Do others believe that we believe God has a good plan for His people?

For years I used a discipleship curriculum that was process oriented. It was a series of little books that moved the student from basic matters to weightier subjects. I have had a few students that stayed the course and worked their way through every book. And it served them well as they moved forward in their faith. However, to a person, every person that completed the series of books worked alongside me in some capacity.  They ate at my table, spent Saturday evenings with me, went visiting with me, assisted me in working for others, went to meetings with me, watched me parent my children and relate to my wife. They could do this because I  (and my family)  invited them in my life. I am hesitant to let everyone into my life this close. Hesitant because I do not trust everyone to the same degree. Some people are teachable, like-minded and eager to learn. Others are obstinate and spiritually fragile. This determines the degree to which one would benefit from such close proximity with me. 

My willingness to allow them in is essential to my growth as a follower of Christ. It keeps me accountable by reminding me to be intentional about advancing the Gospel. To make disciples is to be a disciple--- Scripture affirms how critical Paul’s disciples were to his joy, refreshment and encouragement as he traveled an otherwise difficult path in life. Paul allowed them inside—they had full access to Paul’s mission, method, circumstances and attitudes. He could not have been more “laid bare.” Some of these even forsook or betrayed Paul such as Demas and others who drifted away when Paul became a liability to a favorable future for them. This is the course that Jesus established for us as well. Vulnerability to the point of being defrauded, misunderstood or betrayed. Let the sin be placed to another man’s charge but not ours as we walk according to good doctrine or rather the doctrine of a good God who has a favorable future in mind for His people. Others will know we believe in the goodness of God when they see us transcend maddening injustices and chaotic disappointments with joy, compassion and an aggressive missional mind concerning advancing the Gospel. Do we believe God is good and He has a good plan for His people? The disciplemaking question is: Do others believe that we believe God has a good plan for His people?

 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.[Heb 11:14-16 ESV]

Paul Says Don't Become a Better You, Become More Like Jesus

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Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us with a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. 

                                                                                                                        2 Timothy 1:8-9

            Paul knew what Timothy would face in the future. He had no misgivings about leading Timothy to be a devout man who followed hard after Christ. Paul also knew that this was no primrose path to walk in this world. There would be a cost- a price paid at the expense of comfort, safety, relationships and dreams for the future. Timothy would be better equipped for the struggle ahead if Paul warned and instructed him.  Paul instructed through word and deed. Paul’s life-on-life experience with Timothy modeled for Timothy a striving against the flesh, an uncomfortable subjection to the world and a wonderful transcendent victory that would be replicated in Timothy’s own life. On the surface it doesn’t make much sense- but there is a paradoxical nature to truth in God’s economy.

            Happy are the sad.  Rich are the poor. Last are first. Wise are the foolish.  Loved are the hated.  Established are the pilgrims. Weak are the strong.  Paul stated in 2 Cor. 12:10, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak then I am strong.”

            Thank you Paul!  Thank you for reminding us of Christ’s strengthening power.  The humility and brokenness the comes from stressful and emotional taxing situations are not for naught, but rather work to serve a higher purpose.  Have you exhausted yourself financially, He is strong.  Your teenager keeps you on pins and needles, He is strong.  Your parents expect much from you, He is strong.  The very person you respect and love most hurts you horribly, He is strong.  My friends seem to ignore me, He is strong.  My rights have been violated, He is strong.  My good intentions have not been well received, He is strong.  “If I have to boast, I will boast of what pertains to my weakness.”2( Cor. 11:30)

            Who are we seeking to glorify and satisfy?  Too much of the time, upon careful examination, we will find that we only work from our strengths (comfort), operate in our strengths (comfort) and make decisions based on our strengths (comfort) that we may be glorified and our egos satisfied. When we do, the world, our co-workers, other disciples have no reason to boast in Christ. We, through our own wisdom and strength, could produce the same results.  Walk in your weakness (what is uncomfortable) that Christ may be exalted.  Dare to walk in an area of discomfort or expose an area of weakness, failure, or distress in your life that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves.  My grace is sufficient for thee:  for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  (2 Cor. 12:9) Paul is simply agreeing with Peter who prevailed upon Christ, “I believe but help my unbelief.”

The cycle of discipleship is facilitated by trying and uncomfortable circumstances. Believers grow in grace as a result of a pursuit of holiness, an ownership of failure and the humility of repentance but we also model the mission of making disciples in the midst of such circumstances. It’s paradoxical- and antithetical to most of the self-help strategies that we could embrace. But then again it’s not about becoming a better you. It’s about becoming more like Jesus.

“I walked a mile with pleasure

she chatted all the way;

And left me none the wiser

For all she had to say.

I walked a mile with sorrow

And not a word said she;

But, Oh, the things I learned

When sorrow walked with me.”

