Follow Me - Discipleship - A Simple Definition
Notes
Transcript
If I were to ask the questions
What is the purpose of the church?
What is a disciple?
What should a disciple know?
I wonder what answers I would get
Those that don't know
Side note there is a difference between
discipleship and disciple making
Discipleship is what you do on your own
personally, individually as you grow in Christ
Some would call it the sanctification process
But disciple making is different
This is the process of multiplying Jesus through us
It's not a suggestion either
it is a command in the Bible
Matthew 28:19-20Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
How close are the definitions that we gave to each other's?
if the definitions are close, but not the same
imagine what other believers would define disciples as
Here's the catch
If everyone has their own idea on what a mature disciple looks like
Then when it comes time to make decisions for the fellowship of believers
one person will apply their own definition to their particular decision
If one person believes that the Bible is important to being a mature disciple
they may champion Bible study so people can learn the Bible
if someone believes that discipleship begins as a visitor to the fellowship
they may want to add great tasting coffee before the service.
some may want to add missions to the homeless
others may emphasize church membership
others may emphasize church members hanging out with their unsaved neighbors
Some want large evangelistic outreach
others may want small groups to gather in homes
big problems begin to arise when a church doesn't agree on
the basic definitions, direction, and philosophy of ministry
Another issue is understanding the difference of a convert and disciple
Conversion is the first step in the discipleship process.
A convert is one that turns around
meaning you are moving in one direction
they become convicted of sin
and they turn around in the other direction
and come to Christ
conversion is the beginning of the journey
Discipleship is is the ongoing process
The person that converts should become a lifelong learner, a disciple
it is a learning process that never ends
a person in some sense can be a disciple before ever being converted
A problem may be that the church may be full of converts
but not necessarily disciples
we may even have a good many pre-disciples
those that are following but have not converted
When we try to define the basic definition of being a disciple
There are two criteria that have to guide the definition
It should be Biblical (as Jesus defined it)
and it should be clear
Something that everyone in the church can repeat
Not so complicated that no one can remember
but we don't want to leave out anything
The simplest definition of discipleship in the Bible
Matthew 4:19
This is just an outline
19 “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
it gives the basics, but it gives enough to remember easily
It is an invitation to two men, Peter and Andrew
but it is also a general invitation to everyone as well
There are two parts to this verse and message
first, the part we have to do - Follow HIm
Second, the part He does through us - I will make you fish for people.
Let’s look at the first part, our part
Follow Me
Follow Me
A disciple of Jesus must follow Jesus
Jesus leads. We follow
This means we place Jesus as Lord
and we respond to His leadership in that direction
That places Jesus in front of us and we are behind Him
26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me. Where I am, there my servant also will be. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
What we need to remember is that
At some point we were once fish.
Someone was following Jesus
and Jesus made them a fisherman to catch us.
That’s a miracle in itself!
In creation
· It says in Genesis 1:11 that God created all the plants from the earth, the dirt, the soil
· In Genesis 1:12 that the earth brought forth all these things
· If you remove a plant from the soil, what happens?
· It dies
It says in Genesis 1:20 God created all the fish of the sea from the water
· If you take a fish out of the water, what happens?
· It dies
In Genesis God created mankind in His image
· He used the dust of the ground
· But He breathed life into the man in Genesis 2:7
· So what happens if you take God out of man?
· Same thing that happens to the fish without water
· And the plants without soil
For Jesus to find us, as dead as we were
and to take not just a fish, but a dead fish
and turn the fish into a fisherman is a miracle!
If you are a believer in Jesus Christ
you are a walking miracle.
But being a dead fish to an alive fish is one miracle
an entirely different miracle
is being transformed from a fish
to being a fisherman.
Why wouldn’t you want to follow the one
that gave us life
and be obedient to the one
who turned us from being fish to fisherman.
obedient to the one
who performed these miracles in our lives.
A disciple is one who knows who Jesus is and follows Him
we move from being self-ruled to Christ ruled
23 Jesus answered, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
24 The one who doesn’t love me will not keep my words. The word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.
A willingness to follow Jesus is evidenced by our love for Him
and though our obedience is not perfect
it should be evident and growing
It starts with a mental commitment first
a mental acceptance that Jesus is in charge
He is the boss, the leader
The invitation to follow Him starts as a mental choice
You have to know who He is and accept who He is
even if you don't full grasp all that will be required of them being a disciple
When Jesus called these two fishermen
They knew about Him
They may even have heard of Him
but they didn't know all of what following Him meant
It was a head knowledge first
There were also emotional, physical action,
and affections involved first as well
The invitation to follow means
learning and believing truths about Jesus
But Pastor, I don’t know how to be a fisher of men?
