Christian Discipleship - Fundamentals

Main idea:
The christian life is a call to discipleship. It is an invitation to become an active follower of Christ, a lifelong process of transformation to be more like Jesus in all areas of life. This is a process that actively welcomes the work of the Word and the Spirit through the whole life of the church. It's also a process where we seek to be a source of wisdom and maturity to others around us.

Outline:
1. Christianity is a call to discipleship.
◦ Discipleship is active
◦ Discipleship is personal
◦ Discipleship is transformational
2. Discipleship ties you to the whole life of the church.
◦ Learn to receive the ministry of the Word and the Spirit from the whole church
◦ Make the growth and maturity of others one of your main concerns

Application:
• Are you a disciple of Jesus? Who's disciple are you?
• Is Jesus at the center of your christian life? Is it active? Personal? Transformational?
• Is your discipleship tied to the church? Are you asking Jesus to teach you to love people better? Are you receiving the work of the Spirit from the whole church today?

Scripture References:
• Matthew 28:18-20
• Luke 9:23
• Luke 6:46
• Ephesians 4:15-16
• Ephesians 2:20-22
‭‭• Hebrews‬ ‭5:11-12‬
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We are continuing our series on the fundamentals. Here we are discussing the core values of our church. What are the defining features of life at Living Word? What are the main priorities that we are aspiring to grow in?

We don't know the basics as well as we think we do.

Want proof? Look at your daily life.

Also - 90% of our battles are in the basics.

in many ways our age today is like the age of the greco roman world that Paul was a missionary to - it says they say around seeking some new knowledge and new idea.

We talk a lot about how social media has made us shallow and that is certainly true. But its also done the opposite.

Digital technology and platforms have lead to a response against the shallow, mindless, and passive approach to life.

We see the rise to fame of poeple like Jordan Peterson and many others - who are famous for just talking about really complicated things. They are famous for giving LONG lectures and interviews, diving deep into faith, philosophy, psychology.

And people pay big money today to just go sit in a theater and listen to someone talk for two hours.

We live in an age that is hungry for true wisdom, true life changing maturity. We can see a reaction against being passive consumers because people understand that that makes us miserable.

At the same time we see so many christians who can spend many years in the church and yet not seem to grow very much in maturity and holiness.

Why is that?

They have a wrong understanding of WHAT the christian life is.

"We seek to be a community that forms mature followers of Jesus who delight in the life-changing message of Jesus...as they grow together in love..."

What does it take to be a mature people? What does it take to build a church family that is growing in a real ability to help poeple, to love them?

We can say all that we want, admit to al that we want - but at the end of the day Jesus says we are known by our fruit - by the ACTUAL people that we are.

How many churches admit they follow Jesus but are marked by decades of useless bickering, arguing, or cold dead indifference?

How do we view the christian life correctly, so that our vision produces a life of maturity?

The christian life is a call to discipleship. It is an invitation to become an active follower of Christ, a lifelong process of transformation to be more like Jesus in all areas of life. This is a process that actively welcomes the work of the Word and the Spirit through the whole life of the church. It's also a process where we seek to be a source of wisdom and maturity to others around us.

Two parts here: we want to define discipleship, and then we want to talk about how discipleship is inseparable from life in the church.

1. Christianity is a call to discipleship.
Matthew 28:18-20
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Luke 9:23
“If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.

In the ancient world - disciples and teachers were a very special relationship. It's not like the social media followers of today. In their day, you literally moved your whole life to be physically close to the teacher and you spent your days learning from them and living your life around that teacher.

disciple - mathetes - learner

This is what Jesus means when he says follow me. To be a christian, is to engage in a life of learning and being changed by God's Word and God's Spirit - transforming us more and more to become like Jesus.

• Active

This is a very active and conscious process.

The problem with living your life in christian church culture is that christianity becomes your culture, its just what surrounds you.

There is nothing active about it. This is why generational christians can be so lost and watered down.

Many poeple attend church just because thats what they've always done.

They don't ACTIVELY think about what it means to follow Jesus.

Example - a muslim man, after must deliberation, research, prayer, searching - reaches a point - Jesus is the King. Jesus is who he says he is. I will follow Jesus. I will turn from my ways. This is a radical, life altering moment.

Healthy christians must be asking, "How do I actively follow Jesus within my christianese church life context?"

