Disciple is a Noun

Good morning. I am so glad that we are gathered here today.

Last week we talked about Jesus our Rabbi. It is always good to follow a teacher isn’t it. To let someone train you and shape you. I men after all we want to be formed and guided by something.

Who better than Jesus. The great teacher. Yet, Jesus was more than that. He is our Savior and so we see that there is a deeper command and need for what it means to be a Disciple of Jesus.

Disciple. That is an interesting word. It is a word that we often only use in Christian circles. In fact, it is also that a word that we don’t always use correctly.

Good Form

I have started exercising and lifting weights on a regular bases over the last couple months. I can tell you that one of the challenges of lifting is that it can be very difficult on you if you don’t use good form.

An example for you. A lot of the exercises I have been doing lately especially for my legs involve what is called a hing.

Now when you think of a Hing you probably think of a door hing. And you aren’t wrong in that thinking. It is the point that you bend in half on your body.

There are a lot of benefits to hinge based exercises. For example. Do you have lower back pain?

Did you know it may not be caused by the muscles in your back but actually your hamstrings.

Did you know that tight hamstrings can pull on your pelvis and cause your natural posture to shift. Keeping your hamstrings loose can help you maintain a comfortable sitting and standing position throughout your day. This can help with your back pain.

Also there is evidence that a strong lower body will reduce back pain. Because much of your lower body exercises engage your core and that helps build your back to be stronger.

When I first started doing hinges I was not enjoying them.

Your basic Hip hinge looks like this.

Illustrate a Hip Hinge.

See the challenge I first had with Hinges was I was missing an important step. I had Bad form.

I was just trying to hinge at the waist. I wasn’t doing it properly. I noticed my back was hurting more.

No you might be saying wait a minute you said this was supposed to help my back. You are right if you have good form.

I forgot an important step.

I forgot to shut the door with my butt.

Now I know you might be saying what in the world but trust me. Just imagine those times you bend down to pick something up and you extend your butt out and you bump your car door closed.

This phrase or thought was important for understanding proper form for a hinge. My back stopped hurting I felt my hamestrings stretching further an working harder and Now Hinges are one of my favorite exercises. They have really changed me and helped me feel stronger and more prepared for a lot of my other workouts.

Good Form=A good Exercise

Bad Form=Injury or pain.

When we use words we can sometimes be subject to the same idea though as good form and bad form.

Discipleship

Good form of Discipleship is to understand it is a Noun not a Verb.

How many of you have heard either me or some other leader in the church say this kind of statement.

Who are you discipling?

I have news for you. That is bad form.

That uses the word for disciple as a verb not as a noun.

You might be saying whats the difference and is it really that important.

A verb is an action

A noun are the subject.

Think about it for a moment what would happen if we changed out that sentence I shared a minute ago.

Who are you Discipling?

What if we changed out the word Discipling for a synonym of Disciple.

Who are you Pupiling?

Not quite right. How about.

Who are You Believering?

That doesn’t work either. Kinda mouth ful.

What about

Who are You Christianing?

Are you starting to get the picture?

Disciple

A Disciple is who we are not what we do. It is the definition of how we are to understand ourselves as believers.

Why does this matter so much. Because if we understand disciple as a Verb Disciple is something that is done to you.

How many of you have ever been or known someone who was upset because their Pastor did not do enough to disciple them.

I mean come on that is my job after all right. It is to form you and shape you.

Can I share with you some truth this morning?

It might be hard to share with you.

It might be hard for some of us to hear.

When someone is bitter upset because their pastor or someone else didn’t disciple them enough it usually means that that pastor or person didn’t spend enough one on one time with them.

Don’t get me wrong it is important for me to do those things to engage with those of you who want or need it but the idea that your ability to be a disciple hinges on my spending time with you is problematic.

The responsibility of your spiritual formation or discipleship does not fall on someone else, like your pastor, church, or mentor.

If Disciple is a noun, if it is something you are than no one can disciple you but Jesus the Rabbi himself.

If you choose to let him be the one to shape and form you. If you let him be the architect of your life and you give yourself to...

Be with Jesus

Become Like Jesus

Do as Jesus Did

This becomes the very center of who you are the rest is really just in the details. It is here you realize that you are now taking to heart the idea of

John 15:5 NIV

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

We can not seperate oursleves from who he is. and hat he wants for us. It is in him that we realize we are formed and shaped and pruned along the way. It is in Him alone that this is possible because that is why we are his followers. We are Disciples. We are followers of the way. We are Christians...or are we?

Christians

Did you know that the word Christian is only used 3 times in the New Testament.

3 times. Yet, this is the moniker that we choose to identify who we are as believers.

Christian literally means “Little Christ”. It was originally used as a way to mock followers of the Way, but as many people do over time our ancestors embraced the slur and used it to self identify as those devoted to the imitation of Christ.

Sounds good right. It meats goal # 2 doesn’t it. To become like Jesus.

Here lies the problem though.

Is that what the word means to us today?

In our culture a Christian is just someone who mentally ascribes to the bare bones of Christianity.

The Bare Bones

We have to deal with the question of what does it mean to be a Christian?

It is often defined in the simplest of terms. “Jesus died for the sins of the world, and that faith in this doctrine is necessary for one to gain salvation.”

Now There is nothing wrong with this statement. It is fundamentally true. This is a good foundation for our faith. Yet, it is only the foundation.

Let me ask you what good is a house if it only has a foundation?

Laying the Foundation

Laying the foundation is important when it comes to building a house right?

It is essential we get it right.

I remember when my parents built our house when I was young. We would every now and then go visit the lot where our new house was going to be. My Dad would share with us all about what the plan was and how the house was going to be laid out.

one time when we were visiting The workers had dug out the where the foundation was going to be and the cinder block walls had been put up. We had a foundation. The house had been started.

It was an exciting moment. Imagine for a moment if after that day my dad looked at us and said alright that's all we need lets move in.

No roof, walls, electricity, running water, or anything else just a concrete slab and cinder block walls. I mean after all all we need is the foundation right.

Laying the Foundation

The problem we have when we talk about what it means to be a Christian is many are content to only want to live with the foundation and nothing else. Even what we shared earlier does not include anything about being a follower of Jesus.

The truth is that a foundation is good but without a house built on it we will quickly find we aren’t building a life the way we are supposed to. I mean Jesus points us to this multiple times.

John 15:5–6 NIV

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

John 14:6 NIV

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:12 NIV

12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Notice what these verses have in common. They don’t just say believe in Jesus and you are done. It calls us to a life that is lived in service to God.

The last couple weeks in our Sunday evening study we have been looking at the book of Romans and some of the most powerful words of the Bible and How Paul describes how we are to live for God.

Romans 6:13–14 NIV

13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Disciples

Disciples it is who we ARE! It is how we live our lives. It is built on the firm foundation of Jesus Christ our lord and savior.

It is fleshed out in the construction of our lives in the home that we build in ourselves for God.

It is lived out in the fact that this home is open to all and we want to invite others to build a home just like ours.

We are more than just Christians we are Disciples. We are followers we are believers in who Jesus is and what he commanded us to do. We have to capture what that means and how we live that out in the world. This is the calling that is on us as Disciples.

Do you feel God calling you to be more than just someone sitting on a blank foundation and to start building more?

Let’s Pray.