Robert Browning

A Wrecked Camaro and a Gracious God

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Living and working closely with others facilitates the cycle of discipleship. Paul was sovereignly and strategically placed in close proximity to others as he pursued holiness. In Philippians 3:12, Paul asserts his desire to attain to an unhindered relationship with Jesus Christ. As he pursued this desire he worked alongside Timothy, Roman guards, Lydia, Titus, Silas, Mark, Onesimus or  Barnabas. The saw how he endured unjust treatment, thwarted plans, disappointing failures and less than comfortable circumstances. Paul’s response, as recorded in Scripture, was always selfless and Christ-exalting. I have no doubts that there were times of self-pity, brokenness and doubts but the biblical record is clear concerning Paul’s general disposition in trials, “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thess. 5:18) We now have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7). This earthen vessel is fragile, undone, and naturally empty but through faith it becomes a house of God or temple of the Holy Spirit. The outside is assuredly temporal, fragile and subject to the stress and strain of the trials of life but the inside contains an eternal treasure; Christ-who is our life (Col. 3:3).

            “If you then are risen with Christ, seek those things that are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God.” (Col. 3:1) The pursuit of holiness is God’s doing as we embrace the sin-conquering, life-transforming Gospel. The earthen vessel is nothing. The treasure within is everything. When we are under the strain of unjust treatment, chaotic circumstances and temptations to yield to the flesh the broken vessel reveals the treasure within. Those that are close to us are able to sense and see what is being revealed. We must be vulnerable and allow them access to our inner life. Our witness, our discipleship method- is our willingness to be a broken vessel that the treasure within is clearly seen. This begins with God’s pro-active compassion as He leads us on a pursuit of holiness that is to be observed by others so that Christ might be exalted, not us.

            When I was seventeen, I saw a red 1969 Camaro that was a dream car for most teenage boys. It was sitting in a man’s yard with a “For Sale” sign. I ask my dad about it and he said to stop and ask about it. So the next day I pulled in the driveway and began looking it over. As I did the owner came outside and told me all the great things he had done to the car. It was beautiful and even smelled of new paint and interior. After he finished telling me all the good stuff he revealed that the car had been wrecked and declared a total loss 8 months before. He bought the car from the insurance company and took it to a local collision repair shop that had totally restored the car. It was as good as new he proclaimed. I was disheartened. My family was in the automotive repair business. A wrecked and repaired vehicle was looked down upon as a rule. I didn’t even ask the price and courteously gestured as I left. That evening dad ask me what I had found about the Camaro. I told him that I stopped and looked at it but I didn’t get a price from the man. Dad asked why and I told him the car had been wrecked badly a few months earlier.  The next question out of my dad’s mouth is the point of this lesson; “Who fixed it?”

            Paul’s closeness to his disciples allowed them to see a man that was a total loss, broken beyond repair by any human means. But the broken vessel revealed an eternal treasure, a worthy Repairman. Paul’s discipleship of others was characterized by vulnerability. This vulnerability helped the disciple to see that no state of brokenness is beyond God’s ability to restore. And that is our message to a lost and dying world.

Paul's Co-laboring Disciplemaking Method

Paul got in there with the boys. He worked alongside Priscilla and Aquila. He took Timothy, Silas, Barnabas, Epaphraditus, Onesimus and several others under his care and brought them along in the gospel. They did not train and then go help Paul.  They were not ministry proficient and then deemed worthy of ordination prior to striking out with Paul. They were trained as they served alongside Paul in church planting, shepherding, teaching and preaching.

Paul’s disciplemaking method was gospel-centered instruction infused through engaging the student’s senses. This was accomplished by proximity and experience. It is true that Paul was an apostle but that does not negate the fact that he needed help to carry out the work God had given him.  The help provided by the men who traveled and worked with Paul was immediate and essential. But the real worth of the co-laboring was the disciplemaking benefit. They witnessed Paul in trying and tragic circumstances. They heard his teaching and saw his practice when no one else could. It is true; growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus is more caught than taught. This kind of ministry is the God-ordained method of producing disciples who worship Jesus Christ. Bible school and seminary can provide valuable direction and vocational resources for those leaning toward vocational ministry but to live alongside people, allowing them access to your inner life, home, work, attitude, marriage condition, parenting and social life helps them see how the gospel works for everyday living.

This kind of ministry can get messy. The mentor can be misunderstood or even judged for being carnal in particular matters. The issue is not whether we fail in our day-to-day lives, we will. The issue is how we deal with failures. If we are to be disciplemakers we must model a pursuit of holiness, an ownership of failure and the humility of repentance. This is the cycle of the discipleship, Paul lived alongside several people. We can do the same. Let’s crawl out of our caves, invite some people into our kitchen, into our lives, with no agenda. No agenda other than gospel-centered living.

What comes out of your mouth when you hit your thumbnail with a hammer? The guys standing beside you know what you say. Next I will discuss the problems with living in close proximity to others and how God uses that tension to make disciples who worship Jesus.