"Follow me, take up your cross daily..."

This is a daily active mindset. It's a daily life filled with a conscious awareness of your identity as a disciple.

Is that reflective of how you see the christian life?

• Personal

Follow ME - not some moral ideas.

"you are my friends because I tell you what I am thinking and planning..."

"who is my family?? It is my disciples, those who follow me and do what I say..."

"go and make disciples of all nations...and remember, I am with you..."

You can be a passive christian who doesn't grow, you can be religious - if you have no PERSONAL connection with Jesus.

If you have no love, if you have no affection - then you can live a religion.

People go back and forth - is it God who gives growth? Or is it I who pursue growth? how much is my part and how much is his?

We try to break it all into technical abstract ideas.

Is that how we think of our marriages or friendships? If you do - thats not love. When love is the drive - you aren't worried about how much is each persons role.

When you love God, when your life is built in a real, relational connection with Jesus - you are seeking growth, you are seeking depth, you are seeking maturity - because you are seeking Jesus himself.

Discipleship is deeply personal.

What if i don't have a deep love for Jesus? Start with seeking him. Understand that the whole christian life is about personally knowing the King of Kings. Seek HIM in prayer, seek HIM in the Word, seek HIM in the life of the church.

• Transformational

"teaching them to observe all that I have taught..."

Jesus is not here throwing around abstract wisdom and ideas. He is deeply interested in your daily life. Your daily heart processes. Your worries. Your fears. Your desires. Your habits.

"Follow me" means do what I do.

To follow Jesus is to enroll in the school of life from the wisest person that ever lived.

Dallas Willard
"Saying Jesus is Lord can mean little in practice for anyone who has to hesitate in saying Jesus is smart. He is not just nice, he is brilliant. He is the smartest man who has ever lived. He is now supervising the entire course of human history while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it. He always has the best information on everything and certainly on the things that matter most in the human life."

Do you view Jesus as the smartest person who ever lived? Do you come to him with every daily issue in your life? Do you seek constantly to learn from him and change into his wisdom, his views on life?

To be a disciple of Jesus is to be excited to learn from his school of life. It means you are always changing. If means you can look back in the last months and years and see how much he is changing you.

Jesus what about money? Jesus what about my anger? Jesus what about raising my kids right? Jesus what about buying a how? Jesus what about my guilt and shame?

Luke 6:46
"Why do you call me Lord Lord but don't to the things I say???"

That's a really good question - why do they? Why does anyone?

2. Discipleship ties you to the whole life of the church.

Notice that this process of actively following Jesus is not just an individualistic project.

"Go and make disciples of all nations..."

Who is making disciples? Jesus?

No - its other disciples. HE is present to teach us about himself IN THE PEOPLE who are also his disciples.

Jesus is present today in the world in the lives of his disciples.

A shallow, immature christianity is ALWAYS connected to a shallow and immature relationship to the church.

So much of what is called church today is an obsession with staying cool and relavant, updated - NOT an obsession with Jesus and his Kingdom.

Ephesians 4:15-16
15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.


God is building his church by the influence of the Word through the work of the Holy Spirit - and he is doing it through the life of love in the church.

You own spiritual maturity is DIRECTLY connected to the depth of your connection to the people of God in your life.

• Learn to receive the ministry of the Word and the Spirit from the whole church

Its not just you and the Bible.

Ephesians 2:20-22
20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

When our church is built on the Word - the Holy Spirit is bringing the work of this Word into the the lives of all of us in a thousand different ways.

We are all carriers of the Word as the Spirit is teaching us and shaping us.

This means that your own relational connectedness to the church is an ESSENTIAL source of the ministry of the Word in your life.

Do you view the church as a diverse source of the work of the Spirit in your life?

Corporate worship, learning in classes, serving alongside each other in ministries, gathering for community and prayer in groups, forming personal relationships

ALL of these are very important to your health and growth.

American christianity is shallow because it is individualistic. There is no senes of deep belonging and dependence. you come, you hear, you leave - no one bugs you.

What are the barriers to deep discipleship in the church?

We often limit in OUR OWN MIND who we can learn from.

"Oh I won't learn from those people. I need someone older. I need someone with more experience. I need someone with more qualifications. I need someone who can teach or preach better.."

"Classes are not for me..."

"relationships are not for me...."

