DISCIPLES THAT SERVE & POINT TO JESUS (PT 2)
We're now on our last post in this module on the mission of Cornerstone. We covered the first two major categories of making disciples that KNOW and REFLECT Jesus. Each one of those categories can be subdivided into 2 more specific categories.
We're now going to cover the last two areas of SERVING and POINTING to Jesus. These two categories also subdivide into 4 categories. In total there are 8 categories were we need to be formed as a disciples of Jesus. Let's talk about serving Jesus.
SERVING JESUS
Service of others is a crucial part of being a disciple of Jesus. Jesus himself said " and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:27-29) Later in the book of Philippians, Paul talks about how Jesus took on the form of a servant (Philippians 2). The question is not whether we should serve, but where should I start? We believe that God has set up a priority list when it comes to serving. Our primary relationship is with God himself. Then our second most important set of relationships are in the home.
IN THE HOME CHURCH
THE LITTLE FAMILY
Summary Statement: We are making our homes a place where families grow as disciples.
It has always been God's intention that the home be the primary place of discipling and service as disciples. In Deuteronomy 6 we see God telling his people that it was imperative that when they enter the promised land that they make sure to teach their families about God and how to properly serve him. He said through Moses, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) Disciples learn to serve Jesus by starting with serving their family.
For those that are married, they must learn to serve each other through mutual submission. In Ephesians 5 we see the model explained for service in the household. Adults love and respect their parents and seek to serve them. Husbands love their wives in a way as if they are loving themselves. They practice sacrificial love. Wives love their husbands by treating them with respect and by encouraging them to lead the family. Children learn to serve by serving their parents respectfully and serving any of their siblings. All People are called to be Pastors to the people in their family. Serving our family becomes and act of worship that honors the way God designed the family and gives a picture to the world of the way that the Trinity operates in mutual love and submission.
Key Needs In This Area of Formation:
- Single disciples need to be invited into the families of other disciples.
- Disciples need help learning how to navigate their marriage in a way that honors Jesus.
- Disciples need to learn how to disciple their own children and help them grow in knowing, reflecting, serving, and pointing to Jesus.
- It is important for families to learn how to worship together in their homes by praying, serving, singing, and reading God's word together.
- Disciples need to model confession and repentance to their children.
- Disciples need other mature disciples to help mentor them through the stages of marriage and child-raising.
- Disciples need help having spiritual conversations in their home.
SERVING IN THE CHURCH HOME
THE BIG FAMILY
Summary Statement: We know everyone is important and has been given gifts, abilities, and passions that work together in God’s family. We are the Bride & the Body of Jesus.
The third primary set of relationships that God has given us is the family of God. God first. Our family second. And his family next. Discipleship cannot be separated from a relationship with other believers. There are some who have turned Christianity into a solo endeavor, just them and Jesus. This runs contrary to everything in the bible. We're told in Ephesians 5:25 that Christ's love for the church is like that of a husband who "gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." Jesus gave his life to create the Church, so we will give our lives to help build it. This is the heart of Jesus when he asks Peter if he really truly loves him three times, and if he does, then his responsibility is to a feed the sheep in the family that Jesus has created. Love Jesus? Care for his flock! This is what it means in Acts 2 when it says that the early church devoted themselves to what a church does. Devotion means single-minded focus and prioritizing something. They were devoted Christ and therefore to each other and the mission of Jesus.
Additionally, we need each other to grow. Christian Community is one of the most powerful tools to bring about maturity in us and others. Earlier in Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul tells us this. "So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
We see that we have been given gifts by Jesus for 3 purposes. (1) As we use our gifts together we will grow in unity, knowledge and maturity. We need the church to grow up spiritually. (2) We also need the church to keep us anchored in the truth of God's word so we won't shipwreck our lives. (3) We need other Christians to be able to accomplish the work of Jesus in this world. We need all five gifts of APEST (Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds, Teachers) to be truly like Jesus and do the work he has called us to do. Anything less than working together is cutting ourselves off from the source of like like severing an arm from a body.
Key Needs In This Area of Formation:
- Disciples need to understand what their spiritual gifts are and how to begin serving the body of Christ first and then fulfill their calling in the wider world.
- Disciples need to learn how to admonish, love, care, encourage, and all the other "one anothers" that come from being in relationship with other believers.
- Disciples need to learn how to handle conflict biblically.
- Disciples need to be able to see that they are all ministers and to care for one another's needs: especially the vulnerable like orphans, widows, single mothers, and the poor.
- Disciples need to be growing in prioritizing the Kingdom of God in the way that they use their time, talents, and attention.
- Disciples need to grow into maturity so that they can become elders and guard, guide, feed, and lead the flock of God.
- Disciples need to be prepared for persecution so they can stand firm when it comes.
POINTING TO JESUS
We now come to the place where we see that disciples are to "go into all the world" and they are to do the work of being "fishers of men". We often use words like evangelism or testimony to describe this part of being a disciple. This can be really scary because we often don't know how to do it. It hasn't been modeled fur us very well. It produces anxiety in us because of fear of people, fear of failure, and fear of the unknown. However, if we are to become like our teacher Jesus, we are called and commanded to do what he did. Our God is a sending God. Our God came to seek and save the lost. So as we grow in our love for Jesus we are also called to grow in our obedience to reaching those who are lost and far away from him. We use the language of pointing to Jesus because that's what a witness does. They simply speak of their own experience of following Jesus and let others decided for themselves what they do with what they've heard. All the pressure is on God who can handle it and the person who is listening. We are called to do our part. We do this through showing and telling.
