By Impact Discipleship Ministries: I am always amazed at how many people (including Christ-followers) don’t know what the mission of Christ was while He was here on earth. I find it amazing that Christians would follow someone if they don’t understand where He was “going.” If you are going to follow someone, you need to know where they are headed.

The Mission of Jesus Was Two-fold.

The first part of Jesus’ mission was to make redemption possible for every person, in every nation, in every generation. Jesus made redemption possible for every person by living a perfect and sinless life, dying on a cross, and rising from the dead.

Only Jesus could fulfill this part of His mission. Jesus is the only one who could make redemption possible for humanity. Jesus is the only one who could live a sinless life, atone for sin, and have victory over death, hell, and the grave. When Jesus was being crucified, He said these words, “It is finished.” He was referring to His work of redemption. Jesus was professing that He had accomplished one of the two things He came to earth to do.

We should all be eternally grateful that Jesus was faithful to finish the work of redemption. We would be spending the rest of eternity separated from God if Jesus had not made redemption possible and if we had not received His work in our lives.

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Part two of Jesus’ mission was to start a movement of messengers of redemption. This movement of messengers are called “disciples.” Jesus began a movement of disciple making that would ensure that the message of redemption would be passed down from generation to generation so that every person in every nation and every generation could hear the message of redemption.

 Jesus is the one who started this movement of redemption messengers, but all of us are now responsible to see that it continues. Jesus left the task of making disciples in the hands of every generation of disciples. In John 17:4, Jesus prayed, “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do.” The work Jesus is referring to here is the work of starting a movement of disciple making.

I am so thankful that Jesus started a movement of disciple makers that made it possible for us to have the opportunity to receive redemption. If Jesus had not completed the work of starting a movement, we would never have heard about His work of redemption and we would be spending the rest of eternity separated from God.

Understanding the Two-fold Mission of Jesus Should Change the Way We Live.

It should change the way we live because as a Christ follower, Christ’s mission should be your mission. In other words, you can be a part of keeping the movement of redemption messengers going. That is one of the main reasons you are alive today: to accomplish the mission of Jesus on earth.

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Source: The Two-Fold Mission of Christ

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By: Greg Curtis

I recently had a person make a confession to me. They were at a weekly men’s prayer breakfast with 4 new men attending. During the prayer request time, he had asked everyone to pray against our current president and his policies as he believed all Christians should. After his lengthy diatribe on the matter, the 4 new people left early never to return.

The person confessing this to me felt badly and apologized to the leader of the prayer breakfast who told him, “No need to apologize. You were right.”

As a person who cares deeply about guests to our church, this story makes me wonder what business are we in as Jesus’ called out ones, especially in a year like this one.

To say this is a challenging year to be a spiritual leader would be an understatement. After quarantining for months, protests breakout that have polarized the culture we serve so severely that it has politicized whether your church even reopens or remain closed.

Enter guests checking out your church. Rather they are doing it online or in person if your church is regathering physically, new people to your church are:

Wondering where the church stands on some of the important issues facing their communities today (reopening or not, protesting or not, voting red or blue, etc.).

Looking for a place where God can be found and sense can be made of this season of life.

Hoping to find a place where people love and respect each other regardless of where they stand on any of the above.

It may be that we have to stop preaching the gospel in order to make room for our opinions and preferences politically. When that happens, many new people seeking God role their eyes, and look for the door while church members say “Amen!”.

How can we stay focused on the right thing when forces are pulling us to one extreme or the other, especially when so much is at stake? I find Jesus’ example here very powerful and instructive.

Two ways to handle political division like Jesus did.

Use stories when addressing division

We may not be quick to realize it, but when a conservative religious leader asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10: 29 f/f) that leader was asking a politically charged question. He was hoping to label Jesus as a liberal if he answered with the name of a gentile, or a conservative if he said only Jews. If he said only Jews, the religious leader could attack him based on his actions.

