Heartbeat: A Culture of Discipleship

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Week 4 of 6 week series

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Introduction

Last week I tried to argue the case that Jesus’ command in the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations includes both the tasks of Evangelism and Discipleship.

We looked at Colossians 1:13-14, where the Apostle says that even though we were once in the Kingdom of Darkness, now, because of Jesus, we have become citizens of the Kingdom of Jesus, God’s beloved Son.

We’ve passed from darkness into light.

And I further tried to make the case that the task of making disciples, under God, is made up of four stages: Engage, Evangelize, Establish, and Equip.

In the ENGAGE stage, we Go! We go to our unbelieving friends and neighbors and we go to the billions of people who are yet unreached with the Gospel, the peoples and places where there isn’t a Gospel witness.

We go and build relationships. We learn the language. We enter in as salt and light. We seek to serve with no expectation of return.

In the EVANGELIZE stage, we share the good news of Jesus with those around us.

We seek to compassionately present the gospel to those who so desperately need it.

We do that by knowing how to speak God’s truth in a myriad of wise ways.

And we hold out the hope to everyone we talk to that if they’ll turn from their sin and put their trust in Jesus, they too can experience eternal life with God.

This doesn’t mean that we view people as projects. We’re not building relationships just to “clobber them” with the Gospel.

But at the same time, we’re not ashamed of the Gospel, because we know that it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, and it address our deepest, greatest, most profound need.

One writer says it this way: “Because of Jesus, I care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.”

God is worthy of worship and Hell is real.

“I’ve always said that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and a hell, and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward—and atheists who think people shouldn’t proselytize and who say just leave me along and keep your religion to yourself—how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?

“I mean, if I believed, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe that truck was bearing down on you, there is a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that.”

That’s a quote from atheist Penn Jillette, of the magician duo, Penn & Teller.

Those are the first two stages of making disciples. We ENGAGE and we EVANGELIZE.

If we love the glory of God and if we care about the suffering of others, especially eternal suffering, we will Engage and Evangelize.

That brings us to the Kingdom of Jesus side of the equation, in the last two stages: ESTABLISH and EQUIP.

A Culture of Discipleship

Like we saw last week, these phases overlap a bit.

But let’s start by looking at the third stage, ESTABLISH:

And to do that, let’s look at a familiar passage near the end of Acts 2.

For a bit of context, Acts 2 tells us the story of the Holy Spirit being poured out on Jesus’ followers on the Day of Pentecost.

And at one point, Peter stands up and everyone listens as he gives a sermon explaining how the Old Testament was pointing to Jesus.

And then Luke, who writes the Book of Acts, wants us to see how the people respond and what this new life in Jesus looks like.

Acts 2:36–47 (ESV)

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.”

41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.

44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts,

47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

So, what happens here?

The Gospel is preached.

People respond through faith and repentance.

They’re baptized, which is the beginning point of when they’re “added” to the number of the church.

And after they’re baptized, they devote themselves to the apostles’ teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and the prayers.

This is the normal Christian life, lived out in genuine community.

And their love for one another becomes a beautiful witness to the rest of Jerusalem, so that every day, people were coming to Christ.

Notice what’s happening: from the earliest days of Christianity, the Christian life is being lived out and lived with a community of faith. The church. And their life together causes believers to grow in their faith, which overflows in a positive Christian witness, where their neighbors are engaged and evangelized, and then new converts are added to the church, where they’re established in the faith and equipped, etc. etc. The circle continues.

The rest of the book of Acts develops that idea. At each key moment in the narrative, the Gospel continues to expand and spread to new places and new people, moving out from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, as people scatter and share the Word.

And all along the way, we see new converts being gathered into new churches and encouraged to live out their faith together.

Later, the Apostles and their ministry teams will go back through and check on the new churches, encouraging them, challenging them, and strengthening them.

In fact, many of the books of the New Testament are letters that were written to these new churches, these young communities of faith.

For the apostles who heard Jesus’ last command to make disciples, they spent the rest of their lives devoted to seeing communities of faith established--healthy churches--where they would continue the work of making disciples.

But community isn’t enough. And just having unity isn’t enough. The goal isn’t just to have a bunch of people gathered around a common cause.

The folks at the Tower of Babel had community. And they had unity. The trouble was their community and their unity wasn’t around God and His truth, it was around themselves.

