Often we define things a little differently than our Lord actually defined them. We see Christians as people who have some kind of appreciation for Christ, but who don't necessarily (in fact, rarely) actually follow in His footsteps. We hear about Christians being mean-spirited, judgmental, gossips, or separatists. Oh, you know what I mean!
It appears that a lot of folks desire a Savior, someone to forgive and forget their sins. But not very many desire a "Lord." Yes, Christ desires that we run to Him as a personal Savior, but upon truly meeting Him, a genuine disciple is compelled by shear joy of their salvation to bow in humble adoration to Christ's Will and to His Way. Our confession and witness is to declare Him, Lord.
If we are honest with ourselves and with others we will acknowledge that following Jesus involves a narrow road, full of grace, but also full of self-sacrifice to the ONE and only Lord of the Universe. A disciple is one who earnestly walks in the foot steps of Jesus Christ, humbling themselves moment by moment and step by step to His will. A true disciple has no "down time" or vacation away from the presence of the Living God.
We can call ourselves "Christian", one who gives assent to some aspects of Christ's teachings. But we are NOT a disciple unless we exhibit the characteristics demanded by Jesus Christ.
LIVING
the LIFE of a FOLLOWER of CHRIST
Goals:
(1) Recognize the transformation made by God in those
who are disciples of Christ
(2)
Take time for a self-evaluation as a disciple of Christ
(3)
Commit to moving in faith towards our
calling in Christ
REFLECTIONS:
(1)
According to Jesus, what were characteristics of a true Christ Follower?
(2)
Discuss at least 4 things Christ demanded of His Followers.
(3)
If you were going to define a Follower of Jesus, what would you say?
(4)
What was the first label given in the Gospels to Followers of Christ?
(5)
Definition of a Disciple= Intern: Someone who studies, watches the practices of a
Master, is trained by the Master in an array of skills, debriefed, and sent to practice what has been learned under the guidance of the Master.
CLAIMING
DISCIPLESHIP through MISTAKEN IDENTITY:
Many
folks claiming to be followers of Christ have lost their ability to examine
their lives with respect to the Cross. Some of the more superficial symptoms
are losing the ability to:
·
Share
the Gospel in a compelling and joyful way
·
Judge
inappropriate humor,
·
Follow
the Christ-command to respect governing officials,
·
“Consider
others more important than ourselves”,
·
Accept
godly rebukes and spiritual challenges
·
Step
out in faith as a witness to the World (not hiding the Light under a basket)
·
Loss of their ability to “BLUSH” (loss of purity, and desire for holiness).
MEDITATIONS:
Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Luke 10:27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.
Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
2 Thessalonians 3:5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.
1 Corinthians 16:22 If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema. Maranatha.
The Mission is non-negotiable
Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
What is your mission statement? You have one whether or not
you admit it. What do you prioritize each day?
DISCIPLESHIP is MESSY and SACRIFICIAL as we will learn in Lesson 2.
DISCIPLESHIP implies DISCIPLINE
Although there are many more classic Christian Disciplines which the early church fathers discussed. Here are a few that we will consider:
1. Prayer
- intentional time to spend talking to God
- prayerful attitude all day long
2. Meditation - silent time dedicated to listening to the Spirit work Scripture from your head and into your heart. Asking God to reveal what each message has to do with my life and how can I submit to it?
3. Fasting - carving time out of our week to spend in communion with God. Turning off cell phones, TVs, and other distractions so that we can feast on the Living Water. Giving up things that cause us to lose sight of God's will for our lives.
4. Worship / Praise - this is a discipline to learn how to give God the glory in all things. Refrain from bragging, boasting, and taking pride in our own accomplishments, but instead learning how to give God the glory for our talents, skills, successes, and relationships. Glorify God among the nations! Do not deny Him by our actions or tight-lipped (Devil's got your tongue) and closed mouths (Romans 10:9)
Take our cue from 2 Corinthians 8:16: "but thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you"... Instead of saying, "We are so thankful to Titus for remembering us."
