Discipleship

   Pastor Ben preached this weekend from Acts 15:39-16:5. The two main questions are, are we doing it right and how are making disciples? This week, Paul is the main character of the story. Before we feel inferior to the Apostle Paul, we need to be reminded that he needed three years of discipleship before he went on his three missionary journeys. 

  My first thought is that we need to be willing to be discipled by Christians who are deeper and more mature than we are. If Paul was willing to be discipled, shouldn’t we? In essence, discipleship is putting in the hard work. Pastor Haven and I get coffee on Monday mornings and one of the themes that keep coming up is we often want the success of the Apostle Paul or any other people we deem successful, but we often don’t want to do the hard work. The reason why Michael Jordan is one of the greatest athletes of all time and has great fame is because he spent hours upon hours in the gym and weight room putting in the work. Discipleship is putting in that hard group and learning from someone who has gone before us. Just remember, we can’t lead until learn how to follow.  So is that person in your life that has poured into you, even when things are ugly?

  My second observation is that who is that one person we are pouring into? One of the things that I am learning, we often don’t pick the people we disciple, because if we did, we often wouldn’t pick the person who is the best fit or ready to grow. The people who we disciple often choose us and see something in us they want or need. Those people who do need us will often push our buttons, challenge us, and require us to grow in grace and maturity. This doesn’t mean that we have to have it all together, but it’s developing that mantra of follow me as I follow example of Christ. It is walking together pointing each other to Jesus. This means we celebrate, call each other out and even cry together. What makes discipleship different is that it is intentional. Are we intentional about living for life for Jesus and pointing others to Jesus. When we are meeting, are we intentional about talking and pointing to Jesus and being transformed by Him? So my two questions for us that are we willing to step out to find out our Timothy and are we willing to commit for the long haul?

  My third observation is how do we handle conflict? This is a blog on its own, but in life and ministry, there will be conflict. The Apostle Paul and John Mark even had conflict and it forced them to go their own directions. We don’t know exactly what the division between Paul and John Mark was, but the difference was big enough for them to go their separate ways. So here is my question for all of us, when is the divisions in our lives worthy to stick it out and deal with it and when is it wise to go our separate ways? Each situation is different and there are times when we need to realize that we are on the same team  and going our separate ways will be more beneficial for the Kingdom. If we keep reading, Paul and John Mark did reconcile. How it happened, I am not sure, but they probably both had a come to Jesus moment and dealt with their differences and reconciled. Are we willing to work out the conflict, or are we willing to stew over the situation and make it worse? 

 So to close out the blog, are we willing to do the hard work to grow and are we willing to invest in someone and invite them on the journey? Who is that person who has invested in you? For me I have two people that come to mind. The first one is Pastor Mark. He was the pastor of the church I grew up in and we had countless conversations and he often challenged me to be better. The second one was a boss I had in college. We had countless conversations and he was one of the few people I could openly disagree with and when I walked away I felt like I was heard and I often changed my way of thinking. So my final question is who are we going to disciple and are we going to take a risk and ask that person this week?

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead