GO! - It's not an option.

This past Sunday at my church, gracespring, where I am the Assistant Pastor to Students, I had the honor of teaching about Jesus’ commissioning of His disciples in Matthew 28:16-20, before He left this earth. Over the next week, I will be making three different posts that are based on that message. I wanted to give my readers who weren’t there, the backstory of my lesson to help them understand the other posts.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. …”

Jesus commands us to GO and make disciples. This is not an option for Christians. This is a command. We need to get off the sidelines of life and get in the game. This world needs the life-changing message of Jesus Christ and we have it to give!

 

“…Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,…”

In order to be out there making disciples, we need to be disciples ourselves. In the Greek, disciple is the word mathetes, which means learner. Simply put, being a disciple of Jesus means that we are to be lifelong learners of His. We should be learning about God so that we can get to know Him better.

“…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. …”

So we are called to go make disciples, we can’t make disciples without being one, so how do we become lifelong learners? Well, I believe that if we combine three learning methods that Jesus used with His disciples,  we will be learning more about God on a daily basis if we make that choice.

Learning Method #1: Inform

This method includes lecture-style learning, reading books and blogs, listening to podcasts, etc.

Jesus Modeled This When: Matthew 5 – Jesus gives the Sermon on the Mount.

How are you getting informed as a disciple?

Learning Method #2: Intertwine

This method is very hands-on. It is like having an apprentice, or an intern, or a padawan for my Star Wars friends! I like to define it as intentionally involving someone else in some of your daily life for the purpose of teaching them how to respond to situations.

Jesus Modeled This When: John 2 – Jesus and the disciples go to a wedding together. They are living life together.

Learning Method #3: Immerse

We learn this way by putting ourselves in situations or environments that are new, unusual,  or uncomfortable for us. We learn things we would have never thought about when we purposefully place ourselves in unfamiliar situations. For instance, going on a missions trip to a foreign country, visiting a homeless shelter, etc.

Jesus Modeled This When: Luke 9 – He sent the disciples out to experience preaching the gospel without Him by their side.

Within each one of these learning methods there are a lifetime of examples and resources. I want to narrow it down to a few resources, ideas, and suggestions over the next week. So each learning method, Inform (Monday), Intertwine (Wednesday), and Immerse (Friday) will have a post dedicated to it with a consolidated and creative list of ways to help you be a more effective “discipler" and equipped disciple.

 “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”