Discipleship

Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.

John 13:14-16

I’ve been doing a little reading on the word disciple and its use in the New Testament. My interest is more than academic, though, because I’m convinced that the significance of “discipleship” in Christianity has been lost on most of us. Our attitudes have been thoroughly saturated with a secular outlook, and most of have chosen to make “Christian” only one among many labels used to describe our lives and interests. Discipleship, for many Christians, has been squeezed into a tiny box and put away on the back shelf of the mind. It is only to be taken out at socially acceptable moments, and it is certainly not to be seen in public.

Are my statements too strong? If you think so, then consider this description of “disciple” that I found in a Bible dictionary:

Disciple — a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matt. 9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16), but principally to the followers of Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes his doctrine, (2) rests on his sacrifice, (3) imbibes his spirit, and (4) imitates his example (Matt. 10:24; Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 6:69).^[1]

I like that definition, so let’s take the four points one at a time. First, discipleship is characterized by faith, a belief in something that has been taught by and about Christ. Specifically, the doctrine for Christian discipleship is that Jesus is the son of God who lived in flesh on the earth, bore mankind’s sins when he died on the cross, and was resurrected by God to demonstrate his power over life and death. Now that’s a belief system that reaches way beyond ordinary life.

Second, discipleship leads a person beyond a dependence on his own ability to solve problems and atone for sins. To say that a disciple of Christ is one who “rests on his sacrifice” is to say that he/she is willing to say out loud, “the sacrifice of Jesus Christ defines my existence.”

The third part of the definition makes things a little more serious because it reaches inside us. It suggests that something of self has to be replaced with something of Christ. Maybe that’s why Paul told the Corinthian disciples that they needed to put away sexual immorality in recognition of the fact that their bodies were temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). We no longer under self-ownership because we belong to Christ; the proof of ownership is his Spirit living within us.

It’s the fourth part of this description of discipleship that really digs into us. Discipleship means imitation. A disciple has taken hold of an obligation to do more than merely repeat his teacher’s words; he has committed himself to imitate the life and lifestyle of that teacher. A Christian is obligated, therefore, to imitation of the life of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ attitudes must become the disciple’s attitudes. Jesus’ approach to people must become the disciple’s approach. What Jesus did, the disciple must do.

Most of us are not really very good disciples. Jesus denied himself, served others and died on a cross, but we are always looking for ways to wear his name without really imitating his life. The problem with that approach is that it will keep us from ultimately going where he went – home to His Father.

Can you be called a disciple?

Bobby Wheat

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^[1]Easton, M.G.: Easton's Bible Dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897

God Provides

God will provide for himself…

Genesis 22:8

Have you ever taken notice, as you were reading through the Bible, of how God makes use of people? God used Noah to preserve humanity and demonstrate his concern for right living. He used Abraham to build a nation and establish a covenant relationship that would bless all mankind. He used Moses to lead that nation out of captivity and toward the land of promise. In the New Testament period, he used Paul to carry to the Gentiles the message of that “covenant relationship” and “blessing,” available universally in Jesus Christ. Impressive men. Impressive work in God’s kingdom.

I’m also impressed also with the way God used some other people. Have you ever taken note of Bezalel and Oholiab? If you haven’t spent much time reading about the Exodus from Egypt and the Wilderness Period in Israel’s history, you might have missed those two names. But their work was significant and outstanding. They fashioned the tabernacle and all the items of worship that went with it. They made the garments worn by the priests with all their gold and jeweled adornments. According to Exodus 35, Bezalel was able to “make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stone, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic craftsmanship” (Exodus 35:32-33 - NIV).

You might also take note of the fact, as the ESV translates Exodus 35:30, that God “called by name Bezalel.” God did not just tell Moses to build a tabernacle and leave him to figure out himself how it was to be done. God gave Moses a pattern (Hebrews 8:5) and detailed instructions concerning materials (Exodus 31 & 35). He made it possible for the Israelites to leave Egypt with an abundance of gold, silver and other materials (Exodus 12:35-36) and he helped the Israelites in turn to be generous in giving their possessions for building the tabernacle and all its furnishings (Exodus 35:20-29). And God provided for Moses the skilled craftsman, filled with “the spirit of God, with skill, with intelligence, with knowledge, and with all craftsmanship” (Exodus 35:31).

While it is possible to draw a number of conclusions from these few bits of scripture, the one to which I am drawn needs to be emphasized for our good. It seems to me that, when God gives his people a job to do, he always supplies what they need to do the job. Another case in point can be seen in the Luke’s record of the early church’s work. As you read the book of Acts, take note of how the apostles and others engaged in the work were constantly supplied with strength, encouragement and opportunity by God through his Holy Spirit. Add to the argument also Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 9:10: “Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness” (NIV).

Do we need physical strength for our work of saving souls? God will provide what is needed. Do we need clearer sight to see those who are waiting to be taught? God will provide what is needed. Do we need physical resources to accomplish our work of evangelism? God will provide what is needed. Do we need more people to do the work? God will provide what is needed.

God provides. Are you looking for his provision? Is it possible that you are being called by God to be his workman, his provision?

Bobby Wheat

Adopted for Life

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!"

Galatians 4:4-6

In 2003, my wife’s sister and her family traveled to China and returned with an addition to their family – a delightful little boy. His Chinese name is Feng (pronounced fong), but at his adoption this little fellow was given three family names – his new parents’ surname, his new grandfather’s first name, and the name of a long-deceased maternal uncle as a middle name. I marvel at the deliberate expression of love and commitment such an action requires.

Tolbert Fanning, a greatly respected 19^th century preacher, once wrote concerning the church that “becoming a member of this highly favored and honorable family…is…by adoption alone.” Paul the apostle reminded his Ephesian audience that God made a choice, that he deliberately purposed our adoption as his own children (Ephesians 1:5). And God gave us a family name, allowing us to be called “Christians” (Acts 11:26) after the name of his own son, Jesus the Christ. What marvelous love!

Taking a child born to another and making him your own is not an easy thing! As young as he was at the time, little Loy Earl Feng Redd had already developed some habits and attitudes that his parents had to help him put aside. They began immediately to teach him, to train him to act according to the rules of their household. As you might expect, he rebelled a little at a new regimen pressed on him by total strangers. But because the teaching was done firmly and with love, he soon began to conform to the family’s shape.

God’s church is a family. We are added to it through a process of adoption, an adoption about which we do have a choice. Once the choice is made, though, once the name is accepted, the family’s rules apply. But we tend to be like little Loy – because of undesirable habits and attitudes, because of worldly influence, because of ordinary human self-will, we sometimes rebel against the family rules. What response should the family make when rebellion occurs? The same response you would expect in any human family – firm and loving discipline, teaching and admonition!

Scripture speaks plainly about the blessings and obligations that our adoption as God’s children brings. The blessings are limitless, and include fellowship with God, his son Jesus and his holy spirit. Salvation from sin, hope that transcends this life, and fellowship with God’s children are the adoption gifts lavished on us by a loving Father.

The obligations are not difficult, but they are important. We are called to love one another and bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). We have the duty to encourage and exhort one another and to meet together for worship, study and fellowship (Hebrews 10:23-25). And we share the responsibility to tell the world the good news of our adoption, calling others to choose the same family (Mark 16:15).

Are you part of the family? If so, are you holding high your new name?

Bobby Wheat