Being disciples in our modern world - Part 1

At many times over the past two thousand years, religion has been a polarizing topic. Who is right, who is wrong, who is Christian, and who is not. There have been battles and wars based upon these premises alone.

The Apostle Paul spoke sincerely about divisions in the church on a few occasions, such as to the church in Corinth. It is easily seen that this is not a new experience to us in the modern world. Division has been happening since the days after Christ died and rose from the dead, and long before as well. As King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes near three thousand years ago:

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9

When we look at the world around us today, there are many new wonders and marvels. People, however, remain the same. Imagine if Paul and those around him could see it all; planes, trains, and automobiles. Imagine what they would think of the internet and the instant gratification of which we have so much today. We have advanced in ways beyond measure and, in doing so, made it even more difficult to truly live as Scripture tells us. There is temptation at every turn! With all of those advancements and accomplishments, one thing does remain true; people have not changed. We remain the same. We have the same temptations, the same struggles, the joy, pain, sickness, and health as humans have for generations…’and there is nothing new under the sun.’

This is not, however, a story about religion and denominations. The Christian church may be divided but within the walls of each of those denominations resides Christians. The only question that must be asked is; Inside the walls of the churches, is Christ proclaimed? If He is indeed, if the Gospel is preached, then Christians reside within that community. If we hear the Gospel and believe, there is no amount of teaching or tradition that can draw us nearer to Him. If we seek Him, Christ Himself draws us near, gives us grace, gives us wisdom, and teaches us to live as disciples through the Spirit of God. Are you called? How do you know? The answer to those questions is simple. Yes! God is calling out to each and every one of his most prized creations. The better question is; How does the world around you know? 

After generations of His people turning away from Him at every turn; Our all-powerful God, wanting so greatly for us to know Him, became man. He gave us His Son to reside with us in the flesh. He lived a perfect life amongst the worst of sinners, that which He ultimately gave up in the worst way possible…for us. He died an excruciating death out of the greatest of love for us, for our sins, to wipe them away if we only believe in Jesus. As if that were not resounding enough, Jesus rose from that death a mere three days later, revealed Himself to those who followed Him, and ascended into Heaven to reign with God the Father until His return. How great is our God!

That is it, the very core of what any Christian believes. The church you go to, or your neighbor goes to, even if you don’t attend a church; it does not matter. What matters is that Christ is the cornerstone of everything preached within those walls and of what you base your life upon. 

Basing, or building, your life upon that cornerstone is what true discipleship is all about. If we truly believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ then we will ‘Love the Lord God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our minds.’ How could we not? That love will then also flow out to all of God’s creation as we ‘Love our neighbors as ourselves.’ These are the cornerstones of the teachings of Christ.

Discipleship, therefore, is love. Love hurts no one, rather it helps. Love causes no pain, but eases suffering. Love endures all things, especially the darkness of the surrounding world. The darker the world gets, the brighter the light of love shines through those who believe.; just as Jesus said to those who followed Him:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Those words from Jesus did not end on the side of that mountain with only those who could hear Him speak. This is why the Word is given to us in written form; His Word endures forever and is written upon the hearts of all people. If we abide in Him and are truly disciples, we will bear fruit. The fruits of the Spirit are these:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires

Being a disciple, a light unto the world, and bearing fruits of the Spirit all begin with one thing; belief. The word believe is defined as:

to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.

With belief, action always follows. In our modern society, however; those actions are sometimes much different than those in biblical times. We do have examples to look to in Scripture. There is much written about and from the original disciples and apostles of Jesus. Their example is written across the New Testament for us to follow.

Too often we look to the original disciples, the apostles, the ones we call saints as mythological beings that we can only look up to throughout our lives. We are taught, in many cases, that who and what they were is beyond our own possibilities and this could not be farther from the truth. We can not believe the lies of the world when it comes to who we, as Christians, are called to be.

We are all called to be disciples. We are all under the same great commission that the original disciples were under….to go into the world and make disciples of all nations. We have the same savior, the same Christ as they did and He will provide the same grace, the same Spirit, if we only submit ourselves to Him.

We are not called to be below those that we look up to so often. We are called to emulate, to imitate them, and to be, not like them, but one of them. How can we make disciples of others if we are not living as disciples ourselves?

Paul did not hold himself above those he preached to whom believed. He called them brothers. He called them saints.

Of course, like all things with value; this takes time. None of us awake one morning with spiritual wisdom, powers of discernment, and gifts of the Spirit. God must mold us to use the gifts that He has given to us.

The original twelve disciples did not go out preaching and performing wonders as soon as they found Jesus (or Jesus found them). They spent three years with Him before the great commission, learning and being molded & prepared. 

Paul, as well, did not go straight to Jerusalem to meet the other apostles, nor did he go straight into the world to preach the Gospel. He, instead, went to the Arabian desert before returning to Damascus; also being molded into the Apostle he was meant to be. It was, again, three years before he went to Jerusalem.

We too must be molded. As Isaiah wrote; ‘But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.’ This begins with prayer, with reading Scripture, with forgiving; both repenting and being forgiven and forgiving anything you hold against others. 

Until the next post, I challenge anyone reading this to take some private time and open your bibles and read. Just read and be close to God. Ask for guidance and let Him touch you. 

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If you enjoyed this post, please continue to follow along as there will be more in a series about discipleship and what it might look like in our modern world. There will be updates on the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/projectministries. Thank you, God bless you, and may He guide us all to where He intends us to be.