SHOW HIM BY WORKS
POINTING THROUGH COMPASSION
Summary Statement: We will be the hands and feet of Jesus in loving everyone, especially those that are weak, powerless, and helpless.
At a certain point in the ministry of Jesus, he sends out his 12 disciples and "gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." (Luke 9:1-2) The works they are to do, is to make the message they proclaim believable. Meet the needs of those who are oppressed by darkness. Care for the sick. So that they will be receptive and believe that the Kingdom of God is here and that they are loved by the King. Then Jesus sends out another 70 people empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the exact same thing in Luke chapter 10. Disciples are called to be actively looking for ways to partner with God in building his Kingdom by setting the captives free,healing the sick, and comforting the hurting. If we see a need, God will use us to meet that need.
Another way that the Church shows that Jesus is real to a watching world is by the way that we care for those that are unable to care for themselves. James 1:19 tells us that "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." Our world turns people into problems to be solved instead of taking the problems of people and loving them enough to help them. Jesus stepped in to help those who could not help themselves. He loved the widow, the orphan, the outcast. When we do this, we earn the right to share the good news of a God who has shown people he loves them through us.
We don't have to go town to town like the disciples unless Jesus prompts us to do that through the Holy Spirit. We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to our neighbors next door, in our networks through work and through our children's school, and through our extra curricular activities like sports. If we hear of a need we should try to think about how we can meet that need in order to earn the right to share the gospel.
Key Needs In This Area of Formation:
- Disciples need to learn to look for opportunities to serve their neighbors and community. This means looking for those with emotional, financial, or physical needs.
- Disciples need opportunities to stand up and advocate for those who have no one to advocate for them like the unborn, children, the poor, etc.
- Disciples need to learn to ask, who are the unwanted, the outcasts, and untouchables of today like the Samaritans, Lepers, and Tax Collectors of Jesus day.
- Disciples need to partner with organizations that are doing a better job at meeting the physical, emotional, and financial needs than we are and support them as well as learn from them.
POINTING TO JESUS
POINTING THROUGH CONVERSATION
Summary Statement: We are not ashamed of the gospel and will speak of who Jesus is and what he has done with as many people as possible.
Jesus came and cared for the physical and emotional needs of people. He healed them of sickness or disabilities. He fed the hungry. He loved the unlovable and hung out with the fringes of society. Jesus also came to meet our greatest need, which is our spiritual need to be connected to God, to be forgiven, and to live according to his design. His works were accompanied by words. It does not good to help someone have a full belly if they end up separated from God forever. We must do both. Thankfully, God is always present and moving. We do not bring about conversion (the spiritual rebirth of someone when they believe in Jesus), we are simply called to have conversations about who Jesus is. We see this in Acts 8:31 where one of Jesus' disciples named Philip is led by the Holy Spirit into an interaction with a Eunuch from Ethiopia. God is already moving in this man's life but still uses Philip to explain the gospel to him. He comes up and the man is reading scripture. He is seeking but he doesn't understand. Philipp asks him "“Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Philip then explains about who Jesus is and what he came to do. This man was reading scripture but didn't understand it. Once it was explained, the man gave his life to Jesus and was baptized. Actions give credibility to the gospel, but words give intelligibility to the gospel so that people can respond appropriately.
We are called to be "witnesses". (Acts 1:8) As I mentioned before, our job is simply to talk about what Jesus has done for us. Being a witness is telling the story of Jesus in our lives. We must get over our fear of being rejected and begin to have the heart of God for lost people. We must not be ashamed of the gospel and be willing to have spiritual conversations with family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and classmates. We live in a word that is both looking for a solid foundation during uncertain times. We have been given the treatment to the spiritual cancer that destroys people. We are called to share it because it is the power to save.
Key Needs In This Area of Formation:
- Disciples need to be able to tell their own story of how Jesus is their salvation. This means explaining how he has saved them in the past and what he's saved them from. It also means explaining how he is saving them in the present by helping them overcome sin and grow. It finally means giving a description of their hope of how Jesus will finally save them in the future.
- Disciples need to begin both praying for those that they know that are unsaved as well as praying for opportunities to share the good news with them.
- Disciples need to be praying for evangelists to be raised up and sent out in the church
- Disciples need to learn to practice hospitality and invite unbelievers into their homes and their lives to be able to illustrate the way the gospel changes them by looking at the way they live.
- Disciples need to learn to begin to listen well to how God is moving in the lives of the people around them so they can be aware of how the gospel addresses their deepest needs.
There you have it. The final two pieces of our mission statement. Serving Jesus and Pointing to Jesus. So let's put this all together now.
WE EXIST TO MAKE AND MULTIPLY DISCIPLES THAT:
In our next post we will cover how a believer begins to grow in maturity in these areas.