5. Witnessing - This too is a discipline. Learn to express with compelling joy the story of your salvation. Practice, practice, practice. Bring the glad tidings into every situation and relationship. (Romans 10:15)
6. Practice Presence - practice seeing God in each part of your day. He is near, give Him audience by acknowledging His presence. Call upon Him. Talk with Him. Walk hand-in-hand with Him. Rejoice in Him. (Phil 4:4-8)
7. Practice self-control and self-denial:
Galatians 5:23 meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
2 Peter 1:6 and in your knowledge self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your patience godliness;
and there
must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting,
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
God is calling us to sanctify (set apart) our speech and actions
solely for His glory.
“Were
they ashamed because of the abomination they have done? They were not even
ashamed at all; They did not even know how to blush. Therefore they shall ……be cast down,” says the Lord.
Good News
The Lord of Heaven and earth extended the invitation to His disciple to "follow" Him more than 250 times in the New Testament. What does it mean to "follow" Christ?
FOLLOWERS
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
CULTURAL FILTERS
FOLLOWERS
The word “Christian” has become so nebulous that it is
almost meaningless. Today you do not have to follow Jesus in order to call
yourself Christian. Many folks see a Christian as one who has made a decision to
“like” Jesus or some of His teachings. They might even think He has something to say, something to read
about, something to acknowledge, even something to sometimes celebrate…but in
no way does that imply that they actually follow in His footsteps.
In fact, many members of the Lord’s body have begun to take
on a more carnal view of Jesus. He is someone to sing about, read about, and to
give attention to once or twice a week….but He, in no way, transforms or affects
the lives that we are living because we are living our lives for ourselves. If
we decide that serving Christ is a convenient part of our schedule then we will
serve in that capacity….but WE made the decision, not Christ. We control our
decisions and we rarely see true sacrificial servant hood in those decisions.
WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE?
What evidence do we have that Christians are no longer following in the footsteps of Jesus?
(1) Our congregations are
shrinking
(2) Our brethren are disjointed with contention and disharmony, and
(3) The daily work and service in the Kingdom is almost
completely absent.
(4) BUT most importantly, the sharing of the gospel with joy and
exuberance is on the wane. We often think that others are NOT interested…when
we get into this kind of thinking we are actually denying the very Power of the Gospel.
Romans 1:16 is something we might have memorized, but we are
not living as if we believe it.
CULTURAL FILTERS
Entertainment
has become an idol to many and “feeling good about ourselves” has become
another. Most of the entertainment we are exposed to would make Jesus, the Christ, blush. Yet, we have been boiling like a frog… If it is funny, it is great! We
have NO BLUSH of innocence left within our culture. Too many want a “feel good”
gospel where no one is accountable or rebuked or made sorrowful for sin, for
wasting time, for indulging in habit-forming appetites, or incessant consumerism.
We want to “study” but not “apply” God’s call to crucify self.
Too often
Zig Ziggler is quoted more than the Word. Does he hold the keys to the Kingdom?
We have bought into the new-age psychology which allows us to tell everyone to
get “lost” if they don’t make us “feel good”.
This is not at all the model of Christ and His teachings. He asked us to
deny self and to suffer for His Mission. That really means, get down on our
knees in service to those who hate and even despise us. It means we WILL suffer
abuse and attacks on our “self image”, our self IMAGE, our SELF idol.
He
didn’t say, “Follow the Rules. He said, "Follow Me!”
Let's learn T.A.P. (Transformation, Application, Proclamation)
The
Holy Spirit will, if we allow Him, cut out (circumcise) our hearts of that
fleshly idolatry in order to make us more Christ-like. If we have not
experienced this painful operation, we have resisted God’s own Spirit.
Our call
should be to quit spouting new-age psychology, horoscopes, and popular “feel
good” authors as if they spoke the truth…and rededicate ourselves to slaying
ourselves daily for the Lord. To actually study His Word to see what He hates.