Jesus did what I wished more of us did right now. He answered by telling a story.

He told a story where a person who was considered half Jew/half gentile was the hero. We know it today as the parable of the Good Samaritan, but in Jesus’ day it was a highly charged response.

Today it could have been called the Parable of the Protestor or the Parable of the Police Officer, depending on which one you fell the the most negative about.

No matter what you would call the parable, I find that following Jesus’ example of story telling deescalates a conversation and makes people think outside their boxes.

That’s why a few weeks ago when people asked me if I believe that “Black Lives Matter” or if I believe that “All Lives Matter”, I answered with a story. I have been to Rome and stood in the colosseum where many early Christ followers lost their lives for their commitment to Jesus. I would love to imagine someone running from the stands into that arena and shouting, “Hey! We have got to stop this because the lives of Christians matter!” Can you imagine though if someone then ran into the arena to correct that person by saying, “No! All lives matter!”

Or, can you imagine being in Nazi Germany where officers were piling Jewish people onto a train and a courageous person runs into the crowd to shout, “Stop! The lives of Jewish people matter to God and they should matter to us!” only to be corrected by a well meaning German saying, “I’m sorry, that is incorrect: All lives matter to God!”

Obviously all lives matter to God and obviously there comes a time where a group that is vulnerable needs to be pointed out and protected more specifically when they are at risk.

A story can expand a persons view. an argument causes them to dig in their heels a little deeper. I want to be a story teller.

I hear you though. “But Greg, do you know the platform of the organization called ‘Black Lives Matter’”? Yes I do. And personally, I do not support their platform. Many parts of it have nothing to do with black lives.

But do you know what I also refuse to support? The highjacking of truth. While I do not support the organization called “Black Lives Matter”, I refuse to let them or any other group redefine a truth that is self evident to all: the lives of black people matter.

If a strange cult that believed Jesus was an alien coming to abduct those who do not follow him and torture them on his spaceship adopted the hashtag “#Jesus saves”, I would not cease to believe it because they chose to use it.

We need to be careful when we allow others to redefine biblical truth, lest we be seen as the one in gross error when we oppose them.

Offer the 3rd option

Another thing Jesus did when he found himself in a polarized environment where people wanted to play “gotcha!” politics with him, was to not get trapped into either/or thinking.

Jesus represents the God of the 3rd option.

I would love to do a Bible study someday on how God offered a third option to people who only saw two extremes. For now, just let me draw attention to 2 magnificent examples to inspire you as you serve guests (and members) from your church coming from the far right and left of the current political spectrum.

The first is when religious leaders wanted to label Jesus as either a liberal “one world order guy” or a conservative rebel securing one’s rights against the oppressive Roman government. They did it by asking a simple, but dangerous question: “Is it right to pay the Imperial Tax to Caesar or not?” (see Matt 22:15-22).

Jesus could have answered yes or no. Yes meant he was a liberal Jew who saw benefits to canceling their cultural distinctive and becoming part of the larger global empire. Saying no would make him a conservative Jew, demanding the freedom to be autonomous and free from the controls and requirements of the prevailing occupying government

We could also yes or no to people’s questions on all matter political. But Jesus didn’t. He simply held up a coin and asked whose image was on it. Then he said to give Caesar what is Caesar’s and to give to God what is God’s.

Dang.

A second example among many was when a woman was thrown in front of him after being caught in the act of adultery (John 8). The conservatives wanted the death penalty. The liberals wanted to feel that she had done nothing wrong and should be free to go in the grace of God.

Jesus then said that she was guilty and that the person who is without sin should throw the first stone.

Do you here the pin dropping?

Everybody left and after Jesus asked the woman where her accusers went, he said that he would not accuse her either but to go and sin no more.

Bam. 100% truth. 100% grace. No polarization on either side.

I want to join Jesus in the same. I want to offer a 3rd option to all this nonsense and division so I can do the harder job that Jesus did-that of a Peace Maker.

