TOWARD GENUINE DISCIPLESHIP: "Hearing and Obeying" - Part 2

TOWARD GENUINE DISCIPLESHIP: "Hearing and Obeying" - Part 2 Matthew 28:18-20, 2 Timothy 2:2 October 8,  2000 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introductory Matthew 28:18-20 - The Great Commission - emphasis on "making disciples." Began series last week by investigating the basic elements of being a disciple. That is, when we look at the believers who made a difference in the early New Testament church and throughout history, we see they were most ordinary people, not superstars and hotshots-just people who had committed their lives to Jesus Christ and who listened and obeyed the Lord. Disciples of the Lord Jesus are those who allow Jesus to make a difference in their lives. They're teachable people who are committed to growing into the image of Christ, one glory at a time (2 Corinthians 3:18). But genuine disciples of Jesus are those who are also committed to the Great Commission. That is, because they know it is the Lord's will, they are dedicated to bringing others into a disciple relationship with Jesus. To put it simply, genuine disciples are committed to discipling others. This morning, my goal is not so much to convince you that you should disciple others around you-you already know that; but I want to convince you of how doable discipleship is. I want you to leave here this morning confident that you can do what Jesus wants you to do: make disciples of other people. Disciple-making is being done throughout the world in unbelievable numbers today. How many of you have thought in your hearts (down deep where you will admit your doubts and fears) that this whole notion of getting the gospel to the whole world seems impossible? I am here to tell you this morning that God is getting the work done. There are pockets of revival and gospel success all around the world RIGHT NOW where people are responding to the gospel in record numbers Yes, there are places where there seems to be very little comparative response to the gospel. America, sad to say, is an example of very low per capita response to the gospel. Where is the ministry of disciple making going well? Anywhere God's people are serious about their relationship with Him and are themselves growing as disciples. I want to share with you an exciting statistic that demonstrates something we often miss. It's a global perspective, a macro-view of the past century. I think you'll be greatly encouraged. In 1900, the ratio of Believers* to Unbelievers was 27-1 worldwide. In 1950, the ratio of Believers to Unbelievers was 21-1 In 1980, the ratio of Believers to Unbelievers was 11-1 In 1990, the ratio of Believers to Unbelievers was 7-1 In 2000, the ratio of Believers to Unbelievers is 3-1! *Believers=those who acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord Source: World Mission: An Analyses of the World Christian Movement, 2nd edition, Part 2. Jonathan Lewis, editor (William Carey Library) My point is this: God is getting the impossible done. And he is using the most unexpected people-people like you and me-to reach His beloved world. There is an unprecedented growth in the church of Jesus Christ in the world today. We are largely blind to it, because it doesn't look to be happening around us. But it can! And I'm not just talking about church growth here, and fattening the church rolls. I'm talking about the making and maturing of genuine disciples of Jesus! My job this morning is to remind you that it is doable. You can be part of it. You are called to be part of it. The Lord Jesus wants you to be part of it! He said to His church that He would send His Holy Spirit to grant the church power for this very task. And He's done it! You can make disciples because the Lord arranged disciple-making so that ANY SINFUL, SELF-CONSCIOUS, INCOMPETENT WHO SUFFERS FROM A SENSE OF SPIRITUAL INFERIORITY CAN DO IT! Gee, thanks! I happened to run across a memo dated from the first century AD. It was addressed to: Jesus, Son of Joseph, The Woodcrafter's Carpenter Shop, Nazareth, 25922. From: Jordan Management Consultants, 15 Commerce Blvd., Jerusalem, 26544. It reads: Thank you for submitting the resumes of the twelve men you have picked for key positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests, and we have not only run the results through our computers, but also completed personal interviews between each of them and our psychological and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the opinion of the staff that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education and vocational ability for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of more experience in management. We have summarized our findings as follows: Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no leadership ability. The two brothers, James and John bar-Zebedee, place personal interests above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale in your firm. We believe it is our duty to tell you that Matthew has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus both have radical leanings and a history of involvement with extreme right-wing organizations. They also registered high scores on the manic-depressive scale. However, one of the candidates shows great potential. He's a man of ability and resourcefulness; he shows promise of being a great networker, has a keen business mind; and has equity in influential circles. He's highly motivated, very ambitious and adept in financial matters. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your Comptroller and Chief Executive Officer. All other profiles are self-explanatory. Enclosed find our invoice for services rendered. We wish you the utmost success in your new venture. If Jesus had chosen his followers on the basis of common qualifications...Jesus chooses and uses people not on the basis of who they are, but for what they can become in Him. When I say that He can use any "sinful, self-conscious incompetent with a sense of spiritual inferiority," I really mean it. Paul wrote to the Corinthians believers these most uncomplimentary words: "Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things.so that no one may boast before him." (1 Corinthians 1:26-29) The Lord's primary concern is not how able you are, but how available you are. Don't ever worry that you are inept in kingdom work-of course you're inept! But God gets glory by using inept people (and we're all inept). There is a story about a very successful lawyer whose notoriety for successful trial work was so renown that he was in great demand as a speaker at lawyers conferences. As he traveled far and wide speaking at these conferences he always took with him his chauffeur. After hearing the boss's same speech so many times, one day the chauffeur said, "You know, I've heard that speech so many times I believe I could give it and no one would know the difference!" The boss said, "You're on!" The next day, the chauffeur wore the thousand-dollar suit and the boss the chauffeur's cap, and off they went to the speaking engagement. The chauffeur did a spectacular job while his boss sat in the back of the crowd laughing to himself. Following the speech, the emcee stood and thanked the speaker for his inspiring