I don’t know how to make disciples?
I’m still a brand new believer.
This is why the beginning of disciple making is Follow me
This is a decision on our part
We must decide if we are going to follow Jesus or not.
The men that Jesus called chose to leave their world behind
and follow Jesus.
I’m not advocating that we leave our jobs
our families, our lives and follow Jesus.
Those very places you leave
may be the places Jesus needs you to fish.
I am saying that we leave the ungodly direction
we may have been pursuing
to be set apart for the work that Jesus wants us to do.
You cannot be fish and catch fish.
We have to be fishers of men
that’s different than being a fish.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-14
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
it means to abide with Him.
Spending time with Him
Learning all about Him.
If anyone wants to be the best fisherman they can be
we need to learn how to fish
by the best fisherman there ever was.
Just like Jesus’ disciples
we are to live with Jesus
We spend time with Him
we are every day associated with Him
we read about Him
we say the same things He said.
We are to be His body of servants
and His familiar friends.
We copy His methods
and obey Him on every point.
To do anything less, is not following Jesus.
There is the second part of disciple making
the part that is up to Jesus
And I will make you
And I will make you
This is the process of transformation
this is Jesus molding our hearts to become more like his
A disciple of Jesus is changed by Jesus
We move from a mental decision to follow
to the process of transformation that takes place in our hearts
The process is important to remember
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
29 For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
Sometimes we can forget that
people don't have to clean up their lives before coming to Jesus
You don't clean fish before you catch them
Or sometimes we get discouraged because we failed at some point
We can believe that God's grace
covered us up to the point of salvation
and now it's up to us to get it right the rest of the way
The disciples of Jesus were not spiritual giants
they were just regular guys
with the same struggles everyone has
Responding to the call of Jesus means
allowing Jesus to unmake us and then remake us into His own image
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.
2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit.
In times of pruning
we are tempted to leave Jesus
we believe that Jesus doesn't like the way we are
and He is right
He is shaping us into something better
His goal is to see us produce relational fruit from the branch
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
The second part of this is spiritual
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
Jesus is moving in the life of a disciple
and causing changes in their heart
that leads to the development of character.
There are many that believe discipleship is the simple transfer of information
that only leads to behavior modification
Discipleship must have transformation
and at the deepest levels of who we are
that can only be accomplished with the power of the Holy Spirit
through the Word of God and in relationship with the people of God
The moment we try to accomplish this on our own
God lets us do things in our own power
and that never works out well.
The Spirit warns us in our heart
when we begin to stray away from Him.
The Spirit can tell us in our very soul
what our next assignment may be
And everything we believe we hear
must be tested against the Word of God.
This is how Jesus makes us
But what is He transforming us into?
Fishers of men
Fishers of men
This is the response of action
this is what we live for and what we do as disciples
This moves from the
head - the mental choice to follow
Heart - the process that takes place when we follow
hands - what we do with what we are being transformed
The disciple of Jesus is saved for a purpose
Andrew and Peter were fishermen all their lives
That was al they knew
They would throw a net into the water
wait a while
and then haul in the fish to sell to the market
It was their occupation
Jesus was going to change all that
He was giving them a new purpose
Disciples of Jesus respond in a similar way
We spend time with Jesus
His Holy Spirit begins to work on us from the inside out
The passions that used to drive us
things like fame, power, prestige
The holy Spirit begins to show us those things aren't as important anymore
They are still there
but through the Holy Spirit using the Word of God
and the people of God to remind us what really matters
and the true destiny of the world
we begin to seek His Kingdom first
and we begin to see the world from Jesus' perspective
We then begin to care about the things that God cares about
and low and behold we are now on mission for Him
Being a fisherman means that we are saved for God's Kingdom purposes
not just to call ourselves a Christian
or to gather in fellowship every Sunday
to be nice to other people
and cram a lot of Biblical facts into our heads
The point is not what we were saved from
it's more of what were we saved for
When you put all that together a disciple is
following Christ (head)
being changed by Christ (heart)
committed to the mission of Christ (hands)
The goal is to present people as mature in Christ
28 We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
29 I labor for this, striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.
