Embracing Discipleship: A New Year’s Call to Action

"And there's some people that are saying Christian, but they're not saying what we would say when we use that word. And, but then here's what's really wild is this word Christian can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Even if we just took this room and I divided you up into groups of 10 and asked you to define for me what a Christian is, does, believes, what does it mean to be Christian? In your groups of 10, guess what? Y 'all be fighting like crazy. And we would end up with a bunch of different definitions of what it means to be a Christian. How many of you recognize that?" [00:03:51] (41 seconds)


"Following him has become optional. And the reason why that takes place, I think, is because believing is easy, following is hard. Because believing doesn't cost you anything. Following can cost you everything. Which is probably why Gandhi is attributed with saying, I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. Even Gandhi saw that there's a difference between following Christ and being a Christian. That's a problem. And I think the big issue is that becoming a Christian has become really easy. Just pray a prayer and bam, you're a Christian. Welcome to the club." [00:10:16] (45 seconds)


"Not only that, but the three times it's used, it's clearly being used as a derogatory, a derogatory term from outsiders describing the people inside of this Jesus follower movement. It's never actually used by the followers to describe themselves. It's a derogatory term, kind of like saying nerd or cracker. Actually, it's way, way worse than that, but you were okay with me saying cracker. You're not okay with me saying some other words that would actually be the parallel to this. So just to not offend anybody, or just, just think about what one group of people, what words they use to describe another group of people that they don't like." [00:11:46] (41 seconds)


"The outsiders called them Christians. They called themselves disciples. Now, that word disciple, let's be honest, it's way more intimidating than the word Christian, because it's clearly defined in Scripture. You can't just make up all of this stuff as you go along. You can't just make up what it means to follow Jesus. You can't just make up all of this stuff as you go along. You can't just make up what it means to follow Jesus, because this word disciple gives you boundaries. It gives parameters. It gives description." [00:22:01] (30 seconds)


"See, you can hide behind Christianity all day long. People have. You can go to war over Christianity. You can do all kinds of things in the name of Christianity. You can define it, and redefine it, and misdefine it all day long, and nobody can stop you, because nobody can pull out the Bible and say, no, no, no, it says right here. That doesn't look right. That's not what a Christian does. That's not what a Christian does. That's not what a Christian does. Christian is, no, no, no. But when you lock onto the word disciple, and you open up your Bible, you better put on a seatbelt." [00:22:57] (31 seconds)


"A disciple is someone who follows and spreads the teaching of another. Okay, this is just the general definition, okay? Anybody that's going to follow and spread the teaching of somebody else is called a disciple. Some synonyms, to help you understand it better, is learner or apprentice or follower. And I love this idea of apprentice because really a disciple is someone who's looking at someone else as their teacher and saying, I'm not just going to learn what you do, I'm going to do what you do." [00:23:23] (29 seconds)


"So as a disciple of Jesus Christ, it's pretty clear then, we're looking to him for how we should live our lives. And so I'm going to follow his teachings and I'm going to spread his teachings. And ultimately, as a disciple, I must become like the one I'm following. It's not a choice. If I say I'm a disciple, but I don't look like the one I'm following, I'm not really a disciple. I might be saying it, but I'm not living it. And that right there, that whole paradigm, that is so much harder than being a Christian." [00:25:53] (43 seconds)


"Let me, I told you there's, there's boundaries on this thing. Let me show you a few of the boundaries. This is what Jesus said about being a disciple. Luke 6, he says, a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone, when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. The whole point of being a disciple is to become like the one you're learning under. But that doesn't happen just because you want it to. It happens when you go through the training. Training is work. It takes discipline. It takes dedication. You got to wake up early. You got to put in the hours. You got to put in the reps. To be trained takes work." [00:28:09] (37 seconds)


"Disciples have to abide in the word. That means you're living in it and you're living out of it. That means that you are taking the scriptures as God's word for your life. It is the bread of life. We are sustained by it. We are directed by it. It's our measuring stick for everything that we say and do. Does it line up with God's word? And if it doesn't, it ain't for me. That's what it means to be a disciple." [00:31:32] (25 seconds)


"Maybe the most important thing that Jesus had to say about all this is actually the last thing he said to his disciples in Matthew 28, 19. He said, Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you. This is like the culmination statement. He's saying, if you really wanna be a disciple, you need to go and make other disciples. Right? Baptize them, introduce them into a relationship with God, and then teach them to obey all that I've commanded." [00:32:57] (32 seconds)