What does
He hate? Here are a few…
Psalm 81:15 – Those
who pretend obedience to Him.
2 Chronicles 18:7
– Those who cannot accept teachings that declare their actions to be evil.
Proverbs 1:29 – those who hate
knowledge and understanding and do not fear the Lord
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies,
And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
And one who spreads strife among brothers.”
These are the acts of self-righteous folk who tend to look down on “any and all.” Their hearts are
intent on keeping their traditions instead of growing and changing moment by
moment. Their work is to spread distrust
among the brethren more than they praise and lifting up the Gospel of Christ.
These will be turned out of the Kingdom on the last day.
Who are
these folks? We are talking about worldly-minded people who consider themselves
to be “Christians”. Paul calls then “carnal”. What do these folks look like?
Well, it is simple! They look and act, taste and feel, and react exactly like
the world.
Oh, don’t misunderstand….they “hold a form of godliness”, although
they have denied God’s Power in their lives (2 Timothy 3:5). By denying God’s
Power, we mean, they have never experienced the tearing away of fleshly desires, (circumcision of the heart), the operation of God by the Power of the Holy Spirit to remove “self” from the throne of the heart and placing Christ there as Lord of all (1 Peter 3:15).
They are
“always learning, but never able to come to the truth” (2 Tim 3:7). The truth
is that all who have been called of God have been sent into the world as
ambassadors of Christ on Mission for the Kingdom. The goal is not to learn
more, but to show more of the glory of Christ.
Carnal
folks are often insecure and afraid because the Power of God does not flow
freely into their hearts, minds, or actions. They often react by striking out
at what they don’t understand. They nearly faint if they discover change trying
to occur inside their sacred “crib” where they are holed up in safety,
security, and stagnation. They are not lovers of the lost; patient, kind, and
long-suffering with those who need the gospel. They have not learned to share
their salvation with joy! They have not refined their talents to make the
gospel appealing to a lost and dying world.
REALITY
We all
have a tendency to revert back into carnal thinking and behavior. This is where
the rubber meets the road. If we do not move forward with respect to loving
Christ and witness for Him (reflecting His Light), we are in danger of having our
candle (our light) removed from the Presence of the Living God (Rev 3).
Let’s
stop trying to justify a “feel-good philosophy” and try to carry our cross for
Christ. Let’s deny ourselves and stop
worrying about our “self image”. Let’s stop thinking, acting, speaking, and
reacting like the world who worships their own image.
REMEMBER
REMEMBER
Jesus
is not offering Life AFTER DEATH….HE is OFFERING LIFE INSTEAD OF DEATH! Life
RIGHT NOW…HIS LIFE IN US….manifested by our living a submitted life to His
Will.
Too
long we have asked the question, “If I died tonight do I know I would go to
Heaven?"
But the Gospel is soooo much more than, "do you know where you are
going when you die?"
A better question is, “Do you know WHO you
will be if you wake up tomorrow?”
May God grant us the faith to say, “YES! I’m going to be
like Jesus”.
PRAYER
Lord,
help us to stop sending mixed messages in our conversations and declarations.
Help us in learning to speak as the oracles of God. Give us wisdom with
outsiders and eyes to see YOU in our daily walk. Help us to renounce our
cultural blinders (career, privilege, comfort, wealth, entertainment,
consumerism, prejudices, security, and
unfounded traditions) that prevent us from seeking the lost, helping the poor, loving others, and comforting the
mistreated. Let us press on to the high
calling of God, becoming ministers of reconciliation, servants of the living
God among those who walk in darkness.
Let
us take up our cross and follow Christ. Until we know what THAT feels like, smells
like, and acts like, we are not truly disciples of Christ.
May we learn to serve because He reigns!
Vitae: https://sites.google.com/a/arpisd.org/curriculum_vita/
Vitae: https://sites.google.com/a/arpisd.org/curriculum_vita/
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