also appoints us to bear fruit that will last. All it takes is being a willing person who asks in the name of the Father! This is so comforting y’all!

Lastly what we see is that

3. Love is the motivation behind discipleship. (v. 17)

We ought to seek out to love the people in our midst. We love them because Christ loves them, and also… he commands it of us. Let’s be people willing to take the steps in being disciples of Christ Jesus who makes disciples.

Application

Perhaps you are here and you fit in one of these categories:

Maybe you have been trying to do this thing called life on your own and it’s time to find someone you are willing to let in to pour into you and allow you to live life with them. Now is the time to let them in.

Maybe you have been discipled, and you have the capacity to lead someone in the ways of the Lord. Listen.. fear is just that.. fear. All it takes is saying YES and allowing and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit for wisdom in the hows. I mean.. obedience is the key right?

Perhaps all of this about discipleship sounds weird because you have not had an opportunity yet to make a profession of faith in Jesus as savior and Lord. I want to invite you to come and see. There are several here who would love to walk alongside you in prayer and answering questions about what it looks like to follow after Christ.

I’m going to close us in prayer, and then I’m going to hand things back over to Corey!