Tag Archives: task

Another look at the Great Commission

 

How Sweet and Aweful is the Place – Sovereign Grace

 

I am seemingly always looking at the Great Commission which spells out how I do what Jesus said and then what He did. He made disciples, and He brought them into trinitarian fellowship and He taught them to do everything He said. When He left, there was a lot to do and there was a lot of growing to take place. I pray that my Church will embrace discipleship evangelism for that is where the Church is called to take priority in.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20  ESV

My task is to make disciples – my first take is that this implies that someone was not a disciple and now I am part of making them into one.  I love talking about pre-discipleship, conversion, and post discipleship.

“The task of the church is to make the invisible kingdom visible through faithful Christian living and witness-bearing.” – J.I. Packer

 “The mission of the church is to go into the world and make disciples by declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of the Spirit and gathering these disciples into churches, that they might worship and obey Jesus Christ now and in eternity to the glory of God the Father.” – Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert (What is the Mission of the Church?)

There is an outward relationship that express our call too as we minister to those with needs, love others as Jesus did, proclaim the good news of Christ, act with justice and mercy, teach, give and are part of the process of mulitplying disciples. It includes the awareness that there is a sacrifice when it comes to time as well as resources.

But going back to the quote from Kevin DeYoung and Greg Gilbert – worship is the ultimate – where I gladly reflect back to Him all that He is worth. This has to be one of the greatest acts of my life. Funny how this one act will irritate some the most because it is exclusive.

At the end if the day, for me to be a disciple, it doesn not mean community involvement, or having a number of veneers like tolerance, it means that I find in me the priority to worship Him and bring others to a place where they can worship Him also.

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Follow me

 

Casting Crowns – Follow Me

 

The words “Follow Me…” is what discipleship is all about.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19  ESV

If we were to put a job description together so that a potential disciple or disciple-maker could see what they signed up for, I think these words would describe best what a committed relationship with Jesus looks like. Simply put, I am a person who has made a decision to follow Jesus with my head, am open to being changed by Jesus in my heart and am serving Jesus in mission with my hands.

“We point our people to the definition of a disciple found in the familiar passage
of Matthew 4:19. In this verse, Jesus gives an invitation to His future disciples, who are fishing at the time … we believe that this invitation describes the definition of a disciple and that to follow Jesus will mean a life change at the head, heart, and hands level of our beings.” – Jim Putman

I wrote about this as a guest writer in Sixty-six Books in a Year as a key building block in the life of a disciple and a disciple-maker.

David Platt goes further. He states we actually cannot be a person of such a mission unless we understand our identity as a disciple of Jesus. He believes there are six primary marks from this passage of scripture that identify a disciple – a transformed heart, a transformed mind, transformed affections, a transformed will, transformed relationships and a transformed purpose. Implication – every disciple should be aware of, depend on, and seek to grow in God’s transforming work of making us more like Christ.

When I really come to terms with this, I know it will change and continue to change my life completely. Becoming a disciple of Jesus, and I know it sounds so simple, is obeying His call to follow.

I think it is fair to say that it might be impossible to be a disciple of someone and not end up like that person.

 

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