So over and over again, the believers in these early churches are commanded to orient their community and their unity around the truth of God’s Word:

Ephesians 4:15–16 (ESV)

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

16 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.

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV)

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another.

One of the metaphors or images that the Bible uses to describe the church is the image of the body. We are the body of Christ on earth.

And we are members of the body of Christ.

In order for the whole body to grow together, we all need to be living into how God has gifted us and wired us.

We often say that each of us has a God-given SHAPE.

S: Spiritual gifts

H: Heart, things you’re passionate about

A: Abilities

P: Personality

E: Experiences

100% of your SHAPE has been ordained by God for His glory and for the good of others.

God wants us to live into our SHAPE.

And as we live into our SHAPE, we’re all commanded to lovingly speak the truth of God’s Word in many different ways into the lives of others.

“Speak the truth in love.” That’s a command for every single believer.

In their book “The Trellis and the Vine,” Colin Marshall and Tony Payne argue that this is really the bread and butter of what the Christian life is all about: Speaking the truth in love in real relationships.

We can think of speaking the truth in love in real relationships as a vine that can grow and flourish, but only if that vine is appropriately supported by a well-built trellis, a structure designed to help that vine prosper.

Sometimes in church, we can unwittingly spend so much time participating in church programs that we actually neglect to evaluate the health of the vine that’s supposed to be growing on the structure.

It’s not that we don’t want structures: we should want some well-built structures or programs or ministries to help facilitate the growth of the vine ministry, speaking God’s truth in love in real relationships. But we shouldn’t spend so much of our time on the structures that we neglect the real relationships.

In other words, we don’t want to just do stuff to do stuff. We don’t want a program-driven mentality when it comes to helping one another grow in our relationship with Jesus. We want a people-driven mentality.

Our church’s trellis work (our programs and ministries) should always support our vine work (relationships and discipling). We need to be careful that our programs and ministries don’t become an end to themselves. We always want our structures to focus on people.

Illustration - from Jesus’s own life and ministry

How did Jesus model his own life and ministry?

He definitely thought it was valuable to publically preach God’s Word. He was an itinerant preacher.

But he did more than preaching, didn’t he?

He entered into real relationships with the men and women who accompanied him on his ministry team.

He had private conversations with the hurting and the fearful and the skeptical.

He enjoyed meals with his friends and with strangers.

He had a particular burden for those who were vulnerable or afflicted. The sick. The poor. The oppressed. The outcasts. The ashamed. The orphan and the widow.

He even did kids’ ministry, bringing the children to him and blessing them and communicating to everyone around him just how much he loved connecting with children.

Jesus did ministry by focusing on individuals, not just crowds.

He ministered to individuals, spending time, energy, love, and attention on the people in his path.

It’s about relationships.

We flourish as God intended when we’re in loving, grace-oriented, redemptive relationships.

When we think about the third stage, ESTABLISH, I want you to imagine a church where brothers and sisters in Christ are deliberately seeking the spiritual growth and health of others, not because of a church program, but because that’s what it looks like for Christians to love one another.

That doesn’t mean I don’t think we should be thoughtful and strategic in our church ministries and programs. I think we should!

But that should flow out of our commitment to people more than programs.

Application

So, what could that look like?

In one church in the UK, there’s a culture in their church that when there’s a new believer or a believer moves to the church, before too long someone will end up asking the question, “Are you reading with anyone?”

And when they say “reading with,” they mean “reading the Bible with,” because its part of their culture in their church to regularly meet up with one or two or three other men or women and read the Bible together and talk about it and apply it to their lives.

And it’s not a program per say, its just the culture of the church.

Now, that looks a lot of different ways in different peoples’ lives and schedules and stages of life and family.

But they ask new folks who they’re reading with because that just one of the ways that that kind of relationship-driven discipleship works it way out into their life together.

Question 1- Do you know how to read the Bible with someone else? Reading the passage? Discovering what it says and means. Thinking through how it comforts you or challenges you. How you can practically apply it to your lives. Praying through it together.

Knowing how to read God’s Word isn’t just for pastors. Its for all of us. And not just by yourself. With others.

You think about how many practical issues in our lives could be addressed if we learned how to come together as believers around the Bible and look together at what the Bible has to say for us.

