“Go therefore and make disciples,” (Matt. 28:19) should be at the forefront of our minds. It does not matter what your vocation is, what your stage of life is, or what your economic status is. Believing students on school campuses, Christian university and graduate students, young single adult followers of Christ beginning a career, young married believers establishing homes, Christian mothers who are staying home with children, career professionals who have placed their faith in Christ, and older Christians adjusting to empty nests or caring for their elderly parents are all called to make disciples.
As we say in John 13 disciple making is not just an exercise of dispensing knowledge from one Christian to a newer or younger believer. Disciple making begins in searching for those who are lost. The disciples who were with Jesus in that upper room were there because Jesus had sought them out and called them to follow Him. Are you searching among the people you know and the places you go for those who do not know Jesus. We never know who the Holy Spirit is ready to call to salvation, so we only need to be faithful to open spiritual conversations and give a faithful testimony of the gospel.
Second, in John 13 we saw that Jesus served the disciples by washing their feet. Then commanded them to do likewise, because “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another,” (John 13:35). People will know we are disciples of Jesus when we are actively serving one another the way Jesus would serve if He were still physically present on the earth. Disciples are made in service. Think about the military in the United States of America. They do not just study the theories of good combat. They serve in the US military, which includes training, character development, and academic or intellectual understanding. A good soldier must know things, must become a certain kind of person, and must then do certain things. We will not ever be fully formed followers of Christ by knowledge of the Bible or knowledge of God alone. We are formed as we serve.
Finally, a disciple is sent. In John 13 Jesus told the disciples, “…for I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you,” (John 13:15). He did not just mean to take turns washing one another’s feet. It is evident by the rest of the New Testament and early church history that Jesus meant for them to live in sacrificial service. The ultimate sign of His service was not the girding of a towel and the pouring of water. It was being stripped, beaten, and the spilling of His blood. That is the context that completed their understanding of what occurred in that upper room on the night of His arrest, and the night before His crucifixion.
This year, my articles will press us toward making disciples. And it will include what it means to search, to serve, and to send. We are not disciples and we are not making disciples until we find engagement in all three of these disciple-making disciplines.
By His Grace and For His Glory,
Pastor Mark