Notice I didn’t say Peace Keeper. Jesus kept little peace. Controversy surrounded him continually. He took on the more difficult task of making peace where there was none: between Jews and Samaritans, poor and rich, God and mankind. Bloody work to say the least but that is who we follow.

What if we offered people a third option, instead of just being on the left or on the right?

I don’t think the 3rd option is somewhere in between right and left, red and blue. Jesus is not the purple candidate. He is not moderate. He is not half way between the two. He is completely other than.

Consider how C.S. Lewis put it:

“I am going to venture on a guess as to how this section has affected any who have read it. My guess is that there are some Leftist people among them who are very angry that it has not gone further in that direction, and some people of an opposite sort who are angry because they think it has gone much too far. If so, that brings us right up against the real snag in all this drawing up of blueprints for a Christian society. Most of us are not really approaching the subject in order to find out what Christianity says: we are approaching it in the hope of finding support from Christianity for the views of our own party. We are looking for an ally where we are offered either a Master or—a Judge.” C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity.

Where do we find our Master’s game plan during divisive times? I find it in answering the question posed in Andy Stanley’s book Irresistible:

What would love require of me?

Acting on the answer to that question would place us in the shoes of Jesus and make peace in a way that would be hard to oppose.

It would also be an irresistible environment for guests at our churches.*

*For more on this, see my facebook live video here.

Source: Two ways to handle political division like Jesus did (Facebook Live summary session 11).

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By: Discipleship.org

Chances are, you’ve debated one of these topics before. Defending your opinion and viewpoint is part of what it means to be human. Sometimes we vigorously defend our position with any facts we can find … while closing our eyes to other, less helpful facts.

Disciple makers can be guilty of the same thing. One topic currently being debated in the disciple making world is, what form disciple making should take?

Is it better for a disciple maker to disciple one to one, in triads, or in micro-groups?

It’s a good question. All of us desire to be as effective as possible in fulfilling our call to make disciples, so if there’s a right way, we want to know it. Let’s take a look at each one and determine if one is better than the others.

Micro-Groups are groups of 4-5 people who commit to walking together for a period of time to focus on growing in disciple making. A group of four is presented as the ideal to create an environment of accountability, transparency, and community. Micro-groups normally work through a discipleship curriculum together and upon completion each person is challenged to become the leader of a new micro-group. Defenders of micro-groups will suggest Jesus with Peter, James, and John as an example. Detractors argue that micro-groups function like just another small group. The problem can be that the disciples don’t get life on life time with the discipler.

Triads are groups of three (shocking, I know). Like micro-groups they commit to meeting together for a period of time. The smaller size allows the leader to go a bit deeper with each person. The goals are largely the same—accountability, growth, and multiplication. Triads are a bit less likely to use discipleship curriculum, though most do. The smaller size allows the leader to get more personal with each member. Defenders of triads will suggest that the size is big enough to allow those being discipled to learn from one another, but small enough to still be very transparent. Detractors argue that since no two people are in the same place spiritually, the triad forces a leader to use curriculum or to choose which person to focus the content on during meetings.

One-to-one disciple making relationships are as small as they get. The size allows the leader to focus the meeting precisely where the disciple needs it. The goal is to help the disciple grow to maturity so that he can reproduce. Defenders of one-to-one will suggest that the focus and depth allows the disciple to grow quickly and holistically. They also point out that Jesus had an individual relationship with each of His disciples, not primarily a group relationship. Detractors argue that one to one discipling produces unhealthy dependence and puts too much burden on the discipler to be omni-competent.

If you’ve followed this space for awhile you probably know my preference, but here’s the thing, I don’t believe any of these is more Biblical than another. I do have reasons for my preference, but if others are convinced God is leading them to practice disciple making differently that’s okay. Unless you are going to live, travel, and minister with those you disciple 24/7 you aren’t doing it Jesus’ way.

