Growing Disciples

Introduction

“We exist to make Disciples growing together in Christlikeness.”

Three aspects to it:

Making Disciples

Growing Disciples

Together Disciples

All with the goal of becoming more and more like Jesus Christ in our attitudes and our actions.

All of this is to occur as a church - a local body of believers who choose to gather together.

Which means - people.

And people are messy. Amen? We are messy.

The old adage of if you find the perfect church, don’t join it because you will mess it up!

Few say it better than Charles Spurgeon.

Spurgeon Video - The Perfect Church

So, since we are all imperfect people, how do we operate within this, the Bride of Christ?

Jesus Himself gives a word to His Disciples that are helpful to us today as we consider how to live out our purpose.

A message to His disciples (6:20).

Living In Fellowship

vv. 37-38

Jesus begins by giving four imperatives, or commands. The first two are negative imperatives and the next positive imperatives.

First, don’t judge and don’t condemn.

Second, do forgive and do give.

Let’s define what Jesus was communicating with that first imperative: don’t judge.

We will sometimes use this or hear people use this to say, “You can’t tell me what is right or wrong!”

Is Jesus here saying that you cannot make moral or ethical judgments concerning the behavior of others?

Jesus is employing Hebrew poetry by using couplets.

Two lines that are using to reinforce an idea. So the words go together: “Judge/Condemn” and “Forgive/Give.”

We do the same in English by the way we use the word “judge,” especially when we consider the role of a judge.

In non-jury trials, or a bench trial, is where the judge bears the responsibility of determining guilt or innocence.

But, a judge will also bear the responsibility of determining the sentence imposed upon the guilty party.

Two jobs as a judge. Which is Jesus using? A condemnation is not a pronouncement of guilt, but a pronouncement of a sentence.

It’s also helpful to look at how Matthew records a similar teaching from Jesus:

Matthew 7:1 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.

But, look at what Jesus says next:

Matthew 7:2 ESV

2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.

Jesus is saying you can measure the judgement given.

Guilt and Innocence are either/or. You might plea down to a lesser charge, but a judge or a jury will never come back and say that you are only 45% guilty! it’s 0 or 100.

Jesus is indicating a judgment of something that can be measured.

This helps us to determine that Jesus is not saying that you shouldn’t examine someone’s moral or ethical actions and determine what their sentence should be.

When we live in fellowship as Christians, we should not go around trying to determine what someone should receive for what they’ve done wrong.

Instead, Jesus lays out for them what we should do with the next two imperatives:

Forgive and Give. Again, these words appear together in a couplet. What to we give? Forgiveness.

Not only are we to give it...

Christians are called to give forgiveness abundantly.

Watching my mom bake. She’d pour out the flour or the sugar or whatever ingredient it is and pack it down into that measuring cup. Get as much of that stuff in there as possible!

Pressed down. Shaken together (getting all the air out). And then, running over! Why you pour your ingredients over the bowl where you will be mixing!

And all that you give, either the negative or the positive, will be returned to you - “put into your lap.”

This is the beauty of God’s economy.

Whatever blessing you pour out, God gives a return with abundance.

It may not come from the same source, but He will return a reward.

The group taking out door hangars yesterday. We may not see a single family from this neighborhood at church…but, God rewards that effort and I have seen Him bless those efforts, maybe with someone who has driven by the church and God impresses it upon them to worship with us.

And, specifically, God is saying pour out forgiveness onto one another.

Give the best estimation of others.

We have a culture of skepticism. I get that. When someone does something good we wonder why.

Jesus is saying to assume the best in others.

Rather than make an accusation, consider the person and then go talk to them.

When we do these things, it will further us as we live in fellowship with one another.

Jesus continues on this same theme by talking about the kind of vision we are to have as His Disciples.

Living In Vision

vv. 39-40

Ever play blind man’s bluff? It’s like “tag” but the person who is it has on a blindfold. Players can taunt whoever is it by speaking or making a lot of noise.

Growing up, we used to play this in our front yard with our cousins. We had a great front yard because it was like a huge open field.

Except for the old school satellite. Where someone was taunting my sister as she was blindfolded.

And since it’s tag, you have to run at them to tag them.

And that’s the story of how my sister ended up with a partially fake tooth.

Jesus is making a point that

You must be careful who you are following.

And of course Jesus is speaking of those who are spiritually blind.

Jesus could look across the landscape of Israel and see many blind teachers, both Pharisees on the right and Sadducees on the left.

Both groups were leading their followers astray.

And none of those who were following them could ever arise beyond their spiritual blindness.

Jesus is warning His Disciples about who they follow, who they are listening to, who is influencing them.

Keeping it in context, Jesus is giving them this warning because those who are spiritually blind will seek to judge and condemn and not forgive and give.

Jesus is calling them away from spiritual blindness to living in spiritual sight.

How do you see people?

Do you see them as a bearer of the image of God?

If so, we treat them with love and respect and concern.

If not, we treat them with contempt.

The reality is that we are all broken and in need of the Savior.

We can look at people with the eyes of the world and excuse our hateful treatment, or we can look at them as Jesus did, with love and compassion.

To do this, we need to...

Live In Purity

vv. 41-42

Jesus uses some humor here:

Speck & Log

Strive for personal purity.

Both the speck and the log stand for sin, but of different amounts.

If you’ve got all this huge sin in your own life, don’t think that you can be effective in helping someone else remove the sin from their own life.

Strive for corporate purity.

“Then you will see clearly to take out the speck...”

So, we are to identify sin in someone else’s life (the other way we can use the word judge).

And then we are to seek to help them overcome that sin.

Being a part of the church, we should expect accountability.

We should listen in humility when this happens. And we should approach in humility.

How we often hear this used is an excuse to not confront sin.

“Well, I still have sin in my own life...”

Perfection is not a prerequisite.

Jesus is not saying you have to be sinless before you can offer assistance!

“Remove the speck and then you can help your brother remove their log.”

He is saying that you should be working to rid yourself of sin, especially the blatant, unrepentant sins.

When we only care about the holiness of someone else, it does make us a hypocrite.

But, if we are engaging in personal repentance, and in humility we approach a brother or sister, it gives us credibility with them.

And there is another effect, not just inward, but outward.

For the church to be effective in advancing the Kingdom of God, she must have a good reputation.

You and I are called to live in purity.

Conclusion

Dryer hose got clogged. Ineffective. Looked like a rat had built a nest!

Followers of Jesus are transformed - part of being “born again.”

Our desire should be for holiness.

The church is one of the gifts that God has called us to so that we can experience spiritual growth.

As part of this church, we should be concerned over our own purity and the purity of others.

If we are to be growing as Disciples, it must include our own purity.

A pure church is an effective church.