A SUPREME CHALLENGE TO BE A DISCIPLE

A Supreme Challenge to be a Disciple

 

“And the DISCIPLES were first called CHRISTIANS in Antioch” (Acts of the Apostles 11:26)

 

 Appreciation without decisions

         At a Christian Conference, the speaker was hitting hard on decisions to give ourselves and all that we have to Jesus. Several participants came around after the message to express deep appreciation. Many wanted to make decisions and promised to take the message seriously. They all expressed their love for Jesus through their strong responses, passion and aspirations. But to the extent to which we know, very few among them took bold decisions to offer themselves and all that they have as an expression of their love for the Master.

         The story was a replay of what happened in Palestine two millennia away. There were many small and large groups of people who were moved by the message of the Master Designer of life. He challenged His listeners to make eternal choices in their temporal world with their lives and resources. They all agreed with Him. They were moved by the message and the messenger. They forgot hunger, thirst and sleep and listened to Him for days. But almost all of them failed to make bold decisions for Him because they were strongly influenced by their situations, circumstances and the people who meant so much for them. They all lived a committed life, but their surrender never measured up to the message which moved them. Their consecration was sincere, but most didn’t translate it into action. Their commitment was haphazard and wishful daydreams. Sadly most of them missed the ship, made a slip and lost the opportunity to please their Master. Their lives lost the prospect to be handled by the nail-pierced hands of the Master Designer to make them what He wanted them to be. They were afraid to commit themselves totally for fear of the temporal gains that they might lose in this world. They were more committed to pleasing their relationships and aspirations in this world than their Master.

         Somehow it is like the vicinity of the old rugged cross on the hill called Mount Calvary soon after Jesus uttered His eternal thirst for human soul. All who followed Him till His arrest deserted Him. Nobody wanted Him. No one cared for Him. There was none who claimed the Master to be his or her own so as to stick their necks for Him. Everyone abandoned Him for fear of losing their life and reputation. He was all alone in His trials, walk on the Calvary Road and crucifixion, and even as He gasped for breath to declare that He has finished paying for our sins with His life. Even from the cross, He searched for the few who might come forward to express their love to Him but it was in vain (Psalms 69:20). But no one dared to stand with Him or near His cross because there was none who would put their lives at stake for their Master. There were only a few women and one young man by the name John who stood far away watching the unfolding drama at Calvary. Yet even after twenty centuries of that sad event which took place on Golgotha, His search for human lives which would respond to Him in true love and commitment to His cause continues.

         If the Old Rugged Cross made a difference, what is it? And where has it impacted? How is it wedging the world and the individual life today? Is the love of Jesus so shallow as not to influence sufficient following? Is the temporal world around us more attractive than the eternal in the lives of people who claim to love Jesus? If there is such a unique Master and His unparalleled message which we claim to be influencing our conscience, where is the kind of response it deserves? Is the cross of Christ worthy of unique and bold decisions by God’s children? Is Calvary real in the life of a Christian believer in today’s materialistic world? These questions demand discussion, meditation, thinking, consideration and fitting reaction. This is the supreme challenge in all ages. It looms large in front of our eyes and awaits a response. Calvary love will not relent or rest unless its impact is found in the lives of men and women who claim to have declared their allegiance to Jesus. It demands evidence based action. It expects a loving response. Today Jesus is searching the hearts of the redeemed to see how much we would respond to His love demonstrated at Calvary.

 A Window to Discipleship

         The Bible instructs a child of God to develop a deep desire to become what God wants him to be. He is admonished to confess, repent and believe in what will make him a new person. Once he becomes a new creation, he is challenged to love, give, minister with and transform his life and to worship his God in response to his new found faith and life. All these challenges are embodied in the most serious, deep and sincere invitation made by Jesus Christ to ‘Follow Him’ (Matthew 16:24). It was the greatest desire Jesus had for all who believed on Him which He made clear to them in no unequivocal terms. Even though this challenge is vividly and repeatedly seen in the New Testament, it was also expressed in different, but less clear terms by the Triune God in the Old Testament.

         This profound statement of Jesus to “Follow Him” was first heard in some corners of the hill country of Palestine two millennia ago. Its reverberations are echoed all over the world all through the last two thousand years. History of the Church of Jesus Christ is the sum total of the revolutionary lives of the men and women who responded wholeheartedly to this powerful challenge. It was His story in and through the lives of those who responded to His call. Their lives were full of events and incidents which were made possible only by ardent and unflinching faith in the invisible God and in His mighty power. It was indeed the impact that these lives created through their unreserved and unquestionable commitment in the Lord Jesus and ardent faith in His promises, presence and power.