God’s Word is sufficient for our lives, which means everything that we need to know for godly living, we have access to in and through the Bible.

Do you know how to access it?

Question 2- How about with your kids? Do you know how to read the Bible and talk about it with them? Or how about with your spouse? Or if you don’t have a spouse or kids, a close friend? Do you have close Christian friendships built on the foundation of God’s Word?

Question 3 - How’s your prayer life? If reading the Bible is how we hear from God, prayer is God hearing from us.

Or, as Paul Miller says, prayer is the “Real You connecting with the Real God.”

What does that mean?

We need others to help us learn and grow what it means to pray.

Question 4 - One of Tatum’s favorite images in the Bible lately is the image of a garden.

If you’re going to plant anything that you hope will grow, you have to get the ground ready.

If there’s weeds, the weeds need to be pulled.

If the ground is scorched from a fire, that ground needs some healing.

In sin and in suffering, the soil of our hearts often needs some focused care.

Sometimes in church we can get so caught up in church programs or events that we forget that spiritual growth is a process and a journey.

Being Established isn’t just about Growth. It’s about Hope! Because Growth in Christ can only happen where there’s Hope in Christ.

And sometimes one of the most powerful ways we can experience Hope is by walking alongside others who have been through similar circumstances, and who can walk alongside us as we learn to see how God’s story of a Suffering Redeemer intersects with our own suffering. When we learn that sin doesn’t have to have the last word. That by God’s grace we can learn to live in rhythms of repentance and renewal, rather than denial and pride, so that the sin that so easily ensnares us loses its luster, its power, its grip.

The reality is this Establish “stage” of Making Disciples is ongoing. All of us are going to keep growing in our Christian life and continue to be more and more Established in the faith. And it’ll never end in this life.

Our spiritual life starts out as a small little seed, which becomes a small little sprout, which eventually gets some roots, and then keeps growing until it bears fruit. And then we get pruned so we can bear more fruit. That’s what Jesus says in John 15. As we grow in Christ, Jesus promises to prune us so we can be more fruitful.

So the third stage of Making Disciples, Establish, doesn’t ever end.

BUT, overlapping with the Establish stage is the last stage, the EQUIP stage, where we learn how to obey Jesus’ last command, to go and make more disciples ourselves.

In this last phase, the EQUIP stage, we’re learning how to obey Jesus in the other three stages, Engage, Evangelize, and Establish.

Our maturing in Jesus leads us to a place where we learn how to minister to others and how to multiply disciples by engaging and evangelizing others.

This is learning to embrace God’s calling on your life to not only be a spiritual receiver—which is necessary and good and right — but to also be a spiritual giver.

For the same reasons I just talked out, vine ministry, or, speaking the truth of God’s Word in love in real relationships, is vital for this.

When you’re a new Christian, you should find yourself surrounded by people who genuinely care about your spiritual wellbeing.

And from that point on, you grow into the reality and the realization that now, you need to genuinely care about others’ spiritual wellbeing, too!

Application

Q. How can we grow in Engaging our friends and family by building relationships? That question is part of the Equip stage.

Q. How can we grow in Evangelizing those around us who don’t know Jesus, so they can hear the good news of Jesus and turn from their sins and trust in Christ? That’s an Equip question!

Q. How can we grow in being Established in the faith, learning to love Jesus and love others as we live out the Christian life? That’s what Equipping is all about.

Equipping is the mindset shift away from just my own spiritual life and thinking about being used by God to help others

Here’s My Prayer

I’d like us to be a church that’s known for our culture of discipleship.

A church community characterized by a genuine love and concern for others, which shows up in intentionally seeking out the spiritual good of other brothers and sisters in Christ.

That will take lots of different forms and shapes. That may look different in different seasons, both in your own life and in the life of our church.

But regardless of what what programs or events we do or don’t do, I pray that our church culture is characterized by intentionally speaking the truth of God’s Word in real relationships.

And that as we experience growth in grace, we will become catalysts and conduits of that grace to others.

Conclusion

That wraps up our look at those four basic stages of Making Disciples: Engage, Evangelize, Establish, and Equip.

For the last two weeks of the series, I’m going to highlight two themes in Scripture that have impacted my hopes and dreams and prayers for my own life and for our family and for our church: Generous Hospitality and Christlike Humility.

I hope you’ll be back.

Let’s pray.