DISCIPLESHIP - THREE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

The preacher stands in the pulpit ready to deliver a message from God’s Word to his people. He has worked hard at preparing his sermon and praying that the Lord would work in the hearts of the hearers. As he begins to preach he enters that “Zone” that only preachers understand. He is saying exactly what the Lord wants him to say as his sermon goes well beyond his preparation and planning. He preaches a powerful sermon expounding the truth of God’s Word. When he is finished and gives an opportunity for response, there is an awkward stillness in the room filled with blank stares. No one moves from their pew. No one bows their head to pray. No one sheds a tear. Around the room people are gathering their things, checking their watches and planning their quick exit to the parking lot. After the service, the preacher walks to his car with his head hung low. He and his family drive home in silence. He has already decided that he is going to take Monday off.

Is this all there is to modern day Christianity? If so then why bother? I know what the preacher will do the next week. He will be determined to preach a more powerful message. He will read books on preaching, spend more time in prayer, study harder, and prepare more thoroughly for his next message only to see the same results repeated week after week. What he does not understand is that, in spite of all of his good intentions, there is an essential element missing in the disciple making process. In almost any other endeavor two out of three is a good result. If a batter gets two hits in three opportunities at bat in a baseball game, we say he had a great game. This is not the case with discipleship. With discipleship, all elements must be present or the process is incomplete.

The first element necessary for the process of discipleship to be effective is the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. While one might think that this goes without saying, it is often overlooked or taken for granted. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would convict us of our sin (John 16:18) as well as guide us in all truth (John 16:13). Therefore, there can be no real discipleship without the presence and work of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who opens our eyes to our shortcomings. We do not like to examine ourselves that closely. We like to assume that we are ok and the fault lies with others. There is no personal transformation in this type of an attitude. It quenches the work of the Spirit in our lives. The Spirit of God is always the power plant for the work of His people in the world (Acts 1:8). He shows us who we really are, brings us to the point of godly sorry, leads us to repentance, restores our lives and empowers us to change the world. Without the presence of the Holy Spirit, discipleship becomes just another self help program or support group. It is foolishness to attempt to accomplish discipleship without Him. Therefore, we must pray, and be filled with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit for the process of discipleship to be complete.

The next element in the discipleship process is the disciple maker. The Great Commission tells us to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). Therefore we are not only commanded to be disciples but to make disciples. In order to do that, we have to be willing to pour our lives into another so that they can be the followers of Christ that they need to be. One cannot read the works of the Apostle Paul without coming away with an understanding of his commitment to discipleship. Everywhere he went he found someone with whom he could share his faith and his walk with God. Names like Timothy, Luke, Epaphras, Onesimus, and Barnabas find their way into our lives because Paul poured his life into theirs. The book of Acts is the historic record of the early disciple making process. Those early Christians saw the ministry of evangelism as more than merely getting someone to pray a specific prayer. They had expectations of the lives that were touched by the Gospel. When person in the church had a need, they met the need as a family (Acts 2:42-47). They took discipleship very seriously and were not willing to allow religious games to be played for the sake of appearance (Acts 5:1-11). They were responsible for one another. In our culture today it is an “every man of himself” atmosphere. It takes work to teach another the ways of God. It also takes risk. Risk that you may be hurt. Risk that you may be disappointed. Paul thought it worth the risk. So did Jesus. What about us? What about you? Are you willing to risk being hurt or disappointed in order to impact the life of another Christian and therefore advance the Kingdome of God? How can we say that we are truly disciples of Christ, if we are not willing to obey His simple command to make disciples? You are vital to the discipleship process being effective in someone else’s life. Find someone into whom you can pour your life.

Finally, the discipleship process is incomplete without a disciple. “Duh!” you might say, “Everyone knows that!” Do they? I contend that they do not. That WE do not. We can easily see the splinter in our brother’s eye. We have great and wonderful advice for him about how to rid himself of that worrisome speck. What we fail to see (I contend that we refuse to see) is that we have this telephone pole in our own eye. Discipleship is for the other person, not us. We are ok just the way we are. Or at least that is what we have told ourselves so long that we believe it. We must BE disciples. In order to do that, the other two elements must be at work in our lives. The Holy Spirit as it fills us must be welcome to convict and teach. We also must seek out others who are further along than us in the discipleship process and place ourselves under their authority and teaching. In order to do this we must understand our place in the Kingdom of God and we must be teachable. Each of us, as born again believers in Christ, must find someone to pour our lives into and must find someone who will pour their lives into us. We must put into our lives the disciplines that have proven to build our discipleship and we must learn to be honest with ourselves about who we really are. In doing so we must become accountable to others. There is a great self deception going on in our culture today. As we watch the evening news every day, we can always find someone to whom we compare favorably. As we do this day by day, we convince ourselves that we are fine, and in need of nothing. When we go to church and Pastor strays into talking about issues that are close to our lives, we use them as an excuse to judge others rather than examine ourselves. I learned, many years ago when I was a Youth Pastor, that when I was in church listening to a message and thought, “I wish Mr. Smith was here to hear this. It is exactly what he needs to hear,” that I was actually dodging the work of the Holy Spirit in my own life. If I could make the message be all about Mr. Smith, then I did not have to deal with it myself. I learned during those times to listen more closely and pray for God’s will in my life. I usually came away with an understanding that it was me, not Mr. Smith, who needed to hear that message. In order to be a disciple, we must be teachable. In order to be teachable, we have to admit that there is something missing or in error about our lives. This is hard but it is a vital element in us becoming true disciples of Christ.

Week after week the preacher preaches to the nonresponsive church. Week after week he beats himself up mentally for not being a good (spiritual, wise, powerful…) enough Pastor to his people. Week after week he works harder and harder to provoke some response out of them. He would even be happy if they were mad. At least that would indicate that they cared enough to allow the message to affect their lives. What he does not understand is that the process is beyond his control. He cannot make them want to change. Two of the three elements are present. The Holy Spirit is there working. The disciple maker is there pouring his life into the life of the congregation. The people just do not see the need for discipleship in their own lives. Until they do, they will not find the power, peace, and joy of the Christian walk. In order to make disciples: we must have a disciple who is willing, desirous of change, and teachable; we must have a disciple maker who is also growing in his walk with the Lord; and we must have all this under the power and authority of the presence of God through His Spirit. If these elements are not present, the process cannot be effective.