The 2 Keys pt3

Is there anything more dangerous than someone who knows just a little about a complex subject? Stop and consider this for a moment. At what point are you the most dangerous when learning to drive? When you just get started. (Annalise driving story)

That’s true in so many aspects of life. Do you want a mechanic who has never worked on brakes to learn on your car? What about the person starting the IV? (another story about what I always ask before someone sticks me…the IV drug user at my doctor)

We all need training. We all need to learn. And we are all capable of teaching. When we become well versed on a subject, people come to us for knowledge. And when we don’t know much about a subject, we go to an expert.

Following Jesus is no different. The problem many of us have is we get paralyzed when it comes to talking about some of the complexities of our faith. We cede to the “expert” without realizing we are experts ourselves. And more than that, sometime just the word we use to describe this learning and growing is off putting- discipleship.

But the truth of the matter is, Jesus called us to make disciples, not just converts. And we are seeing in our country right now the results of making converts and not disciples. We have, in many churches, a slow drift away from the faith once for all delivered to the saints, to a crippled, compromised Christianity that looks more like Judges 21:25 than Acts 2. And the results for our nation are catastrophic.

So what do we need to do? We need to pick up the calling, the mantle to make disciples again. And we need to practice it. Notice I said “we.” Not “me.” As you will see in this passage, the task of discipling falls on all of us, and the role we play depends on where we are in the faith. We are all to be engaged in discipling others.

(Read Acts 18:18-28)

Now the first thing I want you to catch, that is easy to miss, is that Paul drops out of the story fairly quickly. He gets to Ephesus, then he leaves after a short time, but he leaves some people behind- Aquila and Priscilla. They had met Paul in Rome, where he had lived with them and been tentmakers with them. They had become followers of Jesus, and Paul had most likely invested considerable time in discipling them. He commends them in 1 Corinthians and Romans for their ministry and service to him and the church.

So when he leaves, he is leaving behind people who he has taught. They are disciples, and they are capable of discipling. And they are going to get their chance, because after Paul leaves, a man named Apollos arrives in Ephesus. He is a believer and begins to speak in the synagogue, but he’s raw. And there are no cell phones, or telegraphs, or any means of quick comms with Paul. But they don’t need Paul, they have Priscilla and Aquila- who have been discipled by Paul…and Paul has left them there for this very reason.

Paul leaves so they will do the work to which they are called. No one can disciple everyone. Folks, I will be honest. I have limits to the number of people I can disciple on a regular basis. My top end is 2. That’s it. It would take me until after I am dead to get thru just the people who are here. But if everyone here discipled 2. Think about that for a minute.

Now let’s bump down to verse 24. We learn some things about Apollos. First, he knows the word. He speaks well. And he is a Christian.

That is the next thing about being a discipler. There is a difference between sharing the Gospel and discipling someone. Only a follower of Jesus, can be a disciple of Jesus. (Gospel presentation here- related to end of vs25)

Priscilla and Aquila listen to him, and notice something. His teaching is not inaccurate, but it is incomplete. He needs more knowledge. So they teach him. And he receives it and gets better- as a teacher and as a follower of Jesus.

Third thing about discipleship, it is a 2 way street. You have to have willingness on both sides. A willingness to teach and a willingness to be taught. And that means everything from being willing to listen, to being willing to be wrong, to even something as simple as being willing to meet. (my 6am meetings…)

What is the result? Apollos becomes an even better teacher of the Gospel and follower of Jesus, and Jesus uses him in even more mighty ways.

I am CONVINCED that part of the reason we see the church in America struggling is we have few people willing to go deeper in their faith- willing to be challenged, instructed, corrected, and ultimately be submissive to someone who knows more than them. (being discipled by people over the years- David Griffin, Mavis Koonce, Tommy Haines, Rob Felts…to name a few) We MUST be willing to be discipled and to disciple others. It is not OPTIONAL, it is ESSENTIAL.

What could you begin to do this morning, to disciple another person? Who could you seek out to disciple you?