         The Church with its unprecedented growth and expansion during the past 2000 years is the direct result of the lives submitted to Jesus in response to His invitation to follow Him. All that His followers did was to follow the footsteps of the owner of the whole Universe who turned out to be that old Carpenter of Nazareth with no place to lay His head when foxes had their holes and birds had their nests (Matthew 8:20).  His followers were never a majority at any time in this world. Their hands and pockets were often empty, like their Master. They were a bunch hated by the people around them, as they in turn hated the world system. They were considered fools, unintelligent and thoughtless fellows who seemingly forgot to amass wealth for their economic wellbeing and that of their posterity. They willfully disregarded the attractions of this world like possessions, positions, prominence and popularity offered by the Vanity Fair. Their one and only goal in life was to please their Master, the Lord Jesus. They followed Him by obeying His call of love. They turned down the world system and all it had to offer to lure them to go its way. They were the disciples of Jesus Christ. They were the bloodless revolutionaries in the empire of love that Jesus Christ created in the hearts and lives of people.

         Jesus Christ didn’t attribute any value to the religiosity of the members of the existing religions including the Jewish sects. When the religious leaders tried to impress upon Jesus with their religious zeal, Jesus told them that He didn’t even know them (Matthew 7:21). Instead, He searched after the poor minority who were willing to follow Him as a mark of their unconditional love for Him.  He identified them and identified Himself with them. He called such people to Himself and they followed Him wherever He went. He declared that the mansion called Church which He built through such people will stand tall and strong and that the powers of Hades will not prevail over it (Matthew 16:18).

         The Mission of Jesus was not simply to help man to enter heaven for eternity. Jesus wanted to give man everything that he lost through Adam. Through the historical call, Jesus gave man the privilege to come back to have deeper fellowship with God. Man was granted the privilege to live in the world as if he lives in heaven (Ephesians 2:6). He is given the opportunity to follow God as he lives in this world. When the regenerate man heeds to the challenge to follow Jesus Christ, all the privileges that man has lost through Adam are given to him. Jesus has not envisaged a life for them in any way below this lofty level. Such a life is not an ordinary religious life, but a life as a DISCIPLE OF JESUS CHRIST.

 Paramount Call

         We see the truth about discipleship in the Great and Final Commission of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 28:19-20. This commission is multifaceted. It involves a series of compelling demands placed on those who believed on His name. It consisted of (a) going to the uttermost parts of the un-evangelized world (b) sharing the message of gospel (c) leading the unsaved to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and (d) baptizing them that believed. Even though these are all fundamental to Christian mission and faith, these are not the end of Christian obedience, but the beginning of serious Christianity. It is at this point that the most serious Christian activity of (e) disciple making ought to begin. It is through disciple making that a Christian believer matures into the stature of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Thus we see that disciple-making and discipleship have come to be one of the most fundamental teachings of Christian faith. It follows from this that it is most important for every Christian believer to become a disciple of Jesus because only a disciple can help others to become disciples. So it becomes the most important endeavor of a disciple to help other believers in Jesus Christ to become His disciples through practical training and practical living as example for others. This is how others become matured in their faith and walk after Jesus and thus become true disciples of Jesus. Disciple-making thus becomes the most fundamental responsibility of the individual believers and the entire Church of Jesus Christ.

         Making disciples out of all the believers is an unavoidable responsibility of the Church which has to continue all through the Church era. The message of Christian faith becomes complete only in practical discipleship and disciple-making. It starts with the obedience to this mission by a person who has become a disciple or by one who is at least on the pathway to true discipleship. Disciple-making thus becomes the sum total and foundation of Christian faith. The ultimate goal of all Christian ministries is disciple-making, without which Christian mission seems incomplete and unfulfilled. It is the most loving desire and deepest craving Jesus has that all who believes on Him follow Him and become His disciples.

             It is important to understand who was originally given the mission of disciple-making. It was given to the disciples who later became members of the Church of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19). It follows that all who are on the pathway of discipleship have the responsibility to make disciples of those who are born again. It is also the responsibility of all ministering brethren and all gifted men (evangelists, pastors and teachers – Ephesians 4:11) to help make disciples out of the believers who are under their spiritual care. These gifted men also have the responsibility to teach and train other believers to make disciples. Such a ministry of disciple-making was systematic in the early church as seen in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. That was the reason why the church grew rapidly in a qualitative and quantitative manner during the first century A.D. When we examine the history of the Church, we can see that wherever and whenever disciple-making loses its fervor, the Church becomes weak and believers digress from their faith. When the church becomes weak and falls short of disciple-making, nominal Christianity and ‘Churchianity’ gets deep-rooted in the church which paves the way to false doctrines.

