Introduction
One of the key themes of Jesus’ early public ministry
is the calling of his disciples. On one level, of course, Jesus’
calling of these men was unique because they went on to become the
apostles--his official and inspired spokesmen. But on another
level, his calling of these men is typical because he calls all
people (including you and me!) to be his disciples. And the
principles that guided Jesus’ calling of the twelve also apply
to his calling of us. I want to look at four such principles this
morning, using Mk. 1 as our base text, where Jesus calls four
men.
Discipleship begins by
making an informed decision to receive Jesus as your Messiah.
Read Mk. 1:16-20.
At first glance, this sounds very disturbing--like Jesus walked up
to total strangers and mesmerized them and/or they were gullible cult
candidates. But this is an inaccurate understanding of this event.
For one thing, it was common and honorable in this culture for young
men to become disciples of a rabbi. Furthermore, this was not
their initial encounter with Jesus, but rather an important juncture
in their relationships with him that had been developing for some
time.
Read Mk. 1:14.
By telling us this was after John the Baptist had been taken into
custody, Mark is notifying us that he is skipping over about one
year. The material in John 1:35-4:45 (at least) transpired during
this time. Jn 1:35-42 records their initial encounter. Notice
how different this encounter is from the one in Mk. 1.
Two of them were
already disciples of John the Baptist, and that John told them that
Jesus was the Messiah. In other words, someone they trusted
testified to Jesus’ uniqueness and recommended that they follow
him.
When they tried to
strike up a conversation with Jesus, he did not insist that
they just believe in him. Instead, he invited them to spend the
evening with him, during which he presumably answered many of their
questions.
When he met Peter,
he did not call on him to leave his job. Instead, he demonstrated
insight into Peter’s weakness and a positive vision for his
life.
For the next year,
they developed a relationship with Jesus while still working at their
jobs. (NOTE: Many young Jewish men did this with rabbis of that
time.) They watched him turn water into wine, clear the Temple,
converse with Nicodemus, reach out to the Samaritan woman, etc.
Sometime during this period, they each entrusted themselves to him as
the Messiah.
So he did not
mesmerize them, nor were they gullible. They made an informed
decision to respond to his invitation to get to know him as Messiah.
This is the first principle: Discipleship begins by making an
informed decision to receive Jesus as Messiah.
Many of you are in
the investigative stage leading up to this decision. Others have
testified how Jesus has changed their lives for good. You are
attending Bible studies like this one and getting some of your
questions answered. You have experienced God’s penetrating
analysis of your sinfulness--but you have also heard about offer of
total forgiveness and power to transform your life. If this is where
you are, let me stress two things:
On the one hand,
take the time to understand Jesus’ offer, ask your questions,
and consider weigh the evidence that Jesus is real. He is not afraid
of your questions, and he is no used-car salesman trying to
give you a rush job.
On the other hand,
he will ask you to make this decision without having complete
knowledge, all of your questions answered, full certainty, etc. At a
certain point, you will need to be willing to take a step of faith
and entrust yourself to him (ask him to come into your heart)--before
you’ll get more evidence, assurance, etc. Are you at this
point now?
Discipleship involves
living in vital community with other disciples of Jesus.
Read Mk. 1:16-20.
Jesus didn’t call just one disciple--he called a group of
disciples. He called Andrew and Peter together; he called James and
John together. He developed a personal relationship with each one of
them, but he also worked with them as a group. This wasn’t
incidental, or merely for efficiency’s sake--it was intrinsic
to his discipleship plan. He discipled them in the context of
community. He taught them together, he prayed with them together, he
sent them out two by two, he created group learning opportunities.
Like a master coach, he developed them as individuals by forming them
into a team.
Nothing really has
changed on this point. Although Jesus is not physically present
today, he is vitally present through his Spirit who indwells us when
we receive Christ. As the Good Shepherd, he knows each of us by name
and he calls and guides each one of us individually. But he also
calls us to follow him by living in vital community with other
disciples.
There are a host
of metaphors in the New Testament to emphasize this feature of
discipleship. We are the family of God, brothers and sisters who
have the same Father and Teacher. We are the Temple of God--each of
us living stones indwelt by God’s Spirit, but being built
together by him into a living building that manifests his presence.
We are the Body of Christ--each of us like different members of our
physical bodies, but interdependent upon one another as dependent on
Jesus as the Head. We are the army of God--each of us soldiers with
individual roles in the battle, but effective only as we fight in
formation with other fellow-soldiers.
The bottom line is
this. When you respond to Jesus’ call to be his disciple, he
calls you into real community with other Christians. There are no
exceptions to this rule. It is not possible for you to develop as a
healthy and productive disciple of Jesus with only minimal and/or
large meeting interaction with other disciples. To say “I want
to follow Jesus, but I can do this alone/with my spouse” is
simply wrong-headed. A huge amount of Jesus’ personal
guidance, correction, encouragement, and character development is
designed to come to you through the network of close Christian
friendships he calls you to form.
Discipleship
involves embracing Jesus’ to influence others for his kingdom.