speech, looked at his watch, and said, "It looks as though we have a few moments. Let's take a few questions for our distinguished speaker." One local lawyer stood and asked a complex legal question that was obviously designed to stump the speaker and show off the intelligence of the questioner. The  chauffeur stood up in his thousand-dollar suit and approached the microphone. He said, "That is such a routine and simple question, that I believe.I could even have my chauffeur answer it for you." The point is that Jesus can use anyone because it is His power at work through and in spite of our weakness. I was visiting a couple of years ago with a pastor friend with whom I had ministered in another church in northern Illinois. As we talked about how the church was doing, he began to describe their new evangelism program and how successful it had been in calling on people in the community and how many had come to Christ. In passing he said, "Yes, Dave is doing a great job." I asked, "Dave? Dave who?" He responded, "Dave Allen-he's our new evangelism coordinator." Dave Allen was a guy who when I was there was there had just graduated from High School (barely), was more interested in softball and keg parties than church, and drove a garbage truck. Now, he was an evangelism coordinator for the church? "Yeah," said the pastor, "A couple years ago he turned his life around and started living for the Lord. Shortly afterward discovered gifts of evangelism and leadership, and he started winning people to Christ so successfully that we put him on staff!" God specializes in making silk purses out of sows' ears! As a disciple of His, He is exercising His power in moving you into maturity in Him. His ultimate goal is to bring you into the fullness of His own glorious image. And He is doing it. Although it is His power, it is released only when you allow it to be. Every time you say "Yes" He moves you forward in His divine plan for your life. And every time you say "No" you grind to a halt in your growth program. Listen, I want to accurately represent the truth of scripture here. If you are dissatisfied with your current level of spiritual maturity and unhappy that you are not growing faster, it's because you keep saying "No." The Holy Spirit, God's power at work within you, is fully available to you. And you can assimilate His power through your submission to Him. Ephesians 3:20 says it is His power that is at work within us that can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. How do I know He can and will use you in His cause of disciple-making? Because he is willing and He is filling! When's the last time you heard the Holy Spirit urging you and leading you forward in obedience and you said "Yes"? Here's a better question, "When's the next time you're going to hear Him and say "Yes"? How about this morning? I want to shock you this morning. Follow along with me as I share some important information via overhead transparency. If you disciple just one person this year, and influence each one to do the same in the next year. And you did this for just ten years, how many people would your single life positively affect for Christ in those ten years? Would you believe, over a thousand? Year 1 - you disciple 1 Total new disciples: 1 Year 2 - you and s/he disciple 2 3 Year 3 - you and those 3 disciple 4 7 Year 4 - you and those 7 disciple 8 15 Year 5 - you and those 15 disciple 16 31 Year 6 - you and those 31 disciple 32 63 Year 7 - you and those 63 disciple 64 127 Year 8 - you and those 127 disciple 128 255 Year 9 - you and those 255 disciple 256 511 Year 10 - you and those 511 disciple 512 1,023 Now, if you got really excited, and decided to disciple TWO people each year (who would each disciple two more each year), you will have started a project of postively affecting over 43,000 people for Christ in the next ten years! Think about that. If only 35 of the people in this room did that, in ten years we could have discipled the entire metropolitan area of St. Louis. Six more years? The entire United States. Then, in just 3 more years, the entire world. And that's just starting with 35 committed believers here in this room! What if God had just 1,000 more such groups? Global discipleship in 9 years. But surely there are 10,000 churches with 35 people willing!? Less than five years! But, these figures are too large for us to really comprehend. Let's let God do the big math. Let's get back to you and me. Would you like for your life to count for the discipling of thousands? We all admire Billy Graham and are grateful for the thousands he has personally led to Christ. But you can be used just as well. You and those you disciple could reach over 1,000 people in ten years, just by concentrating on discipling one other person per year! What will it take to disciple one other person in a year's time? It's almost a contrivance to average this out, but I believe it is safe to say you could fully disciple another individual through the investment of 1.5-2 hours per week. That's 100 hours in a year (the average person watches television about 500 hours a year!). Minimal Components of Discipling Ministry (2 Timothy 2:2) 1. LOVE translates into time, attention, listening, prayer and encouragement. 2. MODEL the genuine Christian life fleshed out before others 3. TEACHING the ministry of the Word of God and the Spirit of God - leads to conversion, maturity and ministry 4. CHRISTIAN DISCIPLINES Do FOR the disciple Do WITH the disciple Disciples DOES, you WATCH and ENCOURAGE Disciple DOES for and with OTHERS George Bernard Shaw wrote about his taste of "true joy" in life: "This is the true joy in life-the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, the being a force of nature instead of a a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. There is a better way of life than just being an "also ran". We are like Jake and Elwood Blues-we're on a mission from God. We are born and born again to serve the king of Kings and the Lord of lords! And I want you to know that God has always promoted "win-win" situations for his children. What is good for His kingdom is usually better for us as individuals. I believe what the Lord is asking of us today is this: to get back to the "center" of our lives, to downshift and slow down. We have got to make some very important decisions about what is important to us, then act on it. Bottom line, what is most important to you? Get to it and pitch the rest! The irony of the gospel is that the more you submit to the authority of Christ, the more radically free you become. This is what makes the life of genuine discipleship so attractive. I see a lot of people who are struggling so hard to be free of their restricting circumstances (bad job, economic circumstances, even tough marriages), but these things cannot be changed. What a terrible things to struggle all your life against things that cannot change, and ought not to be changed. Once your discomfort level gets too high, you begin asking the fundamental questions. Questions like, "What's really important?" The life of genuine discipleship presents you with the greatest and most rewarding paradox of all time: to be really free you must submit to God's plan in your life.     [Back to Top]