 The Antioch Disciples

            If we take a look at the church at Antioch (Acts 11:19-26), we can see the value attributed to discipleship by them. At Antioch, the practical realities of the life of the believers were reflected in their behavior, attitude and actions which were in line with what Jesus taught and that which was reflected in the disciples of Jesus Christ. When the outside world watched these attitudes and actions in the believers, they were first recognized as disciples and as such were found to be true followers of Christ. This is how they were called Christians for the first time in the New Testament (Acts. 11:26). The world recognized their ‘discipleship life’ in the way they talked, behaved and related with others around them. These attributes of discipleship were recognized by Barnabas when he visited that church. Barnabas saw great pouring of the grace of God at Antioch church (Acts 11:21-23) for the first time in the New Testament. These behaviors were very much like that of Christ about whom they had heard. Their Christ-like attributes were the evidences by which they were recognized as ‘Disciples of Christ’ and subsequently identified as followers of Christ. By their life, they qualified to be called ‘Disciples’ and subsequently ‘Christians’. Such recognition was the result of the valuation of the world about the believers of Antioch. It follows from this that those who exemplify Christ in their lives publicly are the Disciples of Christ. In other words, it is what others see in a believer as a disciple that makes him recognized as a Christian. This historical reality means that in order to qualify to be recognized as Disciples of Christ or Christians, it is inevitable that the qualities and character of Christ and His disciples are to be visible in believers. It follows that those who profess to be Christians ought to be recognized by others through their behavior and attitude first as Disciples. Christ-likeness has to be inevitably seen in such believers in order that they may be recognized by the world as Christians.

             The fast pace of growth of the church in the first century A.D. was a practical reflection of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19 & 20. They obeyed this commandment and helped new believers to become disciples. They didn’t stop with evangelizing, but went forward to teach, train and develop the qualities of Jesus in the new believers which is the fundamental tenet of Christianity. This shows that churches in the first century were deeply concerned about and seriously involved in disciple-making in a very practical way. These churches built up believers as disciples, and the world recognized it. The world hated and despised them because of the Christ-like qualities in them. Their story of ‘discipleship life’ is the sum and substance of the quality of the spiritual life of the early church.

             The Antioch story (Acts 11:26) leaves every Christian believer of modern times with the challenge to examine his or her life to see if they qualify to be recognized by the world around them contemptuously as disciples of Jesus and thus Christians. Such a conscientious self-examination ought to revolutionize our lives to take up the challenge of developing in them the lifestyle of disciples of Jesus Christ and bear the reproach of the cross in their world.

 Challenge before today’s church

             The essence of New Testament Christianity is discipleship seen as a practical reality in the lives of believers. When the Bible has given so much importance to the subject of discipleship and disciple making, it is pertinent to ask whether the commandment of disciple making has received a corresponding and serious consideration in the ministries of the churches and the ministering community in modern times. It will definitely not be an exaggeration if the answer to this question is in the negative. But why is this situation so? Is it because the importance of the subject of ‘Discipleship’ is not properly understood by the evangelists, elders and teachers of the Word of God? Is it due to their feeling of inadequacy to handle such a spiritually demanding subject? Is it because the teachers and shepherds are unable or unwilling to pay the price to be on the discipleship pathway? Is it because its primacy is not assimilated by Christians today? Is it because the ministering brethren themselves have not been trained to walk the discipleship pathway? These questions demand sincere self-examination by all believers of the present century. Searching for authentic answers to these questions will lead the church to a great challenge to handle discipleship and disciple making with greater urgency and earnestness. Christ’s loving commandment demands disciple making as the greatest priority in New Testament Christianity.  

 The Disciple’s Pathway: A seeming impossibility  

             When one browses around, one is able to see that all through the last twenty centuries of New Testament Christianity, there have always been Christians who attempted to lead the lifestyle of a disciple of Jesus. Occasionally we meet a few young and old believers even today whose life and commitment to Jesus Christ authenticate that true discipleship can be a living reality in their lives. This doesn’t mean that they are perfect or that they have arrived at the finish line to be true disciples. But they believe that it is possible to be a true follower of Jesus Christ only to the extent of their commitment to live practically as true disciples. Their life and testimony show that they have seen at least a glimpse of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives (John 1:14). Their approach to the world and to the Lord reveals the extent to which they have tasted His agape` love and how they got themselves lost in its wonder and awe. They show the world that when they dive deep into the ocean of His love and pick up gems of that love, they cannot but allow themselves to be challenged by that love to live for Jesus alone as His true disciples no matter the consequence. They prove with their lives that discipleship is one of the indicators of their love for their Master who they claim to be their ‘everything and all’, no matter what it costs them including their life.

 The Counterfeit Coin

         Christian life may be illustrated in many respects like a coin, with inscriptions on both sides to authenticate its genuineness, ownership, authority and value. The coin of Christian life has belief and behavior to be inscribed on each side. The belief side of the coin indicates our faith in God, His Word and our salvation experience. The behavior side shows a Christian’s attitude and lifestyle akin to that of a disciple of Jesus Christ. It is imperative that both these inscriptions are vivid and shining for the world and fellow believers to see. Unless the inscriptions on both these sides are clear to those around them, they will not recognize, accept and receive these coins at par in Christ-like human dealings and relationships. Any coin which doesn’t pass such a litmus test is considered a counterfeit and is summarily rejected by the world around. The Lord Jesus also will not recognize such haphazard lives as His disciples (Matthew 7:21). They can only be considered as merely believers and not disciples.

         In many respects, the attitude and behavior of a Christian which do not portray the character of Jesus Christ is rejected by the world. It is the character of Christ that the world around us expects from a Christian. It is for this reason that Christians out to be taught about and trained as true disciples of Jesus so that they will experience and demonstrate the spiritual transformation that must be seen in them. Then only the Christian’s life will visibly and vividly show the character and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. It will then show the world that the Christian points towards the Lord Jesus Christ in his character, behavior, attitude, lifestyle, priorities, likes, dislikes and goals. A Christian’s life will thus be seen as one in which Jesus Christ will be his Lord in all areas of his person. Jesus will then be seen as his utmost priority in life which will be seen in his practical life. If such Christ-likeness is not seen in a Christian believer, he with his faith will be rejected because of its lack of biblical credibility. If the world cannot see the heaven-dwelling, non-materialistic and non-worldly person in a Christian, his kind of Christianity will be dismissed and despised by the world.  It will be identified as a counterfeit lifestyle and will not be accepted and recognized by the world.

             Christ desires that His followers be not counterfeits. He wants them to have His image on both the believing and the behaving sides of their lives. He wants them to keep these two sides shining bright and glorious. He wants them to live in such a way that those who behold their lifestyle will be able to see the image of Christ on each of them. If only the coins be willing and submitted to Him so that the image of Christ may be inscribed on them and be made visible to the onlookers in their practical lives, will they be seen and recognized as His image bearers. When submitted to the Master Designer, these lives will be inscribed with His divine nature on them. When others read these inscriptions, they will both be attracted to Jesus to submit their lives to Him. If not, they will try to despise, reject and discount the fraudulent coin and its inscription. It is through such a life of a true disciple that Christ will turn his world upside down (Acts. 17:6).

                 Today if we confess that we are counterfeit coins and have been a failure in our Christian life, and go to Jesus with a solemn desire to become His true disciples, Jesus will transform us and write His imprints on us. This process is the essence of discipleship, for it is through it that He will slowly but steadily change us into His likeness. Jesus today lovingly calls us to become His dear disciples. He is asking us to follow Him, go after Him and go with Him wherever He goes. He wants to bind us to Himself with His chord of love. He wants His disciples to enjoy the freedom that we have in Him as we become His slaves of love. He challenges us to be filled with the passion of His Calvary love. He expects His love to be reflected in our practical lives. Perhaps the world around and other Christians might call us ‘fanatics’ or ‘fools’ because of the lifestyle we exhibit as true disciples of Jesus. But that would not bother a true disciple who is sunk in His love. He expects us to develop such a deep thirst to become His, for Him to do whatever He wants from us, with our lives and through us. But as we delve deep into true discipleship, either we will be tempted to quit the discipleship life because of the great price that we are challenged to pay to continue to be a disciple, or we will be increasingly willing to pay even the last penny with our lives to be His true disciples.

A Supreme Challenge

             This is the supreme challenge of a Christian, to be a true disciple and to be increasingly like the Master. It also creates the supreme opportunity to become the best that could be made out of our life here on earth. It poses the greatest privilege and prerogative of a Christian to be the disciple of Jesus Christ. It demands the supreme price which is worth all that it involves. It is a life which is a response to the supreme love that God the Father has demonstrated on the cross of Calvary through the death of His Son. 

             Discipleship is a challenge as much as it is a loving invitation. The process of discipleship is a greater challenge. Living as a disciple of Jesus is the greatest challenge. Continuous surrender of all that we are and have is the greatest of all challenges. It is the supreme challenge to find ourselves lost in the wonder and awe of the love of God demonstrated on the cross of Calvary. It demands unconditional consecration and unflinching sacrifice of all that remains in us, our body, mind, heart, soul, spirit, aspirations, dreams and fascinations in life.