"groups are not for me...."

"that person just irritates me..."

Do you look at the church and ask "What works for me?" or do you look at the church and ask "who are the people that the Holy Spirt is really working through today?"

"Who are the people that are rich in the truth? rich in fruit?"

Often times we block out the work of the Spirit in our lives because we ourselves have decided based on our judgement, our preferences who we consider worthy of our respect.

Discipleship hinges on humbly acknowledging that THESE are the people that the Holy Spirit has brought into your life, this is the church that the Holy Spirit is building - yes they aren't perfect, yes they have flaws, but here is here, working in and through them.

You look at the church differently.

You ask, "Who are the people in whom is fisible the fruit of the Spirit? Who are the people that God is using to build others up? Who are the people that show a steady love for Jesus and his Word?

Those are the people I want to learn more from.

You will have no problem loving and learning from people who are older or younger than you.

You will have no problem prioritizing relationships in your life.

You wont be satisfied with shallow small talk. You will invest into healthy friendships. You will ask for their prayers. You will seek their wisdom and counsel.

Learn to receive the ministry of the Word and the Spirit from the whole church

how many ppl in this church really know the real you? Your inner challenges and struggles? How many people in this church are an essential source of growth, wisdom and encouragement to your spiritual walk on an average week?

• Make the growth and maturity of others one of your main concerns

"...make disciples of all nations by teaching them to observe all that I have taught..."

Often we don't grow because we are so self focused and obsessing over our own problems all the time.

In Jesus genius plan, there is no distinction between those who are being discipled and those who are discipling.

We follow Jesus by helping others follow Jesus better.

Every single christian is called to care for and love others.

This engages the earlier point about the fact that discipleship is ACTIVE. We see this in our personal realm - we are either living a life of discipleship or we are not - we are either actively learning to love others and build them up in the truth, or we are not.

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭5:11-12‬
“We have a great deal to say about this, and it is difficult to explain, since you have become too lazy to understand. Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the basic principles of God’s revelation again. You need milk, not solid food.”
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This brings us to another major barrier in discipleship: you need to become good at relationships.

The question is not just - do you care about other people? the question is - do they know it?

The question is not - are you trying to serve others and build them up? the question is - are they actually being built up by you?

"Why did that person get so offended? I didn't mean it in that way."

Do you talk about other people's problems but never talk to those people directly?

Every conflict is a discipleship opportunity.

Its an opportunity to call on the work of the Spirit to teach you to love a person better.

Its an opportunity to expose a specific sin or idol in your heart.

Discipleship cannot be detached from being good at relationships.

What if I am really bad at relationships?

This is why you have the church. Pay attention to people that are. Spend more time with them. Get to know them. Ask God to send mentors or friends in your life.

This happens in a variety of ways:
• at group, when we gather regularly and grow together
• in friendships - when we share life with people we trust
• in mentorship - in relationships that are a little more structured or formal

We want to good at relationships so that we learn to love others well. In a way that is building them up.

Family life is ground zero for this.

Families often have a vibe - an energy.

Either its marked by giving and love.

Or its marked by taking and protecting what is yours. Hide your feelings. Don't say this around that person.

Marriage - often marked by how much each spouse is giving and building up or how much each other owes the other.

Make the growth and maturity of others one of your main concerns.
"YOU make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all that I have taught you..."

So many things we need to learn. Kinda scary.

Yeah thats ok.

Discipleship is about following Jesus. He's the one who loves us like no one else will. He is the one who's hands are marked eternally by the cost he paid to buy us, to turn us into a family.

We will never be perfect disciples. We can't love others perfectly. Thats not the point.

A healthy christianity is life in a church where there will be plenty of messiness, plenty of apologies, or tears and prayers and hard conversations, plenty of good advice and wisdom, plenty of deep questions about the meaning of Scripture - its a place where people are not pressured to act or look a certain way.

We are drawn together by the Savior who lives within us. We are inspired by each other - Because of what HE is doing.

We are empowered to love and to teach each other - because of how good his truth is to our soul.

• Are you a disciple of Jesus? Who's disciple are you?
• Is Jesus at the center of your christian life? Is it active? Personal? Transformational?
• Is your discipleship tied to the church? Are you asking Jesus to teach you to love people better? Are you receiving the work of the Spirit from the whole church today?