Justin Gravitt, author of this blog, is with Navigator Church Ministries. They have made available to you, The Start Small Grow Slow Strategy, which you can download for free here.

All of us are contextualizing Jesus’ form to our culture. So what’s important in this debate? Let me suggest a few things:

First, aim to reproduce the depth of relationship Jesus had with His disciples. Jesus’ relationship with the disciples was individual, personal, and deep. The closeness of each relationship was vital to their development. We only get a glimpse of this, but imagine the conversation Jesus had with his men while they walked on the road or sat around a fire late into the night. Each man was deeply known by Jesus and experienced his love through that depth. Regardless of the form, our relationships with those we are discipling should be the same.

Second, don’t choose a form based primarily on its efficiency. Americans are infatuated with efficiency, but Jesus’ investment in twelve for around three years doesn’t indicate that He shares our desire to scale quickly. Yes, He was strategic and planned for the disciples to multiply, but He did it slowly (and after He was gone). He didn’t ask them to go find one, four, or twelve to disciple after just a year. If he had, there could have quickly been 144 and after another year 1,728. He invested in twelve men 24/7 for three years. Why do we think we can do the same in one year with much less investment?

Finally, train disciples of Jesus, not of a program or curriculum. Jesus’ men were fully equipped for the work of discipling by the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:17). Regardless of the form we use to make disciples, we must be careful to equip people to disciple others, not to simply lead others through a curriculum or program. The previous two points are relevant here as well. Investment must be done relationally and not based on how quickly we can get reach the masses with the vision of discipleship.

In conclusion, I’ve seen all of these forms work in disciple making. So, don’t let the form become a barrier. As disciple makers, instead of disparaging other forms of disciple making, one another. We can encourage people to experiment with the forms and discover the advantages and disadvantages that each one offers.

Doing so takes humility. Whatever your opinion on this issue, it isn’t superior. As my grandma used to tell me when I thought my opinion was better than others, “Opinions are like butts, everyone has one and yours isn’t the only one that doesn’t stink.”

Justin Gravitt is the Dayton (Ohio) Area Director for Navigator Church Ministries. Read more from Justin at his blog, One Disciple to Another, where this article first appeared.

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Source: What Form Should Disciple Making Take?

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by Bobby Harrington:

Discipleship-first friends,

One of the things we champion at Discipleship.org is an emphasis on disciple making. We value the use of the expression “discipleship”—enough to name our whole ministry after it!—but we also appreciate the clarity that comes from a focus on disciple-making.

With permission, I am republishing a short article on this point by Sonlife’s Josh Yates that makes a good point about the expression “disciple making” … I hope you find it helpful:

You’ve probably seen one of these humorous grammatical sayings:

Let’s eat grandma!
Let’s eat, grandma!

Punctuation saves lives! These are two different meanings separated by the proper use of grammar.

A small comma can make a significant difference—a distinction that changes everything. As it is with discipleship and disciple making. One is a root word, disciple, with significant differences and outcomes. This is where the road divides—your definition on these two drastically different words will change the trajectory of your church. We don’t want to split hairs on issues that are not mission critical—but this one is.

How would you define the term “discipleship”? Try it out with some friends. Ask them to define discipleship and find a common theme. Here’s what has commonly been communicated to us from friends and colleagues about the word “discipleship.” It means to them:

The growth and maturity of the Christian to follow Jesus
A deeper study and growth group
It is a process of becoming equipped to overcome trials or temptations
Daily pursuit of spiritual disciplines
Assisting and helping others grow in their walk with God
Helping learn and implement tools for evangelism

What about disciple making? How would you define this term? Does it matter?

The definition of “disciple making” is rooted in a verb found in the New Testament Greek: mathetuo, which means to make disciples. Acts 14:21, “When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch.” In this verse, making disciples is connected to evangelism.