But Jesus’
wanted his community of disciples to become ever-expanding. Jesus
called his disciples into community with one another, but he also
called them to influence others for him (re-read Mk. 1:17). The
phrase “fish for people” does not mean that he would
teach them how to manipulate people, or to treat them as sub-human
objects, etc. It means that he would teach them how to what he was
doing--reaching out beyond himself to gather more people into God’s
kingdom, to build them up in God’s kingdom.
Jesus called them
to himself to be with him together--but he also sent them out to tell
others (Mk. 3:14). He called them into community to be him and
with one another. But always his eye was on those outside their
band; always his heart of love went out beyond the reached to the
unreached. He was clear on this from the start, and there was no
give on this. What if Peter tried to get Jesus to become his
full-time fish-finder so they could build a world-wide fishery
empire? Jesus wasn’t there to fit into Peter’s plans to
catch more fish--he was there to call Peter to fit into his plans to
catch more people!
This is the way it
is with us. If you chose to follow Jesus as his disciple, he will
call you to embrace his call to influence others for him.
Read Matthew
28:19,20. This is the commission he has given his disciples--to go
and make more disciples of Jesus by bringing them to faith in Christ
and then by teaching them how to live for him. Read 1 Peter 2:9.
God has formed us into his chosen people, his holy nation--not just
to enjoy for ourselves, but so we can show others the goodness of
God.
How will you
respond to Jesus call? Will you try to get Jesus to facilitate your
purpose for your life, or will you abandon yourself to his purpose to
influence others for him? “You have a choice to make. You
will either be a world-class Christian or a worldly Christian.
Worldly Christians look to God primarily for personal fulfillment.
They are saved, but self-centered . . . Their prayers
focus on their own needs, blessings, and happiness. It’s a
me-first faith: How can God make my life more comfortable? They want
to use God for their purposes instead of being used for his purposes.
In contrast, world-class Christians know they are saved to serve and
made for a mission. They are eager to receive a personal assignment
and excited about the privilege of being used by God. World-class
Christians are the only fully alive people on the planet. Their joy,
confidence, and enthusiasm are contagious because they know they are
making a difference. They wake up each morning expecting God to work
through them in fresh ways. Which type of Christian do you want to
be?”
Discipleship involves
allowing Jesus to continually change your life.
Re-read
Mk. 1:16-20. Responding to Jesus’ call had immediate
practical implications for these four men. In their case, it meant
walking away from their vocations so Jesus could train them
full-time. It also meant a change in family relationships.
And this was only the first of many times that Jesus “rocked
their worlds.” For the next three years, he introduced all
kinds of changes into their lives--geographical mobility,
multi-ethnic exposure, conflict with the religious authorities,
ministry situations way beyond their human abilities, etc.--in order
to train them for their future roles as apostles of his church.
Discipleship was always strictly voluntary, but Jesus never
apologized for the challenges and changes. At various points, people
decided that following him was too scary and dropped out
(cf. Jn. 6:60-68). But those who stayed experienced the
joy of deepening intimacy with Jesus, and became powerful leaders in
the early Christian movement.
It will be the
same for you and me. Discipleship involves allowing Jesus to
continually change your life. Being Jesus’ disciple is
following a living Person who personally initiates change in our
lives in the areas and ways and timing that he knows is best both
for us and for his purpose in our lives. Because of this, there will
always be an element of unpredictability. Because Jesus is committed
to developing our full potential as his servant, there are always new
challenges. Because he wants voluntary disciples, he will never
force you to follow him or impose his will on you. So each new
challenge requires a new decision to keep trusting and following him
as his disciple. Consider Christopher Adsit’s comment on this:
“A disciple
is a person in process. The process begins when a person receives
Christ and becomes a learner, and will continue as long as the person
keeps learning . . . A (disciple, therefore) will
. . . never ‘arrive,’ because the Lord
will continue to expose areas where he wants to bring about deeper
commitments and more profound changes . . . From time
to time in this process, Jesus will up the ante for his
learners . . . To the growing disciple today he’ll
say, ‘You’ve been doing well; you have been demonstrating
that you are a learner. But now it’s time to graduate to the
next class. More will be expected now. Are you willing to accept
this new challenge? If the disciple says yes, he continues to learn,
he continues to grow, he continues to be used in the work of the
kingdom--he continues to be a disciple. But if he is not willing to
go on, Jesus says, ‘Then you cannot be my disciple. Your
eternal destiny is by no means in jeopardy, and you can repent at any
time and we’ll resume class. But as long as you maintain that
stance, you are not my learner.’ That being the case, you
will find that most brand-new Christians are disciples, because they
have such an intense drive to learn more about their relationship
with God and they haven’t had much opportunity to bail out yet.
On the other hand, you may find a fellow who has been pasturing a
large church for 25 years, has a seminary doctorate, has memorized
half the Bible, has led hundreds to the Lord, and yet is not a
disciple, because there came a time when he said, ‘No. I am
not willing to go any further. I will not make that sacrifice. I am
not interested in any more learning.’ To him, Jesus has said,
‘You cannot be my disciple.’”
Footnotes
Copyright 2005 Gary DeLashmutt