This week in session 3 we got to learn about the delicate, messy, but required action of ministering to others and making disciples.  In Francis Chan’s book, Multiply, he takes to the difficult topic and test of our heart and motivation of making disciples.

After a couple sessions of learning about the Great Commission and then learning about the terms disciple, what are your thoughts and feelings? Is it part of your Christianity? Is it part of your church? Is it part of your life?

The tasks seem burdensome, but the desire and effort needs to come from the heart and fuel the motivation of the Christian.  The difference between the religious pharisees and the disciples of Jesus was their heart and motivation.  The pharisees knew the law and were involved in religious activities all the time, but the disciples are the ones that had a heart and passion for sharing the good news with others and creating disciples.  The pharisees wanted attention, and lost the healthy motivation.

Let’s examine our heart, in all honesty whey do you want to make disciples? Do you struggle with wanting your actions to be noticed by others?

Making disciples and teaching is difficult, and realistically, it was not in part of the deal we agreed to when we heard the good news of Christianity. We were just supposed to quit doing bad things and live a better life. When did the obligation to invest, teach and mentor others get into the agreement.

Many that get to the point of learning about Jesus’ Great Commission abide but do it reluctantly. Many in this study have only made it to session 3 because the truth in the bible has put a conviction to stay engaged, many believe the truth in Jesus statement, but really don’t have a heart for this whole discipleship thing. Others feel like they have been leaders and they are made for such an opportunity of discipleship 

For those hesitant about the whole discipleship thing, let us remember that God wants us to minister out of joy, not mere obligation. God wants us to enjoy the privilege and pleasure of ministering to others. He wants us to be cheerful when we give; and He wants us to lead others willingly and eagerly.

For those of us, eager to lead, we must remember that God wants us to be cautious as we lead. We must remember that we will be teaching about the Bible and guiding others into godly living.  The opportunity to disciple others is very serious and we get details from James chapter 3.

 

¹Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. ² For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. ³ If we put bits into the mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. ⁴ Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. ⁵ So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. 

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! ⁶ And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. ⁷ For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. ⁹ With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. ¹⁰ From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. ¹¹ Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? ¹² Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. – James 3:1-12 ESV

How do those powerful words affect you? How might you need to adjust your approach to making disciples?

At this point our whole discussion and thoughts on Christianity may be all on the table. What is this topic all about and why is it disrupting our Christianity? Paul had another take on the concept that might help.

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³ If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. – 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV

It comes down to our motivation, Event the most impressive and sacrificial actions are worthless if they are not empowered by love. Many of us struggle with keeping love at the forefront of our lives.

Fulfilling Jesus’ command to make disciples is about more than having the right theology or well-developed teaching points. Remember that if you “understand all mysteries and all knowledge” yet don’t have love, you are nothing.

One thing we need to remember, making disciples isn’t about gathering pupils to listen to your teaching. The real focus is not on teaching people at all – the focus is on loving them. Jesus’ call to make disciples includes teaching people to be obedient followers of Jesus, but the teaching isn’t the end goal. Ultimately, it’s all about being faithful to God’s call to love the people around us. It is about loving those people enough to help them see their need to love and obey God.

Up to this point, would you say that your desire to make disciples has been motivated by love? Why or why not?

Describe your love for the people God has placed in your life. What evidence can you point to that shows that you love people around you?

Besides fervently praying for those in your life, what practical steps can you take to increase your love for people?

One of the most challenging and impactful situations is when a person says one thing and does another. One of the worst things we can do is teach truths that we are not applying to our own lives. That is hypocrisy and its most common criticism of Christianity today. Jesus gives some harsh warnings in Matthew 23

³ Practice and obey whatever they (scribes & pharisees) tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. ⁴ They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. – Matthew 23:3-5 NLT

Who are we thinking we are fooling….

²² But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing. – James 1:22-25 ESV

This whole concept of being a disciple is so much more than putting a cross around our neck and listening to the Christian radio station. It is about a way of life. Representing and following Jesus as we live this life. Whether it is our role in our job, or how we love our family and friends, or even how we get challenged and persecuted, are we representing Jesus well and is our heart right?

Would you say that your life is being transformed by the truth of God’s Word? Why or why not?

What changes do you need to make in order to live the truths that you will be teaching other people? (eliminate hypocrisy)

Be strong this week, in these challenging times. Think this week how you love people in your life. Think about how Jesus would love people in our life. How would it look like to follow Jesus in our daily lives.

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This week we move to Part II: Living as the Church, also use the Bible as a foundational point in your daily walk. To support the upcoming session, the following reading can be done during the week.

• Ephesians 1
• Ephesians 2
• Ephesians 3
• Ephesians 4
• Ephesians 5
• Ephesians 6

This weeks supporting video…

 Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.