Matthew 28:19-20 defines making disciples as the whole process of conversion, baptism, and obeying the commandments of Jesus. Matthew 28 holds a command to “make disciples who can make disciples.” The process is intended to be repeated and ongoing. It is a lifetime of followership to the ways of Jesus, mimicking his pattern and priorities to make disciples in ordinary rhythms of life. “Disciple” becomes an action, a way of life.

What is interesting is that the word “discipleship” isn’t used in the Bible. I don’t blame people for using the term. It is a concept that I readily used, until recently. I have close friends and trusted ministry leaders who use the word discipleship as a holistic process from evangelism to maturity, but they are the few. Discipleship has largely become a term related solely to our growth as believers.

Jesus didn’t command us just to go deeper and have a “discipleship study” to mature. He asks us to make a disciple and teach them to follow Jesus. Many of us (myself included) often get stuck in traditional discipleship methodologies without actually first making disciples. Disciple making encompasses both evangelism and teaching to obey. Like two wings on the plane, both of these are equally important. Growth comes through reproduction … reproduction that continues to multiply.

Pause and think about the values and definitions used in your ministry.

Steps to embrace a disciple making culture in your church:

Use the language. Who is your disciple? Name them and pray for them.
Ask several key ministry friends to define “discipleship” and listen to what they say.
Check your heart, attitude, and actions toward making disciples.
Start equipping your people to reproduce … not just to “grow” but to “make.”

Click Here for more from Josh Yates

For King Jesus,

Bobby Harrington, Lead Servant, Discipleship.org

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Source: Discipleship vs. Disciple Making

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by Regi Campbell: For years, I’ve defined a disciple as a “learner and follower” of Jesus. In theory, if someone really follows Jesus, they will end up helping others to become learners and followers. But the reality is they rarely do. Somehow, we get selfish saying things like, “I have my salvation, my church, my small group, my Bible, my eternal security.” Moving beyond “me and mine” is hard.

Reading Discipleship.org’s definition of a disciple showed me how weak my definition was. He says a disciple is “a person who is following Christ, being changed by Christ, and is committed to the mission of Christ.” That’s raising the bar! Let me “put some meat on those bones” from my perspective:

Following Jesus – A disciple of Jesus is living his way of life. It’s a lifestyle marked by love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, and joy. Following Jesus says my heart breaks for the things that break His heart. There’s a love for His Word, for worship, and for learning—a love for the church and for meeting together with other Jesus followers. Most of all, there’s a love for others. Following Jesus is an active thing. It requires engagement and involvement, not just participation and attendance.

Being changed by Jesus – A disciple is humble, the opposite of prideful and self-righteous. A disciple is open to the Holy Spirit, who lives within them and offers access to the mind of Christ. A disciple of Jesus has an open mind and heart, inviting God to “peel their onion” to expose their dark and blind spots and to heal their broken places. Disciples aren’t about self-improvement; they’re about finding parts of their hearts not yet surrendered and turning them over to their Heavenly Father for His use and glory.

…

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Source: Raise the Bar of Discipleship

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by Craig Etheredge: You were made to make an eternal impact.

God didn’t save you to simply live a life that was safe, predictable and cautious. He saved you to leave a legacy of faith — passed down from one person to another — that will change generations long after you are gone. I can say from personal experience that there is no greater excitement or thrill than seeing a person come to faith in Christ and begin to walk with Him in a new way. That calling is what Jesus invites every one of us into — the calling to leave a legacy.

It was a crisp morning as the sun climbed up over the mountains surrounding Lake Gennesaret in northern Israel. The fishermen had been working all night, catching schools of fish in their nets as they rose from the depths to feed on the water’s surface. These men were used to working all night with only the moon as their light, but now the dawn had come and the fishing was done. They were cleaning and repairing their equipment, mending nets, untangling cables, and replenishing supplies when suddenly Jesus came walking down the shoreline.

