On Sabbath we began a new series on discipleship called “iFollow.” The purpose of the series is to discover what Jesus meant when He said “Follow me.” What does it mean to follow Jesus? To begin with, it means much more than just coming to church. To follow Jesus goes beyond membership to discipleship.
Of all the crises we face today—economic crises, political crises, moral crises, and all the rest, the crisis threatening the Christian church in general, and the Seventh-day Adventist church in particular, may be the discipleship crisis. In the church today we have many members but too few disciples of Jesus Christ. There are far too many Christians with their names on the church books, and their posteriors on the church pews, who have failed to launch into discipleship.
What is a disciple? A “Mathetes” (Greek) is a student who attaches him or herself to a teacher for the purpose of acquiring practical/theoretical knowledge. Here’s my definition: Discipleship: real, live, people on a God-sized adventure to become just like Jesus.
If your Christian experience can’t be described as a God-sized adventure, it could be that you’ve settled for membership and not discipleship. When Jesus chose His disciples, He passed by the religious establishment. Instead, He chose real, live, people who were willing to go on the God-sized adventure of righteousness by faith—the adventure of becoming like Him. The adventure of having the kingdom of God, not as a concept but, as a reality within them.
And the first and most important step to take in the God-sized adventure of discipleship is being with Jesus. (Rewind to Mark 3:13-15.) Before the demon-busting and the preaching, disciples are first and foremost called to be with Christ. This is way more than knowing about. This is about abiding in and hanging out with Jesus.
Why was spending time with Jesus so important? Because time was short. By the time Jesus called the twelve into full-time ministry, there was only about 18 months left before the cross. The press of time made spending time with Jesus of utmost importance. He had but a short time to hand over His ministry to them. It was a crash course.
The same is true for us. Before Christ’s priestly ministry in the heavenly sanctuary ends and He comes again, He chooses disciples who will not only bear His testimony but, will be like Him. And to be like Him, you must be with Him. As we see the day approaching, we must redeem the time and spend more of it with Jesus.
How do you spend time with Jesus? In prayer, in corporate worship, in conversation, in the word, in service. Many church members fail to launch into discipleship because they are seldom with Jesus. They are too busy. They substitute church attendance or church activities for abiding in Christ and they remain unchanged.
There was another reason the disciples needed to be with Jesus. They couldn’t succeed without Him. In and of themselves they were clearly insufficient for the task. But this was Christ’s plan. John MacArthur writes, “The ultimate success of the strategy actually depended on the Holy Spirit working in those men to accomplish His sovereign will.”
It was always God’s plan for men and women to depend on the Holy Spirit for the advancement of His kingdom, not themselves. And you cannot receive the Holy Spirit without first being with Jesus. That explains a lot doesn’t it? If there’s little power in the church today, it’s because there’s little of the Holy Spirit and little time spent with Jesus.
Jesus is calling us to spend time with Him today and every day. The disciples prove that little can become much in the Master’s hands. But time is short and we can’t succeed with Him. I-follow. How about you? –Pastor Randy
