Called to Follow: Becoming Bondservants of Christ

The first Nazarene core value says the church is a Christian people, and that means something deeper than a label slapped on music, coffee shops, or good behavior. A core value is not just an ideal, because ideals are cheap until they cost something. The rental car story puts flesh on that idea: honesty became real when a little crack in a minivan bumper could have been hidden by just “shutting my face.” Honesty counted as a core value because behavior had to bend around it, even when insurance, money, or reputation might get involved.

The word Christian also needs cleaning up, because it gets tagged onto all kinds of stuff. Jesus Christ is not first name and last name. Christ is his title, Jesus who is the Messiah. A Christian is one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus who is the Messiah, but Acts pushes it even further. Christianos means “those of Christ,” people belonging to Christ, and the word carried the sting of slavery. The insult became an honor because the early church embraced being known as slaves of Christ.

Exodus 21 gives the picture of a bondservant. The slave could go free, but love for the master could lead him to the doorpost, where his ear was pierced as a public sign that he would serve for life. That picture names Christian discipleship plainly: sin used to be the master, but Jesus is the master worth choosing. The call is not just church attendance, because going to church does not make a person Christian any more than standing in a garage makes a person a mechanic.

Matthew 4 shows Jesus walking by ordinary people and saying, “Come, follow me.” Peter, Andrew, James, and John left nets, boats, and even family business behind. Matthew left a tax booth. Jesus did not call famous spiritual superheroes. Jesus called regular people, difficult people, people like Peter who could confess rightly one moment and be dead wrong the next.

The Christian people core value begins with hearing that same call again. Before holiness and mission can make sense, the church must first be made of people who have heard Jesus say, “Follow me,” and have answered by surrendering. The prayer is for God to place his people on the potter’s wheel, shape them into the image of Jesus, fill them with the Holy Spirit, and use them wherever they go.

##

---

Key Takeaways

• 1. Core values cost something. A core value is not an idea that sounds good on paper. A core value shows up when comfort, money, reputation, or convenience push in the other direction. Honesty became visible when silence would have been easy, and that kind of moment exposes what actually rules a person. [06:22]
• 2. Christian means belonging to Christ. The word Christian is not mainly a brand name, a music category, or a cultural tag. Acts gives the word its weight: “those of Christ,” people who belong to Jesus as Lord and master. The insult of being called slaves became an honor because Christ is not a cruel owner, but the master who frees from sin. [12:31]
• 3. Bondservants choose the better master. Exodus 21 gives a hard but beautiful image: a slave who could go free may choose lifelong service out of love. That picture helps define discipleship as more than casual agreement with Jesus. Sin once mastered the human heart, but Christ calls for a willing, public, whole-life surrender. [17:53]
• 4. Jesus calls ordinary people. The first disciples were not polished religious celebrities when Jesus called them. Fishermen, tax collectors, loudmouths, and slow learners heard, “Come, follow me,” and their lives turned on that word. Peter’s story gives hope because Jesus can fill a difficult, inconsistent man with the Spirit and make him new. [28:04]
• 5. Following comes before everything else. Holiness and mission do not start with strategy or performance. The first question is whether Jesus has been heard saying, “Follow me,” and whether that call still has authority. The church becomes Christian people before becoming holiness people or missional people.
  
  ## [40:05]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:40] - Three Nazarene Core Values
• [01:53] - What A Core Value Means
• [02:29] - The Rental Car Story
• [05:06] - Honesty When It Costs
• [08:11] - Christian As More Than A Label
• [10:38] - Jesus Who Is The Messiah
• [12:31] - Christianos, Those Of Christ
• [14:27] - Servants And Slaves Of Jesus
• [17:13] - Exodus 21 And The Bondservant
• [22:09] - Church Attendance Is Not Discipleship
• [23:17] - Jesus Says Come Follow Me
• [28:04] - Ordinary People Called By Jesus
• [31:24] - Christian People, Not Flawless People
• [40:05] - Shaped On The Potter’s Wheel

Bible Reading

Matthew 4:18-22
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. [23:34]

Exodus 21:2-6
When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free,’ then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and he shall be his slave forever. [17:13]

Acts 11:26
and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians. [12:31]

Observation questions

1. In Matthew 4:18-22, what were Peter, Andrew, James, and John doing when Jesus called them, and what did they leave behind in order to follow him? [23:47]
2. In Exodus 21:2-6, what reasons are given for why a slave might choose not to go free, and what public action marked that decision?
3. In Acts 11:26, where were the disciples first called Christians, and what was happening there before that name was used? [12:31]
4. What made honesty more than a nice ideal in the story about the damaged rental van, and what choice had to be made? [05:06]

Interpretation questions

1. Acts 11:26 says the disciples were first called Christians. If Christian means belonging to Christ, how does that change the way a person thinks about faith compared to treating Christian as just a label or category? [12:44]
2. Exodus 21:2-6 describes a servant choosing to stay with a master out of love. How does that picture help explain what it means to follow Jesus willingly rather than casually?
3. In Matthew 4:18-22, the first disciples followed Jesus immediately. What does their response suggest about the authority of Jesus’ call and the kind of surrender discipleship requires? [24:35]
4. The church is called to be Christian people before anything else. Why does following Jesus need to come before holiness, service, or ministry plans? [40:24]

Application questions

1. Core values show themselves when doing the right thing may cost money, comfort, or reputation. What kind of real-life situation tends to test honesty, humility, or obedience the most in this season of life? [06:34]
2. Going to church does not make a person a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes a person a mechanic. Where is there a temptation to confuse being around Christian things with actually belonging to Christ? [22:52]
3. Jesus called ordinary people, not polished spiritual experts. Is there any reason someone might feel too flawed, too inconsistent, or too ordinary to follow him fully? What part of that needs to be surrendered? [28:04]
4. The bondservant in Exodus chose the better master out of love. What competing master still tries to claim loyalty—approval, comfort, control, money, anger, habit, or something else? What would it look like to say, “I do not want that master anymore”? [18:34]
5. Jesus said, “Follow me,” and the disciples left nets, boats, and even family business behind. What “nets” might be hardest to leave now—old patterns, a private sin, self-reliance, a relationship, or a version of life that feels safe? [24:50]
6. Peter was not flawless, yet Jesus still called him and later filled him with the Holy Spirit. Where does someone need hope that Jesus can keep shaping a difficult or uneven life into something new? [30:16]
7. Jesus still calls people to follow him, and that call may need to be answered again with fresh surrender. What would it mean, very specifically, to say this week, “I will still follow”? [34:16]