By this point in time, these fishermen knew Him pretty well. They had been following Jesus off and on for over a year. They loved listening to Him preach, and they were amazed at the miracles He performed. One time, while they were with Jesus at a wedding celebration in Cana — just a few miles away from the place they were working — Jesus turned water into wine. The crowds gasped in amazement, and it was then that these men realized that Jesus was no ordinary rabbi. He was someone wholly and completely different than anyone they had ever seen.

On another occasion, they were with Jesus when He went to Jerusalem to the temple for Passover. In a flash of rage, He flipped over the tables where the temple money changers were converting the cash of worshipers into temple currency, another way to squeeze money out of them. Jesus cried out, “My Father’s house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves!”

Jesus had authority. He had passion. More than anything, it was clear that He was on a mission, and no one was going to deter Him from that mission. They had seen Jesus go toe to toe with some of Israel’s most powerful religious leaders, and they had watched Him reach out to the outcast and marginalized with compassion and love. People were all the same to Jesus; they all needed to be reconciled to His Father.

“But on this one morning, Jesus walked up to these men and called out, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men’,” (Matthew 4.19 ESV). In effect, He was saying, “Hey guys, if you think catching fish is great, just wait until you experience what it’s like to catch people!”

That day Jesus was inviting these men to a higher mission. He was calling them out. He was challenging them to stop giving their lives to the mundane things in life and instead, live with a greater vision in mind, a greater sense of purpose. That day, He was calling them to go beyond just trying to grind out a living and start truly living the life God had intended them to live all along — a life on mission with Him.

I’m not sure where you are right now in life. Maybe you are just starting out with big dreams of success and fortune, and everyone knowing your name when you are done. Maybe you are just slugging it out day after day, doing your best to keep your head above the water of demands and expectations that keep rising by the minute. Maybe you have accomplished great things, and now you are left wondering if this is all life has to offer. I don’t know where you are in life … but I do know where Jesus is calling you.

Jesus is calling you to live on mission with Him.

The call Jesus extended to the men on the lake that day is the same call He extends to you right now. It’s a call to leave behind your preoccupation with lesser, temporal things and pursue eternal things. It’s a call to put aside a shortsighted vision for your life and lift your eyes to His greater vision. In a very real way, Jesus is calling you to an adventure of living with Him day by day, and being used by Him to leave behind a legacy of faith that will keep growing and transforming people’s lives long after you are gone.

Sound good? Here’s the catch — It will cost you everything!

The men who heard Jesus’ words that morning left everything — their boats, their nets, even their fathers. They left behind what was familiar to them in order to follow Jesus, and they had no idea where it would all lead. In the same way, Jesus’ call is a call to leave behind your vision of success and adopt Jesus’ vision of success, which is living with His mission as your passion.

Think about it. One hundred years from now, no one will care how high you climbed in your company, where you lived or what kind of car you drove. The only thing that will matter is what you did with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the lives you touched. If you give your best to things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of eternity, then you will have wasted the one and only life you’ve been given, and squandered your opportunity to be used by God in a significant and powerful way.

If you surrender your life to Jesus and make His mission in life your mission in life, He will do more through you than you ever dreamed possible. Those simple fishermen made their decision that day and they became world changers. What choice will you make?

Written by Craig Etheredge

Craig is a gifted communicator, author, and Bible teacher. Craig and his family moved to Colleyville, Texas in July 2007 to serve as lead pastor of First Baptist Church where he currently serves. In addition to leading the local church, Craig is involved in the local community serving on the Board of Directors for Baylor Hospital, Grapevine, Board of Directors of Christian Counseling Associates, Mission Board SBTC, Chaplain for the Colleyville Police Department, and football chaplain for Birdville High School. He has a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Craig met his wife, Liz, in the fifth grade and they have two daughters, Leah Beth and Abbie.

This was originally posted on discipleFIRST’s blog here. Reposted here with permission.

Photo by Adam Zvanovec on Unsplash

Source: Living on Mission

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